Structural Racism
More than any other country, America defines itself by a collective dream: the dream of economic opportunity and upward mobility. Its proudest boast is that it offers a chance of the good life to everybody who is willing to work hard and play by the rules.
How to Show Up
- Understand that White is the “default setting” for race in the US. Structural racism is the system for allocating social privilege.
- Acknowledge that Black people and White people who earn the same salary today have significantly different wealth levels. By acknowledging this truth, you can understand the personal and the system.
- Define where you stand. Explore where your organization lands for each component: diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Getting Started
There’s a lot to learn! Here are 4 resources you can use to start your journey. Browse even more resources below.
- Read: Structural Racism and Community Building
- Watch: I Am Not Your Negro or 13th
- For Directors: Ensure your board and senior leadership understand structural racism.
- For Direct Service: Infuse data about structural racism in your community programming.
More Resources
Urban Neighborhoods, Once Distinct by Race and Class, Are Blurring (CityLab, 2019) America’s cities have changed considerably over the past half-century, in ways that challenge and confound our theories for understanding them.
The West Was Built on Racism. It’s Time We Faced That (The Guardian, 2017) Dead white men are revered by many as responsible for the advancement of civilization, says sociology professor Kehinde Andrews. But, he argues, this so-called progress came at the expense of millions of people of colour. Global inequality is not an accident, he argues – it is designed to keep the hierarchy of race intact
The Racial Politics of Time (TED, 2016) Cultural theorist Dr. Brittney Cooper examines racism through the lens of time, showing us how historically it has been stolen from people of color, resulting in lost moments of joy and connection, lost years of healthy quality of life and the delay of progress.
1667: The Year America was Divided by Race (Geneology Adventures, 2016) There was a time in this country’s history when black and white were united. Okay, to be precise, I’m going to have to come clean. I’m talking about poor whites: indentured European immigrants and European immigrants who had finished their term of servitude. I am also talking about free people of color and enslaved people of color.
The Birth of Race-Based Slavery (Slate.com, 2015) During the second half of the 17th century, a terrible transformation, the enslavement of people solely on the basis of race, occurred in the lives of African Americans living in North America
A History of Racial Injustice: An Interactive Timeline (The Equal Justice Initiative) EJI designed A History of Racial Injustice as a set of tools for learning more about people and events in American history that are critically important but not well known. This digital experience highlights events on this day in history with rich detail and intuitive sharing features, and our award-winning wall calendar is a tactile resource for display in classrooms, community centers, offices, and homes.
We Need to Talk About Injustice (TED, 2012) Human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America’s justice system, starting with a massive imbalance along racial lines: a third of the country’s black male population has been incarcerated at some point in their lives. These issues, which are wrapped up in America’s unexamined history, are rarely talked about with this level of candor, insight and persuasiveness.
Historical Racism Resources after the Charleston Shooting (African American Intellectual Historical Society, 2016) Here is a list of readings that educators can use to broach conversations in the classroom about the horrendous events that unfolded in Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17, 2015. These readings provide valuable information about the history of racial violence in this country and contextualize the history of race relations in South Carolina and the United States in general.
Stanley Nelson—Story of Access (Starbucks, 2018) This short film by Stanley Nelson explores the impact of bias within public accommodations as well as the possibilities for a better future.
Watch: Explained | Racial Wealth Gap
Watch: Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow
Download Structural Racism Glossary
Download Structural Racism and Community Building
