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The concept of racial socialization, initially forged in the US context, is hardly used in the French sociological literature on socialization. This article traces back the genesis of the concept and reviews the literature that has used and conceptually framed it. After presenting the first theorizations and developments, it exposes the limits of a term which remains uncommon in French literature. It then reviews French works where elements suggesting a racialized dimension of the socialization process can be found. Ultimately, the article proposes a definition of racial socialization that can be applied to the French context and advocates for empirical investigations of the notion. In doing so, this article argues that taking socialization into account in our definition of race is fruitful, as it invites us to understand race as a set of practice rather than an ontological being.