Do Right by Me

For decades, Katie DAngelo and Valerie Harrison engaged in conversations about race and racism. However, when Katie and her husband, who are white, adopted Gabriel, a biracial child, Katies conversations with Val, who is black, were no longer theoretical and academic. The stakes grew from the two friends trying to understand each others perspectives to a mother navigating, with input from her friend, how to equip a child with the tools that will best serve him as he grows up in a white family. Through lively and intimate back-and-forth exchanges, the authors share information, research, and resources that orient parents and other community members to the ways race and racism will affect a black childs lifeand despite that, how to raise and nurture healthy and happy children. These friendly dialogues about guarding a childs confidence and nurturing positive racial identity form the basis for Do Right by Me. Harrison and DAngelo share information on transracial adoption, understanding racism, developing a childs positive racial identity, racial disparities in healthcare and education, and the violence of racism. Do Right by Me also is a story about friendship and kindness, and how both can be effective in the fight for a more just and equitable society.