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Traits include:

Identifying historical and contemporary forms of racial discrimination and its impacts on people and society.
Acknowledging personal biases and the ways in which they contribute to systemic racism.
Recognizing the role of power, privilege, and biases in the perpetuation of racial disparities and inequalities
Understanding the intersectionality of race with other forms of identity and oppression.

Reflection Exercises:

Reflecting on Recognizing Racial Oppression

Defining Narratives - What resources (activities, articles, books, historical/contemporary events, images, infographics, personal experiences, quotes, videos, websites, etc.) have you found most impactful in developing your dispositions, knowledge, awareness, skills—i.e., your consciousness—to recognize racial oppression?

What key insights or lessons have you gained from these resources?

Visualizing Opportunities - What areas of opportunity do you envision yourself recognizing racial oppression personally?

What areas of opportunity do you envision yourself recognizing racial oppression with your communities of influence (familial, organizational, municipal, social, etc.)?

Cultivating Commitments - What consciousness development techniques and strategies can you cultivate personally to recognize racial oppression?

What consciousness development techniques and strategies can you cultivate collectively with your communities of influence to recognize racial oppression?

Reflection Resources:

Social Identities And Systems Of Oppression
The Four "I's" of Oppression Download The Four "I's" of Oppression
Five Faces of Oppression - Young
There Is No Hierarchy of Oppression.pdf
The Language of White Supremacy Download The Language of White Supremacy
Implicit Bias and Structural Inequity Download Implicit Bias and Structural Inequity
Types Of Racial Inequity
Racelighting: Three Common Strategies Racelighters Use
10 Examples That Prove White Privilege Exists in Every Aspect Imaginable
Racism In America: A Reader Download Racism In America: A Reader
Structural Racism In AmericaLinks to an external site.
Breaking The Cycle of Oppression
Rare Audio of Enslaved People Connects History to the Present
How Redlining Shaped Black America As We Know It | Unpack That
How Redlining Prevented Black and Brown Families from Becoming Homeowners

Suggested Viewing:

How Structural Racism Works

This edited version of the original 2015 lecture at Brown University captures all the key points from Professor Rose's research on structural racism. The video features new graphics illustrating the 5 key areas in society where racism is dynamic and consequential.

Tricia Rose, Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America and Chancellor's Professor of Africana Studies, Brown University

Ibram X. Kendi, "Stamped From The Beginning"

Kendi’s National Book Award-winning study argues that racism in America has grown from deliberate policies rather than from emotional responses like fear or hatred. Starting with the Puritans, Kendi traces the development of racist ideas and their effect on racist practices through the lives of five thinkers, discussing Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Angela Davis. Within these profiles, Kendi, professor of history and international studies at American University, identifies three strains of thought about race: segregation, antiracism, and assimilation; outlines their differences, and points to how each can be discredited in order to free the nation for the post-racial era it has long yearned for. Kendi is in conversation with Wesley Lowery, a national correspondent for The Washington Post and author of They Can't Kill Us All.

bell hooks on interlocking systems of domination

bell hooks explains how white supremacy, imperialism, capitalism, and patriarchy are interlocking systems of domination that define our reality.

Community Reflections On The Cycle Of Oppression

In efforts to cultivate a diverse, collaborative community of students and adults that is rooted in empathy, equity, respect, humility, and accountability, members of the Lick-Wilmerding High School community reflect on the systemic impacts of structural oppression and its personal impact on their lives.

Why Does Privilege Make People So Angry?

We all have privilege in some way, and it’s not always an easy thing for people to come to terms with. However, pointing out someone’s privilege shouldn’t be a personal attack. Discussing privilege isn’t about blame; it’s about raising awareness of the inequalities that exist in today’s society. Realizing how we might be treating certain groups of people unfairly is the first step to changing the situation, and becoming true equals!

How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion

Peggy McIntosh lectures on issues of equity and privilege as they relate to race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Her TED Talk offers a shift in the traditional view of race, equity and privilege. McIntosh uses her own experience as a white woman to inform her own knowledge of racial experiences from a white perspective.

The urgency of intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw

Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both. In this moving talk, she calls on us to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice.

Inside the memorial to victims of lynching

In 2018, 60 Minutes contributor Oprah Winfrey reported from Alabama on a memorial that honors more than 4,000 victims of lynching in America.

We need to talk about an injustice | Bryan Stevenson

In an engaging and personal talk -- with cameo appearances from his grandmother and Rosa Parks -- 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.

Dog Whistle Politics: Ian Haney López at TEDxUOregon

Race. Racism. Politics. Critical race theory. Constitutional law. Professor Ian Haney-López is the John H. Boalt Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, where he teaches in the areas of race and constitutional law. He has a BA, an MA (Washington University), an MPA, (Princeton), and a law degree (Harvard.) Time: 18:14

Eric Liu: Why ordinary people need to understand power

Far too many Americans are illiterate in power — what it is, how it operates and why some people have it. As a result, those few who do understand power wield disproportionate influence over everyone else. “We need to make civics sexy again,” says civics educator Eric Liu. “As sexy as it was during the American Revolution or the Civil Rights Movement.” Time: 17:19

Suggested Reading:

So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo

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Tacit Racism by Anne Warfield Rawls; Waverly Duck

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Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class by Ian Haney López

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Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

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Additional University Resources

America’s Persistent Pandemic—Racism: How to Foster Antiracist Practices and Create a Culture of Inclusion, Equity and Justice featuring Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (July 29, 2020)Links to an external site.

A Conversation Too Long Ignored: How COVID-19, Xenophobia and Systemic Racism Disenfranchise the Marginalized Communities of Pittsburgh (July 29, 2020)

Oppressive Systems (July 29, 2020)

Reflection Questions:

What is your understanding of racism and its impact on marginalized communities?
Why is the notion of “colorblindness” problematic?

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