In this article, I highlight some of the ways in which racial perceptions and inequalities can become ingrained; how these inequalities are transmitted across generations; the factors and conditions that can disrupt intergenerational transmissions (IGTs) of race and class inequalities; and the importance and urgency of stemming such IGTs from childhood. The article stresses the importance of analysing and responding to how ‘agency’ is being cultivated among different categories of children – because of the structural conditions, the quality of policy interventions and the actions and inactions of people within and external to their contexts.