14 Kid-Friendly Movies That Can Help Build a Conversation About Race and Racism

Although it can be a difficult, talking to your children about race, racism, and prejudice early (and often) is essential, particularly for parents of non Black children. The fact is children start to learn racial bias — the attitudes and stereotypes towards racial groups — at an early age. According the American Academy of Pediatrics, a 6-month-old's brain can notice race-based differences; a 2- to 4-year-old can internalize racial biases. The best way to combat these thoughts is to talk to your kids about race and racism. Of course, that isn't easy and utilizing tools that speak on their level can help, including kid-friendly movies about race and racism.

Some of the best films about blackness are a little too violent and explicit for younger viewers. But that doesn’t mean your child is too young to watch any movies that revolve around race. If you want to start a dialogue about racial prejudice and don’t know where to start, then these 15 family-friendly movies about race may just help you out.

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High school and football? Must be autumn. Denzel Washington stars in this based-on-a-true-story movie about a dedicated football coach and his first racially integrated team.

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Based on the true story of William Kamkwamba, this film follows a 13-year-old boy as he comes up with an ingenious way to save his Malawi village from famine. As well as being an uplifting and inspiring story, it's an important reminder that living free from poverty and political unrest should never be taken for granted.

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Set in the 1960s, this film is based on the true story of three mathematicians — Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson — who overcame race- and gender-based obstacles to become vital members of NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program

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This biographical drama tells the real-life story of George McKenna, a black man who becomes principal of a notoriously tough inner-city high school in South Los Angeles. Though he must face off against apathetic parents and disillusioned teachers, McKenna fights to give all his students a fair chance at an education, no matter their race or background.

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Based on former First Lady Michelle Obama's memoir of the same name, this inspiring documentary chronicles her life from a childhood on the South Side of Chicago to becoming one of the most compelling and visible women of her time. Kids usually don't find documentaries particularly entertaining, but this one may be an exception.

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This biographical drama is set in the slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, telling the story of 10-year-old Phiona Mutesi, whose life is changed forever after a visiting missionary teaches her how to play chess. Phiona eventually becomes an international chess prodigy, though she contends with plenty of poverty, violence, and racism along the way.

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This Disney Channel Original Movie is set in 1977 and tells the true story of two girls: Mahree, the black daughter of a congressman from Washington, D.C., and Piper, a white girl from apartheid South Africa. The two end up learning more about each other's countries than they could have ever imagined.

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Though your kids may be familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, they're likely less familiar with Coretta Scott King and Dr. Betty Shabazz, the wives who formed a friendship following their husbands' tragic deaths. Together, the two widows carried on the civil rights movement, and this movie tells the true story of their powerful friendship.

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This movie is based on the real-life story of the titular Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old girl who became one of the first Black students to attend an integrated school in the Deep South. When Ruby is selected to attend an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she's totally unprepared for the uproar, but with the help of her teacher and a child psychologist, she's able to better cope with the ugliness of racism.

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This sweet movie revolves around 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson, a spelling enthusiast who prepares to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, despite coming from a lower socioeconomic background than her competitors. Akeelah feels pressure from her predominantly-Black neighborhood to succeed and faces racism from her competitors' parents, but still she manages to keep her eye on the prize.

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Though this New Orleans-set Disney adaptation of the classic fairytale doesn't overtly discuss race, the movie (which features Disney's first black princess, Tiana) will definitely inspire conversations about the importance of representation and diversity.

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This 1967 comedy tells the story of a white woman who returns from her vacation to Hawaii with some surprising news for her parents: she's engaged, and her fiancé is a Black physician and medical professor she met just 10 days before. The movie made history as one of the first positive depictions of an interracial marriage, and even 50 years later, this movie is still a must-watch.

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This sports flick is based on the events of the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship, telling the story of a white college basketball coach who introduced the first all-Black starting lineup in NCAA history. As well as dealing with racial tension within his team, Don Haskins also faces criticism from those who aren't ready to see Black athletes dominate the court, and the movie follows Haskins' journey to silence those critics.

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Set in 1964 South Carolina, this drama follows 14-year-old Lily, who runs away from her angry father with her black housekeeper, Rosaleen, to start a new life in Tiburon, where Lily believes her mom came from. There they meet the Boatwright sisters, who help teach Lily all about beekeeping, as well as the many privileges of Lily's skin color. The film contains some violence, but it's still suitable for mature tweens.