Black and brown parents revisit 'the talk' with their children as school year unfolds

In Chicago, Black and brown parents are revisiting “the talk” as the school year unfolds, expanding conversations with children and sometimes their friends to address systemic racism and racial profiling. Parents say the goal is to help kids recognize bias, de-escalate potential conflicts, and leave situations that put them at risk during everyday encounters with police and others. Chatham native Joy Sapp, whose sons were 9 and 5 when she first had the talk with them, said she urges children to choose friends carefully. The renewed focus comes after the death of Nolan Wells, a Black teen who died July 4 following a trip to an uninhabited island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast; an independent autopsy ruled the cause “undetermined,” and a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict.