5.4: Articles and Essays

AFL-CIO. (n.d.). Bayard Rustin: Trade union and civil rights organizer and activist. Social Welfare History Project.

Bayard Rustin served the trade union and civil rights movements as a brilliant theorist, tactician and organizer. He conceived the coalition of liberal, labor and religious leaders who supported passage of the civil rights and anti-poverty legislation of the 1960s and, as the first executive director of the AFL-CIO’s A. Philip Randolph Institute, he worked closely with the labor movement to ensure African American workers’ rightful place in the House of Labor.

Alvarez, B. (2021, September 21). Teaching with an Anti-Racist Lens. NEAToday.

KEY TAKEAWAYS For many educators, teaching through an anti-racist lens means helping students understand racism’s origins and guises, past and present, so they can act to disrupt White supremacy. Despite a push by certain parent groups and lawmakers to prevent educators from teaching about systemic racism and sexism, educators are committed to teach the truth. NEA offers several resources and trainings on how to teach anti-racist curriculum.

Anderson, E. (2015). “The White Space.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 1(1), 10 –21.

Since the end of the Civil Rights Movement, large numbers of black people have made their way into settings previously occupied only by whites, though their reception has been mixed. Overwhelmingly white neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, restaurants, and other public spaces remain. Blacks perceive such settings as “the white space,” which they often consider to be informally “off limits” for people like them. Meanwhile, despite the growth of an enormous black middle class, many whites assume that the natural black space is that destitute and fearsome locality so commonly featured in the public media, including popular books, music and videos, and the TV news—the iconic ghetto. White people typically avoid black space, but black people are required to navigate the white space as a condition of their existence.

Ariel, C. (2017, August 16). For our white friends desiring to be allies. Sojourners.

Author's Note: I'm writing this in hopes that it can be used to lighten the load of marginalized folks, keeping in mind that not all marginalized people want to engage in the ally conversation, and that is perfect as well. For those who do, my prayer is that when someone asks you the question, “how can I be a stronger ally?” you might choose to save your breath/energy and send this in its place. I have been asked by two dear friends, “how can I be a stronger ally?” Being the slow emotional processor that I am, I wanted to spend some time with this before I answered them. I surely appreciate and love these two individuals, and I appreciate their vulnerability in asking me this question. I am not going to do much coddling here; I don’t know that I believe that love requires coddling. Here are six things you can do to be stronger allies.

Balthaser, B. (2016, July 13). Racial Violence in Black and White. Boston Review.

From W. E. B. Du Bois’s publication of lynching photographs to Black Lives Matter’s circulation of videos of police brutality against African Americans, there is a radical heritage of using images of violence as instruments of critique.

Benjamin, P. (2020, June 21). Dear White People: If you have ever said any of these things then you are part of the problem. Milwaukee Independent.

My dear white friends, I’m about to lay some hardcore truth on you right now. Many of you are the problem. Yes, you read that right. Many of you are the reason why these riots are happening. Many of you are the reason why it has come to this. This is especially true if you’ve ever, and especially in the last weeks, said any of the following: ...

Bensimon, E. M. (2018, October 16). Reclaiming Racial Justice in Equity, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(3-4), 95-98.

Reclaiming Racial Justice in Equity. Estela Mara Bensimon is Dean's Professor in Educational Equity and Founding Director of the Center for Urban Education. In 2017, she was elected to the National Academy of Education and presented with the 2017 Social Justice in Education Award by the American Education Research Association (AERA); she is the 2018 AERA Division J Research Award recipient. Her opinion pieces have been published in Inside Higher Education, Denver Post, Sacramento Bee, and Zocalo. In January 2018, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Dr. Bensimon to the Education Commission of the States.

Biss, E. (2015, December 2). White Debt. The New York Times.

Reckoning with what is owed — and what can never be repaid — for racial privilege.

Blow, C. M. (2020, June 7). Allies, Don’t Fail Us Again. The New York Times.

Many white people have been moved by the current movement, but how will they respond when true equality threatens their privilege?

Boutte, G. S. & Jackson, T. O. (2013). Advice to White allies: insights from faculty of Color. Race, Ethnicity and Education. University of South Carolina.

This article interweaves discussions of successes and tensions surrounding cross-racial collaborative social justice efforts in teacher education. It addresses frustrations that often occur for faculty of Color when working with White allies in P-12 settings and schools of education at Predominantly White Institutions. Advice is offered with the larger goal of helping White allies think about ways to shift the gaze from educators’ politics to the wellbeing of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Suggestions for how White allies can better support faculty of Color are presented.

Bracey, J. (n.d.). How Racism Harms White Americans. [Transcript]. Media Education Foundation.

A couple things. This talk used to be a fairly complicated talk because I had to explain to white people why they suffered from racism. Well, after three and a half years of the Obama regime, you can see what I'm talking about. There's a significant portion of white people in this country that will let the country go off a cliff rather than let a black person save them. Right? And they don’t mind saying that. They don't hide it. It's not closet racism. It's straight-up, old-fashioned racism. And it's costing everybody. What I want to talk about is where did those ideas come from? How did they get here? How are they so entrenched that even 200 years after the American Revolution, we still have people that cannot see the world except in racial terms. That don't understand what this country is in terms of white privilege and patriarchal privilege and so I'm going to work your way through that.

Brazas, C. & McGeehan, C. (2020, Spring). What White Colleagues Need to Understand. Learning for Justice (64).

White supremacy doesn’t stop at the teachers’ lounge door.

Brown, Y. (2015, August 14). The Subtle Linguistics of Polite White Supremacy. Medium.

Polite White Supremacy is the notion that whites should remain the ruling class while denying that they are the ruling class, politely. Affectionately, it’s called #PWS for short. It has been referred to as the Casual American Caste System, Delicate Apartheid, Gentle Oppression, or what I like to call it after a few drinks: Chad Crow, the super chill grandson of Jim Crow. No but seriously, Polite White Supremacy is very real. So why is it that we must specifically say ‘Polite White Supremacy’ rather than Racism? We must say Polite White Supremacy for three reasons. First, saying #PWS puts the responsibility solely on the creators of a systemic problem. Second, this phrase addresses the subtlety and casualness with which oppression is administered. Thirdly, it eradicates the all-too-common confusion between racism and prejudice. It’s important to eradicate this confusion so it can be clear that racism is tied to a power structure and access to resources.

Cargle, R. E. (2019, November 21). How to Talk to Your Family About Racism on Thanksgiving. Harper's Bazaar.

"As America sits down to give thanks for a country founded on the pain of many, we can't dismiss the irony of what is being celebrated."

Coates, T. (2014, June). The Case for Reparations. The Atlantic.

Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

Cobb, J. (2020, May 27). The Death of George Floyd, In Context. The New Yorker.

The New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb situates the death of George Floyd within the current racial climate in the United States.

Collins, C. (2018, Fall). What Is White Privilege, Really? Learning for Justice, 60.

Recognizing white privilege begins with truly understanding the term itself. Click the "more" link below to access the Toolkit for "What Is White Privilege, Really?" This toolkit offers advice, activities and further reading suggestions for educators who want to unpack the concept of whiteness and white privilege with themselves and with students.

DiAngelo, R. (2011). White Fragility. The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3). University of North Carolina Greensboro.

White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium. This paper explicates the dynamics of White Fragility.

Diaz, R. (2020, January 22). Moving on from Diversity Work. Office of Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"If institutions protect whiteness, then it is easy for diversity work to be symbolic."

Felber, G. (2016, August 30). Black Nationalism and Liberation: Integration doesn’t guarantee equality or freedom. Boston Review.

Black Nationalism and Liberation Integration doesn’t guarantee equality or freedom.

Franklin, J. (2016). Racial Microaggressions, Racial Battle Fatigue, and Racism-Related Stress in Higher Education. NYU Journal of Student Affairs, pp. 44-55.

The college experiences of students of color today are described as distinct from their White peers due to racial microaggressions. Recently, higher education research has begun to describe racial microaggressions, but scholars often do not take the next step to investigate the impact of racial microaggressions on health and academics. This literature review highlights the differences among racial microaggressions, racial battle fatigue, racism-related stress and racial trauma through theoretical and empirical studies. The paper argues that institutions, practitioners, researchers, and higher education leaders can address racial microaggressions and racial battle fatigue to make their campuses more equitable.

Gamio Cuervo, A. B. (2016, Summer). Latinx: A Brief Handbook. Princeton LGBT Center.

Princeton LGBT Center Online Resource -- adopted by LGBT+ and cultural organizations nationally.

Goodwin, M. T. (2018, December 7). Racial Battle Fatigue: What is it and What are the Symptoms? Medium.

Defining racial battle fatigue, what causes it, and what are the symptoms.

Gorski, P. (2019, April). Avoiding Racial Equity Detours. Educational Leadership, 56-61.

Students experiencing racism can’t wait for schools to move at their own pace and comfort level.

Greater Good. (2020, June 3). Anti-Racist Resources from Greater Good. The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

In response to the killing of unarmed Black people by police, we gathered Greater Good pieces that explore our potential to reduce prejudice in society and in ourselves.

The Guardian & American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center. (2018-2019) Antiracism and America. The Guardian.

A collaboration between The Guardian and American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center, this is an ongoing series that sheds light on the structures at the root of racial inequities. Includes: Moss, M. Trauma lives on in Native Americans by making us sick – while the US looks away -- Pérez, M. Z. The Danger of Being Pregnant and Black in America. -- García, M. The border wall isn't just a dividing line – it's a monument against racial progress. -- To end racial disparities in policing, we must look beyond the data. -- Queens of the kitchen: women hold power until the space becomes a business. -- Chung, N. Stories of transracial adoptees must be heard – even uncomfortable ones. -- Oluo, I. Confronting racism is not about the needs and feelings of white people. -- Díaz, J. The school-to-prison pipeline is getting worse for black and brown girls. -- Jenkins, M. Bones that revealed a Texas town's forgotten racial past deserve respect. -- Petrella, C. Anand Giridharadas: 'What wealthy people do is rig the discourse'. -- Are we racist? A family's conversation, illustrated. – Bayoumi, M. I'm a brown Arab-American, and the US census refuses to recognize me. -- Activist and ex-prisoner Eddy Zheng: 'How do we humanize each other?'. -- Perry, I. Voter suppression carries slavery's three-fifths clause into the present. – Taylor, K-Y. Housing market racism persists despite ‘fair housing’ laws. – diAngelo, Robin. White people assume niceness is the answer to racial inequality. It's not. – Janmohamed, Z. The divisiveness that permeates Detroit's communities of color. – Kaba, M. Black women punished for self-defense must be freed from their cages. – Milman, O. Robert Bullard: ‘Environmental justice isn’t just slang, it’s real’. – Johnson, J. N. Facing Charlottesville's savage, racist history has the power to save us. – Jackson, J. I went to prison for 19 years. Here is why I didn't become a statistic. -- About Antiracism & America - a Guardian series. -- What led Chicago to shutter dozens of majority-black schools? Racism. – Kendi, I. X. This is what an antiracist America would look like. How do we get there?

Harmon, A. (2019, February 18). For a Black Mathematician, What It’s Like to Be the ‘Only One’. The New York Times.

Fewer than 1 percent of doctorates in math are awarded to African-Americans. Edray Goins, who earned one of them, found the upper reaches of the math world a challenging place.

Harper, F. K., Maher, E. M., & Jung, H. (2021). Whiteness as a Stumbling Block in Learning to Teach Mathematics for Social Justice. Investigations in Mathematics Learning, 13(1), 5–17.

Using mathematics as a tool to interrogate (in)justice and take action toward a more socially just world in PreK-12 mathematics shows promise for disrupting marginalization of Black and Brown students. Teachers, however, work within broader systems, structures, and discourses that shape their decisions and actions. Consequently, they likely feel imbalance, and attempts to manage tensions may inadvertently perpetuate whiteness -- the ideologies that value the white racial group over others. To explore this phenomenon, we asked: How do white teachers learning to teach mathematics for social justice disrupt whiteness in mathematics education, and how do they perpetuate whiteness? We examined two newly practicing teachers' social justice mathematics lesson planning, enactment, and reflection through a framework for the operation of whiteness in mathematics education. Findings provide insights into the perpetuation and disruption of whiteness in the institutional and labor dimensions of mathematics teaching and learning as teachers sought to balance mathematics and social justice goals and connect to Black and Brown students' experiences. We discuss implications for the continued learning of social justice teaching and the development of resources to support disruption of whiteness in mathematics education.

Harris, C. I. (1993, June). Whiteness as Property. Harvard Law Review, 102(8), 1710-1791.

RACE AND THE LAW Whiteness as Property Article by Cheryl I. Harris JUN 10, 1993 In the lead up to Volume 134, the Harvard Law Review republished five classic Critical Race Theory articles from our archives. This is the first piece in our series. The full version of this Article may be found by clicking on the PDF link below. Issues regarding race and racial identity as well as questions pertaining to property rights and ownership have been prominent in much public discourse in the United States. In this article, Professor Harris contributes to this discussion by positing that racial identity and property are deeply interrelated concepts. Professor Harris examines how whiteness, initially constructed as a form of racial identity, evolved into a form of property, historically and presently acknowledged and protected in American law. Professor Harris traces the origins of whiteness as property in the parallel systems of domination of Black and Native American peoples out of which were created racially contingent forms of property and property rights. Following the period of slavery and conquest, whiteness became the basis of racialized privilege — a type of status in which white racial identity provided the basis for allocating societal benefits both private and public in character. These arrangements were ratified and legitimated in law as a type of status property. Even as legal segregation was overturned, whiteness as property continued to serve as a barrier to effective change as the system of racial classification operated to protect entrenched power. Next, Professor Harris examines how the concept of whiteness as property persists in current perceptions of racial identity, in the law’s misperception of group identity and in the Court’s reasoning and decisions in the arena of affirmative action. Professor Harris concludes by arguing that distortions in affirmative action doctrine can only be addressed by confronting and exposing the property interest in whiteness and by acknowledging the distributive justification and function of affirmative action as central to that task.

Haynes, C. & Bazner, K. J. (2019, 19 September). A message for faculty from the present-day movement for black lives. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(9), 1146-1161.

The present-day movement for Black lives calls attention to the antiblackness that is supported and reinforced in White America. Antiblackness ostensibly contextualizes what it means to Learn While Black at predominantly White institutions. This article presents a content analysis of the demands that pertain to faculty and faculty work Black students submitted to institutional leaders in the aftermath of Ferguson and the campus rebellion led by Concerned Student 1950 at the University of Missouri. Study findings point to the classroom as a pedagogical site of Black Liberation; that is, interrogating Whiteness. This article concludes with recommendations to help faculty, especially White faculty, in interrogating whiteness and advancing Black Liberation in higher education.

Hidden Brain. (n.d.) Additional Resources [on Police and Black Americans]. Hidden Brain Media.

Selected primary and secondary resources on the relationship between police and Black Americans.

Hobson, J. (2022, February 1). Tubman 200: Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Project Explores the Meaning of Freedom Through One Extraordinary Life. Ms. Magazine.

Two hundred years ago, a child was born into chattel slavery. She grew up to become a liberator. Abolitionist. Diviner. Healer. Nurse. Naturalist. Freedom fighter. Military raid leader. Spy. Scout. Suffragist. Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mother. Aunt. Friend. National Icon. This is the legacy of Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), born Araminta Ross, called Minty in her youth, and heralded as Moses in her extraordinary adult years of emancipatory action. ... Tubman, who was once described by biographer Milton C. Sernett as a “litmus test” for diversity and inclusion, is an apt historical symbol for our current age—perhaps best represented when she won a popularity contest to place an historic woman on U.S. currency back in 2015.

Hudson, P. J. (2016, March 14).The Racist Dawn of Capitalism. Boston Review.

Unearthing the economy of bondage.

Jenkins, C., & Alfred, M. (2018). Understanding the motivation and transformation of White culturally responsive professors. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 24(1), 81–99.

To access the full article, contact the library using the widget at the top left of this page, or complete the this online form: https://tinyurl.com/ytmvvrfy The purpose of this study was to examine the motivation for White professors in higher education to become culturally inclusive in their teaching practices and the transformational experiences that created this motivation and shaped their development. The findings revealed personal convictions that centred on moral obligations towards teaching was the primary motivation for the participants, that culturally responsive teaching requires complex consideration in its implementation, and there are a variety of challenges that impact culturally responsive professors. Above all, the participants believed in the moral rightness of their work and felt obligated to teach in a culturally responsive manner.

Jett, C. C. (2013). Culturally Responsive Collegiate Mathematics Education: Implications for African American Students. Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 3(2), 102–116.

In this article, the author utilizes the culturally congruent work of Gay (2010) and Ladson-Billings (2009) to highlight culturally responsive teaching as a viable option for African American students in higher education mathematics spaces. He offers translations of Gay and Ladson-Billings' work to Africana mathematics and argues that these practices increase access to rigorous culturally responsive mathematics and enact the brilliance that African American students bring to the mathematics space (Leonard & Martin, 2013). The author also challenges postsecondary educators to allow culturally responsive practices to shape their instructional practices. In addition, he shares future research directions for African American students in mathematics, preservice mathematics teachers, and mathematics professors.

Johnson, W. (2016, October 26). To Remake the World: Slavery, Racial Capitalism, and Justice. Boston Review.

The idea that enslavement “dehumanized” enslaved people suggests that their humanity needs to be proven again and again. Much of the scholarship on slavery has relied upon a pat liberal notion of human rights as its moral paradigm. The version of human rights that dominates contemporary discourse is not significantly inflected by the history of slavery, although it would be better if it were. What if we use the history of slavery as a standpoint from which to rethink our notion of justice today?

Kazi, N. (2019). Troubling Islamophobia: Redefining the Conversation on Anti-Muslim Violence. Political Theology Network.

Without a sustained focus on material inequalities and repressive state power, the conversation on Islamophobia too easily slips into a mealy-mouthed appeal to diversity and tolerance.

Kazi, N. (2020). Reform, Abolition, and Decoloniality: Framing Islamophobia. Political Theology, 21(5), 455–460.

In article the author talks about the issues in anti-Islamophobia scholarship and activities which includes reform, and abolition. Topics include that books including "Radical Skin, Moderate Masks," "Islamophobia and Racism in America," and "Islamophobia, Race, and Global Politics" that explore flaws both in academia, and representational Muslim politics and advocacy, and policy practices.

Kendi, I. X. (2020, June 1). The American Nightmare. The Atlantic.

To be black and conscious of anti-black racism is to stare into the mirror of your own extinction. To access the full article, contact the library using the widget at the top left of this page, or complete the this online form: https://tinyurl.com/ytmvvrfy

Kendi, I. X. (2020, May 12). Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? The Atlantic.

Americans don’t see me, or Ahmaud Arbery, running down the road—they see their fear. To access the full article, contact the library using the widget at the top left of this page, or complete the this online form: https://tinyurl.com/ytmvvrfy

Kim, M. M. (2019, November 10). Allyship (& Accomplice): The What, Why, and How. Medium.

Allyship is an active and consistent practice of using power and privilege to achieve equity, inclusion, and justice while holding ourselves accountable to marginalized people’s needs.

Kim, M. M. (2020, May 8). 20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now. Medium.

In light of #AhmaudArbery and ongoing police violence, how can the Asian and Asian American community show up for our Black siblings? Read this article in Korean, Chinese (simplified), Tamil, Malayalam (by The Social Understanding Initiative) or Japanese (by Michi Yoshikawa). Other Asian languages coming soon!

Kivel, P. (2002). The Costs of Racism to White People, [Reprinted from Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice].

Includes tool: Costs of Racism to White People Checklist. It can be hard for us to be honest with ourselves about the costs of racism in our own lives. The following is a checklist you can use to evaluate the costs of racism to white people.

Lebron, C. (2016, January 15). The Invisibility of Black Women. Boston Review.

Black women go missing—from civil rights history and from our lives.

Love, B. L. (2021, January 12). How to Make Anti-Racism More Than a Performance. Education Week.

Whether white people are ready or not, policies have to change.

Martinez-Cola, M. (2020). Collectors, Nightlights, and Allies, Oh My. Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 10(1), 61-82.

As more students of Color enter into Historically White Institutions (HWIs), the dearth of mentors of Color continues to be an issue leaving students to rely on White mentors within academia. Much of the literature regarding mentoring discusses its definitions and best practices. It does not, however, capture the experiences of students of Color and their perceptions of their White mentors. It also fails to challenge White mentors who other, tokenize, or fail to understand their mentees. Through autoethnography rooted in Critical Race Theory counternarratives, I identify, define, and discuss three roles White mentors play for students of Color.

Moosa, T. (2017, May 9). White People, It’s Time To Prioritize Justice Over Civility. The Establishment.

In striving to be ‘civil,’ white moderates provide cover for deadly white supremacy.

The New Yorker. (2019, June 10). Ta-Nehisi Coates Revisits the Case for Reparations. The New Yorker.

It’s not often that an article comes along that changes the world, but that’s exactly what happened with Ta-Nehisi Coates, five years ago, when he wrote “The Case for Reparations,” in The Atlantic. Reparations have been discussed since the end of the Civil War—in fact, there is a bill about reparations that’s been sitting in Congress for thirty years—but now reparations for slavery and legalized discrimination are a subject of major discussion among the Democratic Presidential candidates. In a conversation recorded for The New Yorker Radio Hour, David Remnick spoke with Coates… . Subjects of the conversation included what forms reparations might take, which Democratic candidates seem most serious about the topic, and how the issue looks in 2019, a political moment very different from when “The Case for Reparations” was written.

Okun, T. & dRworks. (2006). From White Racist to White Anti-Racist: the life-long journey. dismantlingracism.org.

This article is meant to accompany the ladder of empowerment for white people, which is our attempt (referring to dRworks, an organization described below) to distinguish the different stages that white people go through as we develop awareness of our relationship to racism. This work draws on the thinking and experience of many people; those who have been directly quoted are listed at the end. The rest is the result of my exposure to the thinking and experience of many trainers and participants in the Dismantling Racism process, including dRworks colleagues, as well as friends and colleagues doing anti-racism work. Any usefulness found here should be credited to the larger community of anti-racism activists; any errors or flawed thinking is mine alone. The basic purpose of this article is to both help white people understand our identity as white people within a racist system which assumes our superiority and at the same time challenge that assumption and replace it with a positive, anti-racist identity. While many white people seem to think that one solution is to claim ‘colorblindness,’ both with regards to ourselves and to People of Color, we believe that it is absolutely critical to accept our identity as white people within a white group, understanding that this association profoundly affects the quality of our lives politically, economically, socially. We must then work, in the words of Beverly Daniel Tatum in her excellent book on racial identity development Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria Together (p. 94), “to feel good about it in the context of a commitment to a just society. This requires two tasks: the abandonment of individual racism and the recognition of and opposition to institutional and cultural racism.”

olsson, j. (2011). Detour-Spotting for white anti-racists. Cultural Bridges to Justice.

For white people living in North America learning to be anti-racist is a re-education process. I must unlearn the thorough racist conditioning to re-educate and re-condition myself as an anti-racist. I need knowledge, guidance and experience to avoid the detours and traps waiting for me on this journey. There is little social or political encouragement for this journey of re-education. We are constantly tempted to change course by the racist propaganda of society and our own guilt and denial. In the face of society’s and our own resistance, sustaining the will to continue this journey takes bold and stubborn effort. This journey sends us into unfamiliar territory; we have never been here before. No white person has ever lived in a non-racist North America.) None of us has ever been taught the skills of anti-racist living. Indeed, we have been carefully taught the opposite: how to maintain our white privilege. Racism, the system (of oppression) and advantage (for white people) depends on the collusion and cooperation of white people for its perpetuation. ...

Oluo, I. (2019, April 15). Welcome To The Anti-Racism Movement — Here’s What You’ve Missed. The Establishment.

A handy list of things that you’re going to need to catch up on. Buck up, because it won’t be easy. Are you still reeling in shock at the presidential election results? Are you pulling at your hair wondering, “How did this country get so racist??” Are you posting statuses about how it is now time to come together to fight racism in the face of current political threats? Have you found yourself saying, “Well, at least this administration is waking people up.” Hi! I see you there! Welcome to the anti-racism movement. I know you were kind of hoping to sneak in the back of class in the middle of this semester and then raise your hand in a few days to offer up expert opinion like you’ve always been here — but you’ve been spotted, and I have some homework for you, because you’ve missed A LOT and we don’t have the time to go over it all together. I’m glad you are here (I mean, I’d really rather you arrived sooner and I’m a little/lot resentful at how often we have to stop this class to cover all the material for people who are just now realizing that this is a class they should be taking, but better late than never I guess) and I know that once you catch up, you can contribute a lot to the work being done here.

Oluo, I. (2019, March 28). Confronting racism is not about the needs and feelings of white people. The Guardian.

Too often whites at discussions on race decide for themselves what will be discussed, what they will hear, what they will learn.

Omadeke, J. (2021, June 15). Why the Model Minority Myth Is So Harmful. Harvard Business Review.

Summary. In large, conservative industries, there’s historically been a trend of promoting a small percentage of minority professionals, who the organization then considers to be sufficient for equitable representation on their leadership teams. As a result, the one or two people of color who do make it into senior roles often have to overcompensate, or act as the “model minority.” There is huge pressure on their shoulders to assimilate in order to make themselves more palatable for their non-diverse team members, along with a fear that, if they don’t, their opportunity may be taken away.

Palmer, B. J. (2017, Spring). The Crossroads: Being Black, Immigrant, and Undocumented in the Era of #Blacklivesmatter. Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives, 9, 99.

This paper discusses the detrimental, intersectional effects of immigration law and criminal law on Black immigrants, both with and without documentation. Anti-Black racism, deeply embedded in America's criminal law system, funnels Black immigrants into the criminal justice system, and subsequently into removal or other punitive immigration proceedings. Black immigrants have long been missing, or purposely erased, from the national immigration narrative. Only a handful of organizations advocate for their particularized needs. As Black immigrant activism increases in visibility, opportunities for a new form of coalition building--known as “transformational solidarity”--must be adopted in order to protect and advocate for Black immigrants.

Petrella, C. (2016, March 30). On Stone Mountain: White Supremacy and the Birth of the Modern Democratic Party. Boston Review.

When the GOP won white voters by dog-whistling white supremacy, Democrats wooed them back with a renewed commitment to "mainstream America."

Phillips, H. (2020, May 9). Performative Allyship Is Deadly (Here’s What to Do Instead). Medium.

Activism can’t begin and end with a hashtag.

Pitts, J. (2016, Fall). Silence speaks volumes. Our students are listening. Learning for Justice, 54.

As educators we (sometimes unknowingly) step into roles of advocate, caretaker, guide, and even mother or father to students. Students pay attention to everything we say and do. They particularly pay attention to our silence. We may be uncomfortable talking about race, but we can no longer afford to be silent. We have chosen a profession, which—like parenting—requires that our comforts come second to those of children. Many black and brown students are educated in school systems and classrooms where they, despite making up the racial majority, are taught how to understand a world by a staff comprised of a powerful minority. When their teachers choose to remain silent about moments of racial tension or violence—violence that may well touch students’ own communities or families—these children are overtly reminded of their inferior place in society.

Racial Equity Tools. (2020). Core Concepts: Racism. Racial Equity Tools.

Discussion of racism in terms of anti-blackness, and interpersonal, cultural, and institutional racism. Followed by a list of resources on each topic.

Rainey, et al. (2018). Race and gender differences in how sense of belonging influences decisions to major in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(10).

Abstract Background: Women and students of color are widely underrepresented in most STEM fields. In order to investigate this underrepresentation, we interviewed 201 college seniors, primarily women and people of color, who either majored in STEM or started but dropped a STEM major. Here we discuss one section of the longer interview that focused on students’ sense of belonging, which has been found to be related to retention. In our analysis, we examine the intersections of race and gender with students’ sense of belonging, a topic largely absent from the current literature. Results: We found that white men were most likely to report a sense of belonging whereas women of color were the least likely. Further, we found that representation within one’s STEM sub-discipline, namely biology versus the physical sciences, impacts sense of belonging for women. Four key factors were found to contribute to sense of belonging for all students interviewed: interpersonal relationships, perceived competence, personal interest, and science identity. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that students who remain in STEM majors report a greater sense of belonging than those who leave STEM. Additionally, we found that students from underrepresented groups are less likely to feel they belong. These findings highlight structural and cultural features of universities, as well as STEM curricula and pedagogy, that continue to privilege white males. Keywords: Gender, Race, Belonging, Intersectional, Retention, Representation.

ross, k. m. (2020, June 4). Call It What It Is: Anti-Blackness When black people are killed by the police, “racism” isn’t the right word. The New York Times.

The word “racism” is everywhere. It’s used to explain all the things that cause African-Americans’ suffering and death: inadequate access to health care, food, housing and jobs, or a police bullet, baton or knee. But “racism” fails to fully capture what black people in this country are facing. The right term is “anti-blackness.” To be clear, “racism” isn’t a meaningless term. But it’s a catch-all that can encapsulate anything from black people being denied fair access to mortgage loans, to Asian students being burdened with a “model minority” label. It’s not specific. Many Americans, awakened by watching footage of Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, are grappling with why we live in a world in which black death loops in a tragic screenplay, scored with the wails of childless mothers and the entitled indifference of our murderers. And an understanding of anti-blackness is the only place to start. Anti-blackness is one way some black scholars have articulated what it means to be marked as black in an anti-black world. It’s more than just “racism against black people.” That oversimplifies and defangs it. It’s a theoretical framework that illuminates society’s inability to recognize our humanity — the disdain, disregard and disgust for our existence.

Ruiz, V. L. (2006, December). Nuestra América: Latino History as United States History. The Journal of American History, 93(3): 655-672.

Discusses the ways Mexican Americans, American Indians, and Euro-Americans could inhabit the same social spaces and thus complicate U.S. western narratives that privilege a binary relationship between Euro-Americans and a designated “other.”

Serwer, A. (2020, May 8).The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying.

The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.

Sherover-Marcuse, R. (2020, June 19). Working Assumptions for White Activists on Eliminating Racism: Guidelines for Recruiting Other Whites as Allies. Films For Action.

A list of guidelines for recruiting other Whites as allies.

Simmons, D. (2020, July 1). Why COVID-19 Is Our Equity Check. ASCD, 77(10).

With students dispersed, schools and our society must confront long-simmering inequities.

Smith, C. W. (2020, August 18). Historically, White Americans Have Failed to See Racism as a Systemic Issue. Is That Changing? Yes! Magazine.

After the civil rights movement, White people in the U.S. were still widely uncommitted to systemic solutions and policies to support racial equality. Although attitudes have shifted since, it’s not enough for transformative change.

Smith, W. A. (2008, January). Higher Education: Racial Battle Fatigue. In R. T. Schaefer (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society (pp.615-618). Sage Publications.

Contemporary multiracial and multiethnic institutions of higher education are indeed microcosms of the broader U.S. society, which is still undergoing profound sociopolitical and demographic restructuring from predominantly and historically White to unprecedented levels of racial/ethnic diversity within its institutions, schools, and communities. … Among students of color, the ongoing impact of subtle and overt discrimination may create a kind of racial battle fatigue. This entry describes campus race relations in this context.

Taylor, K-Y. (2020, May 29). Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People. The New York Times.

The collapse of politics and governance leaves no other option.

Torres, C. (2019, August 14). The Urgent Need for Anti-Racist Education. Education Week.

Christina Torres is an 8th grade English teacher at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Previously, she has worked with Teach For America, Hope Street Group, the Center for Teaching Quality, and Teaching Tolerance. Find her online: Teach. Run. Write.

Viney, L-M. S. (2016., July 19). Here’s why it hurts when people say, “all lives matter”. Vanity Fair.

A national youth advocate and educator explains why mattering means so much to black Americans.

Washington, E. F., et al. (2020, July 3). When and How to Respond to Microaggressions. Harvard Business Review.

Microagressions are defined as verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group. For Black people, they are ubiquitous across daily work and life. You can respond in one of three ways: let it go, call it out immediately, bring it up at a later date. Here’s a framework for deciding which path is right for the situation and how to handle the conversation if you choose to have one. First, discern what matters to you. Second, disarm the person who committed the microaggression; explain that you want to have an uncomfortable conversation. Third, challenge them to clarify their statement or action, then focus them on the negative impact it had. Finally, decide how you want to let the incident affect you.

West End House. (2021, February). 30 Day Anti-Racism Challenge. westendhouse.org.

Self-learning resources for White people. Click each day's links for learning opportunities.

Whites for Racial Equity. (n.d.). Resources on Whiteness, Minoritized Groups, Educational Equity, Anti-Racism. whitesforracialequality.org.

Provides links to articles on the following categories: Cultural Appropriation, Cultural Humility, Implicit Bias, White Allies, White Fragility, White Nationalists, White Privilege, White Resentment, White Saviors, White Supremacy, White Teachers, Whiteness, Microaggressions, White Identity Development, Anti-Semitism, Arab American, Asian American, Black History, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights Era, Farmworkers, Immigration, Indigenous People, Islamophobia, Latino, Latina, Latinx, Slavery, Critical Race Theory, Educational Equity, Ethnic Studies, White Teachers, Accountability, Anti-Black Racism, Anti-Racism Activities, Colorism, Environmental Racism, Health Inequities, Housing Disparities, Justice System, Labor/Employment, Policing, Race-Conscious Children, Racial Trauma, Racism Reparations, Resisting, Social Justice, Structural Racism, Taking Action, Voting Rights, Wealth Gap, Work Place Inclusion.

Wing, K. (2020, May 29). Teachers Must Hold Themselves Accountable for Dismantling Racial Oppression. ed post.

OpEd: Teachers Must Hold Themselves Accountable for Dismantling Racial Oppression.

Wise, T. (2020, June 29). Code of Ethics for White Anti-Racists. The Good Men Project.

10 suggestions for stronger solidarity.

Worth, S. (2020, February 19). The Language of Anti-Racism. Yes! Magazine.