Color evasion, white normativity and ethnic-racial socialization in Chinese-Dutch families

Critical Race Theory problematizes color evasion and White normativity as phenomena that perpetuate racial injustice, but there is little research on these issues outside the U.S. or with underrepresented ethnic-racial groups. This study examines to what extent Chinese-Dutch mothers ( N = 78) based in the Netherlands show color evasion and White normativity when observed in a social categorization game with their children (ages 7–11 years), as well as self-reported ethnic-racial socialization practices. Mothers showed color evasion by avoiding ethnic-racial questions even though these were crucial to game efficiency, and mothers asked such questions later and took more time to formulate them. White normativity was also present as mothers were more likely to reference the Black and Asian targets than the White targets, who appear to be seen as the norm from which the others deviate. These behaviors were unrelated to mothers’ self-reported ethnic-racial socialization practices. These results suggest that Chinese-Dutch children are exposed to racialized social norms that are associated with prejudice against marginalized ethnic-racial groups, including their own. The findings are discussed in terms of implicit and explicit ethnic-racial socialization and their causes and consequences.