White Privilege, White Supremacy, and Racial Justice Resources
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I have recently been working on learning more about racial justice issues, and I wanted to share some of the most helpful resources I have found. It was very humbling to discover how little I knew about the beginnings of our country. There is a world of information and facts I didn't know about the inherent racism that exists and is at the core of virtually every institution in our country.
I invite you to check out some of these resources. You will begin to see how deeply embedded white supremacy is in our culture. I think it will open your eyes to how we got here but also what we can begin to do to change it. Since awareness is the most powerful agent of change, let’s all of us become more informed.
Resources
These videos and books are very powerful and well worth your time.
General Resources
RACE: The Power of an Illusion - (Part 1 and 2) Video available for digital streaming for more information click here.
RACE: The Power of an Illusion: The House We Live In - (Part 3) Video available for digital steaming for more information click here. Please do your best to access it; it is superb.
Frank Ford’s presentation at CSU on Bank Loans by 3 banks with CBAs - Video, watch from 10:50 to 13:10 and 16:00 to 29:40.
The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States - Video, Jeff Robinson, ACLU
Tim Wise - Video
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein - Book for in-depth study
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi - Book
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo - Book
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad - Book
Resources on Race and Health Care
Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington - Interview: (16 min.)
Dorothy Roberts: The problem with race-based medicine | TED Talk - Race-based medicine is bad medicine. (14 min.)
Just Medicine by Dayna Bowen Matthew - Mathew believes that racism, not race, is the source of racial health disparities. She also advocates for medical-legal partnerships.
Black Man in a White Coat by Damon Tweedy - PBS interview, a personal account of his journey.
Resources on Reparation
William "Sandy" Darity: A blueprint for reparations in the US | TED Talk (36 min.)
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic The link offers an audible option. (88 min.)
Toolkit: Reparations-Now-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf - Google Drive Very long and comprehensive.
Actions You Can Take for Racial Justice
MAKE CULTURAL CONTACT
Attend an introductory session about Open Table If one exists in your community.
Attend an event at a local African American Museum.
Participate in a local underground railroad experience.
Attend a performance at a local theater featuring Black actors or plays.
Attend a local Black or integrated high school football or basketball game.
Attend a worship service at a local predominantly Black church.
Notice the skin color of Jesus as portrayed in pictures in your church.
Find where to go to buy fresh produce in a local low-income neighborhood.
Listen to a local R and B station (Music plus DJ commentaries, ads, etc.)
Listen to the lyrics of rap songs.
Subscribe to Jet or Essence Magazine.
Attend a gospel choir performance.
Note if your child’s or grandchild’s books are written by or feature people of color.
Place a “Black Lives Matter" sign on your lawn or in your car.
Identify three things you can do in your own community to improve race relations.
Take the Intercultural Development Inventory.
Identify an advocacy group supporting urban public education.
Drive through a low-income neighborhood and notice what strikes you the most.
Be able to explain the difference between Black Lives Matter and Blue (or “All”) Lives Matter.
JOIN / ENGAGE
Join the NAACP.
Join a “White Privilege” discussion group in your church or neighborhood.
Join a demonstration for a racial justice issue.
Join actions sponsored by Showing Up for Racial Justice.
Take Diversity Training via REI (Racial Equity & Inclusion).
Volunteer with CASA/GAL(Court Appointed Special Advocate/ Guardian ad litem).
Write a letter to your local newspaper on a racial justice issue.
Support drug rehab diversion programs for those released from prison.
Tutor at a predominately Black school.
Visit a prison/jail with a person who goes there regularly.
Volunteer at a pre-release center.
Attend an online event at the Social Justice Center at Case Western Reserve University.
Volunteer at a local church that serves POC.
Observe in family court or juvenile court for 2 hours. What feelings come up for you?
Audition to perform with a Gospel Choir.
Talk to a middle/high school teacher in an inner-city school about their experiences.
Don’t be silent about that racist joke. Silence is support.
Advocate for an end to the death penalty and an end to life-in-prison for children <18.
Advocate for improvements in your local or county jail.
Have a conversation with a close friend (White or Black) about what ‘taking a knee’ means.
Advocate for children <18 accused of crimes to be tried in juvenile court.
Put yourself in situations where your whiteness makes you a minority.
Reflect on how your profession/associations impact minorities and take action to improve.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Arrange interracial playdates for your children or grandchildren.
Invite Black friends for a meal or social activity.
Correspond with a prisoner of color.
Volunteer at Boys/Girls Club.
Join a ‘community at Open Table.
TAKE POLITICAL ACTION
Vote in state and local elections and on legislation.
Advocate for change in local regulations and policies (e.g., jail and bail policies, drug treatment, etc.)
OFFER ECONOMIC SUPPORT
Patronize minority-owned businesses/restaurants.
Support bail reform by donating to The Bail Project.
Donate to organizations whose mission and values reflect a commitment to racial justice.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR CHURCH/CIVIC ORGANIZATION
Where do you do your banking?
If you have had any construction or repair work done on the property, find out what you can about the construction firm you hired to do the work, the architectural firm, and any of the subcontractors used. Who does your landscaping?
Where do you buy your office supplies—things like toner, paper, pens, bulletins, copiers, phones, etc.?
What catering businesses do you use?
Whom do you employ to do maintenance or cleaning in the building?
Whom do you hire to work in your nursery?
Poem
Inaugural Dissonance
Thomas Jefferson pens the Declaration
in Philadelphia July 1775;
his sweating right hand clutching the goose quill
as his words condense to:
“we hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created equal.”
He dreams south to Monticello
where his wife plays her spinet in a drawing room
while he looks through an open doorway
at the blue undulations of the Shenandoahs.
He could not hear the woe of his slaves
singing among the tobacco plants
or the native peoples in the west
whom he would exile
from their ancestral lands.
He could not see beyond
to the working men submerged in drink
on the barge floating Ohio
or the vagabond roads of Whitman.
He would never witness
the fraternal slaughter
of the War between the States.
He could only envision freedom
for white men who owned property
and could never imagine Charlie Parker’s
be-bop that baptized dark children
of Manhattan or the boundless spirit
reverberating through Jimi Hendrix’s guitar
as he played the National Anthem.
— John Gorski, 2021