Understanding systemic racism: Watch nine short videos, each about aminute long, that focus on the foundational issues of systemic racism in the PBS special, “Race Matters: America In Crisis.”  These clips don’t go into depth about causes or solutions, but do make the abstract concept of “systemic racism” more concrete. We will come back to each topic later in the Challenge.  Watch. 

Define Your Terms: Short articles explain two key terms through the lens of being anti-racist.  Equity vs. Equality: Sometimes the old saying is true: a picture is worth a thousand words. The article explaining the cartoon makes it all clear.  Read.   Minority-Majority:  How can the majority still be called the minority?  Read.  Look up "anti-racist" and other terms.

Waking Up White: This 15-minute video Ted Talk is a 101 for white people about white privilege and institutional racism and how they are displayed in our society to both whites and people of color by a woman from an affluent white family.  View.

Racial Inequity in Education:

Watch 7-minute 2020 video about teaching race and the history of slavery in the U.S. CBS News. Read Brookings Institution report: Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education.  Read 2016 American Psychological Association article: Inequality at School. Read 2019 New York Times article:  Still Separate, Still Unequal.

How Blind Spots Cause Inequity:
Our brains are wired to make assumptions that can sometimes be off base. We think it's an honest mistake; science calls it a blind spot.

Blind spots: Challenge assumptions 2 min. video

Blind spots: Overcome stereotypes 3 min. video

How to Address Blindspots and Racial Bias 5 min. video

The Doll Test:  The Clark Doll test was conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark and his wife Mamie Clark for her master's thesis in the 1940s. The study focused on stereotypes and children's self-perception related to their race. An early version of the video was shown to the US Supreme Court as part of the Brown vs. Board of Education case. Video and Article 9 min. video and short article.

Stories Black Children Tell with Poetry:

Watch a 3-year-old blow away the audience with the poem Hey, Black Child. 4 min.  Listen to a reading of the book Hey, Black Child. 1.5 min.  Watch three lifelong friends recount very different experiences growing up. 5 min.  Watch Average Black Girl.  4.5 min.

A Dark Mark on American Healthcare:
Learn about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Scroll down to Overview.

Video Interview with Jean Heller, the AP reporter who helped end the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study. 4 min. video.

A look at the Tuskegee Effect today during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brief article.

Inequity in US Healthcare:

Watch study after study affirms that doctors treat their patients differently, depending on the patient's race. 6 min. video.  Listen as NPR host speaks with Dr. Mary Bassett, Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard about how and why race affects the medical attention you receive, your baby’s chances of living and life expectancy. 12 min. podcast.
Optional Read about bias and racial disparity in US healthcare. Many factors lead to to poor health and earlier death among people of color: one of those is that black people simply do not receive the same quality of health care as whites. 

Inequity in Policing and Incarceration:
Watch animated graphics showing that in no area of American society are the legacies of slavery and racism more evident than in the criminal legal system. 2.5 min. video. Read Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of whites, and Latinx people are 1.3 times as likely to be incarcerated as non-Latinx whites.  Read Negative portrayals in the news media affect how police treat black men in the United States. Short article. Optional Read the racist roots of American policing: Outrage over killing of African Americans by police and vigilantes gave rise to Black Lives Matter, but tensions between police and black communities are nothing new.

Read the forgotten history of how our federal, state, and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy. Watch video examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy. 18 min. video.

Racial Inequity in Housing, Part II:

Housing segregation and unequal access stems from policies intended to divide the wealthy from the middle-, working-class and poor. Racism played a huge role in U.S. housing policy and still does.

Watch and Read Inequality in home values is greater today than 40 years ago. Article and 1 min. video.

Racial Wealth Gap:
Watch animation shows factors and impact of the racial wealth gap over 400 years. 4 min. video.  Read the racial wealth gap has a long history. Article, 8-10 min. read. Optional Read improvements in education and income for black and Hispanic Americans have not erased the wealth gap.

Systemic Racism:

Watch A white woman pulls together all the threads of systemic racism in just 6 min.  She talks fast.  Pay attention!

Watch  A black woman tells her white friends about her real life. 7 min. video.

How white people got made:

Read How we came to have white people in the US. 13 min. read.

Read Who and what defines your race, and why. 3 min. read.

We the People:

Deconstructing White Privilege:

Watch What does it mean to be white in a society that proclaims that race is supposed to be meaningless. 20 min.video.

Microaggressions:

Microaggression refers to brief, commonplace verbal, behavioral indignities rooted in stereotypes-- intentional or unintentional -- that communicate slights and insults toward any group. Watch Is this about free speech or harm to others?  Watch How to avoid committing them. Print Since many of us don’t realize we are being offensive to people different from ourselves, it’s helpful to see/print this list. PDF document.

Becoming an Ally and an Antiracist:
Watch:  Learn to admit racist thoughts and beliefs.  12 min. video. Watch:  Use your white privilege to stand up to systemic racial inequity. 4 min. video. Read: Specific behaviors that can make one an “ally” in the struggle against racism. Printable checklist. 

Be Inspired to be an Ally and an Anti-racist:

Watch: Nina Simone playing live in London, 1968. 4 min. video. Watch:  Scenes from the movie Harriet Tubman. 5 min. video.  Read:  Do’s and Don’ts of Being a Good Ally