“So much privilege, for sure.”: The influence of dialogic picture book reading and critical literacy on White liberal mothers’ racial ethnic socialization

This study examined the influence of dialogic picture book reading and critical literacy on White liberal mothers’ self-reported Racial Ethnic Socialization (RES) knowledge, practices, and priorities. Nine White liberal mothers with children ages four to eight participated in a six- week intervention that used picture books to facilitate discourse about race and racism between the participants and their child(ren). Surveys and semi-structured interviews measured mothers’ self-reported knowledge of RES and their RES practices and priorities before and after participation in the intervention. The results indicate that dialogic picture book reading and critical literacy increase White liberal mothers’ knowledge of color-conscious RES but does not influence their RES practices or priorities. There was a significant difference between mothers’ self-reported RES practices and priorities, and mothers with girls engaged in increased color- conscious RES practices and had more intentional RES priorities. These findings are analyzed as reflections of performative allyship and gender stereotyping.