BOSTON – Ibram X. Kendi, the founder of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research, has released two new books aimed at countering racism.

One is for parents called ‘How To Raise An Antiracist’ and the other is a play about ‘Goodnight Moon’ called ‘Goodnight Racism’.

The bestselling author told CBS Mornings Monday that it’s wrong to assume that “children don’t see color.” He said research has shown that children recognize skin color by the time they are 1 year old. At age 3, children associate skin color with positive or negative traits.

“How do we counter that? It’s dangerous for our kids to say, ‘I don’t want to play with that black kid,’” said Kendi, a CBS News employee. “I want us to counter that as parents.”

Kendi wants parents to teach kids that there are many different shades on the “human rainbow.” He calls racism a “sucker of joy” and prevents children from being children.

“We have to protect our children from racist ideas, from the idea that dark is ugly or light is beautiful. That actually stops them from being children,” he said.

Kendi received a MacArthur Foundation genius subsidy last year for his anti-racist work. But CBS News Comments that his book “Antiracist Baby” came under fire from Republicans during the hearings of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Fox News personality Tucker Carlson called his writings “toxic.”

Kendi says, “race is a mirage, but racism is real.”

“The unfortunate truth is that we live in a society with all kinds of racial inequalities and inequalities, all kinds of ideas that associate good or bad with certain skin colors,” he said. “We need to teach our children a different way of thinking, a way of being in the world.”