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On race, racism, and anti-racism. List of resources


bibiche
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I thought we could compile a list of resources to learn - and teach our children - about the social construct of race, about racism and white privilege, and anti-racism ideas.

Please feel free to add resources that have been helpful to you and your understanding of race and racism. Constructive comments and questions are welcome, but I see this primarily as a compilation of educational resources.

I will try to come back and add and organize, but right now, to get started, I am just going to deposit some links. Again, please feel free to add your own. And thanks to all those who helped me compile these links. :)

On race:
http://www.understandingrace.org/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/race-and-ethnicity
http://www.newsweek.com/there-no-such-thing-race-283123
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/race/

Can people of color be racist against white people?:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/01/can-black-people-be-racist/
http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/08/racist-against-white-people/
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/reverse-oppression-cant-exist/

On racism and white privilege:

https://qz.com/257474/what-riding-my-bike-has-taught-me-about-white-privilege/
http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/WhatIsRacism.htm

http://www.timwise.org/f-a-q-s/
http://citizenshipandsocialjustice.com/2015/07/10/curriculum-for-white-americans-to-educate-themselves-on-race-and-racism/
https://www.facebook.com/theLLAG/posts/10206288226299451
http://www.onbeing.org/blog/lori-lakin-hutcherson-what-i-said-when-my-white-friend-asked-for-my-black-opinion-on-white-privilege/8830
https://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/why-i-dont-want-to-talk-about-race/
http://www.intergroupresources.com/rc/primer%20on%20white%20privlege.pdf
http://www.tolerance.org/article/racism-and-white-privilege
http://www.cpt.org/files/Undoing%20Racism%20-%20Understanding%20White%20Privilege%20-%20Kendall.pdf
http://www.racefiles.com/2014/01/08/social-media-anti-racism-101for-white-people/
http://www.dailydot.com/via/clueless-things-white-people-say-racism/
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/what-checking-privilege-means/
http://soaw.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=482
http://www.mintpressnews.com/MyMPN/dear-conservatives-white-supremacy-systemic-racism-are-real/
http://www.timwise.org/f-a-q-s/
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/white-fragility-why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism-twlm/

https://thehumanist.com/commentary/want-to-help-end-systemic-racism-first-step-drop-the-white-guilt

http://collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/What_Is_White_Supremacy_Martinez.pdf

http://www.intergroupresources.com/rc/Definitions%20of%20Racism.pdf

On "Colorblindness"
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/02/colorblindness-adds-to-racism/
https://www.amazon.com/Whitewashing-Race-Myth-Color-Blind-Society/dp/0520244753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478532619&sr=8-1&keywords=whitewashing+race

Ending racism:
http://www.dailydot.com/via/white-people-challenge-racism-online/
http://www.uua.org/multiculturalism/curricula/whiteness/students
http://sociology.about.com/od/Current-Events-in-Sociological-Context/fl/9-Things-You-Can-Do-to-Help-End-Racism.htm
https://compassionateactivism.leadpages.co/healing-whiteness-program/
http://www.cwsworkshop.org/pdfs/CARC/White_Identity/4_Life_Long_Journey.PDF
http://www.blackfeminisms.com/resources/antiracism-syllabus/
http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/Whites_Challenging_Racism__a_study_group__the_syllabus.pdf

 

What to do if you witness a racially motivated attack:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/discrimination/discrimination-because-of-race-religion-or-belief/racially-and-religiously-motivated-attacks/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/13/how-do-i-respond-racial-abuse-public-transport-onlookers-silent

http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/archive/pages/info30.htm

Library:
https://www.amazon.com/Racism-without-Racists-Color-Blind-Persistence/dp/1442220554/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/16-books-about-race-that-every-white-person-should-read_us_565f37e8e4b08e945fedaf49
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/im-not-a-racist-but-lawrence-a-blum/1112051828?ean=9780801488153&pcta=n&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Textbooks_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP163&k_clickid=3x163
http://flanneryogonner.tumblr.com/post/40237682151/free-pdf-books-on-race-gender-sexuality-class
https://www.bustle.com/articles/144531-18-books-every-white-ally-should-read
http://www.read52booksin52weeks.com/2016/01/bw3-martin-luther-king.html
https://www.amazon.com/Dog-Whistle-Politics-Appeals-Reinvented/dp/019022925X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478530958&sr=1-1&keywords=dog+whistle+politics

Children's library:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/22/books/23racebooks.html

Resources for teaching children:
http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/talking_to_our_children/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
https://zinnedproject.org/
http://www.newsweek.com/even-babies-discriminate-nurtureshock-excerpt-79233
http://www.racismnoway.com.au/
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2014/03/teaching_tolerance_how_white_parents_should_talk_to_their_kids_about_race.html
http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/anti-racism-activity-sneetches

early childhood books for diversity

middle school books for diversity

en espanol:

 Movimiento contra la Intolerancia Racismo y Xenofobia

Edited by bibiche
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I thought this NYT list of children's books that tackle race was a solid list.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/22/books/23racebooks.html

 

The one thing I disagreed with on there was that I can't imagine giving an 8 yo American Born Chinese, just because of the way that it plays with stereotypes could be really confusing to a kid who doesn't understand the message there. Gene Luen Yang said he was scared of it ever becoming a movie for some of those reasons. I'd say that one is probably more like 10+ or even 12+. But otherwise, a great, great read.

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In terms of thinking about how to approach race with kids, I feel like that Nurture Shock chapter is a must read:

http://www.newsweek.com/even-babies-discriminate-nurtureshock-excerpt-79233

 

It's older now, but I don't feel like I've read anything quite as neutral and clear in tone that addresses the same issues with the research.

I loved that book, that Chapter especially should be a hand out for all new parents.

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In terms of thinking about how to approach race with kids, I feel like that Nurture Shock chapter is a must read:

http://www.newsweek.com/even-babies-discriminate-nurtureshock-excerpt-79233

 

It's older now, but I don't feel like I've read anything quite as neutral and clear in tone that addresses the same issues with the research.

 

That was really enlightening.  

 

I remember once, several years ago, one of our sons (who was about 5 or 6 at the time, I think?) saw something about an interracial couple getting married on tv.  A white woman and black man, not sure that matters specifically.  My ds said, "They can't do that!" in a sort of surprised but not angry way.  I was SHOCKED.  Where the heck did he get that idea?  That these two people couldn't get married...and we have been friends with at LEAST 4 interracial couples--including dh's best friend!--for this kid's whole life!  I asked him what reason there was for not letting them get married and he had NO idea. Couldn't tell me why he thought that or that he'd heard it anywhere or anything.  I didn't grill him but I wanted him to see the nonsense of the thought process, or lack thereof.  Wow, that was a huge moment for me as a parent.  I'd tried the ol' "not make race a big deal" kind of thing because we were naturally friends with people of other races.  But it does matter...it's figuring out HOW it matters that is both important and hard!  I am still struggling to figure it all out.

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That was really enlightening.  

 

I remember once, several years ago, one of our sons (who was about 5 or 6 at the time, I think?) saw something about an interracial couple getting married on tv.  A white woman and black man, not sure that matters specifically.  My ds said, "They can't do that!" in a sort of surprised but not angry way.  I was SHOCKED.  Where the heck did he get that idea?  That these two people couldn't get married...and we have been friends with at LEAST 4 interracial couples--including dh's best friend!--for this kid's whole life!  I asked him what reason there was for not letting them get married and he had NO idea. Couldn't tell me why he thought that or that he'd heard it anywhere or anything.  I didn't grill him but I wanted him to see the nonsense of the thought process, or lack thereof.  Wow, that was a huge moment for me as a parent.  I'd tried the ol' "not make race a big deal" kind of thing because we were naturally friends with people of other races.  But it does matter...it's figuring out HOW it matters that is both important and hard!  I am still struggling to figure it all out.

 

It was really enlightening when I read it too. It crystalized some things for me... I had been trying to talk about race with my kids when they were really young, but I didn't really know where to go with it or what I wanted to be saying. And I think I was doing some things right - and I was definitely coming from the perspective of having read some things about how basically white people should be willing to struggle through awkward, uncomfortable conversations about race. And I was wanting that to apply to my kids too, but I didn't really do a ton of thinking about it beyond getting multicultural books.

 

And then, in kindergarten, we were with our tiny co-op (just four families) at US History doing a sort of scavenger hunt with questions. And one of the questions was something... I can't quite remember what, but it was like, what's different about the people who are waiting over there - and the difference was that the sculptures of the people on the other side of the line were black - it was depicting a time during segregation in a train station. Anyway, the kids all said very specific things - she's shorter, their clothes are heavier - just random stuff. To the adults, the answer to the question was beyond obvious, but none of the kids named it. And the other parents, who were also white, were *happy* about that. They were like, well okay then, with big grins, let's not tell them. And I remembered being like, huh. I don't feel right about that. It was clearly the will of the rest of the group, so we all moved on, but later I was really bugged by it. And at some point not long after that, I read Nurture Shock and was like, whoa, yes, exactly. That's what was wrong with that moment. And, of course, now, it's several years later and all kinds of things have happened in the history of race in this country and conversations have been had and I feel much, much more confident that it was wrong to walk away from that moment.

 

I've seen some good blog posts about talking to kids about race, but I couldn't find any of the really good ones to add to this list, but to me, as a parent, that's the one thing I feel like I can definitely do. I (probably) can't change most people's opinions or views, but I can totally affect my kids and how they think about racism.

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re aha! moments that reframe perspective on race

 

It was really enlightening when I read it too. It crystalized some things for me... I had been trying to talk about race with my kids when they were really young, but I didn't really know where to go with it or what I wanted to be saying. And I think I was doing some things right - and I was definitely coming from the perspective of having read some things about how basically white people should be willing to struggle through awkward, uncomfortable conversations about race. And I was wanting that to apply to my kids too, but I didn't really do a ton of thinking about it beyond getting multicultural books.

 

And then, in kindergarten, we were with our tiny co-op (just four families) at US History doing a sort of scavenger hunt with questions. And one of the questions was something... I can't quite remember what, but it was like, what's different about the people who are waiting over there - and the difference was that the sculptures of the people on the other side of the line were black - it was depicting a time during segregation in a train station. Anyway, the kids all said very specific things - she's shorter, their clothes are heavier - just random stuff. To the adults, the answer to the question was beyond obvious, but none of the kids named it. And the other parents, who were also white, were *happy* about that. They were like, well okay then, with big grins, let's not tell them. And I remembered being like, huh. I don't feel right about that. It was clearly the will of the rest of the group, so we all moved on, but later I was really bugged by it. And at some point not long after that, I read Nurture Shock and was like, whoa, yes, exactly. That's what was wrong with that moment. And, of course, now, it's several years later and all kinds of things have happened in the history of race in this country and conversations have been had and I feel much, much more confident that it was wrong to walk away from that moment.

 

I've seen some good blog posts about talking to kids about race, but I couldn't find any of the really good ones to add to this list, but to me, as a parent, that's the one thing I feel like I can definitely do. I (probably) can't change most people's opinions or views, but I can totally affect my kids and how they think about racism.

 

I was raised like this -- that to acknowledge race in any form, even when trying to point out a person in a crowd or explain which student in a class we were talking about, was taboo.  My parents talked a fair amount about the civil rights struggle, but the overall frame was something like a redemption story in which social justice had been achieved through the leadership of MLK and others promoting non-violent means; that Jim Crow and other race-based legislation had been properly overturned via the court system; that once the eyes of Good People had been opened public opinion recoiled.  And they held up white allies in this struggle such Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Barbara Henry, and the white Freedom Riders as role models in courage and convictions for me and my brother.

 

They meant well, and were probably better informed about civil rights history than many whites.  But, the presumption of their frame was that this noble struggle had been won and was over.  They believed that passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts and the Brown v BOE decision meant that racism was a historical problem that we had put behind us.  To even notice race in the present was to acknowledge that we did not live in a shimmering ideal world in which people were judged solely by the content of their character, and such an acknowledgment was.... what, exactly?  I don't know, but In trying to describe a black person, I would resort to absurd acrobatic contortions like "you know, the girl who sits next to Laurie, she has curly brown hair..."

 

My aha! moment came in college, where one person at the dinner table said to another, "I don't even notice that you're black; to me you're just a person."

 

And the second person replied, "Then you really don't know me very well.  Because not an hour goes by, without something happening that brings me back to being black.  You don't see that, you don't see me."

 

 

 

... which makes me wonder, bibiche, if perhaps your resource list might also helpfully include some resources specifically on Colorblindness, and how insistence upon it ratifies rather than addresses racism?  Here's an overview article on the subject; I found Lopez' Dog-Whistle Politics extremely helpful in understanding both our history and what it has brought us to; and I just found Whitewashing Race which I've put on my To Read list. 

 

 

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... which makes me wonder, bibiche, if perhaps your resource list might also helpfully include some resources specifically on Colorblindness, and how insistence upon it ratifies rather than addresses racism?  Here's an overview article on the subject; I found Lopez' Dog-Whistle Politics extremely helpful in understanding both our history and what it has brought us to; and I just found Whitewashing Race which I've put on my To Read list. 

 

Absolutely. I think it is probably in there in some of the "white privilege" articles, but judging from other threads and how many white people "don't see color lalalalala," yes, it merits its own section. I will add it.

 

as for the rest of your post, yes, this is the way I was raised as well, so I can relate. 

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Yeah, I was originally a "colorblind" parent.  When DD was small we lived in a very diverse area, and her best little friend was a black girl.  So I thought it would all be taken care of by modeling.  It wasn't.  She made a comment about some kids at kindergarten that she wasn't friends with because they were "brown girls".  Whaa??  Her best friend outside kg was a black girl!  

 

 I think it is done with good intentions most of the time, and may be a huge step up from what some people grew up with, but there have been a lot of studies showing that the colorblind approach doesn't work like people think. 

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My aha! moment came in college, where one person at the dinner table said to another, "I don't even notice that you're black; to me you're just a person."

 

And the second person replied, "Then you really don't know me very well.  Because not an hour goes by, without something happening that brings me back to being black.  You don't see that, you don't see me."

 

 

That's very revealing.  It would be nice to live in a world where color REALLY doesn't matter.  But as long as it still does matter to some people and there are still vestiges of it institutionally, just because it doesn't matter *to you* doesn't solve the problem or acknowledge what people of color are still dealing with.

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That was really enlightening.  

 

I remember once, several years ago, one of our sons (who was about 5 or 6 at the time, I think?) saw something about an interracial couple getting married on tv.  A white woman and black man, not sure that matters specifically.  My ds said, "They can't do that!" in a sort of surprised but not angry way.  I was SHOCKED.  Where the heck did he get that idea?  That these two people couldn't get married...and we have been friends with at LEAST 4 interracial couples--including dh's best friend!--for this kid's whole life!  I asked him what reason there was for not letting them get married and he had NO idea. Couldn't tell me why he thought that or that he'd heard it anywhere or anything.  I didn't grill him but I wanted him to see the nonsense of the thought process, or lack thereof.  Wow, that was a huge moment for me as a parent.  I'd tried the ol' "not make race a big deal" kind of thing because we were naturally friends with people of other races.  But it does matter...it's figuring out HOW it matters that is both important and hard!  I am still struggling to figure it all out.

How far back was this, that your child saw something on TV and that shocked your dad?

 

The Jeffersons had interracial neighbors, Tom and Helen Willis, who were married and this was in 1975.

 

Back in 1951, Lucy had to fight to get Ricky to be her husband on TV, but she won, so interracial marriages were represented even then. 

 

Edited by TranquilMind
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Yeah, I was originally a "colorblind" parent.  When DD was small we lived in a very diverse area, and her best little friend was a black girl.  So I thought it would all be taken care of by modeling.  It wasn't.  She made a comment about some kids at kindergarten that she wasn't friends with because they were "brown girls".  Whaa??  Her best friend outside kg was a black girl!  

 

 I think it is done with good intentions most of the time, and may be a huge step up from what some people grew up with, but there have been a lot of studies showing that the colorblind approach doesn't work like people think. 

It worked in my house.

 

My daughter's first friend was Hispanic and didn't even speak any English yet!  I met her mom (who barely spoke English yet) at a Mom's group and we had a great time and hung out a lot.    It was a little work to be understood but who cares?

 

 

She has had friends of various races her entire life and still does, in her twenties. 

 

One time in high school, she actually approached a person running an in-school fashion show for some event, because it was named "Women of Color" and she wanted to be in it with some friends.  She argued that she was a color too, perhaps a light one, but a woman of color, nevertheless.  A couple others supported her as well, but it was a no-go.  But that's my kid, who rarely goes with the flow (sometimes for good, others for ill). 

 

My other kids have followed suit, though they were home-schooled and in mostly-white co-ops early on, not by design, but simply because we didn't have a lot of other home schoolers yet. That has really changed.

 

All you can really do is what you can do in your realm. 

I think it is kind of ridiculous to claim you don't see color.  Unless you are blind, you do indeed see color, just like you see what color someone's eyes are, or what the person is wearing. 

Edited by TranquilMind
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One time in high school, she actually approached a person running an in-school fashion show for some event, because it was named "Women of Color" and she wanted to be in it with some friends.  She argued that she was a color too, perhaps a light one, but a woman of color, nevertheless.  A couple others supported her as well, but it was a no-go.  But that's my kid, who rarely goes with the flow (sometimes for good, others for ill). 

 

 

Don't you think that's an example though, of not really getting that women of color are excluded a majority of the time from certain things like fashion shows?

 

I get that your daughter meant well.

 

ETA, sometimes I think that because *we* don't feel overtly racist feelings ourselves, it is easy not to recognize the very real struggles that are still going on.

Edited by goldberry
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Don't you think that's an example though, of not really getting that women of color are excluded a majority of the time from certain things like fashion shows?

 

I get that your daughter meant well.

 

She did mean well, and so did her friends. 

 

Anyway, she was excluded.  But they wanted to address the issue anyway.    They saw the world differently at 14 or 15, and refused to accept the inequity that the older people keep telling them exists.  I think that is a good thing.  They are different in that way.  They were unwilling to accept a show that had only dark-skinned people in it, and they also questioned just who that excluded, as some students were extremely light skinned but still identified as black people.

 

To them, this was just their friend and they wanted her to be in the show too.

 

Edited by TranquilMind
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TM, maybe you start a new thread if you want to discuss personal anecdotes about reverse racism and colorblindness.  I really would prefer to keep this as mainly a resource thread, and I am afraid that if we start arguing about the research that this thread will get derailed/deleted.  Thanks. :)

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TM, maybe you start a new thread if you want to discuss personal anecdotes about reverse racism and colorblindness.  I really would prefer to keep this as mainly a resource thread, and I am afraid that if we start arguing about the research that this thread will get derailed/deleted.  Thanks. :)

 

Sorry.  I merely responded to someone else's response before me, who mentioned a TV show where her father was shocked at an interracial marriage, and her son was there too. 

 

I was curious as to how far back this must have been. 

 

Will drop it or start another thread.

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TM, it sounds like your daughter and friends were, in fact, talking about race and in so doing acknowledging its existence.  Taking part in the conversation, rather than its suppression.  It's a complicated conversation with more than two "sides," so I agree that it can take us to some pretty disorienting places.  

 

But your daughter's recognition that White is also a Race is not the pure and IMO most pernicious form of Colorblind Doctrine, which insists that any acknowledgment of race is racism simultaneously to holding whiteness as an unexamined "default" for the human condition. It may be a variant of the doctrine (or possibly it may be disingenuous), but it also could be a good faith adolescent effort to thread the needle and deconstruct what whiteness actually means.  The latter is important work.  My daughter at NYU is taking a BLM class this semester and that is much of her own focus as she goes through it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ETA sorry, I was posting simultaneous to bibiche and you.  Carry on with a new thread or PM if you care to continue!

Edited by Pam in CT
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Sorry.  I merely responded to someone else's response before me, who mentioned a TV show where her father was shocked at an interracial marriage, and her son was there too. 

 

I was curious as to how far back this must have been. 

 

Will drop it or start another thread.

 

Did I mention my dad in my post? It was just my son...

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I followed links from the other thread on racism to this:

 

https://thehumanist.com/commentary/want-to-help-end-systemic-racism-first-step-drop-the-white-guilt

 

and through that article to this:

 

http://collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/What_Is_White_Supremacy_Martinez.pdf

 

both of which I found helpful. Thank you for all your posts on this, bibiche. Before reading through these threads I did not completely understand what was meant by racism, as I was confusing the term with racial prejudice. I think that a lot of communication breakdowns must occur over this point, as many people I know are making the same mistake.

 

(edited for clarity)

Edited by quercia
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quercia, thank you. I will add the links.  And I am glad that reading through some of the resources has been helpful. I agree that sometimes the terminology is confusing.  Hopefully, the more people talk about it, the clearer it will become and progress will be made. :) 

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Additional outstanding children's books to consider:

 

Picture books:

The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss

All of the Colors of the Earth

Life on a Southern Plantation

 

Older kids:

Amos Fortune, Free Man

Project Mulberry

Amistad

 

our personal favorites

 

Beverly Naidu- Journey to Jo'burg, chain of fire.- South African apartheid context

 

Jaqueline Woodson- Brown girl dreaming- set in the 1960s..

 

 

ETA: On our to-read list, specific to the Indian context of casteism.

 

Jhoothan- Om Prakash Valmiki, a Dalit writer.

Father may be an elephant and mother only a small basket, but...- Gogu Shyamala

Edited by Ebunny
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