December 22nd, 2020
Dear Patient Reader,
Understanding Cross-Race Friendship
Cross-race friendship, which is more commonly known as interracial friendship is both complex and significant. It is a less common kind of friendship that is beneficial to the development of children. Children who make friends with children of other racial identities are more likely to become accepting and less prejudiced individuals. By making friends with people of different backgrounds who think differently, we too start to think differently.
Research that spans decades reveals that interracial friendship is connected to our development of critical thinking. Research that links interracial friendship to positive racial attitudes, increased cultural acceptance, and increased social skills (Talks, 2019). Research has conclusively shown that preschoolers at 3 to 4, or 5 years of age understand the concept of race and colour. However, many parents do not feel comfortable talking to their children about colour or race. We all may admire the colour of a prism’s refraction, but not the different colours of the skin.
Cross-race friendships are personal relationships based on care and trust that occur between individuals of different racial backgrounds (Taylor, 2011). It involves the universal elements of friendship; of interpersonal connectedness and fondness. Interracial relationships play a significant role as ambassadors of humanisation. Humanisation is the act or process of making something more human. There is nothing more human than making people feel comfortable and accepted.
The complexity of interracial friendship boils down to how different our backgrounds and upbringing can be. The significance of interracial friendship is that having so many differences can be a reason why we can at times, so easily make friends with others. With myriads of race, identity, and colour, increases our tolerance and acceptance for making friends with people with skin colours other than our own.
Image
Diwali Assembly. 2015
References
Sacks, L. (2014). The Role of Group Salience in Cross-group Friendships : An Experimental Response to Questions Raised by Qualitative Researchers. Retrieved from Semantic Scholar: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Role-of-Group-Salience-in-Cross-group-%3A-An-to-Sacks/a4f4ed313b93365be850d3f95c159916ac8fbe03
Talks, T. (2019, January 16). Interracial Friendships: Why Diversity Day isn't Enough | Cinzia Pica-Smith | TEDxEasthamptonWomen. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyi1ZqhFWNI&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
Taylor, M. J. (2011). Cross-Race Frienships. In: Goldstein S., Naglieri J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_741
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