Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice

Something Happened in Our Town follows two families—one White, one Black—as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community.The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives. Included is an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers with guidelines for discussing race and racism with children, child-friendly definitions, and sample dialogues. Free, downloadable educator materials (including discussion questions) are available in the additional resources tab. There are many benefits of beginning to discuss racial bias and injustice with young children of all races and ethnicities. Research has shown that children even as young as three years of age notice and comment on differences in skin color. Humans of all ages tend to ascribe positive qualities to the group that they belong to and negative qualities to other groups.