In the September 2020 issue of Perspectives, Scott et al. argued that there is insufficient empirical work on White parents’ racial-socialization strategies to support generalizations about the topic and, therefore, that journalists’ recommendation that White parents discuss race and racism with their children represents a case of speculation without evidence. Although we strongly support Scott et al.’s call for additional, rigorous research on racial socialization in White families, we argue that their critique of popular-press pieces was unwarranted. Specifically, we argue that, although definitive tests of the effects of specific White parental racial-socialization strategies are lacking, the recommendation for parents to discuss race and racism with their children is both appropriate and empirically grounded. We describe research on racial socialization, intergroup contact, and cognitive development that is consistent with recommendations from developmental scientists reported in the popular press. Furthermore, we argue that parents may be the ideal socializers of racial attitudes. We conclude with a discussion of the broad context concerning media reports of findings from psychological science.

在 2020 年 9 月的《观点》杂志上，斯科特等人。认为关于白人父母的种族社会化策略的实证研究不足以支持对该主题的概括，因此，记者建议白人父母与他们的孩子讨论种族和种族主义代表了一个没有证据的猜测案例。尽管我们强烈支持 Scott 等人呼吁对白人家庭的种族社会化进行额外的、严格的研究，但我们认为他们对大众媒体文章的批评是没有根据的。具体而言，我们认为，尽管缺乏对特定白人父母种族社会化策略影响的明确测试，但建议父母与孩子讨论种族和种族主义既合适又具有经验依据。我们描述了关于种族社会化、群体间接触、和认知发展与大众媒体报道的发展科学家的建议一致。此外，我们认为父母可能是种族态度的理想社交者。最后，我们讨论了有关心理科学发现的媒体报道的广泛背景。