Racism Explained to My Daughter (by Tahar Ben Jelloun

Tahar Ben Jelloun

Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan poet and writer. The entirety of his work is written in French, although his first language is Arabic.-Life:...

, 1998, ISBN 88-7754-206-3) is a book in which the author, during a demonstration against an immigration law

Immigration law

Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, answers his daughter's questions about the reasons for racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

.

The author's intent was to explain, with this book, the modern "trauma" that racism is to children and to help adults answer their children's questions on racism. The author says, though, that children are more likely to understand that one isn't born racist, but becomes it. Adults are not likely to change their ideas.