With Martin Luther King Jr. Day fresh on everyone’s minds, it might be a good time to consider how you deal with race when it comes to your children.

The Web site www.antiracistparent.com offers these tips for parents on helping children handle racist comments:

¢ Your children will face racism, so prepare them for it. Don’t assume that race is a nonissue for your family.

¢ Forget trying to be colorblind; it’s not possible. As NAACP Chairman Julian Bond says, colorblindness means being “blind to the consequences of being the wrong color in America today.”

¢ Make conversations about race relaxed and frequent. Don’t wait for “a very special moment.” Conversations about race should be as normal and casual in your family as discussions about “American Idol.”

¢ Lead by example. Actions speak louder than words. If you tell your children they should accept everyone, regardless of race, but you only socialize with people from one race, what message do you think your children will absorb?

¢ Be aware of your own biases and privileges, and never stop working to overcome them.