Raising Black Children. - book reviews

Black Enterprise, Dec, 1993 by Tonya Bolden

Raising Black Children (a revised edition of Black Child Care, 1975) offers a stage-by-stage review of a child's development--from tot to teenager. It shows how black children can successfully navigate through a society that is often hostile to them to in order to grow up to pursue a positive life. Much of this book's counsel boils down to common sense from the distinguished Drs. James P. Comer, professor of psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center, and Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Comer and Poussaint advise readers about a plethora of schoollife, play-life, home-life and "that's life" issues, including: adoption, biraciality, discipline, grooming and hygiene, illness, death, divorce and peer pressure. The sections on sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, prostitution, drugs and drug abuse, violence and crime are as sobering as the sections on careers and community involvement are encouraging.

The fact that the bulk of the book flows in a Q&A format also highlights how ill-informed adults must be. Questions include: "My child bangs up all our furniture. Should I permit this?" "My 8-year-old hates girls. Will he be okay?" "Why is it important that my child be on time and have a good attendance record?" And, "Is bathing during menstruation harmful?"

Raising Black Children will prove helpful for anyone who will be in charge of young black children. And those who aren't, take note: If you know parents too overwhelmed to read the book, do so for them and feed them the insights you gain; or if you know nonblack teachers, social workers or counselors who sincerely want to do the right thing by the black children with whom they deal, tell them about the book--or treat them to a copy.