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Module Objectives:

Examine the intersections of race and inequity
Develop and deploy practices and policies that aim to cultivate racial equity
Establish norms and strategies for ongoing racial equity consciousness development

Reflection Exercises:

Reflecting on Gauging Racial Inequities

Defining Narratives – What does gauging racial inequities mean to you?
1. Cite specific resources (activities, articles, books, historical/contemporary events, images, infographics, personal experiences, quotes, videos, social media, etc.) that help you best articulate your consciousness (dispositions + knowledge + awareness + skills) toward gauging racial inequities.
2. What key insights or lessons have you gained from these resources?
Visualizing Opportunities - How do you see yourself gauging racial inequities?
1. What areas of opportunity can you engage personally to gauge racial inequities?
2. What areas of opportunity can you engage with your communities of influence (familial, organizational, professional, residential, social, spiritual, etc.) to gauge racial inequities?
Cultivating Commitments - How can you develop your consciousness to gauge racial inequities?
1. What consciousness development techniques and strategies can you cultivate personally to gauge racial inequities?
2. What consciousness development techniques and strategies can you cultivate collectively with your communities of influence to gauge racial inequities?

Reflecting on Championing Racial Justice

Defining Narratives – What does championing racial justice mean to you?
1. Cite specific resources (activities, articles, books, historical/contemporary events, images, infographics, personal experiences, quotes, videos, social media, etc.) that help you best articulate your consciousness (dispositions + knowledge + awareness + skills) toward championing racial justice.
2. What key insights or lessons have you gained from these resources?
Visualizing Opportunities - How do you see yourself championing racial justice?
1. What areas of opportunity can you engage personally to champion racial justice?
2. What areas of opportunity can you engage with your communities of influence (familial, organizational, professional, residential, social, spiritual, etc.) to champion racial justice?
Cultivating Commitments - How can you develop your consciousness to champion racial justice?
1. What consciousness development techniques and strategies can you cultivate personally to champion racial justice?
2. What consciousness development techniques and strategies can you cultivate collectively with your communities of influence to champion racial justice?

Reflection Resources:

Suggested Viewing:

Let's get to the root of racial injustice

In this inspiring and powerful talk, Megan Francis traces the root causes of our current racial climate to their core causes, debunking common misconceptions and calling out "fix-all" cures to a complex social problem

Megan Ming Francis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington where she specializes in the study of American politics, race, and the development of constitutional law. She is particularly interested in the construction of rights and citizenship, black political activism, and the post-civil war South. Born and raised in Seattle, WA, she was educated at Garfield High School, Rice University in Houston, and Princeton University where she received her M.A. and her Ph.D. in Politics.

In her award-winning book, Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State, shows that the battle against lynching and mob violence in the first quarter of the 20th century were pivotal to the development of civil rights and the growth of federal court power. She is inspired by people who fight for justice–even when the end appears nowhere in sight.

Housing Segregation and Redlining in America: A Short History | Code Switch | NPR

In 1968, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act that made it illegal to discriminate in housing. Gene Demby of NPR’s Code Switch explains why neighborhoods are still so segregated today. Time 06:36

Martin Luther King: How White People Got Their Land and Wealth

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King talks about acts of Congress that provided distinct economic opportunities to white people.

Explained | Racial Wealth Gap

In partnership with Vox Media Studios and Vox, this enlightening explainer series will take viewers deep inside a wide range of culturally relevant topics, questions, and ideas. Each episode will explore current events and social trends pulled from the zeitgeist, touching topics across politics, science, history and pop culture -- featuring interviews with some of the most authoritative experts in their respective fields.

In this episode: Cory Booker and others discuss how slavery, housing discrimination, and centuries of inequality have compounded to create a racial wealth gap. Time: 16:12

Poverty, Politics, and Profit | FRONTLINE

FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the billions spent on affordable housing, and why so few get the help they need. In a nine-month investigation that takes FRONTLINE and NPR from Dallas to Miami, NPR’s Laura Sullivan and FRONTLINE’s Rick Young find that just one in four households eligible for Section 8 assistance are getting it, and the nation’s signature low-income housing construction program is costing more and producing less. The team investigates the inseparability of race and housing programs in America, tracing a legacy of segregation and discrimination that began more than 80 years ago. Time: 53:16

Racial Segregation and Concentrated Poverty: The History of Housing in Black America

On Jan. 26, 2021, President Joe Biden signed four executive orders designed to address racial equity in the United States. With one particular action Biden hopes to right the historical wrongs Black folks have faced when it comes to housing and homeownership in this country.

Per a White House statement, “He will direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to take steps necessary to redress racially discriminatory federal housing policies that have contributed to wealth inequality for generations.”

And that’s why the story of what housing and other living conditions look like for many Black Americans is pretty bleak. It’s by design.

We Must Talk About Race To Fix Economic Inequality

Demos President Heather McGhee and UC Berkeley Law Professor and author of Dog Whistle Politics Ian Haney López tell the story of how racism fuels economic inequality and what we can do about.

My black year: Maggie Anderson at TEDxGrandRapids

Margarita Anderson and her family were featured in national headlines as they lived exclusively off Black businesses, professionals and products for an entire year. Her stand, chronicled in her book, "Our Black Year," was called The Empowerment Experiment. Now, she tours the country to increase awareness about economic inequalities that starve Black neighborhoods and deny Black businesses, and how proactive support of these businesses can create jobs and curb crime in America.

The path to building an anti-racist workplace

Susan Long-Walsh knows we all have a role in changing how we think and subsequently act, concerning how we care for, treat, and include one another in life, especially in the workplace. She's built her career accessing and improving organizations' cultures, and she continues to tackle race in the workplace head-on.

In this 2020 TEDxSeattle talk, Long-Walsh passionately advocates for less corporate lip service, and she presents an action-based tool to take people from nice words to real measured changes that hold them accountable.

John Lewis remembered

Democrats remembered the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. in a tribute on the final night of the Democratic National Convention Aug. 20. Lewis, who recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, was a civil rights icon who fought for racial justice throughout his life. The tribute to Lewis was followed by a performance of “Glory” by singer John Legend and rapper Common. The coronavirus pandemic upended both parties’ traditional conventions. Instead of in-person. events, the DNC program each night features a number of speakers and musical performances virtually across the country.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - I've Been To The Mountaintop!

'"I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of the last speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr.

King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee. On the following day, King was assassinated.

The speech primarily concerns the Memphis sanitation strike. King calls for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent protest, while challenging the United States to live up to its ideals.'

Suggested Reading:

This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell; Aurelia Durand (illustrator)

This book is written for EVERYONE who lives in this racialized society--including the young person who doesn't know how to speak up to the racist adults in their life, the kid who has lost themself at times trying to fit into the dominant culture, the children who have been harmed (physically and emotionally) because no one stood up for them or they couldn't stand up for themselves, and also for their families, teachers, and administrators. With this book, be empowered to actively defy racism and xenophobia to create a community (large and small) that truly honors everyone.
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad; Robin DiAngelo (foreword by)

Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey, complete with journal prompts, to do the necessary and vital work that can ultimately lead to improving race relations. Updated and expanded from the original workbook (downloaded by nearly 100,000 people), this critical text helps readers take the work deeper by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and including expanded definitions, examples, and further resources, giving readers the language to understand racism, and to dismantle their own biases.
How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice by Jemar Tisby

How to Fight Racism is a handbook for pursuing racial justice with hands-on suggestions bolstered by real-world examples of change. Jemar Tisby offers an array of actionable items to confront racism in our relationships and in everyday life through a simple framework--the A.R.C. of Racial Justice--that helps readers consistently interrogate their own actions and maintain a consistent posture of anti-racist action. Tisby roots the ultimate solution to racism in the Christian faith as we embrace the implications of what Jesus taught his followers. Readers of the book will come away with a clear model for how to think about race in productive ways and a compelling call to dismantle a social hierarchy long stratified by skin color.

Suggested Websites to Review:

Additional University Resources