Day 3: Anti-Racism

OPTION 1: Watch this video that explains that, while race and racism have a real and significant impact on our lives, race is a social construct and one that has changed over time. None of the broad categories that come to mind when we talk about race can capture an individual’s unique story. For more information, read this article on how science and genetics are reshaping our understanding of race. 

OPTION 2: Watch this video about the difference between being non-racist and anti-racist. This 21 Day Challenge will encourage you and give you tools to be an anti-racist because it doesn’t require that you always know the right thing to say or do in any given situation. It asks that you take action and work against racism wherever you find it including, and perhaps most especially, in yourself.

OPTION 3: Common Racist Attitudes. Review this list of 28 common racist attitudes and behaviors that indicate a detour or wrong turn into white guilt, denial, or defensiveness. 

OTHER RESOURCES

  • Jay Smooth: "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race"

  • Allegories on Race. Watch Dr. Jones' TED talk on the "Allegories on Race and Racism" where she shares four short stories to help us understand privilege and racism

  • Systemic Racism. Check out this short video from Race Forward about the levels and the importance of looking at systemic, not simply individual, racism

  • Racist or Antiracist. Listen to Ibram X. Kendi's interview with CBC Radio-Canada on his view on how we are either being racist or antiracist, there is no middle ground. Listen to the whole interview (51mins19s) or the portion on his understanding of race, harboring racist ideas and challenging racist assumptions (20mins34s).

Day 6: Race & Equity

OPTION 1: Read this Pew Research article about how the census was historically used as a tool to silence people of color. You’ll also learn how certain tactics continue today and why the debate over adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census may depress engagement from the Latinx community.

OPTION 2: Read What is Racial Equity article from the Center for Social Inclusion

Day 7: Redlining

OPTION 2: Read this article about how freeways created community displacement in Los Angeles.  

OPTION 3: Read this article about the history of redlining, restrictive covenants, and other housing discrimination in San Mateo, Hillsdale, and other Peninsula communities, written by Richard Rothstein, author of Color of the Law.

OTHER RESOURCES

Day 10: School Inequality

OPTION 3: As the child population becomes “majority-minority,” racial segregation remains high, income segregation among families with children increases, and the political and policy landscape undergoes momentous change. Check out this study on the consequences of segregation for children’s opportunity and well-being.

OTHER RESOURCES