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Books for all grade levels: pre-K to adults

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This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books. Here we are sharing with you the first 700 book titles. We have not yet catalogued all the books. As a small organization with only two full-time staff, our resources are limited. Beginning in April, each month we will provide you with updates of new book titles.

This resource includes words of welcome from Marley Dias, Creator of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. It also includes comments from Dr. Lauren Wells, Chief Education Officer, City of Newark who offers us tips on how we can foster and promote reading and literacy among our children.

As the President and Co-Founder of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have added a few words and call to action to the guide. My charge to parents and caregivers is a simple one: listen to your children, encourage them as well as promote their reading and literacy skills. Reading is a pathway to freedom and liberty. As caregivers it is our responsibility to develop the imagination of children so that they can dream, create and structure opportunities for freedom and equity.

We have reviewed the titles and descriptions of books to ensure that they fit the criterion of having a black girl as the main characters. We have also catalogued the books by reading level. This time-consuming task would not be possible without your financial donation to hire some interim part-time staff. We could not do it without all of you who donated, our volunteers and the librarians from West Orange Public Library.

Each month we will update the list and continue to serve as an information repository for Black Girl Books.

If you know of a black girl book, not listed here, please send us a copy so we can add it to our collection. We would like to see this list grow. Our address is:

GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street
Suite 323
West Orange, NJ 07052

Financial donations are always welcomed. All donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you.

Welcome to the #1000blackgirlbooks Resource Guide. I started this campaign because I wanted to read more books where black girls are the main characters. With your help we have collected over 11,000 books; many of them are have the same title, but we do have lots of unique ones as well. This guide includes 1000 of those books and more is coming.

Love,

Marley Dias
Founder
#1000BlackGirlBooks

Sadly, in today's society we often lack the imagination to deal with some of the most deeply rooted social issues. Family and work obligations as well as our biases can stunt our imaginations; however, as adults it is our charge to foster the imagination of our youth. Marley Dias has an active sociological imagination. She imagined a world where black girls are the main, not minor, characters in children's books. She thought she was dealing with a personal matter, but she quickly learned from the outpouring response from the public that her personal problem is in fact an engrained social issue. Children's literature in the United States and abroad is homogeneous and exclusionary. Black girls are underrepresented and in many cases missing. Girls of color are almost completely absent relative to the majority culture.

As caregivers of children we must nurture our children's imaginations and equip them with the resources so they can be emboldened to act. The GrassROOTS Community Foundation through Super Camp enhances girls' sociological imagination and teaches them confidence grounded in the knowledge of history and self-hood so that they feel confident enough to feel like they can create change in their communities. Each year GrassROOTS encourages girls to develop a social action project. We choose the words social and action carefully. We want our children to understand themselves as social actors, connected to the world. In addition, we teach our girls that to achieve justice they must ACT. The #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign is Marley's 2015 social action project. As Marley's mom and the President of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have learned first hand what can happen when we foster and promote children's love of reading, educate them about their community, and their desire to create social change as well as fan the flames of their sociological imaginations.

Dr. Janice Johnson Dias
President & Co-Founder
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
#investingirls

A love of reading is the most important legacy we can offer to our children and our students. Reading opens windows to new ideas, peoples, places, and experiences. Reading also provides mirrors for students to see themselves and their lives reflected in the characters they meet in books. Reading builds vocabulary and background knowledge, empowering children with the tools needed to express themselves and think about the world around them. Nurturing joyful reading in children primes their brains for lifelong learning and develops important social emotional skills like stamina, reflection, and empathy. As we build readers, we must make reading pleasurable and help children understand that reading is a skill that builds over time.

Here are a few tips for parents and educators to create environments that invite children to confidently embrace and fall in love with stories and books.

Tips for parents:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your child, with your child, or in front your child every day.

Immerse your child in books. Transform your entire home into a reading zone by placing books in every room.

Affirm your child's culture, language, and race by choosing books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their background.

Awaken your child to new ideas, places, people, or experiences in books and stories by asking them questions and always answering the question they have.

Empower your child by allowing them to choose books to read, whether based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your child by always leaving home with books. When your child gets older ask them if they have a book before leaving for school, the doctor, or a long ride.

Cultivate your child's use of language and words. Talk with your child about what is happening in their lives and the world around them.

Build your child's ability to make connections. When you watch television or movies, make connections to characters or ideas in books you have read together.

Expand your child's reading beyond fiction. Children have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. It's never too early to expose them to historical fiction or non-fiction books.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Tips for educators:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your students, with your students, or in front your students every day.

Immerse school culture in talk about books. Book talks over the intercom, book clubs, social media chats, and school-wide read alouds are a few ways to do this.

Affirm your students' culture, language, and race by integrating books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their backgrounds into the curriculum.

Awaken students as participants in their own learning by having them create reading goals for themselves, for example, minutes of reading, chapters read, and reading new genres.

Empower students by allowing them to choose books based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your students with the power of their own language and stories by providing them with multiple ways to make personal connections to the texts they read.

Cultivate independent reading by creating comfortable reading spaces throughout schools. Classrooms, cafeterias, libraries, and cozy nooks in hallways are all fair game.

Build classroom libraries of interesting, appropriate, and relevant fiction and non-fiction texts.

Expand your reading beyond fiction. Students have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. Use historical fiction or non-fiction books as tools to capture this interest.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Dr. Lauren Wells
Chief Education Officer
City of Newark

Donations are the heart of the campaign. Because we value reciprocity, we donate the books we receive to schools and community members who need them. Children deserve to have windows and mirrors to the world. Please complete the form below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books.

# data[].attributes.body
Books for all grade levels: pre-K to adults!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books. Here we are sharing with you the first 700 book titles. We have not yet catalogued all the books. As a small organization with only two full-time staff, our resources are limited. Beginning in April, each month we will provide you with updates of new book titles.

This resource includes words of welcome from Marley Dias, Creator of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. It also includes comments from Dr. Lauren Wells, Chief Education Officer, City of Newark who offers us tips on how we can foster and promote reading and literacy among our children.

As the President and Co-Founder of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have added a few words and call to action to the guide. My charge to parents and caregivers is a simple one: listen to your children, encourage them as well as promote their reading and literacy skills. Reading is a pathway to freedom and liberty. As caregivers it is our responsibility to develop the imagination of children so that they can dream, create and structure opportunities for freedom and equity.

We have reviewed the titles and descriptions of books to ensure that they fit the criterion of having a black girl as the main characters. We have also catalogued the books by reading level. This time-consuming task would not be possible without your financial donation to hire some interim part-time staff. We could not do it without all of you who donated, our volunteers and the librarians from West Orange Public Library.

Each month we will update the list and continue to serve as an information repository for Black Girl Books.

If you know of a black girl book, not listed here, please send us a copy so we can add it to our collection. We would like to see this list grow. Our address is:

GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street
Suite 323
West Orange, NJ 07052

Financial donations are always welcomed. All donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you.

Welcome to the #1000blackgirlbooks Resource Guide. I started this campaign because I wanted to read more books where black girls are the main characters. With your help we have collected over 11,000 books; many of them are have the same title, but we do have lots of unique ones as well. This guide includes 1000 of those books and more is coming.

Love,

Marley Dias
Founder
#1000BlackGirlBooks

Sadly, in today's society we often lack the imagination to deal with some of the most deeply rooted social issues. Family and work obligations as well as our biases can stunt our imaginations; however, as adults it is our charge to foster the imagination of our youth. Marley Dias has an active sociological imagination. She imagined a world where black girls are the main, not minor, characters in children's books. She thought she was dealing with a personal matter, but she quickly learned from the outpouring response from the public that her personal problem is in fact an engrained social issue. Children's literature in the United States and abroad is homogeneous and exclusionary. Black girls are underrepresented and in many cases missing. Girls of color are almost completely absent relative to the majority culture.

As caregivers of children we must nurture our children's imaginations and equip them with the resources so they can be emboldened to act. The GrassROOTS Community Foundation through Super Camp enhances girls' sociological imagination and teaches them confidence grounded in the knowledge of history and self-hood so that they feel confident enough to feel like they can create change in their communities. Each year GrassROOTS encourages girls to develop a social action project. We choose the words social and action carefully. We want our children to understand themselves as social actors, connected to the world. In addition, we teach our girls that to achieve justice they must ACT. The #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign is Marley's 2015 social action project. As Marley's mom and the President of GrassROOTS Community Foundation, I have learned first hand what can happen when we foster and promote children's love of reading, educate them about their community, and their desire to create social change as well as fan the flames of their sociological imaginations.

Dr. Janice Johnson Dias
President & Co-Founder
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
#investingirls

A love of reading is the most important legacy we can offer to our children and our students. Reading opens windows to new ideas, peoples, places, and experiences. Reading also provides mirrors for students to see themselves and their lives reflected in the characters they meet in books. Reading builds vocabulary and background knowledge, empowering children with the tools needed to express themselves and think about the world around them. Nurturing joyful reading in children primes their brains for lifelong learning and develops important social emotional skills like stamina, reflection, and empathy. As we build readers, we must make reading pleasurable and help children understand that reading is a skill that builds over time.

Here are a few tips for parents and educators to create environments that invite children to confidently embrace and fall in love with stories and books.

Tips for parents:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your child, with your child, or in front your child every day.

Immerse your child in books. Transform your entire home into a reading zone by placing books in every room.

Affirm your child's culture, language, and race by choosing books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their background.

Awaken your child to new ideas, places, people, or experiences in books and stories by asking them questions and always answering the question they have.

Empower your child by allowing them to choose books to read, whether based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your child by always leaving home with books. When your child gets older ask them if they have a book before leaving for school, the doctor, or a long ride.

Cultivate your child's use of language and words. Talk with your child about what is happening in their lives and the world around them.

Build your child's ability to make connections. When you watch television or movies, make connections to characters or ideas in books you have read together.

Expand your child's reading beyond fiction. Children have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. It's never too early to expose them to historical fiction or non-fiction books.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Tips for educators:

Model reading. Read, read, read to your students, with your students, or in front your students every day.

Immerse school culture in talk about books. Book talks over the intercom, book clubs, social media chats, and school-wide read alouds are a few ways to do this.

Affirm your students' culture, language, and race by integrating books and stories with characters, places, and experiences that reflect their backgrounds into the curriculum.

Awaken students as participants in their own learning by having them create reading goals for themselves, for example, minutes of reading, chapters read, and reading new genres.

Empower students by allowing them to choose books based on what interests them or on book covers and titles.

Arm your students with the power of their own language and stories by providing them with multiple ways to make personal connections to the texts they read.

Cultivate independent reading by creating comfortable reading spaces throughout schools. Classrooms, cafeterias, libraries, and cozy nooks in hallways are all fair game.

Build classroom libraries of interesting, appropriate, and relevant fiction and non-fiction texts.

Expand your reading beyond fiction. Students have great curiosity about events taking place in the world, plants, animals, and people. Use historical fiction or non-fiction books as tools to capture this interest.

Advocate for curricula, partnerships, books, and resources for classrooms and schools that are culturally relevant and responsive.

Dr. Lauren Wells
Chief Education Officer
City of Newark

Donations are the heart of the campaign. Because we value reciprocity, we donate the books we receive to schools and community members who need them. Children deserve to have windows and mirrors to the world. Please complete the form below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books.

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Strategies for teaching about implicit bias

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Strategies for teaching about implicit bias

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Unconscious or implicit bias refers to beliefs or attitudes that are activated automatically and without an individual's awareness. These hidden biases are different from beliefs and attitudes that individuals are aware they hold but choose to conceal for the purposes of complying with social or legal norms. Our unconscious social biases form involuntarily from our experiences. For example, as we are repeatedly exposed to actual incidences or media portrayals of females as collaborative, nurturing and homemakers, and men as assertive, competitive, and bread-winners, those associations become automated in our long-term memory. These biases are reinforced on a daily basis without us knowing, or thinking consciously about it. Stereotypes reflect what we see and hear every day, not what we consciously believe about what we see and hear. It is possible for us to hold unconscious stereotypes that we consciously oppose.

Because we are, by definition, unaware of our automatic, unconscious beliefs and attitudes, we believe we are acting in accordance with our conscious intentions, when in fact our unconscious is in the driver's seat. It is possible for us to treat others unfairly even when we believe it is wrong to do so. Cognitive neuroscience research has taught us that most decisions we make, especially regarding people, are "alarmingly contaminated" by our biases. Our assessments of others are never as objective as we believe them to be.

Unconscious bias at work has profound implications-when we make decisions on who gets a job, who gets disciplined or promoted, who we chose to develop, or who we see as a confidant or as a suitable mentee, whose ideas we give consideration to, we may be adding our own subliminal and emotional criteria to that decision. Criteria we might not even be aware of and which may have no basis in facts. Bias can also contribute to hostile workplaces, bullying, and discrimination. Unconscious bias in recruitment, selection, promotion, development, and everyday workplace interaction limits the strategic potential that can flow from a diverse workforce for higher-quality problem solving and decision making, innovation and creativity, accessing diverse customers and suppliers, and attracting and energising top global talent.

Not surprisingly, organisations invest heavily in training programs designed to reduce unconscious bias. However, skeptics argue that bias training is ineffective, pointing to studies that report nil or even a negative impact from unconscious bias training. Although research into the efficacy of unconscious bias training is mixed, this is not surprising, given the range of variables that can influence training outcomes such as facilitator expertise and experience, mode of delivery, length and program design.

In a recent review of the research, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (UK) concluded that sophisticated unconscious bias training programs, combining awareness of unconscious bias, concern about its effects, and the use of tools to reduce bias, can reduce unconscious bias up to eight weeks post-intervention. Nevertheless, the authors caution that while unconscious bias training can be effective in reducing implicit bias, these biases are unlikely to be completely eradicated and training investment must be supplemented with changes (perhaps even a complete overhaul) to organisational structures, policies and procedures.

In sum, the research into unconscious bias training highlights two important considerations (i) unconscious bias training is necessary, but in itself not sufficient, for eliminating workplace bias and (ii) some unconscious bias training programs are more effective than others. Specifically, unconscious bias training is most effective when it: (i) incorporates bias awareness, or 'a-ha', activities and (ii) transfers evidence-based bias reduction and mitigation strategies.

'A-ha' Activities for Bias Awareness

Effective unconscious bias training activities 'show' rather than 'tell'. Incorporating 'a-ha' activities that allow individuals to discover their biases in a non-confrontational manner is more powerful than presenting evidence of bias in employment or laboratory studies. Stereotypes and prejudices are maintained and reinforced by powerful cognitive and motivational biases that act to filter out information that contradicts or challenges our preexisting beliefs or attitudes. We all see bias vested in others but rarely see or admit our own biases. A-ha activities help participants to see how their subconscious preferences and beliefs drive their responses.

Cognitive dissonance refers to the uncomfortable emotional state experienced when individuals are made aware of an inconsistency in their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours. Research indicates that when egalitarian values are central to an individual's self-concept, highlighting an inconsistency between the individual's anti-prejudice values and their biased responses is effective at evoking dissonance. In turn, dissonance motivates the individual to make conscious adjustments to their attitudes (reduction in prejudice) and behaviours (less discrimination) such that they better align with their explicit values of tolerance and equality.
(i) Implicit Association Test
A proven technique for enhancing awareness of one's unconscious bias is the Implicit Association Test (IAT). This test measures the reaction time of individuals to a series of words or pictures presented on a computer screen. For example, the individual may be asked to type a particular key if the word presented on the screen is a 'female name' or a 'weak word' (e.g., delicate, small, flower) and a different key if the word is a 'male name' or a 'strong word' (e.g., powerful, mighty, robust). This activity is repeated numerous times and the average reaction time for a correct response is recorded.

Following this, the rules are changed such that the test taker is asked to press one key if the word is a 'female name' or a 'strong word', and a different key if the word is a 'male name' or a 'weak word'. Because gender stereotyping associates female names with weak words, and male names with strong words, reaction times on the first test are relatively faster compared to the reaction times under the conditions of the second test involving a mismatch of stereotypical categories. Differential reaction times are evidence of implicit (unconscious) gender bias, and the greater the difference in reaction times between the two tests, the greater are those implicit stereotypical associations.

Anonymous IAT tests administered by Harvard University are publicly available at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html. Over a million people have taken those tests, and results confirm that participants across a range of locations, ages, genders, races, and ethnicities hold unconscious stereotypes and prejudices regarding disability, sexual orientation, race, skin tone, age, weight, gender, ethnicity, and religion.

Practitioners should be aware, however, that there have been varied results from the use of this tool in real-world settings. Problems may arise because the theory behind the IAT is difficult to understand and participants may misinterpret the results...leading to confusion, shock, anger, and defensiveness.

When the IAT is used as an intervention tool, it is important that the facilitator is knowledgeable in the mechanisms of the IAT and adequately explains to participants that bias is inevitable as a result of social conditioning and cognitive processes-the results do not show evidence or make accusations of prejudice. Rather, the facilitator must stress that exercise is undertaken to highlight the existence of hidden bias and that, contrary to our conscious intentions, we all hold hidden biases that manifest in subtle and unconscious ways.

In addition to the IAT test, there are some other activities grounded in social psychological theory that can be incorporated into unconscious bias training.

(ii) The Tag Game

One example is the Tag Game, adapted from Fowler (2006). In this exercise, participants stick badges, in a variety of shapes, colours, and sizes, somewhere between their waist and neck. Participants are then instructed to form groups without talking. There are no instructions given as to what criteria to use to form the groups. Once formed, the participants are instructed to break up and form into new groups. This is repeated at least four times. Participants will normally form groups based on shapes, colours, or sizes. Rarely do the participants look beyond the badges, and even less rarely do they intentionally form diverse groups in which many shapes, colours, and sizes are represented.

This powerful yet non-confrontational activity leads well into a discussion about social categorisation processes, the automaticity of "us" vs "them" categorisations, and in group bias (also known as affinity bias). It is also an excellent exercise for introducing the concept of diversity and the potential benefits of diverse workgroups. Group discussions following the exercise explore diversity experiences (or lack thereof) in the workplace, and prompt participants to suggest ways to improve the recognition, support, and value of diverse perspectives and experiences.

(iii) The Father-Son Activity

Another useful awareness activity for unconscious bias training taken from the social psychological literature is the Father/Son activity, adapted from Pendry, Driscoll, & Field (2007). In this activity, participants are instructed to solve the following problem:

"A father and son were involved in a car accident in which the father was killed and the son was seriously injured. The father was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and his body was taken to a local morgue. The son was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and was immediately wheeled into an emergency operating room. A surgeon was called. Upon arrival and seeing the patient, the attending surgeon exclaimed "Oh my God, it's my son!' Can you explain this?"

Around 40% of participants who are faced with this challenge do not think of the most plausible answer-being the surgeon is the boy's mother. Rather, readers invent elaborate stories such as the boy was adopted and the surgeon was his natural father or the father in the car was a priest. As such, the exercise illustrates the powerful pull of automatic, stereotyped associations. For some individuals, the association between surgeon and men is so strong that it interferes with problem-solving and making accurate judgments.

This exercise leads well into an ensuing discussion on the automaticity of stereotypes and the distinction between explicit and implicit bias. From here, the discussion can move to explore ways of controlling or overcoming automatic bias. Also, because some of the participants will solve the problem with the most plausible reason, the exercise highlights individual differences in stereotyping and opens a discussion into why stereotypes differ across individuals.

(iv) The Circle of Trust

The Circle of Trust is a powerful exercise for demonstrating the effect of affinity bias. In this exercise, participants are instructed to write down in a column on the left-hand side of a blank piece of paper the initials of six to ten people whom they trust the most who are not family members. The facilitator then reads out some diversity dimensions including gender, nationality, native language, accent, age, race/ ethnicity, professional background, religion, etc., and participants are instructed to place a tick beside those members of their trusted circle who are similar in that dimension to them. For example, male participants will place a tick beside all men in their trusted six, white participants will place a tick beside all white individuals in their trusted six etc. Participants discover that their trusted six often displays minimal diversity - for most participants, their inner circle include people with backgrounds similar to their own.

The facilitator explains that this tendency or preference for people like ourselves is called affinity or ingroup bias and is well-researched. Studies show that, in general, people extend not only greater trust, but also greater positive regard, cooperation, and empathy to ingroup members compared with outgroup members. This preference for people like ourselves is largely instinctive and unconscious. Affinity bias manifests not only as a preference for ingroup members - but it may also manifest as an aversive tendency towards outgroup members. For example, we are more likely to withhold praise or rewards from outgroup members.

Participants are then prompted to consider the implications of this for the workplace? For example, as leaders, when they assign responsibility for a high-profile piece of work, to whom do they entrust that responsibility? The facilitator suggests that participants will likely offer opportunities to those individuals whom they trust the most. Those people, it turns out, are people who are similar to themselves. Now, because success on high-profile assignments is critical for emerging as a leader, a tendency to favour people like ourselves when assigning stretch assignments leads to self-cloning and promotes homogeneity in leadership. Though not intentional, people who are not like us get overlooked and left behind.

Although we believe we are making objective assessments of merit and treating people fairly, hidden preferences for people like ourselves can cause us to support the development and career progression of some people over others without us even knowing we are doing so. Regarding employment, affinity bias can compel people to favour those who are most similar to themselves, thereby leading to a tendency for leaders, people managers or recruiting managers to hire, promote, or otherwise esteem those who mirror attributes or qualities that align with their own. Moreover, we are also very good at justifying our biases. Studies show that we exhibit a systematic tendency to claim that the strengths of ingroup candidates are more important selection criteria than are the strengths of candidates with backgrounds different from our own.

Affinity bias can also lead us to actively solicit, pay greater attention to and to favour the contributions of ingroup members over outgroup members. We are also more likely to mentor or sponsor ingroup members compared with outgroup members.

In some groups, there may be certain individuals with a diverse inner circle. The facilitator encourages participants to think about how an individual's experiences could disrupt affinity bias with the ensuing discussion drawing on intergroup research supporting intergroup friendship as a prejudice reduction technique.

Moving from Awareness to Action

As a stand-alone initiative, awareness programs are rarely effective tools for reducing bias. Fortunately, the social psychological literature provides us with some proven techniques for dismantling social categorisations and overriding bias. For more information, subscribe to next month's newsletter here and look for the article titled 'How Effective is Your Unconscious Bias Training? Part 2 of 2: The SPACE2 Model of Bias Mitigation.

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'A-ha' Activities for Unconscious Bias Training | Include-Empower.Com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unconscious or implicit bias refers to beliefs or attitudes that are activated automatically and without an individual's awareness. These hidden biases are different from beliefs and attitudes that individuals are aware they hold but choose to conceal for the purposes of complying with social or legal norms. Our unconscious social biases form involuntarily from our experiences.

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Color blind or color brave? | Mellody Hobson

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Teaching Tolerance: 597 texts for students. Sort by grade level, topic, text type, social justice domain, and/or subject area!

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Our searchable library of short texts offers a diverse mix of stories and perspectives. This multigenre, multimedia collection aligns with the Common Core's recommendations for text complexity and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards. Choose from informational and literary nonfiction texts, literature, photographs, political cartoons, interviews, infographics and more.

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Black Lives Matter Instructional Library

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Black Lives Matter Instructional Library

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Books read aloud to children

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Books in the MHS Library

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Collections by Follett is a new, collaborative way for educators to collect and share resources from anywhere, at any time, and with anyone.

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Books in the MHS Library

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Collections by Follett is a new, collaborative way for educators to collect and share resources from anywhere, at any time, and with anyone.

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This 13-minute TedX talks addresses these questions: What is "implicit bias?" How does unconscious bias limit opportunity? What is one thing we could do about that?

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What do you think when you look at this speaker? Well, think again. (And then again.) In this funny, honest, empathetic talk, Yassmin Abdel-Magied challenges us to look beyond our initial perceptions, and to open doors to new ways of supporting others.

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What is Critical Race Theory. A concise summary by a prominent researcher.

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What is Critical Race Theory. A concise summary by a prominent researcher.

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Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education

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Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Education. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 16 February 2021

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This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Please check back later for the full article.Race has historically been, and continues to be, a significant issue in all aspects of American society. In the field of education, racial inequality is prominent in the areas of access, opportunity, and outcomes.

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The origin and tenets of Critical Race Theory from the American Bar Association.

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Principles of the CRT Practice

While recognizing the evolving and malleable nature of CRT, scholar Khiara Bridges outlines a few key tenets of CRT, including:

Recognition that race is not biologically real but is socially constructed and socially significant. It recognizes that science (as demonstrated in the Human Genome Project) refutes the idea of biological racial differences. According to scholars Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, race is the product of social thought and is not connected to biological reality.

Acknowledgement that racism is a normal feature of society and is embedded within systems and institutions, like the legal system, that replicate racial inequality. This dismisses the idea that racist incidents are aberrations but instead are manifestations of structural and systemic racism.

Rejection of popular understandings about racism, such as arguments that confine racism to a few "bad apples." CRT recognizes that racism is codified in law, embedded in structures, and woven into public policy. CRT rejects claims of meritocracy or "colorblindness." CRT recognizes that it is the systemic nature of racism that bears primary responsibility for reproducing racial inequality.

Recognition of the relevance of people's everyday lives to scholarship. This includes embracing the lived experiences of people of color, including those preserved through storytelling, and rejecting deficit-informed research that excludes the epistemologies of people of color.

CRT does not define racism in the traditional manner as solely the consequence of discrete irrational bad acts perpetrated by individuals but is usually the unintended (but often foreseeable) consequence of choices. It exposes the ways that racism is often cloaked in terminology regarding "mainstream," "normal," or "traditional" values or "neutral" policies, principles, or practices. And, as scholar Tara Yosso asserts, CRT can be an approach used to theorize, examine, and challenge the ways which race and racism implicitly and explicitly impact social structures, practices, and discourses. CRT observes that scholarship that ignores race is not demonstrating "neutrality" but adherence to the existing racial hierarchy. For the civil rights lawyer, this can be a particularly powerful approach for examining race in society. Particularly because CRT has recently come under fire, understanding CRT and some of its primary tenets is vital for the civil rights lawyer who seeks to eradicate racial inequality in this country.

The originators of CRT include Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Cheryl Harris, Richard Delgado, Patricia Williams, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Tara Yosso, among others. CRT transcends a Black/white racial binary and recognizes that racism has impacted the experiences of various people of color, including Latinx, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. As a result, different branches, including LatCrit, TribalCrit, and AsianCRT have emerged from CRT. These different branches seek to examine specific experiences of oppression. CRT challenges white privilege and exposes deficit-informed research that ignores, and often omits, the scholarship of people of color. CRT began in the legal academy in the 1970s and grew in the 1980s and 1990s. It persists as a field of inquiry in the legal field and in other areas of scholarship. Mari Matsudi described CRT as the work of progressive legal scholars seeking to address the role of racism in the law and the work to eliminate it and other configurations of subordination.

CRT grew from Critical Legal Studies (CLS), which argued that the law was not objective or apolitical. CLS was a significant departure from earlier conceptions of the law (and other fields of scholarship) as objective, neutral, principled, and dissociated from social or political considerations. Like proponents of CLS, critical race theorists recognized that the law could be complicit in maintaining an unjust social order. Where critical race theorists departed from CLS was in the recognition of how race and racial inequality were reproduced through the law. Further, CRT scholars did not share the approach of destabilizing social injustice by destabilizing the law. Many CRT scholars had witnessed how the law could be used to help secure and protect civil rights. Therefore, critical race theorists recognized that, while the law could be used to deepen racial inequality, it also held potential as a tool for emancipation and for securing racial equality.

Foundational questions that underlie CRT and the law include: How does the law construct race?; How has the law protected racism and upheld racial hierarchies?; How does the law reproduce racial inequality?; and How can the law be used to dismantle race, racism, and racial inequality?

In the field of education, Daniel Solórzano has identified tenets of CRT that, in addition to the impact of race and racism and the challenge to the dominant ideology of the objectivity of scholarship, include a commitment to social justice; centering the experiential knowledge of people of color; and using multiple approaches from a variety of disciplines to analyze racism within both historical and contemporary contexts, such as women's studies, sociology, history, law, psychology, film, theater, and other fields.

Some of the most compelling demonstrations of how racism has been replicated through systems is within the education system. Many can recall images of troops escorting nine Black students to integrate Little Rock Central High School. Or Ruby Bridges being escorted into a New Orleans Elementary School by armed guards six years after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated racially segregated education in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Those moments are just snapshots of the intersection of racism, the law, and the education system. This article provides just a snapshot of CRT, and the following explanation is a glimpse of the application of CRT in education. But the explanation below seeks to capture how CRT applies to the education system, particularly in addressing how racial inequality persists in the post-civil rights era.

Education and CRT

Segregated schooling is a particularly profound and timely demonstration of the persistence of systemic racism in education. For example, Brown is often couched in terms of American exceptionalism. But Gloria Ladson-Billings and other CRT originators in the field of education recognizethat Brown was the culmination of over a century of legal challenges to segregated schooling and second-class citizenship and far from a natural occurrence or inevitable result of racial progress. The late Harvard Law Professor Derrick Bell, in Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest-Convergence Dilemma, noted that the Fourteenth Amendment alone could not effectively promote racial equality for Black people where such a remedy threatened the superior social status of wealthy white people. Further, Bell noted that Brown was decided the way it was because of what he termed "interest convergence," which is the recognition that the interests of Black people in achieving racial equality will be accommodated only when it converges with the interests of white people.

Therefore, Brown'slegal invalidation of racial segregation in education held some benefits for white policymakers as well as for Black students. Chief among these, Bell argued, was not the moral imperative of ending legal segregation but restoring the credibility of America's image abroad. As the nation waged a Cold War, it became increasingly difficult for the country to justify its racial caste system, Bell observed. Further, the Brown ruling was limited in its relief, and the persistence of racial inequality following the civil rights era implicates the law in maintaining racial inequality. For example, the Supreme Court failed to outline a specific remedy to achieve integrated education. As Ladson-Billings notes in Landing on the Wrong Note: The Price We Paid for Brown of Brown II decided in 1955, it can be seen as a combination of flawed compromises that combined a denouncement of legal segregation with a limited and unworkable remedy. It took years of subsequent litigation over the ensuing decades until the Court finally mandated that school districts act to uproot all vestiges of segregation "root and branch."

A particular limitation of legal efforts to address racial inequality has been the inability of many legal mandates to reach the covert and insidious nature of de factoracism. This has proved that eradicating racial inequality in education is not merely an exercise in ending legal segregation. For example, achieving racial balance, as Bell asserted, did not obviate the need to address other systemic practices that perpetuate racial inequality within diverse schools, such as the loss of Black faculty and administrators, many of whom lost their jobs in the wake of Brown as retribution for aiding school desegregation efforts. Bell observed that changing demographic patterns, white flight, and the reluctance of the courts to urge the necessary degree of social reform rendered further progress in Brown virtually impossible.

The limitations of legal interventions have led to current manifestations of racial inequality in education, including:

The predominance of curriculum that excludes the history and lived experiences of Americans of color and imposes a dominant white narrative of history;

Deficit-oriented instruction that characterizes students of color as in need of remediation;

Narrow assessments, the results of which are used to confirm narratives about the ineducability of children of color;

School discipline policies that disproportionately impact students of color and compromise their educational outcomes (such as dress code policies prohibiting natural Black hairstyles);

School funding inequities, including the persistent underfunding of property-poor districts, many of which are composed primarily of children of color; and

The persistence of racially segregated education.

School funding inequities are exemplified in many racially and socioeconomically isolated districts, such as Detroit's public schools. In 1940, shortly before Verda Bradley arrived in Detroit, Black Americans comprised 9.2 percent of the city's population. Over 30 years later, when her children went to school, Black Americans comprised 44.5 percent of the city's population. The ratio of Black students to white students was 58 to 41 in 1967. Seeking to desegregate the city's schools, Bradley and other parents who were represented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People alleged that Michigan maintained a racially segregated public school system through policies that isolated Black students within the city's public schools. Due to racially discriminatory housing practices, Black families were excluded from the surrounding suburbs populated by white families that fled the city to avoid integrating the schools. However, in Milliken v. Bradley, the Supreme Court rejected a desegregation plan that encompassed Detroit's public schools and the surrounding all-white suburbs. In exempting the surrounding suburban districts from the desegregation plan, the Court held that they were not required to be part of the desegregation plan because district lines had not been drawn with "racist intent" and the surrounding suburbs were not responsible for the segregation within the city's schools. The Court left Detroit to desegregate within itself. In his prescient dissent, Thurgood Marshall observed, "The Detroit-only plan has no hope of achieving actual desegregation. . . . Instead, Negro children will continue to attend all-Negro schools. The very evil that Brown was aimed at will not be cured but will be perpetuated."

Consequently, in 2000, the ratio of Black students to white students in Detroit's public schools was 91 to 4. The city's racially isolated public schools are also profoundly under-resourced. Recent litigation- Gary B. v. Whitmer-brought on behalf of students in Detroit's public schools illuminates the state of the schools in the decades following Milliken. In their complaint, the plaintiffs describe deteriorating facilities that lack heat and are infested with vermin. They describe the absence of qualified educators that resulted in a middle schooler serving as a substitute teacher. But students like the Gary B. plaintiffs (and students in similarly racially isolated and under-resourced districts) are left with little recourse given that the Supreme Court held in 1973's San Antonio v. Rodriguez that there is no federal right to education.

Instead, the Gary B. plaintiffs brought a novel claim alleging that they were entitled to a minimum level of education that enabled them to achieve at least a basic level of literacy. The decision of the Court of Appeals in favor of the plaintiffs was ultimately set aside, and the state of Michigan reached a settlement with the plaintiffs. However, from a CRT perspective, the case is instructive about how the law can reproduce racial inequality. By rejecting a desegregation plan that sought to transcend the racial divisions imposed by discriminatory housing practices, the Court essentially foreclosed the possibility of implementing a workable desegregation strategy, and racial and economic inequality persisted unabated. CRT recognizes the inevitability of the segregated and under-resourced schools at issue in the Gary B. litigation, given Milliken 's indifference to the nature of covert discrimination decades earlier.

CRT and a Call to Action for Civil Rights Lawyers

The example of application of CRT to education in the case of Milliken illustrates how CRT recognizes the role of the law in perpetuating racial inequality. Employing a CRT framework necessitates interrogation of systems and structures in which we function. The Milliken example also implicates the impact of discriminatory housing policies and school financing systems in perpetuating racially isolated and under-resourced schools in Detroit and recognizes that education policy does not operate in a vacuum.

Another important consideration is that many of our nation's systems and structures-including the legal system-were created when people of color were denied full participation in American society. Therefore, as many critical race theorists have noted, CRT calls for a radical reordering of society and a reckoning with the structures and systems that intersect to perpetuate racial inequality.

For civil rights lawyers, this necessitates an examination of the legal system and the ways it reproduces racial injustice. It also necessitates a rethinking of interpersonal interactions, including the role of the civil rights lawyer. It means a centering of the stories and voices of those who are impacted by the laws, systems, and structures that so many civil rights advocates work to improve. It requires the abandonment of a deficit approach that perceives those impacted by unjust laws and policies as deficient, defective, or helpless. Instead, we ought to recognize that these individuals have stories, histories, and knowledge that are worth acknowledging, learning about, and centering. Particularly in devising legal and policy interventions to address racial inequality, CRT calls for considering unintended consequences of proposed remedies, addressing intersecting policies and structures, and acting intentionally to ensure that harm is not further replicated by the legal system. Most of all, CRT demands challenging the status quo of racial inequality that has persisted for far too long in this nation and exploring how the law and lawyers can help to finally upend it.

Like any other approach, CRT can be misunderstood and misapplied. It has been distorted and attacked. And it continues to change and evolve. The hope in CRT is in its recognition that the same policies, structures, and scholarship that can function to disenfranchise and oppress so many also holds the potential to emancipate and empower many. It provides a lens through which the civil rights lawyer can imagine a more just nation.

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While recognizing the evolving and malleable nature of CRT, scholar Khiara Bridges outlines a few key tenets of CRT, including: Recognition that race is not biologically real but is socially constructed and socially significant. It recognizes that science (as demonstrated in the Human Genome Project) refutes the idea of biological racial differences.

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Teaching About Racism in an All-White School. A social studies teacher relates his experience.

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Why have so many K-12 educators been so resistant to the idea that students should understand multiple perspectives on history and current events?
For its 2016 word of the year, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) chose "post-truth," which it defined as "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief" (2016). The term had been in use for a decade already, noted the OED, but it saw a "spike in frequency" in 2016, especially in reference to the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit referendum in the U.K.

The post-truth nature of contemporary politics really hit home for me in September 2020, when President Donald Trump sent out a memo calling on federal agencies to cease funding any staff training activities that focused on white privilege and critical race theory or that suggested the United States or any individual race or ethnicity is "inherently racist or evil." Such training sessions, according to the memo, amount to "un-American propaganda" (Schwartz, 2020).

To many of us who still live in a fact-based reality, it seems absurd to describe critical race theory (CRT) as some sort of anti-American propaganda. In truth, CRT is a scholarly movement, popular among many researchers and activists in legal studies, education, and other fields. Broadly speaking, it's an effort to study the history of racism in the United States, including the ways in which that history continues to influence our courts, schools, and other institutions. Far from seeking to label any racial or ethnic group as evil, CRT seeks to help people learn about and validate the experiences of those who've been marginalized and whose perspectives have often been ignored by policy makers, judges, educators, and others who hold positions of power in our society.

CRT: Objections and benefits

After the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, many Americans were moved to speak out about the ways in which violence against Black people has been minimized and misrepresented in public discourse. And it's no surprise that some of them relied on ideas from critical race theory, which provides language and concepts with which to analyze and discuss precisely this kind of issue. Nor is it a surprise that when a lot of people began to mention CRT, bringing it to national attention, other people - including the president - reacted by demonizing it, characterizing it as a hateful ideology that deserves to be banned.

One of the most important roles we have as educators, particularly social studies educators, is to help students sift through competing perspectives and develop well-rounded political views and identities.

In my own work as a social studies teacher in a predominantly white high school in Westfield, New Jersey (and as the only person of color in my department), I have found CRT to be a useful framework. Not only has it helped me better understand my own history, but it has informed my teaching practice and, I think, made a valuable addition to the curriculum in my local schools. The year before George Floyd was killed, I was involved in designing a new social studies course that drew on concepts from CRT. As I describe in this article, the course was hotly debated by our school board and members of the community, but it was eventually passed and implemented ( Chiarello , 2019).

At the same time, I was completing my doctoral dissertation, which focused on the practices of social studies educators in predominately white districts across New Jersey, and which included an analysis of survey data about their knowledge and use of critical race theory (Farag, 2020). Both of these experiences - seeking approval to teach a course that relies on CRT and examining other teachers' knowledge of CRT - revealed just how reluctant many school districts and educators are to teach the histories of marginalized peoples in rich and nuanced ways.

I would argue that one of the most important roles we have as educators, particularly social studies educators, is to help students sift through competing perspectives and develop well-rounded political views and identities. But if teachers are to play this role effectively, they will need conceptual frameworks, such as CRT, to help them lead productive discussions about this country's history of racial discrimination, in which students come to understand that we all stand to benefit from learning about each other's racial and ethnic identities. Choosing whose truth to teach is not a zero-sum game, and none of us should be shut out of the K-12 curriculum.

A controversial course

In an increasingly multiracial and globalized society, social studies teachers of white students do those students a disservice by not helping them explore the perspectives of people of different races.

Bringing multiple historical perspectives of U.S. history into the curriculum creates important opportunities for high-level thinking and analysis. It requires students to consider differing narratives, wrestle over competing views, and come to their own conclusions about the past and its influence on the present. Ideally, the classroom offers a safe place for such public debate, one where young people can learn to make and defend arguments and, in the process, develop a healthy "respect for the equal standing of all citizens and common recognition that reasonable people can disagree" (Justice & Macleod, 2016, p. 5).

In recent decades, much progress has been made in diversifying the K-12 curriculum and providing more opportunities for multicultural education (e.g., Sleeter & Grant, 2007; Sleeter & McLaren, 1995). However, as Christine Sleeter (2001) observes, the "overwhelming presence of whiteness." remains a persistent problem in education. And when educators attempt to make the curriculum more multicultural, they tend to do so by more and more separate content on top of the existing curriculum, rather than rethinking the curriculum as a whole. By contrast, CRT, which calls attention to how white supremacy has shaped so much of the history, gives teachers a framework to deconstruct the historical narrative as currently taught and a system for deciding what needs to be included and what does not.

My colleagues at Westfield High School and I hoped to put these ideas into practice when, in 2018, we developed an elective course for 11th- and 12th-grade students to complement New Jersey's required high school social studies curriculum. Westfield High is the only high school in a district that serves a predominately affluent, suburban town, in north-central New Jersey. It is a high-performing district school with a 97.4% graduation rate and 84.3% of graduates go on to attend four-year post-secondary institutions. The student body is predominately white (83.1%), with smaller populations of Asian (7.7%), Latinx (6.1%), Black (2.4%), Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (.1%), and multiracial (0.6%) students (New Jersey Department of Education, 2019).

For decades, Westfield High had offered an elective course titled African American History, taught expertly by the only other person of color in my otherwise all-white social studies department. When that educator retired in 2016, though, enrollment in the class plummeted. Eventually, the class was canceled, which meant that most of our students had no opportunity to explore historical narratives that focus directly on people with racial and ethnic identities different from their own. Although other classes included the voices and stories of marginalized peoples, these curricula did not use theoretical frameworks that both included marginalized peoples and systematically criticized the narratives that marginalized them in the first place. We knew that fundamentally revamping every course to adopt such a critical lens, especially in required courses, would be likely to meet resistance from many different stakeholders, so we sought instead to develop an elective course - which we called Power, Privilege, and Imbalance in American Society - as an important first step in a process that could eventually lead to further inclusion of critical perspectives into the broader curriculum.

After more than a half-century of persistent racially based inequities and inequalities in U.S. society, educational institutions play an important role in either reproducing these inequalities or resisting them.

We structured the course to discuss how power can create privileges and imbalances within important institutions, how different systems of power (e.g., race, gender, social class) intersect, and how contexts shape power dynamics. One underlying theme is the idea that everyone in a society suffers when systems of oppression create imbalances. This course focuses specifically on the role race plays in creating power dynamics through the construction of race as an identity, the development of white supremacy, and the impact of white supremacy on the government, economy, and society. The course expands the discussion across multiple races and ethnicities and ultimately frames race as a social construct that can be deconstructed and analyzed logically with the goal of making society function more equitably for the benefit of all, including white students.

Adhering to the district's usual procedure, we introduced our new course to a Board of Education committee in the spring of 2018. Generally, the committee is quick to approve new courses, but in this case it decided to table the discussion and have us make a presentation to the rest of the board. Over the subsequent few months, administrators and board members discussed the course at length.

Critics said that the course amounted to divisive liberal indoctrination, and even that it was anti-Semitic ( Chiarello , 2019), while proponents argued that it was a necessary addition to the school's many electives. During the initial meeting in November 2019, one board member, after reading reviews of the course's source material (rather than the material itself) said she found "reviews indicating the reading materials offer a biased perspective" ( Glackin , 2019). In response, other residents argued, "history is always told from someone's perspective and the purpose of this course is to bring previously marginalized voices to the conversation" ( Glackin , 2019). In my view, opponents of the course took source material out of context and argued against that material rather than against the course itself or the theory shaping the course. Meanwhile, the Westfield Martin Luther King Association enthusiastically endorsed the course, stating that "examining historical and contemporary issues pertaining to racial and ethnic minorities through the perspective or viewpoint of those minorities is an excellent step towards the scholarly approach that will be expected of our students in their college history classes" (Wolf, 2019).

Even after the course was approved, the controversy didn't end. Over the subsequent weeks, the course gained national attention in both the news and social media. Ironically, while the course was designed to stem the polarized nature of discussions surrounding race in the U.S., it attracted intensely polarized responses. The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by civil rights activist Robert Woodson (2020), who took issue with the course for promulgating a "lethal message of despair and distortion of history." While Woodson's contributions to the civil rights movement cannot be overstated, it's important to recognize that CRT is not focused on individuals and their successes but on institutions. Although individuals from marginalized groups can avoid despair and express their agency within an oppressive system, they may be less able to freely and equally do so than others. Accomplishments such as falling poverty rates among Black Americans, which Woodson cites in his article, should absolutely be celebrated, but we should also ask how the poverty rates differ between Black and white Americans and what institutional factors make it more difficult for Black Americans to accumulate wealth. It is through examining institutional policies and their effects, which CRT encourages, that productive conversations about race can occur.

Other criticisms were less substantive and more unfair than Woodson's. On Facebook, for example, in a post about the course, most comments either misunderstood the point of the course or assumed one elective course would define the entire education of all the high school's students.

In March 2020, due to COVID-19, Westfield High shifted to remote learning, and the debate around the course subsided. However, in May 2020, millions of people across the country watched the video of George Floyd losing his life while being pinned to the ground by a police officer, and the subsequent protests put CRT back on the national stage. In Westfield, local protests included direct critiques of the school system, with the organizer of one local event bluntly stating, "the Westfield School district has failed me over and over again, for over a decade . . . I'm not going into that school senior year fearing for my safety . . . I'm not going to walk into that school fearing I'm going to get bullied again" ( Chiarello , 2020). At the following week's board meeting, one board member, when speaking about efforts to fight hate in schools, emphasized "we have to continue to learn . . . we can't just assume that because it worked before, it's still working now." In turn, that prompted the superintendent to hail the new course as evidence of the district's commitment to responding proactively to racial discrimination ( Chiarello , 2020).

On September 9, 2020, just a few days after Trump issued his memo railing against critical race theory, I taught the very first class of Power, Privilege, and Imbalance in American Society to a predominately white group of students at Westfield High. Due to a massive schedule overhaul to cope with COVID-19, only 14 students were registered for the course, although more wanted to take it. At the time of this writing, there have been no discussions with parents or community members regarding the nature or content of the course.

The whiteness of history instruction

The conflict surrounding the Power, Privilege, and Imbalance course was to be expected. Such tensions often arise when people critique long-standing historical narratives, incorporate the histories of marginalized people in the curriculum, and raise questions about why they were marginalized in the first place.

Scholarship inspired by CRT tends to highlight the roles that federal, state, and local governments have played in establishing and enforcing, for example, discriminatory housing policies that led to the racial and ethnic segregation that continues to exist across the country. Likewise, our course included material meant to draw students' attention to policies such as redlining and practices such as white flight and blockbusting. Such past policies and practices also shaped the present demographics of school districts like mine and influenced what local residents, including teachers, know about their own history, as I learned from my dissertation research (Farag, 2020).

For my study, I surveyed 104 social studies teachers in predominantly white public high schools across New Jersey. I asked demographic questions, used scales measuring teacher critical competencies and critical consciousness, and included a questionnaire about CRT. The data showed that most of the teachers of white students are white themselves (94.2%), grew up in predominantly white towns (87.6%), and never had a social studies teacher of color (82.7%). These teachers are the products of largely white environments, so they may have had limited exposure to people who do not look and think like them, and it's no surprise they would need support in bringing other perspectives into the curriculum. Indeed, my research also showed that the majority (62.5%) of the teachers of white students have never even heard of CRT, and even more (64.4%) report that they do not know enough to implement it into their pedagogy (Farag, 2020).

In an increasingly multiracial and globalized society, social studies teachers of white students do those students a disservice by not helping them explore the perspectives of people of different races. Much of the previous education research about the use of CRT examines ways in which white teachers can better educate their students of color, how they can better educate their white students ( Sleeter , 2017). But exposing white students to this material has value in that it teaches these students to question predominately white historical narratives while also helping break down barriers between groups. Presenting students of color and white students with different (and sometimes contradictory) approaches to history threatens to further polarize society and serves to undermine the authority of educators as students grow up and realize the story they've been told about history was incomplete or different from what others learned.

While critics complain that CRT imposes guilt on white students and reduces their self-esteem, CRT addresses systems and structures, not individual people's guilt. Students sitting inside classrooms today were not alive when the major institutions that shape their lives were created, and no student who identifies as white should feel guilty that those institutions exist; however, they should be empowered to understand how and why ethnic Europeans combined together to be identified as a single "race." Rather than reducing self-esteem, I would argue that such an understanding helps students build their identity.

The teachers I surveyed also held some beliefs that run counter to critical race theory, with the majority (67%) expressing the view that racism and racial discrimination could be solved incrementally over time (Farag, 2020). In contrast, the fundamental impetus for the development of CRT came from frustrations about the slow pace of civil rights reform (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). After more than a half-century of persistent racially based inequities and inequalities in U.S. society, educational institutions play an important role in either reproducing these inequalities or resisting them. Teachers could greatly benefit from an approach like CRT to help them play their part in accelerating the reform necessary for a more equitable society.

Truths for all students

Educational institutions must use effective theoretical frameworks to ensure the histories of marginalized people are present in curricula for students from all backgrounds. If students across the country learn different versions of history, it will become increasingly difficult for members of society to agree on truths and employ public reason. And if students of different racial identities receive significantly different lessons in schools, our educational institutions risk becoming complicit in further dividing the country along racial lines.

Critical race theory provides an effective framework, backed by decades of research, to unpack and rethink the social construct of race that divides so much of U.S. society. Students exposed to CRT can critically examine the institutions that shape their lives, develop their own identities, and find ways to release society from racial labels and discrimination. CRT allows white students to critically examine how they've come to be labeled as white and further develop their identities as European ethnics. CRT allows students of color to examine their own racial and ethnic identities and understand the historical circumstances that shape their lives and create the inequities that so many suffer from. This is possible when teachers and students are aware of a framework in which productive discussions about these issues can exist. That is, critical race theory can help make educational institutions a unifying and constructive force that fosters productive citizenship in an increasingly complex and stratified world.
References
Farag, A. (2020). Structured whiteness: A study of social studies teachers who teach in predominately-white public school districts [Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers Graduate School of Education]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Glackin , J. (2019, November, 14). Proposed WHS class causes debate at BOE meeting. Westfield Leader , 46-2019.

Woodson, R.L. (2020, January 17). The left forgets what Martin Luther King stood for. Wall Street Journal .

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The fear of multiple truths: On teaching about racism in a predominantly white school - kappanonline.org

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Why have so many K-12 educators been so resistant to the idea that students should understand multiple perspectives on history and current events? For its 2016 word of the year, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) chose "post-truth," which it defined as "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief" (2016).

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Does Teaching America It's Racist Make It Racist? a podcast from the New York Times "The Argument" series.

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transcript

Does Teaching America It's Racist Make It Less Racist?

Some states are trying to ban curriculums that acknowledge this country's history of racism. It's creating a new culture war over a school of thought called critical race theory.

jane coaston

Today on The Argument, the three most misunderstood words in America.

^archived recording^(donald trump)

Critical race theory is being forced into our children's schools. It's being imposed into workplace trainings. And it's being deployed to rip apart friends, neighbors, and families.

archived recording

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blasting critical race theory and banning it from the new statewide civics curriculum. Monday night, the Oklahoma City School Board sounding off, bashing the decision by Governor Kevin Stitt to sign a House Bill 1775 into law, banning public schools from teaching certain topics on race, including critical race theory.

jane coaston

Critical race theory. It's a concept that originated in academic circles in the mid-1970s, but one that only hit the mainstream in the past couple of years. If you listen to the news, you might think that critical race theory is a school curriculum, or a workplace diversity training, or a form of discrimination, or Marxist propaganda. It's none of the above. What it actually is is a school of thought developed in part by legal scholars like Kimberle Crenshaw. Critical race theory, the shorthand is CRT, argues that race is a prism through which we've built and interpreted our politics, laws, and culture. And that racism isn't just about individual actors being racist towards one another or forms of overt discrimination, but a story of structures. It argues that the legacy of slavery and segregation are still embedded in society today. The concept has been co-opted and incorporated into some lesson plans across the country. I'd say, it's also been distorted along the way. But regardless, not everyone has embraced it. Trump tried to rid federal agencies of trainings associated with CRT. Lawmakers in Idaho, Tennessee, and Rhode Island say they want to or have already banned CRT in the classroom because it, quote, "tries to make kids feel bad."

I'm Jane Coaston. I have some critiques of critical race theory. But I think what we're really arguing about isn't even critical race theory, especially when we're talking about the use of CRT in schools. It's a proxy war, not a genuine disagreement. An academic theory has become a weaponized catchall term for Republicans to rail against whatever they think "wokeness" is and retain the status quo. And for liberals, CRT is a chance to argue over Twitter about whether it's a prerequisite for being an anti-racist, whatever that is, or an easy distraction from the real work of fighting inequality. My guests today agree that critical race theory has its merits. But John McWhorter is known for his regular critiques of its misuse often by fellow liberals. And Michelle Goldberg thinks the real problem is on the right. Earlier this month, she wrote a piece on "Why the Right Loves Public School Culture Wars."

So first and foremost, John, would you give a definition of critical race theory?

john mcwhorter

Well, critical race theory starts as very interesting and, I think, wise work by certain legal scholars several decades ago who basically wanted to argue that we need to reconceive our notion of how power works and how power harms people in our society. And it also proposed an interesting idea that we need to think of certain subordinated groups narratives as more important than telling individual stories, especially individual stories about initiative, or luck, or unusual ability.

michelle goldberg

And I think it's important to remember, too, that it starts in the legal academy. So a lot of these ideas are ideas with really practical applications, right? Like, can a law be racist if it doesn't have specifically racist intent, but it has racist outcomes? There's so many ideas now that we just take for granted that I would guess even people who are critics of what is now called critical race theory take for granted the idea that racism is structural instead of just interpersonal hatred, which in a way, shows how important and influential this movement was, right? That it really did reshape many, many people's understanding of the world in a way that's really held up.

jane coaston

John, why did these theorists come to this new theory in a new way of thinking about racism?

john mcwhorter

Well, I think that after about, say, 1975, it was clear that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of '65, and even the Fair Housing Act of '68, hadn't created a magic new world. And it's around this time that it becomes common coin, at least among educated people, to understand that racism is not just calling someone the n-word or denying somebody a house or something like that. But that it's baked into the structures of society that most of the ways or even all of the ways as we're being taught now that Blacks lag behind whites in some way are due to either interpersonal racism or racism having effects upon the wider society. And that's a very important idea. And it actually penetrated much more deeply than anybody had reason to expect it to. Now, of course, these days, not to anticipate our conversation, it's inevitable that people are going to refer to critical race theory and mean something other than these rather specific thoroughly intelligent views that some people came up with in the 1970s. Inevitably, CRT is being used to refer to something else. But this is where it begins.

michelle goldberg

And some of that dates to the '80s and '90s when you started seeing critical race theory applied to things like campus speech codes, where there was a rejection of certain liberal ideas of the First Amendment as only favoring certain interests. And so there really was this academic rejection of a lot of classically liberal ideas about free speech. But there's two other things. I think when we talk about critical race theory, we're talking about now, besides this whole school of academic work, we're also talking about the application of these ideas and the start of, in some cases, bastardization of these ideas in, like, workplace diversity training and education consultants. Some of which seems to be harmless. Some of which is maybe useful. And some of which is really kind of risible and embarrassing. But then there's also another thing, which is that critical race theory has become, for large parts of the right, this, like, catchall term for wokeness, political correctness, Black Lives Matter -

jane coaston

Talking about race at all.

michelle goldberg

- whole complex of ideas and social tendencies that they, like, despise and want to expunge from public institutions.

john mcwhorter

That has happened, especially over about the past year, the use of the term in that way. Yeah, yeah. It's sloppy.

jane coaston

And so, yeah. So first, John, what is it about critical race theory, the academic project, about which you are skeptical?

john mcwhorter

I don't have any trouble with critical race theory being at the table in itself. I remember learning about it in the '90s for various reasons, and thinking, that's challenging, it irritates me a little bit. But I understand where it's coming from. And it's probably the right thing. And at the time, the fashion was to say that college campuses were being taken over by tenured radicals. There was even a book by that title. And what that meant was that there was a critical mass of professors who believed in this sort of thing. And that wasn't true. I started teaching on campuses then I remember thinking, no, that's a minority view that you hear about as part of your education, but it does not lead the campus culture in any way that I can detect. I found all of that just a kind of media propaganda. But these days, that kind of portrait of university culture and intellectual culture would not be inaccurate. We've had a very peculiar 2020 and 2021, where the new thing is that CRT is used in ways that are mean. I get where those people are coming from. But that is the, quote unquote, "CRT" that is eliciting such discomfort from people like me, and also a cruder sense among manipulative factors on the right where the idea is to go after CRT when really what they're going after is talking about race at all against basically the Civil Rights Movement. That I do not agree with at all.

jane coaston

But, John, when you talked about CRT being used in a way that is mean, is it really CRT that we're talking about? Or is it other intellectual adjacent trends on campus? There's other kind of left wing tendencies that that comes from. So how much of that is just kind of giving the name CRT to a bunch of other intellectual trends that classical liberals find objectionable?

john mcwhorter

Well, I would say that the essence of what's going on now is a basic contention that battling power differentials and in particular, battling white hegemony should be the central focus of all intellectual, moral, and even artistic endeavor. That basic idea - even if it's not put in that way. Usually, you can detect it by the way somebody uses the word power. That basic idea is one of the things that's at the heart of CRT, whether or not the person who was wielding it, has read their Kimberle Crenshaw or their Richard Delgado. And then there's the second part of it, which is that in the name of this movement, a person who's not white can claim that they've been hurt or discriminated against in some way. And that it's absolutely immoral, utterly beyond question that you question their particular claim because what they're arguing is based on their identity as part of a historically oppressed group. And therefore, for example, the shorthand that we hear is that impact matters and not intent. Again, that goes right back to the classic CRT works. These things just evolve. And they become, as you said, Michelle, part of the common coin. And people don't even realize that there was a time when nobody thought this way at all. But for somebody today who's maybe 35 or under, this is a language that they learn. And my sense of it being a little older is that it traces back to these foundational texts.

jane coaston

So I would argue that part of the challenge of critical race theory is that it is asking really big things of us that most of us don't really want to do. I mean, that kind of goes back to what we saw last summer and reactions to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, which was that, yes, we could challenge the very notion of state power or we could encourage people to put a black box up on Instagram and make sure that every corporation sends out a message saying that Black Lives Matter. Because no one has to do anything that would challenge the origins of race and racism. John, what do you think?

john mcwhorter

Jane, I agree with you 100%. What really sticks in my craw about a lot of this is that so much of it is about matters of language and etiquette, and frankly, kabuki, over actually helping people. And so we have all of this hostility, all of this fear, all of this double talk, in the name of something that too often for me isn't about actually trying to make change in the real world. And so very quick example, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the longest tenured curator there said in a meeting that he wanted to look at the work of a wider range of people. And that he was very interested in that. But he wasn't going to stop looking at white people's work completely because that would be reverse racism. He was forced to resign because he used the term reverse racism and went against the CRT tenet that by definition the subaltern can't be racist. I think that that's utterly ridiculous. Homeless Black people are starving on the streets in the Tenderloin in San Francisco. And I think that the energy that goes into deciding people like him should be defenestrated should be put into solving the problems in the Tenderloin in San Francisco. And that's less fun. It's fun to get somebody fired and to dogpile on somebody on Twitter as opposed to doing the real work of getting out into the world and creating change.

michelle goldberg

So there's two different things going on. The left has always attracted a certain number of people for whom it's appealing because it gives you kind of cruelty a veneer of justice. And that's not really specific to critical race theory at all. And then there's also just like, an industry of people who come to corporations and teach people how to talk and teach them how to behave. And some of this is probably really beneficial, right? Like, I actually, you shouldn't go around talking about reverse racism? I don't think you should be fired for it. But I it is kind of a ridiculous concept. I'm not sure you get them to stop thinking that by subjecting them to mandatory workplace trainings, which probably engender a lot of resentment. But you, at least, enforce a certain code of conduct that is going to make life hopefully less difficult, annoying, and full of friction for people of color, for women. Where I think that this runs aground is where people feel like it is imposing a set of recondite speech rules that require a high degree of either education or linguistic fluency to navigate. It privileges people who are highly sensitive to the right ways to talk about things. One of the best places to see this is in how this manifests in some schools, where you have education consultants who will kind of talk a lot about unlearning white supremacy and how certain kind of turns of phrase or assumptions are problematic. And is that a better use of anyone's time or resources than kind of changing the way school funding is allocated, or changing the way school districts are drawn? Probably, the more useful thing would be to just kind of completely change who constitutes the student body.

jane coaston

So I want to get to something that, John, you've talked a lot about and written a lot about how you view critical race theory as a religion that's based on belief. Can you explain what that means? And are we talking about critical race theory or the interpretation of critical race theory?

john mcwhorter

The interpretation. Critical race theory itself was not a religion. It was a very interesting and rather ingenious academic idea. But the way it has been distorted among a group of disproportionately influential, but frankly, really scary people today, it isn't like a religion. It is one. And people who found religion often don't think of themselves as founding a religion. Nobody who founded Christianity thought this is a religion. They thought they were it was truth. That is exactly what's going on here. And really, what it means is that people are concerned with spraying for heretics. And often, you do that whether or not it makes logical sense, whether or not it's fair in the grand scheme of things. There are just certain people who you can't stand to have around you.

jane coaston

The response from some of the right has been like, well, we're just going to ban it, or we're going to ban its teaching, or we're going to ban conversations about race.

michelle goldberg

I mean, there's even before we get into this issue of just, like, abject state censorship, which is what we're seeing, and ironically kind of state censorship in the name of promoting free speech, which is how these kind of bills to ban critical race theory are often promoted by the idea that proponents of CRT have all this power to shut other people up. And so in order to liberate our own speech, we have to ban these ideas. But even just the idea that sort of cancel culture, whatever you want to call, is such a crisis. On the one hand, I sympathize with people who feel more inhibited than they used to because I have this sense that maybe there is a lot of this stuff out there. But when I really went looking for concrete examples, I did not come up with as many as you would think, given kind of how much writing there has been about. There's a few cases. There's one lawsuit in Nevada by a high school kid or the mother of a high school kid, Christian Black woman with a mixed race son, who wouldn't participate in this mandatory course because it forced him to express a lot of ideas about power and expression that he doesn't share. But really, I couldn't find - I didn't - I felt like there was to some extent no there-there. I felt like there was some workbooks and some stuff that seemed extremely reductive. But I found no evidence of kind of mass coercion or indoctrination in even the wokest primary schools.

john mcwhorter

OK. The decision is now official. Michelle, I hear you, but frankly, I'm in the peculiar position of hearing from people - God, this is going to sound so portentous and it's not something I ask for. I hear from people all day long every day - I hear from parents, I hear from teachers, I hear from principals, at least three or four times a day. And it's happening all over the country. And most of the cases, of course, are not reported in the media. There needs to be a database of this to show that it's a problem. Because I can only say this - and I want you two know that the newspaper that you two work for has been part of my daily life since I was 20 years old. It will be until I die. However, the current climate is why, at your newspaper, Don McNeil, Alison Roman, Bari Weiss, and James Bennet are no longer there. And I honestly believe that if we went back just three years, we would be mystified at why those four people no longer work for The New York Times. That is the culture we're talking about whether or not critical race theory specifically is behind it. I don't think anybody has Kimberle Crenshaw on their virtual desks at the New York Times. But it's that particular strain in the modern culture that I have a hard time seeing as just the occasional ripple that we need not really worry about because the main thing is that systemic racism exists.

jane coaston

Isn't that kind of the point here is that it's not about critical race theory. It is about extensions of power, and business, and capital, and the expressions of capital, and how all of this combines in a way that critical race theory just sort of wandered in, and the room was already on fire. I mean, I think that this has to do with and the kind of the religiosity of the interpretation of this. I'm doing a lot of hand motions. It's very helpful for me though. The idea of being better than to express I am better than you, I am more knowledgeable than you, but I am also morally superior to you in some fashion. And now, I'm going to tell you about it. Again, there are these materialist questions that critical race theory has raised about if you just stop saying the n-word at any point, have you changed maternal mortality rates for African-American women, regardless of their finances? You have not. You have simply stopped saying a word. Or maybe you shouldn't -

michelle goldberg

But you have also probably made things infinitesimally -

jane coaston

But have you?

michelle goldberg

- for people in your workplace.

jane coaston

I mean, for people in your workplace, maybe. But I think of the experiences in my life that have been the racist cudgels used against me. And like, that was bad. But that was bad on kind of the like, immoral way. That was not structurally bad. That is not as bad as people in Southern states not having access to water for weeks on end. And no one really talking about it because they're poor and largely, African-American. That, like, we kind of don't say these certain things or this isn't the right thing. One, that is focused on a middle class environment that I don't think really experiences the exact same cudgels of racism that the people who are most vulnerable to racism do. But I would also say that so much of this has to do with we, as a culture, in general, we have choices to make of what we focus on. And we could either focus on like, well, we're going to have to restructure how we view the use of the law, what the use of state power is for, when we should call the police, when we should not call the police. And like, I feel, like, in so many of these environments, we have the hard choice and easy choice, and we always take the easy choice. And that's what I see so much of what is being interpreted as being critical race theory is people going to a diversity specialist or paying a diversity specialist $3,000 to come to the workplace and ask them to take a little quiz, and then saying, well, we've done our part by not doing anything at all.

john mcwhorter

Well, you know something, Jane, in terms of you and me and Blackness, I would also say that another problem with the roots of all of this in critical race theory, even if it's become quite transmogrified, is that all of this stuff is basically telling us that we're not very bright. Now, there are ways of putting it that make it seem like we're just different, but the whole notion that impact matters rather than intent, and that anything a Black person claims must be attended to, including turning entire fields of inquiry upside down. And in line with what you're saying often, taking out what's hard about them with the idea being that the Black contribution to these things, which is all very holistic and it's not going to involve math and close reasoning, is somehow better. Just the other day I was talking to a white woman. And I would put her probably in her late 40s. And she was very hip to this gospel. And I just listened. The idea wasn't to have an argument. But she was saying that anything that Black people want, or claim, or say, I think it's my responsibility as a white person to just listen and let it happen because we have been stepping on you guys for so long. She meant it. She was sincere. And I thought, OK, but what she's not thinking about - and there was no point in bringing it up - but what she's not thinking about is that that infantilizes, frankly, me, if I think of myself as CRT tells me as representative of a whole group of people. And I'm not going to name any names, but there are some Black intellectuals being very celebrated these days with ideas that are transparently dichotomous and frankly, a little dopey. And everybody celebrates them as if there's something that they're not. And they wouldn't celebrate them if they were written by white people. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. It's condescending to us. And I think that the idea that that condescension is somehow progress because systemic racism exists fails.

jane coaston

But isn't that, in some ways, again, to my theory, that it is easier to be condescending than it is to make systemic change? Like, when it comes to answering, like, we could either answer big questions or we could find one African-American person to tell us what we want to think, is there a way to make this not a religion or a sense of religiosity to not rely on white guilt? What's the right way to do this, to have this conversation?

michelle goldberg

So I mean, I'm going to be a little bit evasive, just because I'm an outsider to this field. I think, in general, it's better to have more kind of generosity in public conversations. One thing I think that's happening now is that you have this sort of new fairly strictly enforced set of norms, and then this immense resentment to it that's creating its own market for people who will transgress them. There are education consultant programs where I think that seems bad and misguided. It seems bad and misguided to teach people that an emphasis on punctuality is part of white supremacy culture or something like that. But instead of saying, let's argue about what's actually happening, we're always having this meta discussion about the way we talk about things and what people feel like they can and cannot say instead of just talking about the things themselves, which, again, is why I think it's very useful when we're having this discussion about, is critical race theory harmful, should critical race theory be illegal, to actually go back and read some of these texts and be clear about what critical race theory is.

john mcwhorter

I usually don't refer to all of this as critical race theory or CRT. I think that what's happened today has evolved so far beyond those basic and interesting ideas that after a while, you have to start calling it something else, after a while what once was Latin has become French. The idea is that a movement now takes a page, maybe two pages from CRT, and instead has become a kind of punitive mob-like mentality that acquires disproportionate influence because most people are deeply afraid of being called a racist on social media. That sounds so mundane.

michelle goldberg

But I want to back up and talk about like just how widespread this is because I do think that people who are in fairly elite well-educated kind of coastal enclaves feel like social norms are rapidly changing. But when I wrote this piece about this purge of social justice content at colleges and universities in Idaho, I talked to a few professors off the record. And I didn't use it in the piece because they were anonymous. But what I heard from them was enormous fear of getting on the wrong side of their conservative students, enormous fear that their conservative students were going to record something that they said and send it to the state legislature, or send it to college fix, or some kind of right-wing feeder media, it's going to end up in Tucker Carlson. These are people who are, in often many cases, untenured. Some of them, adjuncts. They experience themselves as walking on eggshells. And I think it's hard without some sort of rigorous study to see how widespread that sort of attitude is in conservative states where, again, you have both legislatures proposing laws banning both the 1619 Project and critical race theory from public institutions. And also, in the case, of Idaho, very specifically threatening their schools funding for doing things like expressing support for Black Lives Matter. I think the idea that there's some sort of tyranny of progressivism in as much as that's a reality for people, I think it's really not clear to me whether that is just in certain sort of elite hothouse environments that we pay disproportionate attention to.

john mcwhorter

Michelle, I completely understand what you mean, but I want to venture this, because what I know from hearing about this so much - and now having missives from almost every state in the union, believe it or not, not Hawaii. But really, it's everywhere - is that definitely there is a scourge of people in not only elite universities. I'm not sure what we mean by elite because I also hear from small community colleges, not to mention ordinary public schools, where people are scared to death of a certain leftist contingent who will report you as a moral pervert on social media if you don't agree to their demands. Now, I am open to the idea that actually there is this countervailing movement of liberal professors who were quaking their boots about being reported by conservative students. But I want to venture this, if there was much of that - and I'm not denying what you found, and there must be more than what you found. If there were as much of that, as there undeniably is, of people afraid of the elect left, I think I would have heard about it because people would be mad at me, and they would want to show me that I am exaggerating about what I'm focusing on. And that really conservatives are being just as bad. I haven't heard that.

rose

Hi, Jane. This is Rose from Berkeley, California. A thing I have been arguing about whether it is moral to have children with impending catastrophic climate change or other issues in our society. Is it right to bring more children into the world?

jane coaston

What are you arguing about, with your family, your friends, your frenemies? Tell me about the big debate you're having in a voicemail by calling 347-915-4324. And we might play an excerpt of it on a future episode.

Michelle, after all of this, you've done a ton of reading and writing on this, do you think that the mainstreaming of the concept of critical race theory, has it been helpful or has it been so watered down that now it's kind of useless?

michelle goldberg

I think it's definitely helpful. I mean, look, it's obviously helpful to think about racism as structural instead of just interpersonal cruelty. I mean, it's true, and it's sort of necessary, if you're going to address things like, intergenerational housing wealth. When me and my husband are driving with our kids, and we got pulled over for speeding, and the cop smiled at us, and let us go with a warning, we explained to them that not everybody gets treated like that. And that there's a reason why when we got pulled over, we weren't scared. And so those ideas I think are extremely useful. I mean, they're crucial for understanding the world.

jane coaston

What do you think, John?

john mcwhorter

I would consider it to be part of a good education to learn the theory. And in general, what Michelle is saying about systemic racism, making that point about the Black communities relationship to the cops, all that is crucial. But I'm just thinking it's like Latin and French. Latin very gradually became French at no point did anybody say French is here. But we're dealing with French. Critical race theory is Latin. And by that, I just mean that things morph over time. And notice, I didn't say devolve. I didn't say evolve. Things just morph. We're in a different world. It's funny, I saw Derrick Bell talk to a group of students at a Black graduation. And in a way, he was in between Latin and French because part of the interpretation of critical race theory now is that often there's a certain oversimplification, a kind of also often exaggeration of victimhood, which is not to say that victimhood doesn't exist. Bell was a genius. But I remember his message to the congregation that day was that you're going to get your butt kicked by racism when you leave this campus. Watch out for it. It's going to be really hard. And I remember thinking at the time, is this the most constructive thing to be saying at this particular event? And are the butts in question going to be kicked that hard and that definitely? And I was not - I wasn't very woke yet at the time if I may use the word. So I didn't think about it very hard. But I look back, and I think to myself, even Bell, in a way, was taking it in a direction that I now find to be a transmogrification of what was originally meant. I grew up - my mother taught a course literally called Racism 101. She taught me all of the woke things. She was a social worker. Many people would have a hard time believing that. I get all of that. It's just something that has gone over the rails over, especially about the past 10 years, in the way it's being used by very influential people in society to different ends that I think are really very constructive.

jane coaston

John McWhorter is a linguistics professor at Columbia University. Michelle Goldberg is a columnist at The New York Times. Thank you both so much for joining me today.

michelle goldberg

Oh, thank you.

jane coaston

We've just scratched the surface of critical race theory. So if you want to learn more about what critical race theory actually is, I recommend "Critical Race Theory: An Introduction" by Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado, originally published in 2001, and Michelle Goldberg's columns on critical race theory, "Why the Right Loves Public School Culture Wars" published in May, and "The Campaign to Cancel Wokeness" published in February. John's latest guest essay for Times Opinion is "How the N-word Became Unsayable" published last month. I'd also recommend you look into the writing of legal scholars Kimberle Crenshaw and Derrick Bell whose work and writing defined the theory we know now. Bell's book, "Faces at the Bottom of the Well," is a seminal text in the field. You can find links to all of these in our episode notes.

"The Argument" is a production of New York Times Opinion. It's produced by Phoebe Lett, Elisa Gutierrez, and Vishakha Darbha, edited by Allison Bruzek and, Paula Szuchman, with the original music and sound design by Isaac Jones, fact-checking by Kate Sinclair, and audience strategy by Shannon Busta.

Some states are trying to ban curriculums that acknowledge this country's history of racism. It's creating a new culture war over a school of thought called critical race theory.

Who would have guessed that a school of thought from the 1970s could cause controversy in a handful of states among politicians, on school boards and in college classrooms in 2021?

Critical race theory originated as a way of examining racism within the structures of American society. But now, for some it is synonymous with school curriculums and workplace diversity training. It has also become the battleground for a new culture war between conservatives and liberals who disagree on how helpful or harmful these teachings are.

This week, Jane Coaston talks to John McWhorter, a linguist at Columbia University who has written extensively on race and language, and Michelle Goldberg, an Opinion columnist at The New York Times.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Credit... Photograph by Jonathan Kirn/Getty Images

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"The Argument" is produced by Phoebe Lett, Elisa Gutierrez and Vishakha Darbha and edited by Alison Bruzek and Paula Szuchman; fact-checking by Kate Sinclair; music and sound design by Isaac Jones; audience strategy by Shannon Busta.

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Opinion | Does Teaching America It's Racist Make It Less Racist?

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transcript Some states are trying to ban curriculums that acknowledge this country's history of racism. It's creating a new culture war over a school of thought called critical race theory. jane coaston Today on The Argument, the three most misunderstood words in America. ^archived recording^(donald trump) Critical race theory is being forced into our children's schools.

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Is "critical race theory" a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against white people? Liberals and conservatives are in sharp disagreement.

In truth, the divides are not nearly as neat as they may seem. The events of the last decade have increased public awareness about things like housing segregation, the impacts of criminal justice policy in the 1990s, and the legacy of enslavement on Black Americans. But there is much less consensus on what the government's role should be in righting these past wrongs. Add children and schooling into the mix and the debate becomes especially volatile.

School boards, superintendents, even principals and teachers are already facing questions about critical race theory, and there are significant disagreements even among experts about its precise definition as well as how its tenets should inform K-12 policy and practice. This explainer is meant only as a starting point to help educators grasp core aspects of the current debate.

Just what is critical race theory anyway?

Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.

The basic tenets of critical race theory, or CRT, emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, among others.

A good example is when, in the 1930s, government officials literally drew lines around areas deemed poor financial risks, often explicitly due to the racial composition of inhabitants. Banks subsequently refused to offer mortgages to Black people in those areas.

Today, those same patterns of discrimination live on through facially race-blind policies, like single-family zoning that prevents the building of affordable housing in advantaged, majority-white neighborhoods and, thus, stymies racial desegregation efforts.

CRT also has ties to other intellectual currents, including the work of sociologists and literary theorists who studied links between political power, social organization, and language. And its ideas have since informed other fields, like the humanities, the social sciences, and teacher education.

This academic understanding of critical race theory differs from representation in recent popular books and, especially, from its portrayal by critics-often, though not exclusively, conservative Republicans. Critics charge that the theory leads to negative dynamics, such as a focus on group identity over universal, shared traits; divides people into "oppressed" and "oppressor" groups; and urges intolerance.

Thus, there is a good deal of confusion over what CRT means, as well as its relationship to other terms, like "anti-racism" and "social justice," with which it is often conflated.

To an extent, the term "critical race theory" is now cited as the basis of all diversity and inclusion efforts regardless of how much it's actually informed those programs.

One conservative organization, the Heritage Foundation, recently attributed a whole host of issues to CRT, including the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, LGBTQ clubs in schools, diversity training in federal agencies and organizations, California's recent ethnic studies model curriculum, the free-speech debate on college campuses, and alternatives to exclusionary discipline-such as the Promise program in Broward County, Fla., that some parents blame for the Parkland school shootings. "When followed to its logical conclusion, CRT is destructive and rejects the fundamental ideas on which our constitutional republic is based," the organization claimed.

(A good parallel here is how popular ideas of the common core learning standards grew to encompass far more than what those standards said on paper.)

Does critical race theory say all white people are racist? Isn't that racist, too?

The theory says that racism is part of everyday life, so people-white or nonwhite-who don't intend to be racist can nevertheless make choices that fuel racism.

Some critics claim that the theory advocates discriminating against white people in order to achieve equity. They mainly aim those accusations at theorists who advocate for policies that explicitly take race into account. (The writer Ibram X. Kendi, whose recent popular book How to Be An Antiracist suggests that discrimination that creates equity can be considered anti-racist, is often cited in this context.)

Fundamentally, though, the disagreement springs from different conceptions of racism. CRT thus puts an emphasis on outcomes, not merely on individuals' own beliefs, and it calls on these outcomes to be examined and rectified. Among lawyers, teachers, policymakers, and the general public, there are many disagreements about how precisely to do those things, and to what extent race should be explicitly appealed to or referred to in the process.

All these different ideas grow out of longstanding, tenacious intellectual debates. Critical race theory emerged out of postmodernist thought, which tends to be skeptical of the idea of universal values, objective knowledge, individual merit, Enlightenment rationalism, and liberalism-tenets that conservatives tend to hold dear.

What does any of this have to do with K-12 education?

Scholars who study critical race theory in education look at how policies and practices in K-12 education contribute to persistent racial inequalities in education, and advocate for ways to change them. Among the topics they've studied: racially segregated schools, the underfunding of majority-Black and Latino school districts, disproportionate disciplining of Black students, barriers to gifted programs and selective-admission high schools, and curricula that reinforce racist ideas.

Critical race theory is not a synonym for culturally relevant teaching, which emerged in the 1990s. This teaching approach seeks to affirm students' ethnic and racial backgrounds and is intellectually rigorous. But it's related in that one of its aims is to help students identify and critique the causes of social inequality in their own lives.

Many educators support, to one degree or another, culturally relevant teaching and other strategies to make schools feel safe and supportive for Black students and other underserved populations. (Students of color make up the majority of school-aged children.) But they don't necessarily identify these activities as CRT-related.

As one teacher-educator put it: "The way we usually see any of this in a classroom is: 'Have I thought about how my Black kids feel? And made a space for them, so that they can be successful?' That is the level I think it stays at, for most teachers." Like others interviewed for this explainer, the teacher-educator did not want to be named out of fear of online harassment.

An emerging subtext among some critics is that curricular excellence can't coexist alongside culturally responsive teaching or anti-racist work. Their argument goes that efforts to change grading practices or make the curriculum less Eurocentric will ultimately harm Black students, or hold them to a less high standard.

As with CRT in general, its popular representation in schools has been far less nuanced. A recent poll by the advocacy group Parents Defending Education claimed some schools were teaching that "white people are inherently privileged, while Black and other people of color are inherently oppressed and victimized"; that "achieving racial justice and equality between racial groups requires discriminating against people based on their whiteness"; and that "the United States was founded on racism."

Thus much of the current debate appears to spring not from the academic texts, but from fear among critics that students-especially white students-will be exposed to supposedly damaging or self-demoralizing ideas.

While some district officials have issued mission statements, resolutions, or spoken about changes in their policies using some of the discourse of CRT, it's not clear to what degree educators are explicitly teaching the concepts, or even using curriculum materials or other methods that implicitly draw on them. For one thing, scholars say, much scholarship on CRT is written in academic language or published in journals not easily accessible to K-12 teachers.

What is going on with these proposals to ban critical race theory in schools?

The bills are so vaguely written that it's unclear what they will affirmatively cover.

Could a teacher who wants to talk about a factual instance of state-sponsored racism-like the establishment of Jim Crow, the series of laws that prevented Black Americans from voting or holding office and separated them from white people in public spaces-be considered in violation of these laws?

It's also unclear whether these new bills are constitutional, or whether they impermissibly restrict free speech.

It would be extremely difficult, in any case, to police what goes on inside hundreds of thousands of classrooms. But social studies educators fear that such laws could have a chilling effect on teachers who might self-censor their own lessons out of concern for parent or administrator complaints.

The laws could also become a tool to attack other pieces of the curriculum, including ethnic studies and "action civics"-an approach to civics education that asks students to research local civic problems and propose solutions.

How is this related to other debates over what's taught in the classroom amid K-12 culture wars?

The charge that schools are indoctrinating students in a harmful theory or political mindset is a longstanding one, historians note. CRT appears to be the latest salvo in this ongoing debate.

In history, the debates have focused on the balance among patriotism and American exceptionalism, on one hand, and the country's history of exclusion and violence towards Indigenous people and the enslavement of African Americans on the other-between its ideals and its practices. Those tensions led to the implosion of a 1994 attempt to set national history standards.

The culture wars are always, at some level, battled out within schools, historians say.

"It's because they're nervous about broad social things, but they're talking in the language of school and school curriculum," said one historian of education. "That's the vocabulary, but the actual grammar is anxiety about shifting social power relations."

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What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?

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Is "critical race theory" a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against white people? Liberals and conservatives are in sharp disagreement. In truth, the divides are not nearly as neat as they may seem.

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A List of Readings related to Critical Race Theory compiled by Education Week. 24 May 2021.

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Education news, analysis, and opinion about race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity, and/or religious beliefs and schools.

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Professional Development Webinar (on demand) for Educators.

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Teaching Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage

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In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, join LFJ in unpacking the origins, meaning and contemporary impact of the term “Asian American Pacific Islander.” We will also break down the model minority myth and provide educators with resources to effectively teach AAPI history.

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Call-In Conversations with Your Students

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YouTube:  "Microagressions in the Classroom"

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National council of Teachers of English Position Statement on Anti-Racism

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National council of Teachers of English Position Statement on Anti-Racism

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Originally developed by the National Council of Teachers of English Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English, February 2007, revised July 2018 OVERVIEW
In 2007, NCTE published the original version of this statement with the help of the Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English. The statement was published in response to historical, and at that time, current examples of racism and discrimination occurring within pre-Kindergarten-grade 12 schools and institutions of higher education. Now, over a decade later, this statement has been revised to serve as a reminder of NCTE's commitment to being an organization of anti-racist educators working toward achieving educational equity. This statement has been revised to reflect recent national examples of racism and discrimination that have taken place in schools and on college and university campuses. Included in this statement are recommendations and resources to help English and language arts educators work actively to eradicate acts of racism and discrimination in our classrooms, curriculum, schools, and institutions.
STATEMENT
Racism consists of two principal components: difference and power. It is a mindset that sees a "them" that is different from an "us." Racism in America is the systematic mistreatment and disenfranchisement of people of color who currently and historically possess less power and privilege than white Americans. In modern times, there has arisen a "cultural racism" that allows for ethnic groups that cannot always be distinguished from the majority, in terms of physical features, but are nevertheless subject to the same kinds of biases as those who have been traditionally marked as a different race. Racism, then, and other forms of discrimination continue to be a part of American society, continuing to affect all students and their education. The Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is committed to working toward the eradication of racism, discrimination, and bigotry in the profession, in the preparation of teachers, and in the administrative decisions made in schools, especially in the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels. Our work promotes research-based recommendations to help in counteracting racism and other forms of bigotry in teaching materials, methods, and programs for the teaching and learning of English and the language arts. Most important, the NCTE Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English works toward positive communication and the promotion of social justice as fair and equal access to the benefits of the society, especially in terms of access to and delivery of public education.

Recently, there have been increasing incidents and forms of blatant practices, threats of physical violence, production and dissemination of racist and biased materials, and expressions of racism and other expressions of bigotry toward students of culturally diverse human backgrounds attending US schools and institutions of higher education. Specific charges and indictments have been based on intersectional identities involving hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents in public schools and higher education institutions (e.g., race; ethnicity; class; gender; age; mental and physical abilities; nationality; migrant, immigrant, and refugee status; religious affiliation; and sexual orientation). More evident, English language learners, especially from migrant and immigrant families, children, and students, have faced discriminatory practices in their attempts to access public education programs. Sadly, incidents such as these largely reflect similar incidents that took place over a decade ago when the first version of this statement was published. Recent national examples include the following institutions:

California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo, California), "Cal Poly Suspends All Greek Life After Second Racist Incident," Inside Higher Ed, April 20, 2018

Detroit (Michigan) Public Schools Community District, "'Access to Literacy' Is Not a Constitutional Right, Judge in Detroit Rules," The New York Times, July 4, 2018

Houston (Texas) Independent School District, "For Immigrant Students, a New Worry: A Call to ICE," The New York Times, May 30, 2018

Irving (Texas) Independent School District, "Muslim Boy Who Was Arrested for Building a Clock Says His Family Was Forced to Leave the U.S. for Safety," The Los Angeles Times, August 8, 2016

University of Missouri (Columbia) and Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut), "Racial Tensions Escalate," Inside Higher Ed, November 9, 2015

North Bend (Oregon) School District 13, "L.G.B.T. Students in Oregon Were Bullied and Forced to Read Bible, Report Says," The New York Times, May 16, 2018

Suffolk University (Boston, Massachusetts), "When Latina Student Wrote 'Hence,' Her Professor Assumed Plagiarism," Inside Higher Ed, October 13, 2016

National Examples, 2006-2007

Baltimore (Maryland) Public School System, "Race, Politics, and the Schools: Q&A: Marion Orr," The Baltimore Sun, May 28, 2006

Boston (Massachusetts) Public Schools, "Teens Probe Sexual Harassment in Schools," The Boston-Bay State Banner, April 6, 2006

Clark County (Nevada) School District, "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do - Mason Says Racism a Factor in Districting," Las Vegas Sun, January 5, 2006

Truth or Consequences (New Mexico) Schools, "Educators Get Support after Complaint over Racism Project," Santa Fe New Mexican, December 20, 2006

Winner (South Dakota) School District, "Graduating to Prison: Native Americans Sue School District," The Progressive, February 2007

In order to ensure that all individuals have access to an education that is free of racism, bias, and other forms of bigotry, and to support the intellectual development and growth of students from early childhood education to university studies, the NCTE Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English recommends that English language arts educators

actively identify and challenge individual or systemic acts of racism and other forms of discrimination and bigotry in educational institutions and within our profession, exposing such acts through external communications and publications.

express strong declarations of solidarity with people of diverse human and cultural backgrounds to eradicate forms of racism, bias, and prejudice in spaces of teaching and learning.

promote not only cultural diversity and expanding linguistic knowledge, but explicitly push for anti-racism by participating in ongoing professional development for educators to succeed in countering racism and other forms of bigotry.

support the enforcement of laws and policies that provide sanctions against racial and ethnic discrimination in education. Also, advocate for legislative reform that will lead to policies that provide sanctions against discrimination in education based on race, ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, class, mental and physical abilities, nationality, migrant, immigrant, and refugee status.

Furthermore, the NCTE Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English recommends that

all administrators secure funds and resources to provide opportunities for professional development for teachers and instructional programs that affirm cultural diversity among all students.

all educational stakeholders-policymakers, parents, and the general public-understand that they can best support educators or teacher professionals and students by actively participating in public conversations about racism and bigotry in our multilingual and multicultural American society, defined in the key opening words of the United States Constitution's Preamble, "We the People . . . ."

RESOURCES AND RESEARCH SUPPORTING THIS STATEMENT
Recent resources that have been distributed digitally and research results that have been discussed in national periodicals and reports are as follows:

Bringing Black Lives Matter into the Classroom - Part II, Teaching Tolerance 56, Summer 2017

Creating an LGBT-Inclusive School Climate: A Teaching Tolerance Guide for School Leaders, Teaching Tolerance website, October 2017

Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff, Teaching Tolerance 55, Spring 2017

National School Climate Survey, The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, 2015

The School-to-Prison Pipeline, Teaching Tolerance 43, Spring 2013

White-Supremacist Propaganda on Campuses Rose 77% Last Year The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 28, 2017

STATEMENT AUTHORS
This document was revised by a working committee comprising the following:

Jazmen Moore, Chair - Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park, IL

Logan Manning - Alternatives in Action High School, Oakland, CA

Victor Villanueva - Washington State University, Pullman
This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE. 07/11/18

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Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Teaching and Learning - NCTE

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Originally developed by the National Council of Teachers of English Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English, February 2007, revised July 2018 OVERVIEW In 2007, NCTE published the original version of this statement with the help of the Committee on Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English.

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It's a reassurance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included in several of his speeches over the years, one he shared with crowds across the country.

And if we look at history a certain way, the arc contracts. Dr. King was born 64 years after the passage of the 13th Amendment. President Obama was born only 32 years after that. From 1865 to 1964-less than a century separates the birth of the last person born into slavery from the birth of the first black U.S. president.

The Idea of Continuous Racial Progress

The progress is undeniable. But it wasn't inevitable. It certainly wasn't continuous. And we do our students a disservice if we represent our history otherwise.

Far too often, though, the history of race and racism is presented as a story of continuous progress. As TT Staff Writer Coshandra Dillard explains, "[t]he overall narrative [of black history] goes something like this: America overcame slavery, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped usher in new civil rights laws, and then we elected the first black president."

According to our Teaching Hard History report, this focus on progress-the idea of a nation that faced down its sins and fought off its demons-is as common as it is problematic.

The report identifies this idea as one of the key problems in current pedagogy around American slavery: "We tend to subscribe to a progressive view of American history that can acknowledge flaws only to the extent that they have been addressed and solved."

To insist on a history of continuous racial progress is to neglect an honest accounting of the fits and starts, the half-steps and missed opportunities that come with any struggle for justice. It is, instead, to offer students what Professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries-also the Teaching Hard History Advisory Board chair-calls "the Disney version of history." It's a history, he writes, "in which villains are easily spotted, suffering never lasts long, heroes invariably prevail and life always gets better."

The Consequences

The idea of continuous racial progress isn't merely inaccurate. It's harmful. "It took African Americans more than a century to eliminate [Jim Crow laws and other] legal barriers to equality," Jeffries explains, "but that has not been enough to erase race-based disparities in every aspect of American life, from education to employment to wealth and well-being."

Those disparities, which persist today, are further exacerbated by "public policies [that] tend to treat ... racial inequality as a product of poor personal decision-making, rather than acknowledging it as the result of racialized systems and structures that restrict choice and limit opportunity."

Downplaying or erasing the periods when the nation moved away from justice does little to help our students understand the present-day impact of structures that uphold injustice.

What Now?

To question or trouble the idea of continuous racial progress is not to deny there has been progress. As Professor Ibram X. Kendi points out, "That progress has been real over the course of history, and to deny its forward march is to deny all the successes of courageous activists who challenged slavery, and who are challenging segregation and poverty."

Educators can honor that progress without presenting students with "the Disney version of history." Here are a few ways to start.

We can teach the history of racism, not just the history of racial progress.

Kendi recommends that we remember anti-racists aren't the only activists who have gathered others to their cause to shape law and policy. In place of a "single historical force" pushing us toward racial justice, he proposes imagining " two historical forces at work: a dual and dueling history of racial progress and the simultaneous progression of racism."

To think of history in this way is to recognize that working for equity means fighting to protect rights we've already won-and that sometimes we lose those fights.

Students tend to think of the fight for civil rights as though there has always been a set list of hurdles to be overcome-slavery, then racial terror, then segregation, then disenfranchisement, then mass incarceration. It's our job to help them understand that these aren't discrete, predestined fights. Each hurdle sprang up in response to a step forward.

But hurdles themselves are a bad metaphor, implying that the pushback against racial justice is predictable and solid. A better way of thinking about it might be water-racism will take the shape of whatever will hold it. Sometimes the response to racial progress is quick and fierce, as in the Jim Crow laws and the racial terror that followed Reconstruction and COINTELPRO's targeting of black activist organizations when so much coalition-building was happening in the 1960s. Other times it's a slow-rising tide, so that 54 years after the Voting Rights Act, we find voter suppression is on the rise. And 65 years after Brown v. Board, we're still fighting to end school segregation.

We can teach the missed opportunities.

To ignore the history of racist progress in the U.S. is to ignore all the moments when a "more perfect union" seemed possible, but never came to be. It's widely known that Dr. King was still at the start of his Poor People's Campaign when he was assassinated. What would that work look like today if he had lived and continued that campaign? What kinds of allegiances might have grown up in the 50 years since his death? What kinds of priorities?

The idea of history as continuous racial progress shuts down these questions. If we're always getting better, there's no reason to ask: What would our nation look like if the Freedman's Bureau had been able to follow through on their promise of land to those who'd been enslaved? If the right to vote had been protected for black men beginning with the 15th Amendment in 1870? If black women had been able to vote in 1920?

Teaching the missed opportunities offers students a more accurate understanding of American history and invites them to think big, to contemplate how our nation might become more just.

We can teach the present.

Right now, for example, a national discussion is unfolding around reparations. If we've encouraged students to think of history not as a smooth progression but rather as a series of opportunities, then we've given them the tools to engage more critically in this discussion. They can recognize the historical context and think ahead to consider how such a decision might affect future generations.

Understanding that the civil rights movement wasn't inevitable, it's easier for students to build connections, to see how arguments about patriotism and civility regarding #TakeAKnee are similar to those leveled against Dr. King and others in the movement.

We can let activists be models.

When we do teach about racist progress, it's often in terms of the people who worked to fight it. But it's worth considering how we present these figures. How do we help students recognize themselves in the activists we present in our classrooms? How do we suggest-even unintentionally-that these "heroes" are somehow a special type of person, set apart and inimitable?

For example, it's worth considering how often we hear that Dr. King "gave his life for racial justice" or "sacrificed his life for a better world." These statements imply an exchange-as though his murder unlocked something or that his death effected change, rather than his lifetime of work.

How might students relate differently to Dr. King if, instead of a martyr, they saw a model? To teach students about the work Dr. King began that remains undone- his work on poverty, for example-does not diminish his work. It shows students how they can join it.

On March 31, 1968, four days before he'd be assassinated, Dr. King spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. He outlined the work of his Poor People's Campaign, detailed his objections to the Vietnam War and reminded his listeners that "human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability." But at the close of his speech, he offered hope: "We shall overcome," he told the crowd, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Delacroix is an associate editor for Teaching Tolerance.

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The Problem With the "Disney Version of History"

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It's a reassurance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included in several of his speeches over the years, one he shared with crowds across the country. And if we look at history a certain way, the arc contracts. Dr. King was born 64 years after the passage of the 13th Amendment.

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Teaching Tolerance          Social Justice Standards:      An Anti-Bias Framework

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Teaching Tolerance          Social Justice Standards:      An Anti-Bias Framework

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Skip to main content

A Framework for Anti-Bias Education

The Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K-12 instruction. Comprised of anchor standards and age-appropriate learning outcomes, the standards provide a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable.

Divided into four domains-identity, diversity, justice and action (IDJA)-the standards recognize that, in today's diverse classrooms, students need knowledge and skills related to both prejudice-reduction and collective action. Together, these domains represent a continuum of engagement in anti-bias, multicultural and social justice education. The IDJA domains are based on Louise Derman-Sparks' four goals for anti-bias education in early childhood.

Each of the IDJA domains has learning outcomes and school-based scenarios organized by grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

Download the Standards

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The Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K-12 instruction, providing a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable.

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Interviews with former slaves, conducted by members of the Federal Writers Project, a Depression-era WPA initiative. Lessons for the classroom.

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Students

Slavery in the United States, 1790-1865

What specific information about slaves and slavery can you see in (or infer from) these photographs and text documents?
View photo gallery
Excerpt from "Report of the Board of Education for Freedmen" (1864)
Report of the Board of education for freedmen, Department of the Gulf, for the year 1864. Read the full transcription of this document REPORT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR FREEDMEN,
DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,
FOR THE YEAR 1864.
NEW ORLEANS: PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE TRUE DELTA. 1865.
{Begin page}

REPORT.
Office of the Board of Education for Freedmen, )
Department of the Gulf, ..........
February 28, 1865. ..........
Major General S. A. Hurlbut,
Commanding Department of the Gulf:

General--In complaince with your order, we have the honor to submit the following Report of the Board of Education for Freedmen, Department of the Gulf.

The Report relates the operations of the Board from the date of its organization, March 22d, 1864, to December 31st, same year--a period of nine months.
COLORED SCHOOLS IN NEW ORLEANS.
When, in April, 1862, the guns of Farragut transferred the city of New Orleans from rebel to national rule, no such thing as a "Public School" for colored children, was found in the schedule of the conquest.

No such thing had ever existed in the Crescent City. Even that portion of the colored population, who, for generations, had been wealthy and free, were allowed no public school, although taxed to support the school-system of the city and State. Occasionally a small donation was made from the public fund to a school for orphans, attached to the Colored Orphans' Asylum.

The children of the free colored people who were in good circumstances, known as "Creoles," generally of French or Spanish extraction, when not educated abroad, or at the North, or from fairness of complexion, by occasional admission to the white schools, were quietly instructed at home, or in a very few private schools, of their class.

Even these, although not contrary to law, were really the ban of opinion, but were tolerated, because of the freedom, wealth, respectability and light color of the parents, many of whom were nearly white, and by blood, sympathy, association, slaveholding, and other interests, were allied to the white rather than to the black.

For the poor, of the free colored people, there was no school.

To teach a slave the dangerous arts of reading and writing, was a heinous offence, having, in the language of the statute, "a tendency to excite insubordination among the servile class, and punishable by imprisonment at hard labor for not more than twenty-one years, or by death, at the discretion of the Court."

In the face of all obstacles, a few of the free colored people, of the poorer class, learned to read and write. Cases of like proficiency were found among the slaves, where some restless bondsman, yearning for the knowledge, that somehow he coupled with liberty, hid himself from public notice, to con over, in secret and laboriously, the magic letters.

In other cases, limited teaching of a slave was connived at, by a master, who might find it convenient for his servant to read.

Occasionally, the slave was instructed by some devout and sympathizing woman or generous man, who secretly violated law and resisted opinion, for the sake of justice and humanity.

A single attempt had been made to afford instruction, through a school, to the poor of the colored people, by Mrs. Mary D.Brice, of Ohio, a student of Antioch College, who, with her husband, both poor in money, came to New Orleans in December, 1858, under a sense of duty, to teach colored people.

So many and great were the obstacles, that Mrs. Brice was unable to begin her school until September, 1860. At that time she opened a "school for colored children and adults," at the corner of Franklin and Perdido streets.

The popular outcry obliged her to close the school in June, 1861.

Subsequently receiving, as she believed, a divine intimation that she would be sustained, Mrs. Brice again opened her school in November following, near the same place; afterwards removing to Magnolia street, on account of room.

Under Confederate rule, she was repeatedly "warned" to desist teaching.

The gate-posts in front of her house were covered at night by placards, threatening "death to nigger teachers."

When forced to suspend her school, Mrs. Brice stole round at night, especially on dark and rainy nights, the more easily to elude observation, to the houses or resorts of her pupils, and there taught the eager learners, under every disability of mutual poverty, often of sore need, in face of imprisonment, banishment, or possible death.

Upon the occupation of the city by our forces, her school was preserved from further molestation, rather by the moral sentiment of the army than by any direct action; for so timid or prejudiced were many of our commanders, that long after that time General Emory sent for the Rev. Thomas Conway, to admonish him not to advocate,

publicly, the opening of schools for colored children, as it would be very dangerous!

The school of Mrs. Brice continued to thrive, and subsequently passed under the Board of Education, in whose employ she is now an efficient and honored Principal.

The advent of the Federal army weakened slavery, and suspended the pains and penalties of its bloody code, and a few private teachers began to appear, in response to the strong desire of the colored people for instruction.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR COLORED PEOPLE.
No public schools were established until October, 1863. The great work was fairly begun by the "Commission of Enrollment," created by order of Major General Banks, commanding Department of the Gulf.

In February, 1864, was published General Order No. 23, of Gen. Banks, known as the "Labor Order." That order bridged the chasm between the old and the new. By it the laborer, although a slave, was permitted to choose his employer. The governing power was shifted from the planter to the Provost Marshal.

In addition to food, clothing, quarters, fuel, medical attendance and wages, instruction for his children was promised the colored man by the Government. ....
DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNTRY SCHOOLS.
It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the difficulty of establishing these schools in the country parishes.

Considering the expense and the probability of change in the school districts, the Board decided not to build school-houses at present, but to avail themselves of such accommodations as could be found.

The parish Provost Marshals were directed to seize and turn over to the Board all buildings designated by our agents as essential to the schools, taking care not to incommode or irritate any one, beyond the necessities of the case.

Any hesitancy to act, or indifference on the part of the Marshals, was met forthwith by the Provost Marshal General in the shape of a peremptory order, or by the prompt removal of the refractory subordinate. By this means the first obstacles were overcome. Had the Board received from the same office a continuance of the active interest in these schools manifested by General Bowen during his incumbency, we should have had, at this time, at least three thousand additional pupils.

Cabins, sheds, unused houses, were appropriated, roughly repaired, fitted with a cheap stove for the winter, a window or two for light and air a teacher sent to the locality, the neighboring children gathered in, and the school started.

In some of the parishes, so great was the difficulty of obtaining boarding places for our teachers--notwithstanding the efforts of agents and Provost Marshals--that a special order or circular letter was published, (see Appendix D,) by which many of the teachers were provided with temporary homes. But it frequently occurs, that in a desirable locality for a school, it is impossible to obtain boarding for the teachers. In such cases, a weather-proof shelter of some kind--very poor at best--is obtained, some simple furniture provided, and a teacher sent who is willing to undergo the privations--often hardships-of boarding herself, in addition to the fatigues of her school,

Compelled to live on the coarsest diet of corn bread and bacon; often no tea, coffee, butter, eggs, or flour; separated by miles of bad

roads from the nearest provision store; refused credit because she is a negro teacher, unable to pay cash because the Government is unavoidably in arrears; subjected to the jeers and hatred of her neighbors; cut off from society, with unfrequent and irregular mails; swamped in mud--the school shed a drip, and her quarters little better; raided occasionally by rebels, her school broken up and herself insulted, banished, or run off to rebeldom; under all this, it is really surprising how some of these brave women manage to live, much more how they are able to render the service they do as teachers.

Despite all the efforts of our agents, the assistance of the Provost Marshals, and the devotion of the teachers, many of these schools would have to be abandoned but for the freedmen themselves. These, fully alive to all that is being done for them, gratefully aid the teachers from their small store, and mount guard against the enemy of the schools, whether he be a rebel, a guerilla, or a pro-slavery professed unionist skulking behind the oath.

Excerpt from "What Became of the Slaves on a Georgia Plantation?" (1859)

What became of the slaves on a Georgia plantation?:
Great auction sale of slaves, at Savannah, Georgia, March 2d & 3d, 1859. A sequel to Mrs. Kemble's Journal.
Read the full transcription of this document
{Begin handwritten} Life in the Southern States {End handwritten}
WHAT BECAME OF THE SLAVES ON A GEORGIA PLANTATION?
GREAT ACTION SALE OF SLAVES

{Begin handwritten} by Price M. Butler {End handwritten}
AT SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
MARCH 2d 3d, 1859.
A SEQUEL TO MRS. KEMBLE'S JOURNAL.
{Begin handwritten} Savannah, Ga. {End handwritten}
1863.
SALE OF SLAVES
The largest sale of human chattels that has been made in Star-Spangled America for several years, took place on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, at the Race-course near the City of Savannah, Georgia. The lot consisted of four hundred and thirty-six men, women, children and infants, being that half of the negro stock remaining on the old Major Butler plantations which fell to one of the two heirs to that estate. Major Butler, dying, left a property valued at more than a million of dollars, the major part of which was invested in rice and cotton plantations, and the slaves thereon, all of which immense fortune descended to two heirs, his sons, Mr. John A. Butler, sometime deceased, and Mr. Pierce M. Butler, still living, and resident in the City of Philadelphia, in the free State of Pennsylvania.

Losses in the great crash of 1857-8, and other exigencies of business, have compelled the latter gentleman to realize on his Southern investments, that he may satisfy his pressing creditors. This necessity led to a partition of the negro stock on the Georgia plantations, between himself and the representative of the other heir, the widow of the late John A. Butler, and the negroes that were brought to the hammer last week were the property of Mr. Pierce M. Butler, of Philadelphia, and were in fact sold to pay Mr. Pierce M. Butler's debts. The creditors were represented by Gen. Cadwalader, while Mr. Butler was present in person, attended by his business agent, to attend to his own interests.

The sale had been advertised largely for many weeks, though the name of Mr. Butler was not mentioned; and as the negroes were known to be a choice lot and very desirable property, the attendance of buyers was large. The breaking up of an old family estate is so uncommon an occurrence that the affair was regarded with unusual interest throughout the South. For several days before the sale every hotel in Savannah was crowded with negro speculators from North and South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, who had been attracted hither by the prospects of making good bargains.

Nothing was heard for days, in the bar-rooms and public rooms, but talk of the great sale; criticisms of the business affairs of Mr. Butler, and speculations as to the probable prices the stock would bring. The office of Joseph Bryan, the Negro Broker, who had the management of the sale, was thronged every day by eager inquirers in search of information, and by some who were anxious to buy, but were uncertain as to whether their securities would prove acceptable. Little parties were made up from the various hotels every day to visit the Race-course, distant

some three miles from the city, to look over the chattels, discuss their points, and make memoranda for guidance on the day of sale. The buyers were generally of a rough breed, slangy, profane and bearish, being for the most part from the back river and swamp plantations, where the elegancies of polite life are not, perhaps, developed to their fullest extent. In fact, the humanities are sadly neglected by the petty tyrants of the rice-fields that border the great Dismal Swamp, their knowledge of the luxuries of our best society comprehending only revolvers and kindred delicacies. ...
WHERE THE NEGROES CAME FROM.
The negroes came from two plantations, the one a rice plantation near Darien, in the State of Georgia, not far from the great Okefonokee Swamp, and the other a cotton plantation on the extreme northern point of St. Simon's Island, a little bit of an island in the Atlantic, cut off from Georgia mainland by a slender arm of the sea. Though the most of the steek had been accustomed only to rice and cotton planting, there were among them a number of very passable mechanics, who had been taught to do all the rougher sorts of mechanical work on the plantations. There were coopers, carpenters, shoemakers and blacksmiths, each one equal, in his various craft, to the ordinary requirements of a plantation; thus, the coopers could make rice-tierces, and possibly, on a pinch, rude tubs and buckets; the carpenter could do the rough carpentry about the negro-quarters; the shoemaker could make shoes of the fashion required for the slaves, and the blacksmith was adequate to the

manufacture of hoes and similar simple tools, and to such trifling repairs in the blacksmithing way as did not require too refined a skill. Though probably no one of all these would be called a superior, or even an average workman, among the masters of the craft, their knowledge of these various trades sold in some cases for nearly as much as the man--that is, a man without a trade, who would be valued at $900, would readily bring $1,600 or $1,700 if he was a passable blacksmith or cooper. ...

... None of the Butler slaves have ever been sold before, but have been on these two plantations since they were born. Here have they lived their humble lives, and loved their simple loves; here were they born, and here have many of them had children born unto them; here had their parents lived before them, and are now resting in quiet graves on the old plantations that these unhappy ones are to see no more forever; here they left not only the well-known scenes dear to them from very baby-hood by a thousand fond memories, and homes as much loved by them, perhaps, as brighter homes by men of brighter faces; but all the clinging ties that bound them to living hearts were torn asunder, for but one-half of each of these two happy little communities was sent to the shambles, to be scattered to the four winds, and the other half was left behind. And who can tell how closely intertwined are the affections of a little band of four hundred persons, living isolated from all the world beside, from birth to middle age? Do they not naturally become one great family, each man a brother unto each?

It is true they were sold "in families," but let us see: a man and his wife were called a "family," their parents and kindred were not taken into account; the man and wife might be sold to the pine woods of North Carolina, their brothers and sisters be scattered through the cotton fields of Alabama and rice swamps of Louisiana, while the parents might be left on the old plantation to wear out their weary lives in grief, and lay their heads in far-off graves, over which their children might never weep. And

no account could be taken of loves that were as yet unconsummated by marriage; and how many aching hearts have been divorced by this summary proceeding no man can ever know. And the separation is as utter, and is infinitely more hopeless, than that made by the Angel of Death, for then the loved ones are committed to the care of a merciful Deity; but in the other instance, to the tender mercies of a slave-trade. These dark-skinned unfortunates are perfectly unlettered, and could not communicate by writing even if they should know where to send their missives. And so to each other, and to the old familiar places of their youth, clung all their sympathies and affections, not less strong, perhaps, because they are so few. The blades of grass on all the Butler estates are outnumbered by the tears that are poured out in agony at the wreck that has been wrought in happy homes, and the crushing grief that has been laid on loving hearts.

But, then, what business have "niggers" with tears? Besides, didn't Pierce Butler give them a silver dollar a-piece? which will appear in the sequel. And, sad as it is, it was all necessary, because a gentleman was not able to live on the beggarly pittance of half a million, and so must needs enter into speculations which turned out adversely.
HOW THEY WERE TREATED IN SAVANNAH.
The negroes were brought to Savannah in small lots, as many at a time as could be conveniently taken care of, the last of them reaching the city the Friday before the sale. They were consigned to the care of Mr. J. Bryan, Auctioneer and Negro Broker, who was to feed and keep them in condition until disposed of. Immediately on their arrival they were taken to the Race-course, and there quartered in the sheds erected for the accommodation of the horses and carriages of gentlemen attending the races. Into these sheds they were huddled pell-mell, without any more attention to their comfort than was necessary to prevent their becoming ill and unsaleable. Each "family" had one or more boxes or bundles, in which were stowed such scanty articles of their clothing as were not brought into immediate requisition, and their tin dishes and gourds for their food and drink.

...In these sheds were the chattels huddled together on the floor,

there being no sign of bench or table. They eat and slept on the bare boards, their food being rice and beans, with occasionally a bit of bacon and corn bread. Their huge bundles were scattered over the floor, and thereon the slaves sat or reclined, when not restlessly moving about, or gathered into sorrowful groups, discussing the chances of their future fate. On the faces of all was an expression of heavy grief; some appeared to be resigned to the hard stroke of Fortune that had torn them from their homes, and were sadly trying to make the best of it; some sat brooding moodily over their sorrows, their chins resting on their hands, their eyes staring vacantly, and their bodies rocking to and fro, with a restless motion that was never stilled; few wept, the place was too public and the drivers too near, though some occasionally turned aside to give way to a few quiet tears. They were dressed in every possible variety of uncouth and fantastic garb, in every style and of every imaginable color; the texture of the garments was in all cases coarse, most of the men being clothed in the rough cloth that is made expressly for the slaves. The dresses assumed by the negro minstrels, when they give imitations of plantation character, are by no means exaggerated; they are, instead, weak and unable to come up to the original.

There was every variety of hats, with every imaginable slouch; and there was every cut and style of coat and pantaloons, made with every conceivable ingenuity of misfit, and tossed on with a general appearance of perfect looseness that is perfectly indescribable, except to say that a Southern negro always looks as if he could shake his clothes off without taking his hands out of his pockets. The women, true to the feminine instinct, had made, in almost every case, some attempt at finery. All wore gorgeous turbans, generally manufactured in an instant out of a gay-colored handkerchief by a sudden and graceful twist of the fingers; though there was occasionally a more elaborate turban, a turban complex and mysterious, got up with care, and ornamented with a few beads or bright bits of ribbon. Their dresses were mostly coarse stuff, though there were some gaudy calicoes; a few had ear-rings, and one possessed the treasure of a string of yellow and blue beads. The little children were always better and more carefully dressed than the older ones, the parental pride coming out in the shape of a yellow cap pointed like a mitre, or a jacket with a strip of red broadcloth round the bottom. The children were of all sizes, the youngest being fifteen days old. The babies were generally good-natured; though when one would set up a yell, the complaint soon attacked the others, and a full chorus would be the result.

The slaves remained at the Race-course, some of them for more than a week, and all of them for four days before the sale. They were brought in thus early that buyers who desired to inspect them might enjoy that privilege, although none of them were sold at private sale. For these preliminary days their shed was constantly

visited by speculators. The negroes were examined with as little consideration as if they had been brutes indeed; the buyers pulling their mouths open to see their teeth, pinching their limbs to find how muscular they were, walking them up and down to detect any signs of lameness, making them stoop and bend in different ways that they might be certain there was no concealed rupture or wound; and in addition to all this treatment, asking them scores of questions relative to their qualifications and accomplishments. All these humiliations were submitted to without a murmur, and in some instances with good-natured cheerfulness--where the slave liked the appearance of the proposed buyer, and fancied that he might prove a kind "Mas'r." ...
THE SALE.
... The negroes looked more uncomfortable than ever; the close confinement in-doors for a number of days, and the drizzly, unpleasant weather, began to tell on their condition. They moved about more listlessly, and were fast losing the activity and springiness they had at first shown. This morning they were all gathered into the long room of the building erected as the "Grand Stand" of the Race-course, that they might be immediately under the eye of the buyers. The room was about a hundred feet long by twenty wide, and herein were crowded the poor creatures, with much of their baggage, awaiting their respective calls to step upon the block and be sold to the highest bidder. This morning Mr. Pierce Butler appeared among his people, speaking to each one, and being recognized with seeming pleasure by all. The men obsequiously pulled off their hats and made that indescribable sliding hitch with the foot which passes with a negro for a bow; and the women each dropped the quick curtsy, which they seldom vouchsafe to any other than their legitimate master and mistress. Occasionally, to a very old or favorite servant, Mr. Butler would extend his gloved hand, which mark of condescension was instantly hailed with grins of delight from all the sable witnesses.

... Mr. Walsh mounted the stand and announced the terms of the sale, "one-third cash, the remainder payable in two equal annual instalments, bearing interest from the day of sale, to be secured by approved mortgage and personal security, or approved acceptances in Savannah, Ga., or Charleston, S. C. Purchasers to pay for papers." The buyers, who were present to the number of about two hundred, clustered around the platform; while the negroes, who were not likely to be immediately wanted, gathered into sad groups in the back-ground, to watch the progress of the selling in which they were so sorrowfully interested. The wind howled outside, and through the open side of the building the driving rain came pouring in; the bar down stairs ceased for a short time its brisk trade; the buyers lit fresh cigars, got ready their catalogues and pencils, and the first lot of human chattels was led upon the stand, not by a white man, but by a sleek mulatto, himself a slave, and who seems to regard the selling of his brethren, in which he so glibly assists, as a capital joke. It had been announced that the negroes would be sold in "families," that is to say, a man would not be parted from his wife, or a mother from a very young child. There is perhaps as much policy as humanity in this arrangement, for thereby many aged and unserviceable people are disposed of, who otherwise would not find a ready sale. ...

... It seems as if every shade of character capable of being implicated in the sale of human flesh and blood was represented among the buyers. There was the Georgia fast young man, with his pantaloons tucked into his boots, his velvet cap jauntily dragged over to one side, his cheek full of tobacco, which he bites from a huge plug, that resembles more than anything else an old bit of a rusty wagon tire, and who is altogether an animal of quite a different breed from your New York fast man. His ready revolver, or his convenient knife, is ready for instant use in case of heated argument. White-neck-clothed, gold-spectacled, and silver-haired old men were there, resembling in appearance that noxious breed of sanctimonious deacons we have at the North, who are perpetually leaving documents at your door that you never read, and the business of whose mendicant life it is to eternally solicit subscriptions for charitable associations, of which they are treasurers. These gentry, with quiet step and subdued voice, moved carefully about among the live stock, ignoring, as a general rule, the men, but tormenting the women with questions which, when accidentally overheard by the disinterested spectator, bred in that spectator's mind an almost irresistible desire to knock somebody down.

And then, all imaginable varieties of rough, backwoods rowdies, who began the day in a spirited manner, but who, as its hours progressed, and their practice at the bar became more prolific in results, waxed louder and talkier and more violent, were present, and added a characteristic feature to the assemblage. Those of your readers who have read "Uncle Tom,"--and who has not?--will remember, with peculiar feelings, Legree, the slave-driver and woman-whipper. That that character is not been overdrawn, or too highly colored, there is abundant testimony. Witness the subjoined dialogue: A party of men were conversing on the fruitful subject of managing refractory "niggers;" some were for severe whipping, some recommending branding, one or two advocated other modes of torture, but one huge brute of a man, who had not taken an active part in the discussion, save to assent, with approving nod, to any unusually barbarous proposition, at last broke his silence by saying, in an oracular way, "You may say what you like about managing niggers; I'm a driver myself, and I've had some experience, and I ought to know. You can manage ordinary niggers by lickin' 'em, and givin' 'em a taste of the hot iron once in awhile when they're extra ugly; but if a nigger really sets himself up against me, I can't never have any patience with him. I just get my pistol and shoot him right down; and that's the best way." ...

...The expression on the faces of all who stepped on the block was always the same, and told of more anguish than it is in the power of words to express. Blighted homes, crushed hopes and broken hearts, was the sad story to be read in all the anxious faces. Some of them regarded the sale with perfect indifference, never making a motion, save to turn from one side to the other at the word of the dapper Mr. Bryan, that all the crowd might have a fair view of their proportions, and then, when the sale was accomplished, stepped down from the block without caring to cast even a look at the buyer, who now held all their happiness in his hands. Others, again, strained their eyes with eager glances from one buyer to another as the bidding went on, trying with earnest attention to follow the rapid voice of the auctioneer. Sometimes, two persons only would be bidding for the same chattel, all the others having resigned the contest, and then the poor creature on the block, conceiving an instantaneous preference for one of the buyers over the other, would regard the rivalry with the intensest interest, the expression of his face changing with every bid, settling into a half smile of joy if the favorite buyer persevered unto the end and secured the property, and settling down into a look of hopeless despair if the other won the victory. ...

... Many other babies, of all ages of baby-hood, were sold, but there was nothing particularly interesting about them. There were some thirty babies in the lot; they are esteemed worth to the master a

hundred dollars the day they are born, and to increase in value at the rate of a hundred dollars a year till they are sixteen or seventeen years old, at which age they bring the best prices. ...

... The highest price paid for a single man was $1,750, which was given for William, a "fair carpenter and caulker."

The highest price paid for a woman was $1,250, which was given for Jane, "cotton hand and house servant."

The lowest price paid was for Anson and Violet, a gray-haired couple, each having numbered more than fifty years; they brought but $250 a piece. ...

...And now come the scenes of the last partings--of the final separations of those who were akin, or who had been such dear friends from youth that no ties of kindred could bind them closer--of those who were all in all to each other, and for whose bleeding hearts there shall be no earthly comfort--the parting of parents and children, of brother from brother, and the rending of sister from a sister's bosom; and O! hardest, cruellest of all, the tearing asunder of loving hearts, wedded in all save the one ceremony of the Church-these scenes pass all description; it is not meet for pen to meddle with tears so holy.

As the last family stepped down the block, the rain ceased, for the first time in four days the clouds broke away, and the soft sunlight fell on the scene. The unhappy slaves had many of them been already removed, and others were now departing with their new masters. ...

Excerpt from "My Ups and Downs," an interview with Kert Shorrow" (1939)
[My Ups and Downs]
The complete interview is available.
MY UP'S AND DOWN'S
Written By: Mrs. Ina B. Hawkes

Research Field Worker, Georgia Writers' Project, Athens -

Edited By: Mrs. Maggie B. Freeman

Editor, Georgia Writers' Project, Athens - WPA Area -6

October 9, 1939

September 14, 1939

[Kert Shorrow?] (Negro)

Route # 1, Athens, Georgia

Mrs. Ina B. Hawkes
MY UP'S AND DOWN'S
It was just a small Negro shanty, just off the highway. I went up to the front door. I noticed it was open, but I found the screen door shut and latched.

I came back down off the porch and walked around the house. I saw an old Negro woman coming down a little grassy lane. I walked up to meet her. She looked a little tired. She had a white cotton sack on her back where she had been picking cotton and a big sun hat on. She looked up and appeared very much surprised to see me.

"Good morning, Aunty. Do you live here?" She said, "Good morning, Miss. Yes, man, I lives here. I aint been here so long though. Is der something I can do for yo?"

I told her that I wanted to talk to her a little while if she had time. She said, "Yes'um, but you see I don't want to be [empolite?] cause I won't raised dat way. But if you will come in I will talk to you while

I fix a little dinner. I works in the field all I can."

About that time I saw a small boy coming around the house with his cotton sack.

"My name is [Sadie?]," she said, "and dis is my great grandson here. I'se got seventeen chillun, Honey."

"How did you manage with so many children, Aunty?" I asked. "By the help of the Lawd. We didn't have much, but you know what the old frog said when he went to the pond and found jus a little water, don't you? Well, he said, "A little is better than none.' Dat's de way I all'ers felt about things.

"I was born and raised in Walton County. But dey is done changed things back over der so much. I was over der to see my daughter while back and, Lawdy mussy, chile, dey is done built a new bridge ah didn't know nothing about.

"Here, Sammy, make mama a fire in de stove while I gits a few things ready to cook."

The little boy had a kerosine lamp over the blaze and, before I could stop myself, I had yelled at him to get it away from that blaze. Aunt Sadie said, "Dat's right, Miss. Correct him. Chillun des days don't see no danger in nothing.

"Back in my day as far back as I can remember

my mother and father was [Marse?] Holt and Mistess Holt's slaves. 'Case we chilluns wus too, but slavery times wus over fo I wus big nuf to know very much 'bout hit.

"But I do know about [Marse?] Holt and Mistess Holt. Lawd, child, dey wus de best people in de world I do think. Ole Mistess use to make us go to bed early. She would feed us out under a walnut tree. She wouldn't let us eat lak chilluns do now. We would have milk and bread, and dey would always save pot liquor left over from the vegetables. They put corn bread in it. We little Niggers sho' injoyed hit though. Sometimes we would get syrup and bread and now and then a biscuit.

"[Marse?] and Mistess died, but Ma and Pa and we chillun just stayed on and waked hard. Pa and Ma both wus good farmers. But, Honey, talk 'bout slavery times, hit's mor lak slavery times now with chillun dan it wus den. 'Cause us didn't have to go to de fields til we wus good size chillun. Now de poor things has to go time dey is big nuf to walk and tote a cotton sack.

"Miss Ruth is [Marse?] and Mistess Holt's daughter. I wus fortunate to know Miss Ruth. She larnt me to say my A B C's. If I didn't know them or say them fast nuf she would slap me and make me do hit right". She got up and went over to an old washstand and got an old blue

back speller. "Here," she said, "look at dis and you will see whut she taught me wid. You can see why I loves dat book. I don't let nobody bother wid dat.

"I sits and looks at my little book lots of times and think of dem good old days. I went to regular school two months in my life.

"I thought I wus grown when I hopped up and married."

..."My life, Honey, is jus been ups and downs. Me and

pa and the chilluns always jus had to stay home and work 'cept on Saddays. We would always go to town and church on Sundays. We would fix a big box of oats and get up soon Sadday morning, and Tom and the boys would hitch up old Buck to the cart. Yes, dat old ox wus jus as fast as anybody's mule. He would take us to town and bring us back safe.

"I never will forget one Sadday we wus in town. It wus a treat to jus go to town for us, the lights wus so pretty, but coming home dat day a man stopped us. Me and Tom had most of the chilluns with us. He said he wanted to take our pictures, so he could save it and show it ot his grandchilluns.

"We jus sold old Buck in 1934. He wus gitting old and couldn't plow and git 'bout lak he used too. And we needed a mule too.

"Lawdy, dere's Tom now. He come in the back door, a little man not much older looking than I is."....

Excerpt from "Mrs. Lulu Bowers II," an interview with Mrs. Lulu Bowers (1938)
[Mrs. Lula Bowers, II]
The complete interview is available.

{Begin handwritten} Beliefs Customs - Customs {End handwritten}

Accession no. - 10160

Date received - 10/10/40

Consignment no.

Shipped from Wash. Off.

Label

Amount - 4p.

WPA L. C. PROJECT Writers' UNIT

Form[md]3

Folklore Collection (or Type)

Title Social Customs. Mrs. Lula Bowers II

Place of origin Hampton Co., S. Car. Date 6-28-38

Project worker Phoebe Faucette

Project editor

Remarks

{Begin deleted text} 8882 {End deleted text}

Project #-1655

Phoebe Faucette

Hampton County {Begin handwritten} [?] {End handwritten} {Begin deleted text} 390552 {End deleted text}

Records of the Past
SOCIAL CUSTOMS
Mrs. Lula Bowers {Begin handwritten}, II {End handwritten}

...."There is a great change in the men and women, too, from what it used to be. It used to be that the men tended to all the business. Now most all the business is tended to by the women!

I remember the first woman free dealer. She was Mr. Ned Morrison's grandmother. She was the first free-dealer I ever heard of. Her husband was an excellent man but no business man. He had a large farm to manage after the war, with free labor. He'd get so mad with the negroes that he'd just let them go, and give up. So she had to take charge. She went to the courthouse and got an appointment. She was the only woman I know that got an appointment to run her own farm. Now women run their farms if they want to.

"The churches and schools wasn't much. They got free-schools for three months then. Now they get it for nine.

"The roads weren't good either like they are now. And it was so hard to get anybody to work on the roads. Each farmer had to send a certain amount of hands to work the roads, and someone had to oversee the work. My father was generally the one.

"In slavery time we had three slave quarters - ten houses in each quarter. The houses were kept nice, kept clean. And there was one special house where they kept the children and a nurse. The houses were log-houses, and they didn't have any windows more than ten or twelve inches square. And they had shutters, not sash. The hinges for the shutters were made in the blacksmith shop. They wouldn't have but two rooms. Very often they wouldn't have lumber enough to put in the partition, and would have to hang up sheets between the rooms.

They'd ceil them with clapboards from the woods. Their furniture was just anything that they could get - little stools, and little benches, and just anything. They'd use the back of their old dresses for quilts.

"The clothes of the slaves were spun at home and made by their mistresses. The'd weave them white, then dye the cloth. They'd go in the woods and get bark and dye them.

"The slaves had bread and hominy, and what little meat they could get hold of now and then. There were a lot of cattle in this country. And they raised a lot of geese, and guineas, and such like. Most of the slaves were doctored by their owners. Dr. Nathan A. Johnston was the first doctor I knew anything about. They'd rake soot off the back of the chimney and make a tea out of it for the colic. Called it soot-tea. I've seen my grandmother do it a many a time! The slaves didn't have any education in that day. They'd have Sunday Schools for the white people and for the slaves. The old people would write down what the children had to say. They had no books then, and paper was so scarce they sometimes had to use paste-board. When the slaves wanted to go off on a visit they were given tickets, and allowed to go for just so many hours.

"After the war, military rule was oppressive for a while; but they got so they dropped that. There was much lawlessness. There was no law at all, and they couldn't manage the negroes at all. There was a man that came from Beaufort named Wright, and he controlled them. He was a northerner but he was a

good man. He and his wife came. They stayed in three different homes when they were here. Only three homes would take those people in! One of them was a relative of mine. She said one night Mrs. Wright said she would make a pudding for them all - what she called Hasty Pudding. So my aunt got out the sugar, and eggs and seasonings for her; but the 'Pudding' proved to be just Fried Hominy - cold hominy sliced and rolled in egg and flour and fried. They had a son and a daughter. After a while they came, too,"

Source: Mrs. Lula Bowers, 79, Luray, S. C.

(Second interview.)

Excerpt from "E.W. Evans, Brick Layer & Plasterer," an interview with E.W. Evans (undated)
[E. W. Evans, Brick Layer & Plasterer]
The complete interview is available.

E. W. Evans (Negro)

610 Parsons Street, S.W.

Brick Layer Plasterer

by Geneva Tonsill

"My parents were slaves on the plantation of John H. Hill, a slave owner in Madison, Georgia. I wuz born on May 21, 1855. I wuz owned and kept by J. H. Hill until just befo' surrender. I wuz a small boy when Sherman left here at the fall of Atlanta. He come through Madison on his march to the sea and we chillun hung out on the front fence from early morning 'til late in the evening, watching the soldiers go by. It took most of the day.

"My master wuz a Senator from Georgia, 'lected on the Whig ticket. He served two terms in Washington as Senator. His wife, our mistress, had charge of the slaves and plantation. She never seemed to like the idea of having slaves. Of course, I never heard her say she didn't want them but she wuz the one to free the slaves on the place befo' surrender. Since that I've felt she didn't want them in the first place....

The next week after Sherman passed through Madison, Miss Emily called the five ... wimmen ... women ... that wuz on the place and tole them to stay 'round the house and attend to things as they had always done until their husbands come back. She said they were free and could go wherever they wanted to. See ... she decided this befo surrender and tole them they could keep up just as befo' until their husbands could look after a place for them to stay. She meant that they could rent from her if they wanted to. In that number of ... wimmen ... women ... wuz my mother, Ellen, who worked as a seamstress for Mrs. Hill. The other ... wimmen ... women ... wuz aunt Lizzie and aunt Dinah, the washer- ...wimmen ... women ... , aunt Liza ... a seamstress to help my mother, and aunt Caroline ... the nurse for Miss Emily's chilluns.

"I never worked as a slave because I wuzn't ole 'nough. In 1864, when I wuz about nine years ole they sent me on a trial visit to the plantation to give me an idea of what I had to do some day.

{Begin page no. 2}

The place I'm talkin' about, when I wuz sent for the tryout, wuz on the outskirts of town. It wuz a house where they sent chilluns out ole 'nough to work for a sort of trainin'. I guess you'd call it the trainin' period. When the chilluns wuz near ten years ole they had this week's trial to get them used to the work they'd have to do when they reached ten years. At the age of ten years they wuz then sent to the field to work. They'd chop, hoe, pick cotton ... and pull fodder, corn, or anything else to be done on the plantation. I stayed at the place a whole week and wuz brought home on Saturday. That week's work showed me what I wuz to do when I wuz ten years ole. Well, this wuz just befo Sherman's march from Atlanta to the sea and I never got a chance to go to the plantation to work agin, for Miss Emily freed all on her place and soon after that we wuz emancipated.

"The soldiers I mentioned while ago that passed with Sherman carried provisions, hams, shoulders, meal, flour ... and other food. They had their cooks and other servants. I 'member seeing a woman in that crowd of servants. She had a baby in her arms. She hollered at us Chillun and said, 'You chilluns git off dat fence and go learn yore ABC's.' I thought she wuz crazy telling us that ... for we had never been 'lowed to learn nothing at all like reading a writing. I learned but it wuz after surrender and I wuz over tens years ole.

"It wuz soon after the soldiers passed with Sherman that Miss Emily called in all the ... wimmen ... women ... servants and told them they could take their chillun ... to the cabin and stay there until after the war. My father, George, had gone with Josh Hill, a son of Miss Emily's to wait on him. She told my mother to take us to that cabin until a place could be made for us.

{Begin page no. 3}

"I said I wuz born a slave but I wuz too young to know much about slavery. I wuz the property of the Hill family from 1855 to 1865, when freedom wuz declared and they said we wuz free....

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Slavery in the United States: Primary Sources and the Historical Record | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

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Teachers Students Jump to: Preparation Procedure Evaluation Teachers This lesson introduces students to primary sources - what they are, their great variety, and how they can be analyzed. The lesson begins with an activity that helps students understand the historical record. Students then learn techniques for analyzing primary sources.

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National Museum of African-American Music

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National Museum of African-American Music

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Opens January 31, 2021 in Nashville

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National Museum of African American Music | Nashville, TN

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Located in Nashville, TN, NMAAM is the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans.

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National Museum of African-American Music

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National Museum of African-American Music

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Opens January 30, 2021 in Nashville

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National Museum of African American Music | Nashville, TN

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Located in Nashville, TN, NMAAM is the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans.

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A TED ED Talk about civic power

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Every day, we move and operate within systems of power that other people have constructed. But we're often uncomfortable talking about power. Why? Eric Liu describes the six sources of power and explains how understanding them is key to being an effective citizen.

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From Facing History and Ourselves: The link between these two scourges and a classroom lesson or two.

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Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.

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You may know what race you are, but how would you prove it if someone disagreed with you? The fact is, race is a social and political construct that has evolved in fascinating and often confusing ways over the centuries.

Race is a social construct

With the 1776 edition of his book, On the Natural Variety of Mankind, German scientist Johan Friedrich Blumenbach is credited with creating one of the first race-based classifications. He decided on five categories: "Caucasian, the white race; Mongolian, the yellow race; Malayan, the brown race, Ethiopian, the black race, and American, the red race." Each race was ranked, and he put "Caucasian" at the top. This seemingly arbitrary ranking was the impetus for centuries of discrimination and inequality.

The US Census proves race is subjective

The evolution of race in the US Census illustrates just how hard it is to categorize people in a way that is inclusive and accurate. For example, in 1929, people who were of Mexican birth or ancestry in the United States were considered white. In 1930, they were considered non-white. In 1942, they were switched back to white. These dates are interesting because they align directly with the shifting political and economic agendas of the time.

Racial categories are not backed by science

Dorothy Roberts, the author of Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century explains that when the medical community links race to health outcomes, it's really just using race as a proxy for other factors such as where your ancestors came from, access to healthcare, and socioeconomic status. Sickle-cell anemia is a prime example of this. Commonly linked to race, this adaption is actually a product of environments where Malaria is prevalent, including some parts of Europe and Asia, in addition to Africa.

Although race isn't real, racism certainly is

The racial categories to which we're assigned, based on how we look to others or how we identify ourselves, can determine real-life experiences, inspire hate, drive political outcomes, and make the difference between life and death. But these important consequences are a result of a relatively new idea that was based on shaky reasoning and shady motivations.
Will you support Vox's explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we're trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we're not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world - not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that's an important part of building a more equal society. And we can't do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

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You may know what race you are, but how would you prove it if somebody disagreed with you? Jenée Desmond Harris explains.

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Books awarded by Indiana Humanities to MHS and HHS school libraries

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Collections by Follett is a new, collaborative way for educators to collect and share resources from anywhere, at any time, and with anyone.

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A white journalist, with input from historian Ibraim X. Kendi, walks the audience through the origins of racism.

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John Biewen: The lie that invented racism

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To understand and eradicate racist thinking, start at the beginning. That's what journalist and documentarian John Biewen did, leading to a trove of surprising and thought-provoking information on the "origins" of race. He shares his findings, supplying answers to fundamental questions about racism -- and lays out an exemplary path for practicing effective allyship.

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How the Eisenhower Expressway Segregated Chicago

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When the Eisenhower Expressway Moved in,
Who Was Forced Out?

Reported by Robert Loerzel
Question asked by Jillian Zarlenga

A 'Grand Axis' to modernity

Before the Eisenhower: The Near West Side

Drag the slider left and right to view what was demolished.

Near Sangamon Street and Congress Street, looking east

Near Paulina Street on Congress Street, looking west

Rubenstein and Glickman Deli was located on 12th Street and Independence Boulevard in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood. The area was known as the "Jewish West Side." (Photo courtesy Spertus Institute)

The Western
Suburbs

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Displaced: When the Eisenhower Expressway Moved in, Who Was Forced Out?

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When the Eisenhower Expressway Moved in, Who Was Forced Out? Reported by Robert Loerzel Question asked by Jillian Zarlenga A 'Grand Axis' to modernity Drag the slider left and right to view what was demolished. Rubenstein and Glickman Deli was located on 12th Street and Independence Boulevard in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood.

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Plans for K-12

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Indigenous Peoples Lesson Plans and Resources

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Share a rich cultural legacy with your students this year and explore Indigenous Peoples and Native American lesson plans on Share My Lesson.

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What We Can Do about the Culture of Hate

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What We Can Do about the Culture of Hate

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A powerful talk by a self-confessed bully: It's starts with us. (17 minutes)

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Sally Kohn: What we can do about the culture of hate

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We're all against hate, right? We agree it's a problem -- their problem, not our problem, that is. But as Sally Kohn discovered, we all hate -- some of us in subtle ways, others in obvious ones.

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Films from PBS on Race and Racism in America

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Films from PBS on Race and Racism in America

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Not too long ago, my family's food order was delivered to the wrong address. Same numbers - but a different street. My 12-year-old son volunteered to go around the corner to pick up the food from our neighbor's porch. As soon as he walked out of the door, I stopped breathing. After I didn't see him coming around the corner after being gone for less than a minute my heart started racing. With sweaty palms, I grabbed my keys and got in the car to go find him. I didn't exhale until I saw him walking down the street with two boxes of pizza without a care in the world. He was so confused as to why I was in the car.

"Mom ... I just went around the corner, what's wrong?"

I stared at my son, looking at the locs in his hair and the skin that was darker than any of his friends' in the neighborhood and I lied and said, "Nothing's wrong. I was just really hungry." We started laughing and went back to the house. Yesterday he learned about Ralph Yarl. Now he knows the truth.

On April 16, a 16-year-old boy was shot and wounded by a homeowner after he went to the wrong home to pick up his siblings in Kansas City, Missouri, police said. Ralph Yarl was "shot twice and struck in the head and arm," his family's attorney said in a statement. Protestors took to the streets in Missouri following the incident, chanting "justice for Ralph" and "Black lives matter." They carried signs reading, "Ringing a doorbell is not a crime" and "The shooter should do the time."

The homeowner was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold. They were later released while police work to get a victim statement and gather more forensic evidence.

Additionally this week, an Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired multiple rounds in the 2022 shooting death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, the state's attorney general announced April 17. The Attorney General's office said the officers were under threat because Walker had fired a gunshot at them during a car and foot chase.

Walker's death last June sparked protests in Akron, Ohio after police released body camera footage showing him dying in a slew of gunfire. Police said Walker refused to stop when they tried to pull him over for minor equipment and traffic violations and fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

Walker's death received attention from activists, including from the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The NAACP and Walker's family attorney called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

Earlier this year, three men who were sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery were also found guilty of federal hate crimes. The father and son who armed themselves and initiated the pursuit were denied any chance of parole. The life sentences were announced after Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty in the fatal shooting of two men during protests in Kenosha in 2020.

George Floyd's dying under Derek Chauvin's knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations. People across the country continue to call for justice in the killings of Daunte Wright, Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude, Breonna Taylor and many others. The case of the three white men accused of killing Arbery while he was jogging last year in Georgia drew national attention as well. Some states have been actively updating their policing protocols over the past year but the growing list of deaths is evident that, as a country, we still have a long way to go.

We're continuing our commitment to highlight content that will continue the conversation, add historical context to these issues and enable change. Below you will find programs that profile police departments, specials that detail conversations parents of color have with their children, documentaries that cover the treatment of African Americans since slavery and films that shed light on both past and current civil rights activism.

These offerings are resources for everyone, regardless of race, to educate themselves on all of the ways inequality in America shows up in everyday life. We will update this page as programs become available for streaming online and on the PBS Video App. Check local listings for broadcast times.

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Explore films and new specials focused on race.

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The Untapped Potential of Culturally Responsive Teaching in CTE

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The Untapped Potential of Culturally Responsive Teaching in CTE

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From Techniques Nov/Dec 2020

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(Padlet) Culturally Responsive Teaching in CTE

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Chadwick Boseman's Commencement Speech at Howard University

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Chadwick Boseman's Commencement Speech at Howard University

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Chadwick Boseman's Howard University 2018 Commencement Speech

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In the course of his five-decade career, Paul Revere Williams, an African American architect born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1894, overcame prejudice and become one of the foremost architects in history. The path he has forged has served as an inspiration for young architects to this day. Learn more about the man and events that shaped his life in this timeline.

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Hollywood's Architect | Programs | PBS SoCal

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Nicknamed "Architect to the Stars," African American architect Paul R. Williams was one of the most successful architects of his time. But at the height of his career he wasn't always welcome in the buildings he designed because of his race.

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12 free, downloadable lesson plans about historical and contemporary issues affecting Native Americans.

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ABOUT THE BOOK MORE VOW CURRICULA DOWNLOAD THE CURRICULUM How We Go Home: Voices from Indigenous North America shares contemporary first-person stories in the long and ongoing fight to protect Native land, rights, and life.

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Presented by Kelly Waller, ELA Curriculum Specialist, Indiana DOE (45 minutes)

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BARWE (Building Anti-Racist White Educators)

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BARWE (Building Anti-Racist White Educators)

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A monthly reading and discussion guide for educators learning how to be antiracist.

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Everyone wants the best for their students.As educators, we want to do our jobs well. We want to be fair, we want to promote safe communities, and we want to support all our students in every aspect of their lives.We've created some tools to help you realize these goals that you already have.White teachers, even those with experience and compassion, can unconsciously cause pain to students of color in their classrooms. We believe that through consistent study and reflection, we can slowly address our own unconscious biases and make changes so we can better support the academic, social and emotional well-being of our students of color.We want YOU to be part of a decentralized inquiry series to support teachers to better explore their own biases and improve their own teaching practices.

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This Reading and Inquiry Series provides a monthly set of tools for learning, introspection and having conversations about issues of racism in our schools, classrooms and communities. We hope that through regular reflection and conversation, you can get better at recognizing and resisting your biases and the impact they have on your students and colleagues of color.

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Welcome to Building Anti-Racist White Educators. If this is your first time visiting us - welcome! Check out our Inquiry Series 6 for the 2023-2024 School Year , and subscribe to our mailing list...

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A 2-minute interactive video showing 315 years of trafficking across the Atlantic. Pause the video to click on a dot and learn the details about that ship. One of many lessons from Slate on the History of Slavery in America: https://slate.com/human-interest/the-history-of-american-slavery

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This Haunting Animation Maps the Journeys of 15,790 Slave Ships in Two Minutes

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By the conclusion of the trans-Atlantic slave trade at the end of the 19th century, Europeans had enslaved and transported more than 12.5 million Africans.

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Free, downloadable racial equity lesson plans from real teachers.
Follow-up to a book published in 2018 from Princeton University.

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In the summer of 2019, we launched the CHOOSE Champions: Educator Fellowship to form a passionate team of U.S. educators committed to developing racial literacy curriculum throughout all K-12 subject areas.

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A collection of artifacts at the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian collection of African American music--its origins, impact on culture, role in resistance, luminaries--is comprehensive. Many links from the artifacts site.

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Describing the African-American influence on American music in all of its glory an d variety is an intimidating-if not impossible-task. African American influences are so fundamental to American music that there would be no American music without them. People of African descent were among the earliest non-indigenous settlers of what would become the United States, and the rich African musical heritage that they carried with them was part of the foundation of a new American musical culture that mixed African traditions with those of Europe and the Americas. Their work songs, dance tunes, and religious music-and the syncopated, swung, remixed, rocked, and rapped music of their descendants-would become the lingua franca of American music, eventually influencing Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. The music of African Americans is one of the most poetic and inescapable examples of the importance of the African American experience to the cultural heritage of all Americans, regardless of race or origin.

See full article by Steven Lewis on how African American music is a vital part of America's musical heritage.
Explore a selection of the Smithsonian's wide range of collections preserving the material history of African American musical history.

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Describing the African-American influence on American music in all of its glory an d variety is an intimidating-if not impossible-task. African American influences are so fundamental to American music that there would be no American music without them.

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A 10-finger exercise that provides one definition of white privilege. Originally on Tik Tok.

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Stephen "tWitch" Boss  & Allison Holker Show Realities of White Privilege on TikTok

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An exploration of hip-hop culture and Lin Manuel Miranda'🤬 Broadway production of Alexander Hamilton.

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Talking about Race in the Mostly White Classroom

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Talking about Race in the Mostly White Classroom

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Anti-Defamation League

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Race and racism are important topics to bring into your classroom. Because race is part of our public conversation and integrated into so many aspects of our world, young people want to and should be part of that conversation, no matter their race. White students in predominantly white classrooms should be discussing race for those reasons and because they are members of a multicultural society and world. Sometimes teachers feel reluctant to raise the topic of race especially if they are teaching in an all or predominantly white community. Teachers may be concerned that students bring their own assumptions and stereotypes, will hold back for fear of saying the "wrong" thing or bias will emerge and will be hard to facilitate and contain. Also, teachers may fear pushback from administrators and parents who feel they shouldn't talk about it at all.

Below are tips and strategies to consider when teaching predominantly white students about race and racism.

1. Set up group guidelines.

Students, and in particular white students, sometimes don't participate in discussions about race because they feel inadequate, worry they'll be mocked, are embarrassed by their lack of knowledge or concerned that strong feelings will arise. Many may think the topic isn't relevant to them. When engaging in any conversations about tough topics, it is critical to set up group guidelines or agreements to promote a classroom environment that is safe and respectful. Do this collaboratively with students and make sure that the following areas are discussed: listening and interrupting, how to deal with strong emotions, establishing trust, confidentiality, sharing "air time" and dealing with differences or disagreements. Further, from the beginning establish an environment that allows for mistakes. Because we are products of a biased society, students may not be cognizant that everyone has biases and holds stereotypes. This should be explained to them explicitly. Assume good will and convey to students that they should do the same. Find ways to inspire students to challenge themselves and their assumptions by asking open-ended questions.

2. Help students accept discomfort and uncertainty.

A safe learning environment doesn't mean you and your students will or should be comfortable with every discussion. Be prepared for these conversations to potentially be messy and complicated. They may not end as you expect they will. You can remind yourself of this and share that understanding with your students so you manage everyone's expectations. It is helpful to remember and share with students that often deep learning, the kind that is lasting and long-term, comes when things are uncomfortable or "sticky" and you are able to work through those things. That's the "aha" or epiphany moment. It may also be helpful to explain to students that often when things are complicated or when there is a conflict, if things are handled well, there can be a higher understanding or improved relationships on the other side.

3. Clarify that the goal is not to be "colorblind."

The goal of teaching about race and racism is to help students understand the historical context and current manifestations of racism in the U.S. There are many white people who believe the best way to eliminate racism is to not talk about it and not notice racial differences at all (i.e. be "colorblind"). They may want to tell young people not to notice differences because they conflate noticing differences with having bias. It may also be a way to avoid dealing with discussions of race because they are uncomfortable. It is completely natural to notice race and other physical characteristics; telling children not to see it is incorrect and confusing. Let students know that noticing differences does not promote bias-judging and discriminating based on race does. Further, it's important to acknowledge that white is a racial identity and even explore with students what being white means to them. You may also want to share with parents that you are talking about these issues because some white parents may believe that talking about race makes them or their children racist.

4. Acknowledge that learning about race and racism is a process.

It is often the case that white people who have always been in the majority do not think about their own racial identity the way that people of color often do. Recognize that learning about race and racism is a process because many white students may not have had the opportunity to reflect on and discuss it. They will come with bias and misinformation, as we all do, and it will take time for them to develop their own understanding and insights. Make it clear that this can be a lifelong process and that one is always learning, including yourself, and that you will be learning together. Introduce less complex topics at first and from the beginning, present and use accurate terminology. At the same time, don't sugarcoat or simplify language or concepts. Defining words and the language of race and bias can be one of the first things you do which can include differentiating prejudice, bias, discrimination, racism and implicit bias. In the beginning, establish the fact that we all have a race, and they are included in that. Sometimes white students think that race doesn't apply to them and includes only people of color.

5. Provide opportunities to learn about others and foster empathy.

Regardless of whether or not the racial diversity of our larger society is represented in your school, it is important to bring diverse voices and perspectives into the classroom in other ways besides personal sharing. This is particularly true if you have a predominantly white school and you are talking about race. Use children's books, short videos, movies, literature, stories by teens, or arrange for a video chat to expose students to other voices on race as this fifth grade teacher did. As the goal is to dispel stereotypes-not perpetuate them-be sure to review these resources in advance. Exposing white students to people who represent different racial groups can also build empathy as they learn and better understand others' lives, experiences, perspectives and feelings.

6. Address white privilege in non-defensive ways.

The term "white privilege" is one that often produces anxiety and defensiveness among white people, including students. At the same time, if students are going to engage in conversations about race, privilege has to be on the table. The goal of a discussion about white privilege is not to make anyone feel guilty for who they are or defensive about their lot in life. The goal should be to help students understand and analyze issues of power and privilege as they relate to racism. One way to start the conversation is to talk with students about the ways bias manifests in institutions (i.e. discrimination). Explain that bias can impact people in two ways: by discriminating against some or advantaging others, depending on race or other aspects of identity.

Define white privilege as: "unearned and often unseen or unrecognized advantages, benefits or rights conferred upon people based on their membership in a dominant group (e.g. white people, heterosexual people, men, able-bodied, etc.) beyond what is commonly experienced by members of the non-dominant group."

Another angle to discuss privilege is to talk with your students about the ways they feel disempowered or discriminated against as young people, often through ageism directed towards them. These can include things like not being allowed to do certain things they think they should be allowed to do; assumptions adults make about them; or discriminatory acts that target them. Students can reflect on the ways that they, as young people, lack privilege in these situations. This discussion will help them understand the concept of privilege without getting defensive and will help to foster empathy. You can then make the connection to white privilege and since you've set the groundwork, hopefully the leap to white privilege isn't too far a reach for them. It will be important to identify dominant identities (i.e. being white) because students may not accept that they have white privilege by saying they belong to another marginalized group ("but I'm gay, poor, female"). While that may be true, it doesn't erase their white identity.

7. Connect to ally behavior and engage in social justice.

As your students discuss race, some of them may be interested in addressing the racism they have learned about, both in their interpersonal relationships and in society. Helping your students understand what it means to act as an ally and learning the different ways to engage in ally behavior is an important next step. White people can act as allies by identifying racism when they see it, calling it out and challenging it in a myriad of ways. You can help to facilitate this process by giving students an opportunity to explore how to act as an ally and practice different strategies-both interpersonal or on a larger stage by getting involved in activism. There a wide variety of ways to do this including educating others, online activism, advocating for legislation, protesting, creating public awareness, etc. Convey a message of critical hope that when people work together-in the past and in modern times-they can make a difference and improve our society and world.

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How Should I Talk about Race in My Mostly White Classroom?

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Race and racism are important topics to bring into your classroom. Because race is part of our public conversation and integrated into so many aspects of our world, young people want to and should be part of that conversation, no matter their race.

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Let's Talk! Facilitating Critical Conversations with Students.

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Let's Talk! Facilitating Critical Conversations with Students.

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Teaching Tolerance

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Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism

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Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism

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Anti-Defamation League

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Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism

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As a society, public conversations about race and racism have increased in volume and intensity. Here are some suggestions and strategies for having classroom conversations with young people about these issues.

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A huge resource for policies, lesson plans, toolkits, social and racial justice resources. You do not need to be a member of NEA to access.

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Home Page - NEA EdJustice

Home Page - NEA EdJustice

NEA EdJustice engages and mobilizes activists in the fight for racial, social and economic justice in public education.

Get connected and engaged to advocate for racial and social justice in our schools and communities.

Find tools to take your education justice activism to the next level

Explore our curated resources to get information, build your organizing skills, and inspire others.

Become part of the next story

Find inspiring stories, connect with others and get involved in culture change for racial and social justice in education.

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Home Page - NEA EdJustice Home Page - NEA EdJustice NEA EdJustice engages and mobilizes activists in the fight for racial, social and economic justice in public education. Get connected and engaged to advocate for racial and social justice in our schools and communities.

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All resources on this Padlet are compiled here as a printable Google Doc.

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Resources for Teaching and Learning about Diversity, Racism, and Social Justice in America

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Recognizing white privilege begins with truly understanding the term itself.

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Glossaries in Many Languages for Academic Subjects for ELLs

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Glossaries in Many Languages for Academic Subjects for ELLs

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These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year. These glossaries may be downloaded, printed and disseminated to educators, parents and ELLs/MLLs.

Bilingual glossaries are an essential and expected test accommodation for ELLs/MLLs in the State of New York. The languages of these glossaries cover the top 10 languages at the state level, with new languages added based on changing language populations in the NY State student demographic data.

Schools should provide testing accommodations to ELLs/MLLs, as needed, on all NYS ELA and content-area assessments (i.e., Mathematics, Science and Social Studies). Districts/schools must make all necessary arrangements to make these accommodations available for ELLs/MLLs who need them. Please click here for the New York State Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages Webpage on "Assessment and Testing Accommodations".

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These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year.

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Hasan Kwame Jeffries: Why we must confront hard historical truths

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To move forward in the United States, we must look back and confront the difficult history that has shaped widespread injustice. Revisiting a significant yet overlooked piece of the past, Hasan Kwame Jeffries emphasizes the need to weave historical context, no matter how painful, into our understanding of modern society -- so we can disrupt the continuum of injustices massively affecting marginalized communities.

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ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY examines the issue of voter suppression in the US. The film interweaves personal experiences with activism and historical insight to expose a problem that has corrupted our country from the beginning. With the expertise of Stacey Abrams, the film offers an insider's look into the barriers to voting.

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Ibram X. Kendi.
The Aspen Institute. June 2019. Discussion Questions.

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National Geographic

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Map. The Underground Railroad was the network used by enslaved black Americans to obtain their freedom in the 30 years before the Civil War (1860-1865).

Subjects

Geography, Human Geography

The Underground Railroad was the network used by enslaved black Americans to obtain their freedom in the 30 years before the Civil War (1860-1865). The "railroad" used many routes from states in the South, which supported slavery, to "free" states in the North and Canada.

Sometimes, routes of the Underground Railroad were organized by abolitionists, people who opposed slavery. More often, the network was a series of small, individual actions to help fugitive enslaved persons.

Using the terminology of the railroad, those who went south to find enslaved people seeking freedom were called "pilots." Those who guided enslaved people to safety and freedom were "conductors." The enslaved people were "passengers." People's homes or businesses, where fugitive passengers and conductors could safely hide, were "stations."

Stations were added or removed from the Underground Railroad as ownership of the house changed. If a new owner supported slavery, or if the site was discovered to be a station, passengers and conductors were forced to find a new station.

Establishing stations was done quietly, by word-of-mouth. Very few people kept records about this secret activity, to protect homeowners and the fugitives who needed help. If caught, fugitive enslaved persons would be forced to return to slavery. People caught aiding escaped enslaved people faced arrest and jail. This applied to people living in states that supported slavery as well as those living in free states.

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Map. The Underground Railroad was the network used by enslaved black Americans to obtain their freedom in the 30 years before the Civil War (1860-1865).

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African-American Cowboys in the American West

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African-American Cowboys in the American West

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Including a 13-minute video.
New York Times

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Op-Docs

Larry Callies comes from a long line of black Americans living and working on the frontier.

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All I Have to Offer You Is Me

Larry Callies comes from a long line of black cowboys living and working on the frontier.

[MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING) There's a little bit of Charley in me. 'Cause I caught it on my voice off the radio in '73. Guy with MCA Records said, "Hey, I think you could be a big star." I said, "Oh, you think so?" (SINGING) There's a little bit of Charley in me. I was 3 years old when I knew I wanted to be a cowboy. Everything just came natural to me. When I hit the ground, I ran toward a horse. [WHISTLING] My dad was a cowboy, and his dad was cowboy, and my uncles and cousins were cowboys. So everything I knew was cowboys. I picked up a guitar when I was 17, 18. I used to take my guitar out to places where there wasn't nothing but cattle, and I'd sing to the cows, just like I used to see cowboys do on a cowboy movie. They thought I was kind of crazy all my life. I couldn't even date a girl - if I turned the radio on country, they'd say, "What the heck are you listening to?" That happened to me. [LAUGHTER] MUSIC - CHARLEY PRIDE, "CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS"] (SINGING) There'll be no mansions waiting on the hill or crystal chandeliers. And there'll be - Charley Pride was my favorite. You know, he was a black guy singing country music. (SINGING) Everything I have is standing here in front of - I could identify with him. (SINGING) All I have to offer you is me. In East Bernard in the late '60s, I went to see Charley Pride. And I think I was like 15, 16 years old. And when I got to the door, they said, we can't let you in. We don't want any racial problems. So I snuck back to my car, and I put the windows down. And I listened to Charley Pride through the window for about an hour. And my mom said, "Boy, I don't ever want you going back to East Bernard." Round in '88 or '89, I started playing and singing at that same place. My first time playing in front of a crowd was in this club in Houston. I had never been in front of a spotlight before. I felt like I wanted to melt. I started playing. Then all of a sudden, I lifted up out of my body. I was watching the crowd watch me play. And the girl said, "Shut up. He's good." You know, I could see everybody, everybody saying, "Be real quiet. He's - He's good." That's all I can remember was everybody saying, "Be quiet. He's good." They said, "And you could be the next Charley Pride." Everybody told me that. In his Journal this evening, John Davenport visits with a hopeful performer who hopes to be among those country and western stars someday. 33-year-old Larry Callies of Houston is in the delivery business. He delivers mail and songs. I couldn't admit it till about six years ago. From there, listening to Charley Pride, and to watch faces, and see me up there on stage and being surprised, a black guy to sing country western. I loved it. I got in this contest. "KILT's Going to Make Me a Country Star." I got up there and sang, 'Is Anybody Going to San Antone?' Guy saw me and he said, "Hey, man. We could put a band around you." He said, "I can get you in touch with George Strait's manager. You want to meet George Strait's manager?" OK. He said, "Well, I want you to come to Nashville." They flew me up there, put me in a limo. I went inside. And they said, "This is where you're going to record." He said, "Good luck, man. I'm pulling for you all the way." When I got in the recording studio, I started singing. And the guy with MCA Records noticed something in my voice. So he said, "Oh, no, you're just nervous, and we'll get the nerves out." They had a contract ready for me to sign. But after three demo songs, they said, "We don't think we're going to sign him because there's something definitely wrong with his voice." And they were right. I went to some specialist. He said, "You have something called vocal dysphonia." And I knew that was that. In the old days, they burned the animals that died instead of burying them. Couple of weeks ago, I had a mule that passed away. And in her last days, I never asked her to do anything. Which way is the wind blowing? This a-way? You know, I just let her pass away in her old age. [FIRE IGNITES] [DOG BARKS] [FIRE CRACKLING] I could've had the county come out and bury her, but I wanted to do it like my dad used to do - cows that passed away. My dad taught me how to ride, how to rope, everything about cowboy life. I spent a lot of years not knowing what I wanted to do. Well I thought I was going to be the next Charley Pride. I thought I'd have a big house, and do this and do that. Now I see it's not about money. Now I like who I am. I know who I am. Can you tell me where the name "cowboy" came from? They came from slaves. Because they had a houseboy, they had a yard boy, and somebody worked the cows. He was called a cowboy. I'm old enough to be in my own museum. Back in 1971, Larry Callies, Hungerford, Texas. My cousin, Tex, he won it in 1967. And he won it in '68. This is him at Wharton. That's my dad in the back. I guy named Bailey's Prairie Kid, he was flashy. And he got a name, boy. He would - I mean people used to gather around him. I think I learned a little bit from him. [LAUGHS] This, what I'm doing with the museum, it's not about money. The black cowboys didn't get any recognition from the beginning. So I wanted people to know who they were. I just want to leave a memory on people. Thank you for everything. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Wish you many, many blessings. Appreciate it. Thank you. [BELL DINGS] Nothing lasts forever. Nothing lasts forever. So I'm just going to make it last as long as I can. OK. [STRUMMING GUITAR] (SINGING) I'm just an old lonely cowboy in this world, thinking about my favorite girl. Thinking about all the flowers, and the birds and the horses in the world. I'm an old lonely cowboy down in Wharton, Texas, sitting on my dad's old porch, picking my guitar and just thinking about the world.

Larry Callies comes from a long line of black cowboys living and working on the frontier. Credit Credit... Dillon Hayes

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Cowboys are among the most iconic figures of the American West. They're mythologized as strong, independent people who live and die by their own terms on the frontier. And in movies, the people who play them are mostly white. But as with many elements of Americana, the idea of who cowboys are is actually whitewashed - scholars estimate that in the pioneer era, one in four cowboys were black. The historian Quintard Taylor writes about how before then, enslaved people "were part of the expansion of the livestock industry into colonial South Carolina, passing their herding skills down through the generations and steadily across the Gulf Coast states to Texas."

In the short documentary above, we meet Larry Callies, who comes from a long line of cowboys. Growing up in Texas, Callies dreamed of becoming like Charley Pride, the first African-American inductee in the Country Music Hall of Fame. As with the cowboy, there's an assumption of who makes up country music, despite its diverse history. The breakthrough of artists like Lil Nas X, Jimmie Allen and Kane Brown has returned attention to the contributions of black artists to the genre. Callies's journey shows what we lose when we don't acknowledge the full breadth of history.

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Opinion | A Black Cowboy Confronts the Whitewashed History of the West

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Op-Docs Larry Callies comes from a long line of black Americans living and working on the frontier. Video by Cowboys are among the most iconic figures of the American West. They're mythologized as strong, independent people who live and die by their own terms on the frontier.

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Constitutional Rights Foundation

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“I can ride in first-class cars on the railroads and in the streets,” wrote journalist T. McCants Stewart. “I can stop in and drink a glass of soda and be more politely waited upon than in some parts of New England.” Perhaps Stewart’s comments don’t seem , In 1890, in spite of its 16 black members,…

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Race Institute for K-12 Teachers

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Resources for teaching about and responding to police brutality

Literature for students

Films for Learning More

Powerful Blog Posts

Websites

Race: Are we so different? helps individuals of all ages better understand the origins and manifestations of race and racism in everyday life by investigating race and human variation through the framework of science.
Welcoming Schools, a curriculum of the Human Rights Campaign, offers tools, lessons and resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping and ending bullying and name-calling in elementary schools.
Teaching For Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to transform schools into centers of justice where students learn to read, write and change the world.
Rethinking Schools advocates the reform of elementary and secondary education, with a strong emphasis on issues of equity and social justice.
Teaching Tolerance is a place for educators to find thought-provoking news, conversation and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools.
GroundSpark creates visionary films and dynamic educational campaigns that move individuals and families to take action for a more just world.
News Stories
Racist Backlash Over Indian American Miss America: This article demonstrates how many White Americans still equate Americanness with Whiteness.
Ghetto Tracker - The app that helps rich avoid poor: Our country is so stratified by socioeconomic status, people are devising tools to ensure they do not stray into poor neighborhoods.
Aziz Ansari shows how to confront racist comments with humor: For people who are unsure how to respond to racism, Ansari is a master.
Re-imagining Disney Princesses: This page would be great for an art project imagining all kinds of Disney Princesses who aren't White. Might make a great lesson paired with the Miss America story above.
If Disney Princesses had Realistic Waistlines
Study: Doctors Less Likely to Give Painkillers to Black Children
Are College Lectures Unfair?
9th Grader Arrested After Bringing Home-Built Clock to School
12-Year-Old Boy on Cheerleading Squad Commits Suicide Over Anti-Gay Bullying
Study: Both Public and Police View Black Kids As Older And Guiltier Than Whites
A Therapist Goes to Middle School and Tries to Sit Still and Focus. She Can't... from The Washington Post
Basketball Players Stop Game to Defend Bullied Cheerleader
The "Model Minority" Is Losing Patience from The Economist
The Troubling Link Between School Funding and Race from The Atlantic
A Letter from the Vietnamese Student Association from The Daily Pennsylvanian (UPenn)
Informative Links
The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race
Experiencing Racial Discrimination Causes Poor Health
Transgender Teens Speak To Their Future Selves
12 Queer Women in History
The Case for Black Doctors from The New York Times
Why Poor People Stay Poor
5 Lessons Black Girls Can Learn From
19 Things Black Girls Don't Hear Often Enough
How It Feels When White People Shame Your Culture's Food- Then Make It Trendy
How Our Brains Perceive Race
The Pain of the Watermelon Joke from The New York Times
How Diversity Makes Us Smarter from Scientific American
Why Schools Need More Teachers of Color- for White Students from The Atlantic
Tell-Tale Signs of the Modern-Day Yuppie from The New York Times
12 Essential Books About Race in America from The Huffington Post
I Was Raised As a Racist: 6 Weird Things I Learned
When Americans Lynched Mexicans from the New York Times
Harvard Implicit Bias Test
Implicit Bias Test Results from The Washington Post
US Study: Teacher Bias in Discipline towards Black Students
Ali Michael's Blog
​​​

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Race: Are we so different? helps individuals of all ages better understand the origins and manifestations of race and racism in everyday life by investigating race and human variation through the framework of science. Welcoming Schools, a curriculum of the Human Rights Campaign, offers tools, lessons and resources on embracing family diversity, avoiding gender stereotyping and ending bullying and name-calling in elementary schools.

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Mr. Obama praised Mr. Lewis, saying "he as much as anyone in our history brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals."

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Full Video: Obama Delivers Eulogy for Rep. John Lewis

Former President Barack Obama paid tribute to Representative John Lewis at his funeral, and called on lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

It is a great honor to be back at Ebenezer Baptist Church, in the pulpit of its greatest pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to pay my respects to perhaps his finest disciple. The life of John Lewis was in so many ways exceptional. It vindicated the faith in our founding, redeemed that faith, that most American of ideas. The idea that any of us - ordinary people without rank, or wealth or title, or fame can somehow point out the imperfections of this nation and come together, and challenge the status quo, and decide that it is in our power to remake this country that we love until it more closely aligns with our highest ideals. What a radical idea. You want to honor John? Let's honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for. Once we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, we should keep marching to make it even better.

Former President Barack Obama paid tribute to Representative John Lewis at his funeral, and called on lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Credit Credit... Pool photo by Alyssa Pointer

Former President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy at John Lewis's funeral in Atlanta on Thursday, calling Mr. Lewis an "American whose faith was tested again and again to produce a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance."
Here are Mr. Obama's remarks in full:
James wrote to the believers, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

It is a great honor to be back in Ebenezer Baptist Church, in the pulpit of its greatest pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to pay my respects to perhaps his finest disciple - an American whose faith was tested again and again to produce a man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance - John Robert Lewis.

To those who have spoken to Presidents Bush and Clinton, Madam Speaker, Reverend Warnock, Reverend King, John's family, friends, his beloved staff, Mayor Bottoms - I've come here today because I, like so many Americans, owe a great debt to John Lewis and his forceful vision of freedom.

Now, this country is a constant work in progress. We were born with instructions: to form a more perfect union. Explicit in those words is the idea that we are imperfect; that what gives each new generation purpose is to take up the unfinished work of the last and carry it further than anyone might have thought possible.

John Lewis - the first of the Freedom Riders, head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, youngest speaker at the March on Washington, leader of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Member of Congress representing the people of this state and this district for 33 years, mentor to young people, including me at the time, until his final day on this Earth - he not only embraced that responsibility, but he made it his life's work.

Which isn't bad for a boy from Troy. John was born into modest means - that means he was poor - in the heart of the Jim Crow South to parents who picked somebody else's cotton. Apparently, he didn't take to farm work - on days when he was supposed to help his brothers and sisters with their labor, he'd hide under the porch and make a break for the school bus when it showed up. His mother, Willie Mae Lewis, nurtured that curiosity in this shy, serious child. "Once you learn something," she told her son, "once you get something inside your head, no one can take it away from you."

As a boy, John listened through the door after bedtime as his father's friends complained about the Klan. One Sunday as a teenager, he heard Dr. King preach on the radio. As a college student in Tennessee, he signed up for Jim Lawson's workshops on the tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience. John Lewis was getting something inside his head, an idea he couldn't shake that took hold of him - that nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience were the means to change laws, but also change hearts, and change minds, and change nations, and change the world.

So he helped organize the Nashville campaign in 1960. He and other young men and women sat at a segregated lunch counter, well-dressed, straight-backed, refusing to let a milkshake poured on their heads, or a cigarette extinguished on their backs, or a foot aimed at their ribs, refused to let that dent their dignity and their sense of purpose. And after a few months, the Nashville campaign achieved the first successful desegregation of public facilities in any major city in the South.

John got a taste of jail for the first, second, third ... well, several times. But he also got a taste of victory. And it consumed him with righteous purpose. And he took the battle deeper into the South.

That same year, just weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of interstate bus facilities was unconstitutional, John and Bernard Lafayette bought two tickets, climbed aboard a Greyhound, sat up front, and refused to move. This was months before the first official Freedom Rides. He was doing a test. The trip was unsanctioned. Few knew what they were up to. And at every stop, through the night, apparently the angry driver stormed out of the bus and into the bus station. And John and Bernard had no idea what he might come back with or who he might come back with. Nobody was there to protect them. There were no camera crews to record events. You know, sometimes, we read about this and kind of take it for granted. Or at least we act as if it was inevitable. Imagine the courage of two people Malia's age, younger than my oldest daughter, on their own, to challenge an entire infrastructure of oppression.

John was only twenty years old. But he pushed all twenty of those years to the center of the table, betting everything, all of it, that his example could challenge centuries of convention, and generations of brutal violence, and countless daily indignities suffered by African Americans.

Like John the Baptist preparing the way, like those Old Testament prophets speaking truth to kings, John Lewis did not hesitate - he kept on getting on board buses and sitting at lunch counters, got his mug shot taken again and again, marched again and again on a mission to change America.

Spoke to a quarter million people at the March on Washington when he was just 23.

Helped organize the Freedom Summer in Mississippi when he was just 24.

At the ripe old age of 25, John was asked to lead the march from Selma to Montgomery. He was warned that Governor Wallace had ordered troopers to use violence. But he and Hosea Williams and others led them across that bridge anyway. And we've all seen the film and the footage and the photographs, and President Clinton mentioned the trench coat, the knapsack, the book to read, the apple to eat, the toothbrush - apparently jails weren't big on such creature comforts. And you look at those pictures and John looks so young and he's small in stature. Looking every bit that shy, serious child that his mother had raised and yet, he is full of purpose. God's put perseverance in him.

And we know what happened to the marchers that day. Their bones were cracked by billy clubs, their eyes and lungs choked with tear gas. As they knelt to pray, which made their heads even easier targets, and John was struck in the skull. And he thought he was going to die, surrounded by the sight of young Americans gagging, and bleeding, and trampled, victims in their own country of state-sponsored violence.

And the thing is, I imagine initially that day, the troopers thought that they had won the battle. You can imagine the conversations they had afterwards. You can imagine them saying, "Yeah, we showed them." They figured they'd turned the protesters back over the bridge; that they'd kept, that they'd preserved a system that denied the basic humanity of their fellow citizens. Except this time, there were some cameras there. This time, the world saw what happened, bore witness to Black Americans who were asking for nothing more than to be treated like other Americans. Who were not asking for special treatment, just the equal treatment promised to them a century before, and almost another century before that.

When John woke up, and checked himself out of the hospital, he would make sure the world saw a movement that was, in the words of Scripture, "hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." They returned to Brown Chapel, a battered prophet, bandages around his head, and he said more marchers will come now. And the people came. And the troopers parted. And the marchers reached Montgomery. And their words reached the White House - and Lyndon Johnson, son of the South, said "We shall overcome," and the Voting Rights Act was signed into law.

The life of John Lewis was, in so many ways, exceptional. It vindicated the faith in our founding, redeemed that faith; that most American of ideas; that idea that any of us ordinary people without rank or wealth or title or fame can somehow point out the imperfections of this nation, and come together, and challenge the status quo, and decide that it is in our power to remake this country that we love until it more closely aligns with our highest ideals. What a radical ideal. What a revolutionary notion. This idea that any of us, ordinary people, a young kid from Troy can stand up to the powers and principalities and say no this isn't right, this isn't true, this isn't just. We can do better. On the battlefield of justice, Americans like John, Americans like the Reverends Lowery and C.T. Vivian, two other patriots that we lost this year, liberated all of us that many Americans came to take for granted.

America was built by people like them. America was built by John Lewises. He as much as anyone in our history brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals. And someday, when we do finish that long journey toward freedom; when we do form a more perfect union - whether it's years from now, or decades, or even if it takes another two centuries - John Lewis will be a founding father of that fuller, fairer, better America.

And yet, as exceptional as John was, here's the thing: John never believed that what he did was more than any citizen of this country can do. I mentioned in the statement the day John passed, the thing about John was just how gentle and humble he was. And despite this storied, remarkable career, he treated everyone with kindness and respect because it was innate to him - this idea that any of us can do what he did if we are willing to persevere.

He believed that in all of us, there exists the capacity for great courage, that in all of us there is a longing to do what's right, that in all of us there is a willingness to love all people, and to extend to them their God-given rights to dignity and respect. So many of us lose that sense. It's taught out of us. We start feeling as if, in fact, that we can't afford to extend kindness or decency to other people. That we're better off if we are above other people and looking down on them, and so often that's encouraged in our culture. But John always saw the best in us. And he never gave up, and never stopped speaking out because he saw the best in us. He believed in us even when we didn't believe in ourselves. As a Congressman, he didn't rest; he kept getting himself arrested. As an old man, he didn't sit out any fight; he sat in, all night long, on the floor of the United States Capitol. I know his staff was stressed.

But the testing of his faith produced perseverance. He knew that the march is not yet over, that the race is not yet won, that we have not yet reached that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character. He knew from his own life that progress is fragile; that we have to be vigilant against the darker currents of this country's history, of our own history, with their whirlpools of violence and hatred and despair that can always rise again.

Bull Connor may be gone. But today we witness with our own eyes police officers kneeling on the necks of Black Americans. George Wallace may be gone. But we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators. We may no longer have to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar in order to cast a ballot. But even as we sit here, there are those in power are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting - by closing polling locations, and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, even undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to an election that is going to be dependent on mailed-in ballots so people don't get sick.

Now, I know this is a celebration of John's life. There are some who might say we shouldn't dwell on such things. But that's why I'm talking about it. John Lewis devoted his time on this Earth fighting the very attacks on democracy and what's best in America that we are seeing circulate right now.

He knew that every single one of us has a God-given power. And that the fate of this democracy depends on how we use it; that democracy isn't automatic, it has to be nurtured, it has to be tended to, we have to work at it, it's hard. And so he knew it depends on whether we summon a measure, just a measure, of John's moral courage to question what's right and what's wrong and call things as they are. He said that as long as he had breath in his body, he would do everything he could to preserve this democracy. That as long as we have breath in our bodies, we have to continue his cause. If we want our children to grow up in a democracy - not just with elections, but a true democracy, a representative democracy, a big-hearted, tolerant, vibrant, inclusive America of perpetual self-creation - then we are going to have to be more like John. We don't have to do all the things he had to do because he did them for us. But we have got to do something. As the Lord instructed Paul, "Do not be afraid, go on speaking; do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." Just everybody's just got to come out and vote. We've got all those people in the city but we can't do nothing.

Like John, we have got to keep getting into that good trouble. He knew that nonviolent protest is patriotic; a way to raise public awareness, put a spotlight on injustice, and make the powers that be uncomfortable.

Like John, we don't have to choose between protest and politics, it is not an either-or situation, it is a both-and situation. We have to engage in protests where that is effective but we also have to translate our passion and our causes into laws and institutional practices. That's why John ran for Congress thirty-four years ago.

Like John, we have got to fight even harder for the most powerful tool we have, which is the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act is one of the crowning achievements of our democracy. It's why John crossed that bridge. It's why he spilled his blood. And by the way, it was the result of Democratic and Republican efforts. President Bush, who spoke here earlier, and his father, both signed its renewal when they were in office. President Clinton didn't have to because it was the law when he arrived so instead he made a law that made it easier for people to register to vote.

But once the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, some state legislatures unleashed a flood of laws designed specifically to make voting harder, especially, by the way, state legislatures where there is a lot of minority turnout and population growth. That's not necessarily a mystery or an accident. It was an attack on what John fought for. It was an attack on our democratic freedoms. And we should treat it as such.

If politicians want to honor John, and I'm so grateful for the legacy of work of all the Congressional leaders who are here, but there's a better way than a statement calling him a hero. You want to honor John? Let's honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for. And by the way, naming it the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that is a fine tribute. But John wouldn't want us to stop there, trying to get back to where we already were. Once we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, we should keep marching to make it even better.

By making sure every American is automatically registered to vote, including former inmates who've earned their second chance.

By adding polling places, and expanding early voting, and making Election Day a national holiday, so if you are someone who is working in a factory, or you are a single mom who has got to go to her job and doesn't get time off, you can still cast your ballot.

By guaranteeing that every American citizen has equal representation in our government, including the American citizens who live in Washington, D.C. and in Puerto Rico. They are Americans.

By ending some of the partisan gerrymandering - so that all voters have the power to choose their politicians, not the other way around.

And if all this takes eliminating the filibuster - another Jim Crow relic - in order to secure the God-given rights of every American, then that's what we should do.

And yet, even if we do all this - even if every bogus voter suppression law was struck off the books today - we have got to be honest with ourselves that too many of us choose not to exercise the franchise; that too many of our citizens believe their vote won't make a difference, or they buy into the cynicism that, by the way, is the central strategy of voter suppression, to make you discouraged, to stop believing in your own power.

So we are also going to have to remember what John said: "If you don't do everything you can to change things, then they will remain the same. You only pass this way once. You have to give it all you have." As long as young people are protesting in the streets, hoping real change takes hold, I'm hopeful but we cannot casually abandon them at the ballot box. Not when few elections have been as urgent, on so many levels, as this one. We cannot treat voting as an errand to run if we have some time. We have to treat it as the most important action we can take on behalf of democracy.

Like John, we have to give it all we have.

I was proud that John Lewis was a friend of mine. I met him when I was in law school. He came to speak and I went up and I said, "Mr. Lewis, you are one of my heroes. What inspired me more than anything as a young man was to see what you and Reverend Lawson and Bob Moses and Diane Nash and others did." And he got that kind of - aw shucks, thank you very much.

The next time I saw him, I had been elected to the United States Senate. And I told him, "John, I am here because of you." On Inauguration Day in 2008, 2009, he was one of the first people that I greeted and hugged on that stand. I told him, "This is your day too."

He was a good and kind and gentle man. And he believed in us - even when we don't believe in ourselves. It's fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was on Zoom. I am pretty sure that neither he nor I set up the Zoom call because we didn't know how to work it. It was a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who had been helping to lead this summer's demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death. And afterwards, I spoke to John privately, and he could not have been prouder to see this new generation of activists standing up for freedom and equality; a new generation that was intent on voting and protecting the right to vote; in some cases, a new generation running for political office.

I told him, all those young people, John - of every race and every religion, from every background and gender and sexual orientation - John, those are your children. They learned from your example, even if they didn't always know it. They had understood, through him, what American citizenship requires, even if they had only heard about his courage through the history books.

"By the thousands, faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, Black and white ... have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence."

Dr. King said that in the 1960s. And it came true again this summer.

We see it outside our windows, in big cities and rural towns, in men and women, young and old, straight Americans and LGBTQ Americans, Blacks who long for equal treatment and whites who can no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of their fellow Americans. We see it in everybody doing the hard work of overcoming complacency, of overcoming our own fears and our own prejudices, our own hatreds. You see it in people trying to be better, truer versions of ourselves.

And that's what John Lewis teaches us. That's where real courage comes from. Not from turning on each other, but by turning towards one another. Not by sowing hatred and division, but by spreading love and truth. Not by avoiding our responsibilities to create a better America and a better world, but by embracing those responsibilities with joy and perseverance and discovering that in our beloved community, we do not walk alone.

What a gift John Lewis was. We are all so lucky to have had him walk with us for a while, and show us the way.

God bless you all. God bless America. God bless this gentle soul who pulled it closer to its promise.

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Read the Full Transcript of Obama's Eulogy for John Lewis (Published 2020)

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Mr. Obama praised Mr. Lewis, saying "he as much as anyone in our history brought this country a little bit closer to our highest ideals." Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

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Resources for Understanding Black Lives Matter

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Resources for Understanding Black Lives Matter

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Curated by Tia C. Madkins, Ph.D. Courtesy of Mind/Shift, KQED.

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#BlackLivesMatter Resources Curated by Tia C. Madkins

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How to Become an Anti-Racist Art Teacher

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How to Become an Anti-Racist Art Teacher

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A Starter Guide on working to remove biases, stereotypes, and false narratives in art education.

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Anti-Racist Art Teachers - Starter Guide

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Four Ways Racial Inequality Harms American Schoolchildren

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Four Ways Racial Inequality Harms American Schoolchildren

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Jeffrey Pierre. KQED Mind/Shift.

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In the 2013-2014 school year, black students accounted for 16% of students enrolled in U.S. public schools, but 33% of arrests in those schools. That's according to a 2017 analysis of federal data by the Education Week Research Center. Meanwhile, white students accounted for 50% of enrollment and 34% of arrests, and Hispanic students accounted for 25% enrollment and 25% of arrests.

"If you've got a kid who is black, there's a decent amount of research that shows that good, well-intentioned and not overtly racist people will look at that situation and judge it to be more threatening," said Josh Gupta-Kagan, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.

Gupta-Kagan spoke to NPR's Kat Chow in 2017, two years after a troubling video went viral, showing a school resource officer in South Carolina throwing a black student from her desk to the ground.

The video angered many parents in the district, and led them to question the role SROs should play in schools. Hugh Harmon, then-head of the district's black parents association, told Chow his group has been asking for some time, "Is [the SRO] a school police officer, or is he a resource as the name suggests?"
Black students are more likely to be suspended.
In 2018, NPR's Anya Kamenetz reported that between 2012 to 2016, black high school students were twice as likely to be suspended as white or Hispanic high school students.

Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as those without disabilities. According to federal data, special education students are also more likely to be Native American or black.

Kamenetz wrote, "research suggests suspension and expulsion, arrests and referrals to law enforcement, [are] associated with dropping out of school and going to jail. All of these consequences happen more frequently to black students, even in preschool."

Implicit bias isn't just a police problem - it happens in preschool, too.

A 2016 paper from the Yale Child Study Center looked at how implicit bias plays out in preschool classrooms. The study was simple: Preschool teachers were shown videos of four children - a black boy and girl, and a white boy and girl - and were asked to flag any "challenging behavior." The kicker was that the videos didn't actually display any challenging behavior.

According to NPR's Cory Turner, researchers used special eye-scan technology to measure where the teachers were looking. Lead researcher Walter Gilliam wanted to know: When teachers expected bad behavior, who did they watch?

"What we found was exactly what we expected based on the rates at which children are expelled from preschool programs," Gilliam said. "Teachers looked more at the black children than the white children, and they looked specifically more at the African-American boy."
White school districts receive more funding on average than nonwhite districts.
In 2019, a report from the nonprofit EdBuild began with a striking number: $23 billion. That's how much more funding predominantly white school districts receive compared with districts that serve mostly students of color.

As NPR's Clare Lombardo reported, EdBuild found that high-poverty districts serving mostly students of color receive about $1,600 less per student than the national average, while districts that are predominately white and poor receive about $130 less.

What's causing that disparity? A school district's resources often come down to how wealthy an area is and how much residents pay in taxes, explained Rebecca Sibilia, founder and CEO of EdBuild.

"We have built a school funding system that is reliant on geography, and therefore the school funding system has inherited all of the historical ills of where we have forced and incentivized people to live," she says.

Funding inequities will likely get worse during the current pandemic. With state income and sales tax revenues crashing, some governors are already cutting their education budgets. Education leaders are warning the cuts could lead to a devastating financial meltdown for schools.

According to recent reporting from Cory Turner, "schools won't just need help making up for dramatic gaps in state spending. They'll need extra money to pay for the extra things they're being asked to do: feed children and families in hard-hit communities, help millions of students make up for learning time they've lost while home, and make sure schools are safe when children do finally return to class."

In many states, Turner found, these cuts will hit vulnerable, low-income communities the hardest.

The same is true when it comes to the challenges around remote learning. About 1 in 4 Americans don't have access to high speed internet at home, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center. And those unconnected households are more likely to be black or Hispanic, Pew found. With schools relying so heavily on remote learning during the pandemic, students in these households are also more at risk of falling behind.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Four Ways Racial Inequity Harms American Schoolchildren - MindShift

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In the 2013-2014 school year, black students accounted for 16% of students enrolled in U.S. public schools, but 33% of arrests in those schools. That's according to a 2017 analysis of federal data by the Education Week Research Center.

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How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering

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How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering

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Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich. New York Times

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RICHMOND, Va. - On a hot summer's day, the neighborhood of Gilpin quickly becomes one of the most sweltering parts of Richmond.

There are few trees along the sidewalks to shield people from the sun's relentless glare. More than 2,000 residents, mostly Black, live in low-income public housing that lacks central air conditioning. Many front yards are paved with concrete, which absorbs and traps heat. The ZIP code has among the highest rates of heat-related ambulance calls in the city.

There are places like Gilpin all across the United States. In cities like Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Portland and New York, neighborhoods that are poorer and have more residents of color can be 5 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter parts of the same city.

And there's growing evidence that this is no coincidence. In the 20th century, local and federal officials, usually white, enacted policies that reinforced racial segregation in cities and diverted investment away from minority neighborhoods in ways that created large disparities in the urban heat environment.

The consequences are being felt today.

To escape the heat, Sparkle Veronica Taylor, a 40-year-old Gilpin resident, often walks with her two young boys more than a half-hour across Richmond to a tree-lined park in a wealthier neighborhood. Her local playground lacks shade, leaving the gyms and slides to bake in the sun. The trek is grueling in summer temperatures that regularly soar past 95 degrees, but it's worth it to find a cooler play area, she said.

"The heat gets really intense, I'm just zapped of energy by the end of the day," said Ms. Taylor, who doesn't own a car. "But once we get to that park, I'm struck by how green the space is. I feel calmer, better able to breathe. Walking through different neighborhoods, there's a stark difference between places that have lots of greenery and places that don't."

To understand why many cities have such large heat disparities, researchers are looking closer at historical practices like redlining.

In the 1930s, the federal government created maps of hundreds of cities, rating the riskiness of different neighborhoods for real estate investment by grading them "best," "still desirable," "declining" or "hazardous." Race played a defining role: Black and immigrant neighborhoods were typically rated "hazardous" and outlined in red, denoting a perilous place to lend money. For decades, people in redlined areas were denied access to federally backed mortgages and other credit, fueling a cycle of disinvestment.

In 2016, these old redlining maps were digitized by historians at the University of Richmond. Researchers comparing them to today's cities have spotted striking patterns.

Across more than 100 cities, a recent study found, formerly redlined neighborhoods are today 5 degrees hotter in summer, on average, than areas once favored for housing loans, with some cities seeing differences as large as 12 degrees. Redlined neighborhoods, which remain lower-income and more likely to have Black or Hispanic residents, consistently have far fewer trees and parks that help cool the air. They also have more paved surfaces, such as asphalt lots or nearby highways, that absorb and radiate heat.

"It's uncanny how often we see this pattern," said Vivek Shandas, a professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University and a co-author of the study. "It tells us we really need to better understand what was going on in the past to create these land-use patterns."

Heat is the nation's deadliest weather disaster, killing as many as 12,000 people a year. Now, as global warming brings ​ever more intense heat waves, cities like Richmond are ​drawing up plans to adapt​ - and confronting a historical legacy that has left communities of color far more vulnerable to heat.

A Redlined Past, a Hotter Future

The appraisers in Richmond were transparent in their racism as they mapped the city in the 1930s as part of a Depression-era federal program to rescue the nation's collapsing housing markets.

Every Black neighborhood, no matter its income level, was outlined in red and deemed a "hazardous" area for housing loans. The appraisers' notes made clear that race was a key factor in giving these neighborhoods the lowest grade.

One part of town was outlined in yellow and rated as "declining" because, the appraisers wrote, Black families sometimes walked through.

By contrast, white neighborhoods, described as containing "respectable people," were often outlined in blue and green and were subsequently favored for investment.

Richmond, like many cities, was already segregated before the 1930s by racial zoning laws and restrictive covenants that barred Black families from moving into white neighborhoods. But the redlining maps, economists have found, deepened patterns of racial inequality in cities nationwide in ways that reverberated for decades. White families could more easily get loans and federal assistance to buy homes, building wealth to pass on to their children. Black families, all too often, could not.

That inequity likely influenced urban heat patterns, too. Neighborhoods with white homeowners had more clout to lobby city governments for tree-lined sidewalks and parks. In Black neighborhoods, homeownership declined and landlords rarely invested in green space. City planners also targeted redlined areas as cheap land for new industries, highways, warehouses and public housing, built with lots of heat-absorbing asphalt and little cooling vegetation.

Disparities in access to housing finance "created a snowball effect that compounded over generations," said Nathan Connolly, a historian at Johns Hopkins who helped digitize the maps. Redlining wasn't the only factor driving racial inequality, but the maps offer a visible symbol of how federal policies codified housing discrimination.

Congress outlawed redlining by the 1970s. But the practice has left lasting marks on cities.

Neighborhoods to Richmond's west that were deemed desirable for investment, outlined in green on the old maps, remain wealthier and predominantly white, with trees and parks covering 42 percent of the land. Neighborhoods in Richmond's east and south that were once redlined are still poorer and majority Black, with much lower rates of homeownership and green space covering just 12 percent of the surface.

These patterns largely persisted through cycles of white flight to the suburbs and, more recently, gentrification.

Today, Richmond's formerly redlined neighborhoods are, on average, 5 degrees hotter on a summer day than greenlined neighborhoods, satellite analyses reveal. Some of the hottest areas, like the Gilpin neighborhood, can see temperatures 15 degrees higher than wealthier, whiter parts of town.

Even small differences in heat can be dangerous, scientists have found. During a heat wave, every one degree increase in temperature can increase the risk of dying by 2.5 percent. Higher temperatures can strain the heart and make breathing more difficult, increasing hospitalization rates for cardiac arrest and respiratory diseases like asthma. Richmond's four hottest ZIP codes all have the city's highest rates of heat-related emergency-room visits.

Few neighborhoods in Richmond have been as radically reshaped as Gilpin. In the early 20th century, Gilpin was part of Jackson Ward, a thriving area known as "Black Wall Street" and the cultural heart of the city's African-American middle class, a place where people came to see Louis Armstrong or Ella Fitzgerald perform.

But with redlining in the 1930s, Jackson Ward fell into decline. Black residents had a tougher time obtaining mortgages and property values deteriorated. In the 1940s, the city embarked on " slum clearance " projects, razing acres of properties and replacing them with Richmond's first segregated public housing project, Gilpin Court, a set of austere, barracks-style buildings that were not designed with heat in mind.

A decade later, over the objections of residents, Virginia's state government decided to build a new federal highway right through the neighborhood, destroying thousands of homes and isolating Gilpin.

Today, Gilpin's community pool sits empty, unfixed by the city for years. Cinder block walls bake in the sun, unshaded by trees. While city officials and local utilities have provided many people with window air-conditioners, residents said they often aren't enough, and old electric wiring means blown fuses are common.

"The air conditioning unit in my bedroom runs 24/7," said Ms. Taylor, the 40-year-old mother of two. "Air circulation is poor up here on the upper level of where I live."

Gilpin is grappling with a mix of heat and poverty that illustrates how global warming can compound inequality.

Sherrell Thompson, a community health worker in Gilpin, said residents have high rates of asthma, diabetes and blood pressure, all conditions that can be worsened by heat. They are also exposed to air pollution from the six-lane highway next door.

There are no doctor's offices nearby or grocery stores selling fresh produce, which means that people without cars face further health challenges in the heat.

"It becomes a whole circle of issues," Ms. Thompson said. "If you want to find any kind of healthy food, you need to walk at least a mile or catch two buses. If you have asthma but it's 103 degrees out and you're not feeling well enough to catch three buses to see your primary care physician, what do you do?"

In Gilpin, the average life expectancy is 63 years. Just a short drive over the James River sits Westover Hills, a largely white, middle-income neighborhood that greets visitors with rows of massive oak trees spreading their leaves over quiet boulevards. Life expectancy there is 83 years.

A broad array of socioeconomic factors drives this gap, but it is made worse by heat. Researchers have found that excess heat and a lack of green space can affect mental well-being and increase anxiety. Without parks or shady outdoor areas to gather, people are more likely to be isolated indoors during the summer, a dynamic worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Especially when there's no green space nearby, the heat traps people in their homes," said Tevin Moore, 22, who grew up in Richmond's formerly redlined East End. "The heat definitely messes with you psychologically, people get frustrated over every little thing."

Climate Planners Confront Racial Inequality

Nationwide, the pattern is consistent: Neighborhoods that were once redlined see more extreme heat in the summer than those that weren't.

The New York and Boston values reflect graded neighborhoods in the broader area, including some suburbs. | Source: Hoffman, Shandas and Pendleton, Climate

Every city has its own story.

In Denver, formerly redlined neighborhoods tend to have more Hispanic than Black residents today, but they remain hotter: parks were intentionally placed in whiter, wealthier neighborhoods that then blocked construction of affordable housing nearby even after racial segregation was banned. In Baltimore, polluting industries were more likely to be located near communities of color. In Portland, zoning rules allowed multifamily apartment buildings to cover the entire lot and be built without any green space, a practice the city only recently changed.

The problem worsens as global warming increases the number of hot days nationwide.

Today, the Richmond area can expect about 43 days per year with temperatures of at least 90 degrees. By 2089, climate models suggest, the number of very hot days could double. "All of a sudden you're sitting on top of really unlivable temperatures," said Jeremy Hoffman, chief scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia and a co-author of the redlining study.

For years, cities across the United States rarely thought about racial equity when designing their climate plans, which meant that climate protection measures, like green roofs on buildings, often disproportionately benefited whiter, wealthier residents. That's slowly starting to change.

In Houston, officials recently passed an ordinance to prioritize disadvantaged neighborhoods for flood protection. Minneapolis and Portland are reworking zoning to allow denser, more affordable housing to be built in desirable neighborhoods. Denver has passed a new sales tax to fund parks and tree-planting, and city officials say they would like to add more green space in historically redlined areas.

And in Richmond, a city in the midst of a major reckoning with its racist past, where crowds this summer tore down Confederate monuments and protested police brutality, officials are paying much closer attention to racial inequality as they draw up plans to adapt to global warming. The city has launched a new mapping tool that shows in detail how heat and flooding can disproportionately harm communities of color.

"We can see that racial equity and climate equity are inherently entwined, and we need to take that into account when we're building our capacity to prepare," said Alicia Zatcoff, the city's sustainability manager. "It's a new frontier in climate action planning and there aren't a lot of cities that have really done it yet."

Officials in Richmond's sustainability office are currently engaged in an intensive listening process with neighborhoods on the front lines of global warming to hear their concerns, as they work to put racial equity at the core of their climate action and resilience plan. Doing so "can mean confronting some very uncomfortable history," said Ms. Zatcoff. But "the more proponents there are of doing the work this way, the better off we'll all be for it."

To start, the city has announced a goal of ensuring that everyone in Richmond is within a 10-minute walk of a park, working with the Science Museum of Virginia and community partners to identify city-owned properties in vulnerable neighborhoods that can be converted into green space. It's the city's first large-scale greening project since the 1970s.

Green space can be transformative. Trees can cool down neighborhoods by several degrees during a heat wave, studies show, helping to lower electric bills as well as the risk of death. When planted near roads, trees can help filter air pollution. The presence of green space can even reduce stress levels for people living nearby.

And trees have another climate benefit: Unlike paved surfaces, they can soak up water in their roots, reducing flooding during downpours.

A few years ago, in Richmond's formerly redlined Southside, local nonprofits and residents sought to address the lack of green space and grocery stores by building a new community garden, a triangular park with a shaded veranda and fruit trees. "Almost instantly, the garden became a community space," said Duron Chavis of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, which backed the effort. "We have people holding cookouts, people doing yoga and meditation here, they can get to know their neighbors. It reduces social isolation."

Richmond's long-term master plan, a draft of which was released in June, calls for increasing tree canopy in the hottest neighborhoods, redesigning buildings to increase air flow, reducing the number of paved lots and using more light-colored pavement to reflect the sun's energy. The plan explicitly mentions redlining as one of the historical forces that has shaped the city.

"Even people who don't believe institutionalized racism are struck when we show them these maps," said Cate Mingoya, director of capacity building at Groundwork USA, which has been highlighting links between redlining and heat in cities like Richmond. "We didn't get here by accident, and we're not going to get it fixed by accident."

Still, the challenges are immense. Cities often face tight budgets, particularly as revenues have declined amid the coronavirus pandemic.

And tree-planting can be politically charged. Some researchers have warned that building new parks and planting trees in lower-income neighborhoods of color can often accelerate gentrification, displacing longtime residents. In Richmond, city officials say they are looking to address this by building additional affordable housing alongside new green space.

Richmond's draft master plan envisions building a park over Routes I-95 and I-64 to reconnect Gilpin with historical Jackson Ward, as well as redeveloping the public housing complex into a more walkable mixed-income neighborhood. That plan is not imminent, but local activists fear residents could eventually be priced out of this newer, greener area.

"My worry is that they won't build that park until the people who currently live here are removed," said Arthur Burton, director of the Kinfolk Community Empowerment Center, who has been working to build community gardens in historically redlined areas like Gilpin.

While many are optimistic about Richmond's efforts to focus on racial equity, they warn there's still much work to be done to undo disparities built up over many decades. Inequality in housing, incomes, health and education "all make a difference when we're talking about vulnerability to climate change," said Rob Jones, executive director of Groundwork's Richmond chapter. "Greening the built environment is absolutely important," he said, "but it's only a start."

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How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering

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RICHMOND, Va. - On a hot summer's day, the neighborhood of Gilpin quickly becomes one of the most sweltering parts of Richmond. There are few trees along the sidewalks to shield people from the sun's relentless glare. More than 2,000 residents, mostly Black, live in low-income public housing that lacks central air conditioning.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Atlantic.

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Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

Editor's note: On February 1, 2023, the College Board announced its finalized curriculum for an AP African American Studies course. It has removed work-present in the pilot program-by writers such as bell hooks, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of this article.

We've gathered dozens of the most important pieces from our archives on race and racism in America. Find the collection here.
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith t he LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today. Besides the crime which consists in violating the law, and varying from the right rule of reason, whereby a man so far becomes degenerate, and declares himself to quit the principles of human nature, and to be a noxious creature, there is commonly injury By our unpaid labor and suffering, we have earned the right to the soil, many times over and over, and now we are determined to have it. done to some person or other, and some other man receives damage by his transgression: in which case he who hath received any damage, has, besides the right of punishment common to him with other men, a particular right to seek reparation.
- Deuteronomy 15: 12-15

- John Locke, "Second Treatise"

- Anonymous, 1861

Listen to the audio version of this article: Feature stories, read aloud: download the Audm app for your iPhone.

I. "So That's Just One Of My Losses"

C lyde Ross was born in 1923, the seventh of 13 children, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, the home of the blues. Ross's parents owned and farmed a 40-acre tract of land, flush with cows, hogs, and mules. Ross's mother would drive to Clarksdale to do her shopping in a horse and buggy, in which she invested all the pride one might place in a Cadillac. The family owned another horse, with a red coat, which they gave to Clyde. The Ross family wanted for little, save that which all black families in the Deep South then desperately desired-the protection of the law.

In the 1920s, Jim Crow Mississippi was, in all facets of society, a kleptocracy. The majority of the people in the state were perpetually robbed of the vote-a hijacking engineered through the trickery of the poll tax and the muscle of the lynch mob. Between 1882 and 1968, more black people were lynched in Mississippi than in any other state. "You and I know what's the best way to keep the nigger from voting," blustered Theodore Bilbo, a Mississippi senator and a proud Klansman. "You do it the night before the election."

The state's regime partnered robbery of the franchise with robbery of the purse. Many of Mississippi's black farmers lived in debt peonage, under the sway of cotton kings who were at once their landlords, their employers, and their primary merchants. Tools and necessities were advanced against the return on the crop, which was determined by the employer. When farmers were deemed to be in debt-and they often were-the negative balance was then carried over to the next season. A man or woman who protested this arrangement did so at the risk of grave injury or death. Refusing to work meant arrest under vagrancy laws and forced labor under the state's penal system.

Well into the 20th century, black people spoke of their flight from Mississippi in much the same manner as their runagate ancestors had. In her 2010 book, The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson tells the story of Eddie Earvin, a spinach picker who fled Mississippi in 1963, after being made to work at gunpoint. "You didn't talk about it or tell nobody," Earvin said. "You had to sneak away."
"Some of the land taken from black families has become a country club in Virginia," the AP reported.
When Clyde Ross was still a child, Mississippi authorities claimed his father owed $3,000 in back taxes. The elder Ross could not read. He did not have a lawyer. He did not know anyone at the local courthouse. He could not expect the police to be impartial. Effectively, the Ross family had no way to contest the claim and no protection under the law. The authorities seized the land. They seized the buggy. They took the cows, hogs, and mules. And so for the upkeep of separate but equal, the entire Ross family was reduced to sharecropping.

This was hardly unusual. In 2001, the Associated Press published a three-part investigation into the theft of black-owned land stretching back to the antebellum period. The series documented some 406 victims and 24,000 acres of land valued at tens of millions of dollars. The land was taken through means ranging from legal chicanery to terrorism. "Some of the land taken from black families has become a country club in Virginia," the AP reported, as well as "oil fields in Mississippi" and "a baseball spring training facility in Florida."

Clyde Ross was a smart child. His teacher thought he should attend a more challenging school. There was very little support for educating black people in Mississippi. But Julius Rosenwald, a part owner of Sears, Roebuck, had begun an ambitious effort to build schools for black children throughout the South. Ross's teacher believed he should attend the local Rosenwald school. It was too far for Ross to walk and get back in time to work in the fields. Local white children had a school bus. Clyde Ross did not, and thus lost the chance to better his education.

Then, when Ross was 10 years old, a group of white men demanded his only childhood possession-the horse with the red coat. "You can't have this horse. We want it," one of the white men said. They gave Ross's father $17.

"I did everything for that horse," Ross told me. "Everything. And they took him. Put him on the racetrack. I never did know what happened to him after that, but I know they didn't bring him back. So that's just one of my losses."

The losses mounted. As sharecroppers, the Ross family saw their wages treated as the landlord's slush fund. Landowners were supposed to split the profits from the cotton fields with sharecroppers. But bales would often disappear during the count, or the split might be altered on a whim. If cotton was selling for 50 cents a pound, the Ross family might get 15 cents, or only five. One year Ross's mother promised to buy him a $7 suit for a summer program at their church. She ordered the suit by mail. But that year Ross's family was paid only five cents a pound for cotton. The mailman arrived with the suit. The Rosses could not pay. The suit was sent back. Clyde Ross did not go to the church program.

It was in these early years that Ross began to understand himself as an American-he did not live under the blind decree of justice, but under the heel of a regime that elevated armed robbery to a governing principle. He thought about fighting. "Just be quiet," his father told him. "Because they'll come and kill us all."

Clyde Ross grew. He was drafted into the Army. The draft officials offered him an exemption if he stayed home and worked. He preferred to take his chances with war. He was stationed in California. He found that he could go into stores without being bothered. He could walk the streets without being harassed. He could go into a restaurant and receive service.

Ross was shipped off to Guam. He fought in World War II to save the world from tyranny. But when he returned to Clarksdale, he found that tyranny had followed him home. This was 1947, eight years before Mississippi lynched Emmett Till and tossed his broken body into the Tallahatchie River. The Great Migration, a mass exodus of 6 million African Americans that spanned most of the 20th century, was now in its second wave. The black pilgrims did not journey north simply seeking better wages and work, or bright lights and big adventures. They were fleeing the acquisitive warlords of the South. They were seeking the protection of the law.

Clyde Ross was among them. He came to Chicago in 1947 and took a job as a taster at Campbell's Soup. He made a stable wage. He married. He had children. His paycheck was his own. No Klansmen stripped him of the vote. When he walked down the street, he did not have to move because a white man was walking past. He did not have to take off his hat or avert his gaze. His journey from peonage to full citizenship seemed near-complete. Only one item was missing-a home, that final badge of entry into the sacred order of the American middle class of the Eisenhower years.

In 1961, Ross and his wife bought a house in North Lawndale, a bustling community on Chicago's West Side. North Lawndale had long been a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, but a handful of middle-class African Americans had lived there starting in the '40s. The community was anchored by the sprawling Sears, Roebuck headquarters. North Lawndale's Jewish People's Institute actively encouraged blacks to move into the neighborhood, seeking to make it a "pilot community for interracial living." In the battle for integration then being fought around the country, North Lawndale seemed to offer promising terrain. But out in the tall grass, highwaymen, nefarious as any Clarksdale kleptocrat, were lying in wait.
From the 1930s through the 1960s, black people across the country were largely cut out of the legitimate home-mortgage market.
Three months after Clyde Ross moved into his house, the boiler blew out. This would normally be a homeowner's responsibility, but in fact, Ross was not really a homeowner. His payments were made to the seller, not the bank. And Ross had not signed a normal mortgage. He'd bought "on contract": a predatory agreement that combined all the responsibilities of homeownership with all the disadvantages of renting-while offering the benefits of neither. Ross had bought his house for $27,500. The seller, not the previous homeowner but a new kind of middleman, had bought it for only $12,000 six months before selling it to Ross. In a contract sale, the seller kept the deed until the contract was paid in full-and, unlike with a normal mortgage, Ross would acquire no equity in the meantime. If he missed a single payment, he would immediately forfeit his $1,000 down payment, all his monthly payments, and the property itself.

The men who peddled contracts in North Lawndale would sell homes at inflated prices and then evict families who could not pay-taking their down payment and their monthly installments as profit. Then they'd bring in another black family, rinse, and repeat. "He loads them up with payments they can't meet," an office secretary told The Chicago Daily News of her boss, the speculator Lou Fushanis, in 1963. "Then he takes the property away from them. He's sold some of the buildings three or four times."

Ross had tried to get a legitimate mortgage in another neighborhood, but was told by a loan officer that there was no financing available. The truth was that there was no financing for people like Clyde Ross. From the 1930s through the 1960s, black people across the country were largely cut out of the legitimate home-mortgage market through means both legal and extralegal. Chicago whites employed every measure, from "restrictive covenants" to bombings, to keep their neighborhoods segregated.

Their efforts were buttressed by the federal government. In 1934, Congress created the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA insured private mortgages, causing a drop in interest rates and a decline in the size of the down payment required to buy a house. But an insured mortgage was not a possibility for Clyde Ross. The FHA had adopted a system of maps that rated neighborhoods according to their perceived stability. On the maps, green areas, rated "A," indicated "in demand" neighborhoods that, as one appraiser put it, lacked "a single foreigner or Negro." These neighborhoods were considered excellent prospects for insurance. Neighborhoods where black people lived were rated "D" and were usually considered ineligible for FHA backing. They were colored in red. Neither the percentage of black people living there nor their social class mattered. Black people were viewed as a contagion. Redlining went beyond FHA-backed loans and spread to the entire mortgage industry, which was already rife with racism, excluding black people from most legitimate means of obtaining a mortgage.

"A government offering such bounty to builders and lenders could have required compliance with a nondiscrimination policy," Charles Abrams, the urban-studies expert who helped create the New York City Housing Authority, wrote in 1955. "Instead, the FHA adopted a racial policy that could well have been culled from the Nuremberg laws."

The devastating effects are cogently outlined by Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro in their 1995 book, Black Wealth/White Wealth:

Locked out of the greatest mass-based opportunity for wealth accumulation in American history, African Americans who desired and were able to afford home ownership found themselves consigned to central-city communities where their investments were affected by the "self-fulfilling prophecies" of the FHA appraisers: cut off from sources of new investment[,] their homes and communities deteriorated and lost value in comparison to those homes and communities that FHA appraisers deemed desirable.

In Chicago and across the country, whites looking to achieve the American dream could rely on a legitimate credit system backed by the government. Blacks were herded into the sights of unscrupulous lenders who took them for money and for sport. "It was like people who like to go out and shoot lions in Africa. It was the same thrill," a housing attorney told the historian Beryl Satter in her 2009 book, Family Properties. "The thrill of the chase and the kill."

The kill was profitable. At the time of his death, Lou Fushanis owned more than 600 properties, many of them in North Lawndale, and his estate was estimated to be worth $3 million. He'd made much of this money by exploiting the frustrated hopes of black migrants like Clyde Ross. During this period, according to one estimate, 85 percent of all black home buyers who bought in Chicago bought on contract. "If anybody who is well established in this business in Chicago doesn't earn $100,000 a year," a contract seller told The Saturday Evening Post in 1962, "he is loafing."

Contract sellers became rich. North Lawndale became a ghetto.

Clyde Ross still lives there. He still owns his home. He is 91, and the emblems of survival are all around him-awards for service in his community, pictures of his children in cap and gown. But when I asked him about his home in North Lawndale, I heard only anarchy.

"We were ashamed. We did not want anyone to know that we were that ignorant," Ross told me. He was sitting at his dining-room table. His glasses were as thick as his Clarksdale drawl. "I'd come out of Mississippi where there was one mess, and come up here and got in another mess. So how dumb am I? I didn't want anyone to know how dumb I was.

"When I found myself caught up in it, I said, 'How? I just left this mess. I just left no laws. And no regard. And then I come here and get cheated wide open.' I would probably want to do some harm to some people, you know, if I had been violent like some of us. I thought, 'Man, I got caught up in this stuff. I can't even take care of my kids.' I didn't have enough for my kids. You could fall through the cracks easy fighting these white people. And no law."
Blacks were herded into the sights of unscrupulous lenders who took them for money and for sport.
But fight Clyde Ross did. In 1968 he joined the newly formed Contract Buyers League -a collection of black homeowners on Chicago's South and West Sides, all of whom had been locked into the same system of predation. There was Howell Collins, whose contract called for him to pay $25,500 for a house that a speculator had bought for $14,500. There was Ruth Wells, who'd managed to pay out half her contract, expecting a mortgage, only to suddenly see an insurance bill materialize out of thin air-a requirement the seller had added without Wells's knowledge. Contract sellers used every tool at their disposal to pilfer from their clients. They scared white residents into selling low. They lied about properties' compliance with building codes, then left the buyer responsible when city inspectors arrived. They presented themselves as real-estate brokers, when in fact they were the owners. They guided their clients to lawyers who were in on the scheme.

The Contract Buyers League fought back. Members-who would eventually number more than 500-went out to the posh suburbs where the speculators lived and embarrassed them by knocking on their neighbors' doors and informing them of the details of the contract-lending trade. They refused to pay their installments, instead holding monthly payments in an escrow account. Then they brought a suit against the contract sellers, accusing them of buying properties and reselling in such a manner "to reap from members of the Negro race large and unjust profits."

Video: The Contract Buyers League

In return for the "deprivations of their rights and privileges under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments," the league demanded "prayers for relief"-payback of all moneys paid on contracts and all moneys paid for structural improvement of properties, at 6 percent interest minus a "fair, non-discriminatory" rental price for time of occupation. Moreover, the league asked the court to adjudge that the defendants had "acted willfully and maliciously and that malice is the gist of this action."

Ross and the Contract Buyers League were no longer appealing to the government simply for equality. They were no longer fleeing in hopes of a better deal elsewhere. They were charging society with a crime against their community. They wanted the crime publicly ruled as such. They wanted the crime's executors declared to be offensive to society. And they wanted restitution for the great injury brought upon them by said offenders. In 1968, Clyde Ross and the Contract Buyers League were no longer simply seeking the protection of the law. They were seeking reparations.

II. "A Difference of Kind, Not Degree"

According to the most-recent statistics, North Lawndale is now on the wrong end of virtually every socioeconomic indicator. In 1930 its population was 112,000. Today it is 36,000. The halcyon talk of "interracial living" is dead. The neighborhood is 92 percent black. Its homicide rate is 45 per 100,000-triple the rate of the city as a whole. The infant-mortality rate is 14 per 1,000-more than twice the national average. Forty-three percent of the people in North Lawndale live below the poverty line-double Chicago's overall rate. Forty-five percent of all households are on food stamps-nearly three times the rate of the city at large. Sears, Roebuck left the neighborhood in 1987, taking 1,800 jobs with it. Kids in North Lawndale need not be confused about their prospects: Cook County's Juvenile Temporary Detention Center sits directly adjacent to the neighborhood.

North Lawndale is an extreme portrait of the trends that ail black Chicago. Such is the magnitude of these ailments that it can be said that blacks and whites do not inhabit the same city. The average per capita income of Chicago's white neighborhoods is almost three times that of its black neighborhoods. When the Harvard sociologist Robert J. Sampson examined incarceration rates in Chicago in his 2012 book, Great American City, he found that a black neighborhood with one of the highest incarceration rates (West Garfield Park) had a rate more than 40 times as high as the white neighborhood with the highest rate (Clearing). "This is a staggering differential, even for community-level comparisons," Sampson writes. "A difference of kind, not degree."

In other words, Chicago's impoverished black neighborhoods-characterized by high unemployment and households headed by single parents-are not simply poor; they are "ecologically distinct." This "is not simply the same thing as low economic status," writes Sampson. "In this pattern Chicago is not alone."

The lives of black Americans are better than they were half a century ago. The humiliation of Whites Only signs are gone. Rates of black poverty have decreased. Black teen-pregnancy rates are at record lows-and the gap between black and white teen-pregnancy rates has shrunk significantly. But such progress rests on a shaky foundation, and fault lines are everywhere. The income gap between black and white households is roughly the same today as it was in 1970. Patrick Sharkey, a sociologist at New York University, studied children born from 1955 through 1970 and found that 4 percent of whites and 62 percent of blacks across America had been raised in poor neighborhoods. A generation later, the same study showed, virtually nothing had changed. And whereas whites born into affluent neighborhoods tended to remain in affluent neighborhoods, blacks tended to fall out of them.

This is not surprising. Black families, regardless of income, are significantly less wealthy than white families. The Pew Research Center estimates that white households are worth roughly 20 times as much as black households, and that whereas only 15 percent of whites have zero or negative wealth, more than a third of blacks do. Effectively, the black family in America is working without a safety net. When financial calamity strikes-a medical emergency, divorce, job loss-the fall is precipitous.

And just as black families of all incomes remain handicapped by a lack of wealth, so too do they remain handicapped by their restricted choice of neighborhood. Black people with upper-middle-class incomes do not generally live in upper-middle-class neighborhoods. Sharkey's research shows that black families making $100,000 typically live in the kinds of neighborhoods inhabited by white families making $30,000. "Blacks and whites inhabit such different neighborhoods," Sharkey writes, "that it is not possible to compare the economic outcomes of black and white children."

A national real-estate association advised not to sell to "a colored man of means who was giving his children a college education."

The implications are chilling. As a rule, poor black people do not work their way out of the ghetto-and those who do often face the horror of watching their children and grandchildren tumble back.

Even seeming evidence of progress withers under harsh light. In 2012, the Manhattan Institute cheerily noted that segregation had declined since the 1960s. And yet African Americans still remained-by far-the most segregated ethnic group in the country.

With segregation, with the isolation of the injured and the robbed, comes the concentration of disadvantage. An unsegregated America might see poverty, and all its effects, spread across the country with no particular bias toward skin color. Instead, the concentration of poverty has been paired with a concentration of melanin. The resulting conflagration has been devastating.

One thread of thinking in the African American community holds that these depressing numbers partially stem from cultural pathologies that can be altered through individual grit and exceptionally good behavior. (In 2011, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, responding to violence among young black males, put the blame on the family: "Too many men making too many babies they don't want to take care of, and then we end up dealing with your children." Nutter turned to those presumably fatherless babies: "Pull your pants up and buy a belt, because no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt.") The thread is as old as black politics itself. It is also wrong. The kind of trenchant racism to which black people have persistently been subjected can never be defeated by making its victims more respectable. The essence of American racism is disrespect. And in the wake of the grim numbers, we see the grim inheritance.

The Contract Buyers League's suit brought by Clyde Ross and his allies took direct aim at this inheritance. The suit was rooted in Chicago's long history of segregation, which had created two housing markets-one legitimate and backed by the government, the other lawless and patrolled by predators. The suit dragged on until 1976, when the league lost a jury trial. Securing the equal protection of the law proved hard; securing reparations proved impossible. If there were any doubts about the mood of the jury, the foreman removed them by saying, when asked about the verdict, that he hoped it would help end "the mess Earl Warren made with Brown v. Board of Education and all that nonsense."
An unsegregated America might see poverty spread across the country, with no particular bias toward skin color.
The Supreme Court seems to share that sentiment. The past two decades have witnessed a rollback of the progressive legislation of the 1960s. Liberals have found themselves on the defensive. In 2008, when Barack Obama was a candidate for president, he was asked whether his daughters-Malia and Sasha-should benefit from affirmative action. He answered in the negative.

The exchange rested upon an erroneous comparison of the average American white family and the exceptional first family. In the contest of upward mobility, Barack and Michelle Obama have won. But they've won by being twice as good-and enduring twice as much. Malia and Sasha Obama enjoy privileges beyond the average white child's dreams. But that comparison is incomplete. The more telling question is how they compare with Jenna and Barbara Bush-the products of many generations of privilege, not just one. Whatever the Obama children achieve, it will be evidence of their family's singular perseverance, not of broad equality.

III. "We Inherit Our Ample Patrimony"

In 1783, the freedwoman Belinda Royall petitioned the commonwealth of Massachusetts for reparations. Belinda had been born in modern-day Ghana. She was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. She endured the Middle Passage and 50 years of enslavement at the hands of Isaac Royall and his son. But the junior Royall, a British loyalist, fled the country during the Revolution. Belinda, now free after half a century of labor, beseeched the nascent Massachusetts legislature:

The face of your Petitioner, is now marked with the furrows of time, and her frame bending under the oppression of years, while she, by the Laws of the Land, is denied the employment of one morsel of that immense wealth, apart whereof hath been accumilated by her own industry, and the whole augmented by her servitude.

WHEREFORE, casting herself at your feet if your honours, as to a body of men, formed for the extirpation of vassalage, for the reward of Virtue, and the just return of honest industry-she prays, that such allowance may be made her out of the Estate of Colonel Royall, as will prevent her, and her more infirm daughter, from misery in the greatest extreme, and scatter comfort over the short and downward path of their lives.

Belinda Royall was granted a pension of 15 pounds and 12 shillings, to be paid out of the estate of Isaac Royall-one of the earliest successful attempts to petition for reparations. At the time, black people in America had endured more than 150 years of enslavement, and the idea that they might be owed something in return was, if not the national consensus, at least not outrageous.

"A heavy account lies against us as a civil society for oppressions committed against people who did not injure us," wrote the Quaker John Woolman in 1769, "and that if the particular case of many individuals were fairly stated, it would appear that there was considerable due to them."

As the historian Roy E. Finkenbine has documented, at the dawn of this country, black reparations were actively considered and often effected. Quakers in New York, New England, and Baltimore went so far as to make "membership contingent upon compensating one's former slaves." In 1782, the Quaker Robert Pleasants emancipated his 78 slaves, granted them 350 acres, and later built a school on their property and provided for their education. "The doing of this justice to the injured Africans," wrote Pleasants, "would be an acceptable offering to him who 'Rules in the kingdom of men.' "

Edward Coles, a protégé of Thomas Jefferson who became a slaveholder through inheritance, took many of his slaves north and granted them a plot of land in Illinois. John Randolph, a cousin of Jefferson's, willed that all his slaves be emancipated upon his death, and that all those older than 40 be given 10 acres of land. "I give and bequeath to all my slaves their freedom," Randolph wrote, "heartily regretting that I have been the owner of one."

In his book Forever Free, Eric Foner recounts the story of a disgruntled planter reprimanding a freedman loafing on the job:

Planter: "You lazy nigger, I am losing a whole day's labor by you."

Freedman: "Massa, how many days' labor have I lost by you?"

In the 20th century, the cause of reparations was taken up by a diverse cast that included the Confederate veteran Walter R. Vaughan, who believed that reparations would be a stimulus for the South; the black activist Callie House; black-nationalist leaders like "Queen Mother" Audley Moore; and the civil-rights activist James Forman. The movement coalesced in 1987 under an umbrella organization called the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA). The NAACP endorsed reparations in 1993. Charles J. Ogletree Jr., a professor at Harvard Law School, has pursued reparations claims in court.

But while the people advocating reparations have changed over time, the response from the country has remained virtually the same. "They have been taught to labor," the Chicago Tribune editorialized in 1891. "They have been taught Christian civilization, and to speak the noble English language instead of some African gibberish. The account is square with the ex‑slaves."

Not exactly. Having been enslaved for 250 years, black people were not left to their own devices. They were terrorized. In the Deep South, a second slavery ruled. In the North, legislatures, mayors, civic associations, banks, and citizens all colluded to pin black people into ghettos, where they were overcrowded, overcharged, and undereducated. Businesses discriminated against them, awarding them the worst jobs and the worst wages. Police brutalized them in the streets. And the notion that black lives, black bodies, and black wealth were rightful targets remained deeply rooted in the broader society. Now we have half-stepped away from our long centuries of despoilment, promising, "Never again." But still we are haunted. It is as though we have run up a credit-card bill and, having pledged to charge no more, remain befuddled that the balance does not disappear. The effects of that balance, interest accruing daily, are all around us.

Broach the topic of reparations today and a barrage of questions inevitably follows: Who will be paid? How much will they be paid? Who will pay? But if the practicalities, not the justice, of reparations are the true sticking point, there has for some time been the beginnings of a solution. For the past 25 years, Congressman John Conyers Jr., who represents the Detroit area, has marked every session of Congress by introducing a bill calling for a congressional study of slavery and its lingering effects as well as recommendations for "appropriate remedies."

A country curious about how reparations might actually work has an easy solution in Conyers's bill, now called HR 40, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. We would support this bill, submit the question to study, and then assess the possible solutions. But we are not interested.

"It's because it's black folks making the claim," Nkechi Taifa, who helped found N'COBRA, says. "People who talk about reparations are considered left lunatics. But all we are talking about is studying [reparations]. As John Conyers has said, we study everything. We study the water, the air. We can't even study the issue? This bill does not authorize one red cent to anyone."

That HR 40 has never-under either Democrats or Republicans-made it to the House floor suggests our concerns are rooted not in the impracticality of reparations but in something more existential. If we conclude that the conditions in North Lawndale and black America are not inexplicable but are instead precisely what you'd expect of a community that for centuries has lived in America's crosshairs, then what are we to make of the world's oldest democracy?

One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one's ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slaveholder has been dead for a very long time. The last soldier to endure Valley Forge has been dead much longer. To proudly claim the veteran and disown the slaveholder is patriotism à la carte. A nation outlives its generations. We were not there when Washington crossed the Delaware, but Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's rendering has meaning to us. We were not there when Woodrow Wilson took us into World War I, but we are still paying out the pensions. If Thomas Jefferson's genius matters, then so does his taking of Sally Hemings's body. If George Washington crossing the Delaware matters, so must his ruthless pursuit of the runagate Oney Judge.

Black families making $100,000 typically live in the kinds of neighborhoods inhabited by white families making $30,000.

In 1909, President William Howard Taft told the country that "intelligent" white southerners were ready to see blacks as "useful members of the community." A week later Joseph Gordon, a black man, was lynched outside Greenwood, Mississippi. The high point of the lynching era has passed. But the memories of those robbed of their lives still live on in the lingering effects. Indeed, in America there is a strange and powerful belief that if you stab a black person 10 times, the bleeding stops and the healing begins the moment the assailant drops the knife. We believe white dominance to be a fact of the inert past, a delinquent debt that can be made to disappear if only we don't look.

There has always been another way. "It is in vain to alledge, that our ancestors brought them hither, and not we," Yale President Timothy Dwight said in 1810.

We inherit our ample patrimony with all its incumbrances; and are bound to pay the debts of our ancestors. This debt, particularly, we are bound to discharge: and, when the righteous Judge of the Universe comes to reckon with his servants, he will rigidly exact the payment at our hands. To give them liberty, and stop here, is to entail upon them a curse.

IV. "The Ills That Slavery Frees Us From"

America begins in black plunder and white democracy, two features that are not contradictory but complementary. "The men who came together to found the independent United States, dedicated to freedom and equality, either held slaves or were willing to join hands with those who did," the historian Edmund S. Morgan wrote. "None of them felt entirely comfortable about the fact, but neither did they feel responsible for it. Most of them had inherited both their slaves and their attachment to freedom from an earlier generation, and they knew the two were not unconnected."

When enslaved Africans, plundered of their bodies, plundered of their families, and plundered of their labor, were brought to the colony of Virginia in 1619, they did not initially endure the naked racism that would engulf their progeny. Some of them were freed. Some of them intermarried. Still others escaped with the white indentured servants who had suffered as they had. Some even rebelled together, allying under Nathaniel Bacon to torch Jamestown in 1676.

One hundred years later, the idea of slaves and poor whites joining forces would shock the senses, but in the early days of the English colonies, the two groups had much in common. English visitors to Virginia found that its masters "abuse their servantes with intollerable oppression and hard usage." White servants were flogged, tricked into serving beyond their contracts, and traded in much the same manner as slaves.

This "hard usage" originated in a simple fact of the New World-land was boundless but cheap labor was limited. As life spans increased in the colony, the Virginia planters found in the enslaved Africans an even more efficient source of cheap labor. Whereas indentured servants were still legal subjects of the English crown and thus entitled to certain protections, African slaves entered the colonies as aliens. Exempted from the protections of the crown, they became early America's indispensable working class-fit for maximum exploitation, capable of only minimal resistance.

For the next 250 years, American law worked to reduce black people to a class of untouchables and raise all white men to the level of citizens. In 1650, Virginia mandated that "all persons except Negroes" were to carry arms. In 1664, Maryland mandated that any Englishwoman who married a slave must live as a slave of her husband's master. In 1705, the Virginia assembly passed a law allowing for the dismemberment of unruly slaves-but forbidding masters from whipping "a Christian white servant naked, without an order from a justice of the peace." In that same law, the colony mandated that "all horses, cattle, and hogs, now belonging, or that hereafter shall belong to any slave" be seized and sold off by the local church, the profits used to support "the poor of the said parish." At that time, there would have still been people alive who could remember blacks and whites joining to burn down Jamestown only 29 years before. But at the beginning of the 18th century, two primary classes were enshrined in America.

"The two great divisions of society are not the rich and poor, but white and black," John C. Calhoun, South Carolina's senior senator, declared on the Senate floor in 1848. "And all the former, the poor as well as the rich, belong to the upper class, and are respected and treated as equals."

In 1860, the majority of people living in South Carolina and Mississippi, almost half of those living in Georgia, and about one-third of all Southerners were on the wrong side of Calhoun's line. The state with the largest number of enslaved Americans was Virginia, where in certain counties some 70 percent of all people labored in chains. Nearly one-fourth of all white Southerners owned slaves, and upon their backs the economic basis of America-and much of the Atlantic world-was erected. In the seven cotton states, one-third of all white income was derived from slavery. By 1840, cotton produced by slave labor constituted 59 percent of the country's exports. The web of this slave society extended north to the looms of New England, and across the Atlantic to Great Britain, where it powered a great economic transformation and altered the trajectory of world history. "Whoever says Industrial Revolution," wrote the historian Eric J. Hobsbawm, "says cotton."

The wealth accorded America by slavery was not just in what the slaves pulled from the land but in the slaves themselves. "In 1860, slaves as an asset were worth more than all of America's manufacturing, all of the railroads, all of the productive capacity of the United States put together," the Yale historian David W. Blight has noted. "Slaves were the single largest, by far, financial asset of property in the entire American economy." The sale of these slaves-"in whose bodies that money congealed," writes Walter Johnson, a Harvard historian-generated even more ancillary wealth. Loans were taken out for purchase, to be repaid with interest. Insurance policies were drafted against the untimely death of a slave and the loss of potential profits. Slave sales were taxed and notarized. The vending of the black body and the sundering of the black family became an economy unto themselves, estimated to have brought in tens of millions of dollars to antebellum America. In 1860 there were more millionaires per capita in the Mississippi Valley than anywhere else in the country.

Beneath the cold numbers lay lives divided. "I had a constant dread that Mrs. Moore, her mistress, would be in want of money and sell my dear wife," a freedman wrote, reflecting on his time in slavery. "We constantly dreaded a final separation. Our affection for each was very strong, and this made us always apprehensive of a cruel parting."

Forced partings were common in the antebellum South. A slave in some parts of the region stood a 30 percent chance of being sold in his or her lifetime. Twenty-five percent of interstate trades destroyed a first marriage and half of them destroyed a nuclear family.

When the wife and children of Henry Brown, a slave in Richmond, Virginia, were to be sold away, Brown searched for a white master who might buy his wife and children to keep the family together. He failed:

The next day, I stationed myself by the side of the road, along which the slaves, amounting to three hundred and fifty, were to pass. The purchaser of my wife was a Methodist minister, who was about starting for North Carolina. Pretty soon five waggon-loads of little children passed, and looking at the foremost one, what should I see but a little child, pointing its tiny hand towards me, exclaiming, "There's my father; I knew he would come and bid me good-bye." It was my eldest child! Soon the gang approached in which my wife was chained. I looked, and beheld her familiar face; but O, reader, that glance of agony! may God spare me ever again enduring the excruciating horror of that moment! She passed, and came near to where I stood. I seized hold of her hand, intending to bid her farewell; but words failed me; the gift of utterance had fled, and I remained speechless. I followed her for some distance, with her hand grasped in mine, as if to save her from her fate, but I could not speak, and I was obliged to turn away in silence.

In a time when telecommunications were primitive and blacks lacked freedom of movement, the parting of black families was a kind of murder. Here we find the roots of American wealth and democracy-in the for-profit destruction of the most important asset available to any people, the family. The destruction was not incidental to America's rise; it facilitated that rise. By erecting a slave society, America created the economic foundation for its great experiment in democracy. The labor strife that seeded Bacon's rebellion was suppressed. America's indispensable working class existed as property beyond the realm of politics, leaving white Americans free to trumpet their love of freedom and democratic values. Assessing antebellum democracy in Virginia, a visitor from England observed that the state's natives "can profess an unbounded love of liberty and of democracy in consequence of the mass of the people, who in other countries might become mobs, being there nearly altogether composed of their own Negro slaves."

V. The Quiet Plunder

The consequences of 250 years of enslavement, of war upon black families and black people, were profound. Like homeownership today, slave ownership was aspirational, attracting not just those who owned slaves but those who wished to. Much as homeowners today might discuss the addition of a patio or the painting of a living room, slaveholders traded tips on the best methods for breeding workers, exacting labor, and doling out punishment. Just as a homeowner today might subscribe to a magazine like This Old House, slaveholders had journals such as De Bow's Review, which recommended the best practices for wringing profits from slaves. By the dawn of the Civil War, the enslavement of black America was thought to be so foundational to the country that those who sought to end it were branded heretics worthy of death. Imagine what would happen if a president today came out in favor of taking all American homes from their owners: the reaction might well be violent.

"This country was formed for the white, not for the black man," John Wilkes Booth wrote, before killing Abraham Lincoln. "And looking upon African slavery from the same standpoint held by those noble framers of our Constitution, I for one have ever considered it one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us) that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation."

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Radical Republicans attempted to reconstruct the country upon something resembling universal equality-but they were beaten back by a campaign of "Redemption," led by White Liners, Red Shirts, and Klansmen bent on upholding a society "formed for the white, not for the black man." A wave of terrorism roiled the South. In his massive history Reconstruction, Eric Foner recounts incidents of black people being attacked for not removing their hats; for refusing to hand over a whiskey flask; for disobeying church procedures; for "using insolent language"; for disputing labor contracts; for refusing to be "tied like a slave." Sometimes the attacks were intended simply to "thin out the niggers a little."

Terrorism carried the day. Federal troops withdrew from the South in 1877. The dream of Reconstruction died. For the next century, political violence was visited upon blacks wantonly, with special treatment meted out toward black people of ambition. Black schools and churches were burned to the ground. Black voters and the political candidates who attempted to rally them were intimidated, and some were murdered. At the end of World War I, black veterans returning to their homes were assaulted for daring to wear the American uniform. The demobilization of soldiers after the war, which put white and black veterans into competition for scarce jobs, produced the Red Summer of 1919: a succession of racist pogroms against dozens of cities ranging from Longview, Texas, to Chicago to Washington, D.C. Organized white violence against blacks continued into the 1920s-in 1921 a white mob leveled Tulsa's "Black Wall Street," and in 1923 another one razed the black town of Rosewood, Florida-and virtually no one was punished.

The work of mobs was a rabid and violent rendition of prejudices that extended even into the upper reaches of American government. The New Deal is today remembered as a model for what progressive government should do-cast a broad social safety net that protects the poor and the afflicted while building the middle class. When progressives wish to express their disappointment with Barack Obama, they point to the accomplishments of Franklin Roosevelt. But these progressives rarely note that Roosevelt's New Deal, much like the democracy that produced it, rested on the foundation of Jim Crow.

"The Jim Crow South," writes Ira Katznelson, a history and political-science professor at Columbia, "was the one collaborator America's democracy could not do without." The marks of that collaboration are all over the New Deal. The omnibus programs passed under the Social Security Act in 1935 were crafted in such a way as to protect the southern way of life. Old-age insurance (Social Security proper) and unemployment insurance excluded farmworkers and domestics-jobs heavily occupied by blacks. When President Roosevelt signed Social Security into law in 1935, 65 percent of African Americans nationally and between 70 and 80 percent in the South were ineligible. The NAACP protested, calling the new American safety net "a sieve with holes just big enough for the majority of Negroes to fall through."

The oft-celebrated G.I. Bill similarly failed black Americans, by mirroring the broader country's insistence on a racist housing policy. Though ostensibly color-blind, Title III of the bill, which aimed to give veterans access to low-interest home loans, left black veterans to tangle with white officials at their local Veterans Administration as well as with the same banks that had, for years, refused to grant mortgages to blacks. The historian Kathleen J. Frydl observes in her 2009 book, The GI Bill, that so many blacks were disqualified from receiving Title III benefits "that it is more accurate simply to say that blacks could not use this particular title."

In Cold War America, homeownership was seen as a means of instilling patriotism, and as a civilizing and anti-radical force. "No man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist," claimed William Levitt, who pioneered the modern suburb with the development of the various Levittowns, his famous planned communities. "He has too much to do."

But the Levittowns were, with Levitt's willing acquiescence, segregated throughout their early years. Daisy and Bill Myers, the first black family to move into Levittown, Pennsylvania, were greeted with protests and a burning cross. A neighbor who opposed the family said that Bill Myers was "probably a nice guy, but every time I look at him I see $2,000 drop off the value of my house."

The neighbor had good reason to be afraid. Bill and Daisy Myers were from the other side of John C. Calhoun's dual society. If they moved next door, housing policy almost guaranteed that their neighbors' property values would decline.

Whereas shortly before the New Deal, a typical mortgage required a large down payment and full repayment within about 10 years, the creation of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in 1933 and then the Federal Housing Administration the following year allowed banks to offer loans requiring no more than 10 percent down, amortized over 20 to 30 years. "Without federal intervention in the housing market, massive suburbanization would have been impossible," writes Thomas J. Sugrue, a historian at the University of Pennsylvania. "In 1930, only 30 percent of Americans owned their own homes; by 1960, more than 60 percent were home owners. Home ownership became an emblem of American citizenship."

That emblem was not to be awarded to blacks. The American real-estate industry believed segregation to be a moral principle. As late as 1950, the National Association of Real Estate Boards' code of ethics warned that "a Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood ... any race or nationality, or any individuals whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values." A 1943 brochure specified that such potential undesirables might include madams, bootleggers, gangsters-and "a colored man of means who was giving his children a college education and thought they were entitled to live among whites."

The federal government concurred. It was the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, not a private trade association, that pioneered the practice of redlining, selectively granting loans and insisting that any property it insured be covered by a restrictive covenant-a clause in the deed forbidding the sale of the property to anyone other than whites. Millions of dollars flowed from tax coffers into segregated white neighborhoods.
One man said his black neighbor was "probably a nice guy, but every time I look at him I see $2,000 drop off the value of my house."
"For perhaps the first time, the federal government embraced the discriminatory attitudes of the marketplace," the historian Kenneth T. Jackson wrote in his 1985 book, Crabgrass Frontier, a history of suburbanization. "Previously, prejudices were personalized and individualized; FHA exhorted segregation and enshrined it as public policy. Whole areas of cities were declared ineligible for loan guarantees." Redlining was not officially outlawed until 1968, by the Fair Housing Act. By then the damage was done-and reports of redlining by banks have continued.

The federal government is premised on equal fealty from all its citizens, who in return are to receive equal treatment. But as late as the mid-20th century, this bargain was not granted to black people, who repeatedly paid a higher price for citizenship and received less in return. Plunder had been the essential feature of slavery, of the society described by Calhoun. But practically a full century after the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the plunder-quiet, systemic, submerged-continued even amidst the aims and achievements of New Deal liberals.

VI. Making The Second Ghetto

Today Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the country, a fact that reflects assiduous planning. In the effort to uphold white supremacy at every level down to the neighborhood, Chicago-a city founded by the black fur trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable-has long been a pioneer. The efforts began in earnest in 1917, when the Chicago Real Estate Board, horrified by the influx of southern blacks, lobbied to zone the entire city by race. But after the Supreme Court ruled against explicit racial zoning that year, the city was forced to pursue its agenda by more-discreet means.

Like the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration initially insisted on restrictive covenants, which helped bar blacks and other ethnic undesirables from receiving federally backed home loans. By the 1940s, Chicago led the nation in the use of these restrictive covenants, and about half of all residential neighborhoods in the city were effectively off-limits to blacks.

It is common today to become misty-eyed about the old black ghetto, where doctors and lawyers lived next door to meatpackers and steelworkers, who themselves lived next door to prostitutes and the unemployed. This segregationist nostalgia ignores the actual conditions endured by the people living there-vermin and arson, for instance-and ignores the fact that the old ghetto was premised on denying black people privileges enjoyed by white Americans.

In 1948, when the Supreme Court ruled that restrictive covenants, while permissible, were not enforceable by judicial action, Chicago had other weapons at the ready. The Illinois state legislature had already given Chicago's city council the right to approve-and thus to veto-any public housing in the city's wards. This came in handy in 1949, when a new federal housing act sent millions of tax dollars into Chicago and other cities around the country. Beginning in 1950, site selection for public housing proceeded entirely on the grounds of segregation. By the 1960s, the city had created with its vast housing projects what the historian Arnold R. Hirsch calls a "second ghetto," one larger than the old Black Belt but just as impermeable. More than 98 percent of all the family public-housing units built in Chicago between 1950 and the mid‑1960s were built in all-black neighborhoods.

Governmental embrace of segregation was driven by the virulent racism of Chicago's white citizens. White neighborhoods vulnerable to black encroachment formed block associations for the sole purpose of enforcing segregation. They lobbied fellow whites not to sell. They lobbied those blacks who did manage to buy to sell back. In 1949, a group of Englewood Catholics formed block associations intended to "keep up the neighborhood." Translation: keep black people out. And when civic engagement was not enough, when government failed, when private banks could no longer hold the line, Chicago turned to an old tool in the American repertoire-racial violence. "The pattern of terrorism is easily discernible," concluded a Chicago civic group in the 1940s. "It is at the seams of the black ghetto in all directions." On July 1 and 2 of 1946, a mob of thousands assembled in Chicago's Park Manor neighborhood, hoping to eject a black doctor who'd recently moved in. The mob pelted the house with rocks and set the garage on fire. The doctor moved away.

In 1947, after a few black veterans moved into the Fernwood section of Chicago, three nights of rioting broke out; gangs of whites yanked blacks off streetcars and beat them. Two years later, when a union meeting attended by blacks in Englewood triggered rumors that a home was being "sold to niggers," blacks (and whites thought to be sympathetic to them) were beaten in the streets. In 1951, thousands of whites in Cicero, 20 minutes or so west of downtown Chicago, attacked an apartment building that housed a single black family, throwing bricks and firebombs through the windows and setting the apartment on fire. A Cook County grand jury declined to charge the rioters-and instead indicted the family's NAACP attorney, the apartment's white owner, and the owner's attorney and rental agent, charging them with conspiring to lower property values. Two years after that, whites picketed and planted explosives in South Deering, about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago, to force blacks out.

When terrorism ultimately failed, white homeowners simply fled the neighborhood. The traditional terminology, white flight, implies a kind of natural expression of preference. In fact, white flight was a triumph of social engineering, orchestrated by the shared racist presumptions of America's public and private sectors. For should any nonracist white families decide that integration might not be so bad as a matter of principle or practicality, they still had to contend with the hard facts of American housing policy: When the mid-20th-century white homeowner claimed that the presence of a Bill and Daisy Myers decreased his property value, he was not merely engaging in racist dogma-he was accurately observing the impact of federal policy on market prices. Redlining destroyed the possibility of investment wherever black people lived.

VII. "A Lot Of People Fell By The Way"

Speculators in North Lawndale, and at the edge of the black ghettos, knew there was money to be made off white panic. They resorted to "block-busting"-spooking whites into selling cheap before the neighborhood became black. They would hire a black woman to walk up and down the street with a stroller. Or they'd hire someone to call a number in the neighborhood looking for "Johnny Mae." Then they'd cajole whites into selling at low prices, informing them that the more blacks who moved in, the more the value of their homes would decline, so better to sell now. With these white-fled homes in hand, speculators then turned to the masses of black people who had streamed northward as part of the Great Migration, or who were desperate to escape the ghettos: the speculators would take the houses they'd just bought cheap through block-busting and sell them to blacks on contract.

To keep up with his payments and keep his heat on, Clyde Ross took a second job at the post office and then a third job delivering pizza. His wife took a job working at Marshall Field. He had to take some of his children out of private school. He was not able to be at home to supervise his children or help them with their homework. Money and time that Ross wanted to give his children went instead to enrich white speculators.

"The problem was the money," Ross told me. "Without the money, you can't move. You can't educate your kids. You can't give them the right kind of food. Can't make the house look good. They think this neighborhood is where they supposed to be. It changes their outlook. My kids were going to the best schools in this neighborhood, and I couldn't keep them in there."

Mattie Lewis came to Chicago from her native Alabama in the mid-'40s, when she was 21, persuaded by a friend who told her she could get a job as a hairdresser. Instead she was hired by Western Electric, where she worked for 41 years. I met Lewis in the home of her neighbor Ethel Weatherspoon. Both had owned homes in North Lawndale for more than 50 years. Both had bought their houses on contract. Both had been active with Clyde Ross in the Contract Buyers League's effort to garner restitution from contract sellers who'd operated in North Lawndale, banks who'd backed the scheme, and even the Federal Housing Administration. We were joined by Jack Macnamara, who'd been an organizing force in the Contract Buyers League when it was founded, in 1968. Our gathering had the feel of a reunion, because the writer James Alan McPherson had profiled the Contract Buyers League for The Atlantic back in 1972.

Weatherspoon bought her home in 1957. "Most of the whites started moving out," she told me. "'The blacks are coming. The blacks are coming.' They actually said that. They had signs up: Don't sell to blacks."

Before moving to North Lawndale, Lewis and her husband tried moving to Cicero after seeing a house advertised for sale there. "Sorry, I just sold it today," the Realtor told Lewis's husband. "I told him, 'You know they don't want you in Cicero,' " Lewis recalls. " 'They ain't going to let nobody black in Cicero.' "

In 1958, the couple bought a home in North Lawndale on contract. They were not blind to the unfairness. But Lewis, born in the teeth of Jim Crow, considered American piracy-black people keep on making it, white people keep on taking it-a fact of nature. "All I wanted was a house. And that was the only way I could get it. They weren't giving black people loans at that time," she said. "We thought, 'This is the way it is. We going to do it till we die, and they ain't never going to accept us. That's just the way it is.'

"The only way you were going to buy a home was to do it the way they wanted," she continued. "And I was determined to get me a house. If everybody else can have one, I want one too. I had worked for white people in the South. And I saw how these white people were living in the North and I thought, 'One day I'm going to live just like them.' I wanted cabinets and all these things these other people have."

White flight was not an accident-it was a triumph of racist social engineering.

Whenever she visited white co-workers at their homes, she saw the difference. "I could see we were just getting ripped off," she said. "I would see things and I would say, 'I'd like to do this at my house.' And they would say, 'Do it,' but I would think, 'I can't, because it costs us so much more.' "

I asked Lewis and Weatherspoon how they kept up on payments.

"You paid it and kept working," Lewis said of the contract. "When that payment came up, you knew you had to pay it."

"You cut down on the light bill. Cut down on your food bill," Weatherspoon interjected.

"You cut down on things for your child, that was the main thing," said Lewis. "My oldest wanted to be an artist and my other wanted to be a dancer and my other wanted to take music."

Lewis and Weatherspoon, like Ross, were able to keep their homes. The suit did not win them any remuneration. But it forced contract sellers to the table, where they allowed some members of the Contract Buyers League to move into regular mortgages or simply take over their houses outright. By then they'd been bilked for thousands. In talking with Lewis and Weatherspoon, I was seeing only part of the picture-the tiny minority who'd managed to hold on to their homes. But for all our exceptional ones, for every Barack and Michelle Obama, for every Ethel Weatherspoon or Clyde Ross, for every black survivor, there are so many thousands gone.

"A lot of people fell by the way," Lewis told me. "One woman asked me if I would keep all her china. She said, 'They ain't going to set you out.' "

VIII. "Negro Poverty is not White Poverty"

On a recent spring afternoon in North Lawndale, I visited Billy Lamar Brooks Sr. Brooks has been an activist since his youth in the Black Panther Party, when he aided the Contract Buyers League. I met him in his office at the Better Boys Foundation, a staple of North Lawndale whose mission is to direct local kids off the streets and into jobs and college. Brooks's work is personal. On June 14, 1991, his 19-year-old son, Billy Jr., was shot and killed. "These guys tried to stick him up," Brooks told me. "I suspect he could have been involved in some things ... He's always on my mind. Every day."

Brooks was not raised in the streets, though in such a neighborhood it is impossible to avoid the influence. "I was in church three or four times a week. That's where the girls were," he said, laughing. "The stark reality is still there. There's no shield from life. You got to go to school. I lived here. I went to Marshall High School. Over here were the Egyptian Cobras. Over there were the Vice Lords."

Brooks has since moved away from Chicago's West Side. But he is still working in North Lawndale. If "you got a nice house, you live in a nice neighborhood, then you are less prone to violence, because your space is not deprived," Brooks said. "You got a security point. You don't need no protection." But if "you grow up in a place like this, housing sucks. When they tore down the projects here, they left the high-rises and came to the neighborhood with that gang mentality. You don't have nothing, so you going to take something, even if it's not real. You don't have no street, but in your mind it's yours."

Video: The Guardian of North Lawndale

We walked over to a window behind his desk. A group of young black men were hanging out in front of a giant mural memorializing two black men: In Lovin Memory Quentin aka "Q," July 18, 1974 ❤ March 2, 2012. The name and face of the other man had been spray-painted over by a rival group. The men drank beer. Occasionally a car would cruise past, slow to a crawl, then stop. One of the men would approach the car and make an exchange, then the car would drive off. Brooks had known all of these young men as boys.

"That's their corner," he said.

We watched another car roll through, pause briefly, then drive off. "No respect, no shame," Brooks said. "That's what they do. From that alley to that corner. They don't go no farther than that. See the big brother there? He almost died a couple of years ago. The one drinking the beer back there ... I know all of them. And the reason they feel safe here is cause of this building, and because they too chickenshit to go anywhere. But that's their mentality. That's their block."

Brooks showed me a picture of a Little League team he had coached. He went down the row of kids, pointing out which ones were in jail, which ones were dead, and which ones were doing all right. And then he pointed out his son-"That's my boy, Billy," Brooks said. Then he wondered aloud if keeping his son with him while working in North Lawndale had hastened his death. "It's a definite connection, because he was part of what I did here. And I think maybe I shouldn't have exposed him. But then, I had to," he said, "because I wanted him with me."

From the White House on down, the myth holds that fatherhood is the great antidote to all that ails black people. But Billy Brooks Jr. had a father. Trayvon Martin had a father. Jordan Davis had a father. Adhering to middle-class norms has never shielded black people from plunder. Adhering to middle-class norms is what made Ethel Weatherspoon a lucrative target for rapacious speculators. Contract sellers did not target the very poor. They targeted black people who had worked hard enough to save a down payment and dreamed of the emblem of American citizenship-homeownership. It was not a tangle of pathology that put a target on Clyde Ross's back. It was not a culture of poverty that singled out Mattie Lewis for "the thrill of the chase and the kill." Some black people always will be twice as good. But they generally find white predation to be thrice as fast.
Is affirmative action meant to increase "diversity"? If so, it only tangentially relates to the specific problems of black people.
Liberals today mostly view racism not as an active, distinct evil but as a relative of white poverty and inequality. They ignore the long tradition of this country actively punishing black success-and the elevation of that punishment, in the mid-20th century, to federal policy. President Lyndon Johnson may have noted in his historic civil-rights speech at Howard University in 1965 that "Negro poverty is not white poverty." But his advisers and their successors were, and still are, loath to craft any policy that recognizes the difference.

After his speech, Johnson convened a group of civil-rights leaders, including the esteemed A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, to address the "ancient brutality." In a strategy paper, they agreed with the president that "Negro poverty is a special, and particularly destructive, form of American poverty." But when it came to specifically addressing the "particularly destructive," Rustin's group demurred, preferring to advance programs that addressed "all the poor, black and white."

The urge to use the moral force of the black struggle to address broader inequalities originates in both compassion and pragmatism. But it makes for ambiguous policy. Affirmative action's precise aims, for instance, have always proved elusive. Is it meant to make amends for the crimes heaped upon black people? Not according to the Supreme Court. In its 1978 ruling in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Court rejected "societal discrimination" as "an amorphous concept of injury that may be ageless in its reach into the past." Is affirmative action meant to increase "diversity"? If so, it only tangentially relates to the specific problems of black people-the problem of what America has taken from them over several centuries.

This confusion about affirmative action's aims, along with our inability to face up to the particular history of white-imposed black disadvantage, dates back to the policy's origins. "There is no fixed and firm definition of affirmative action," an appointee in Johnson's Department of Labor declared. "Affirmative action is anything that you have to do to get results. But this does not necessarily include preferential treatment."

Yet America was built on the preferential treatment of white people-395 years of it. Vaguely endorsing a cuddly, feel-good diversity does very little to redress this.

Today, progressives are loath to invoke white supremacy as an explanation for anything. On a practical level, the hesitation comes from the dim view the Supreme Court has taken of the reforms of the 1960s. The Voting Rights Act has been gutted. The Fair Housing Act might well be next. Affirmative action is on its last legs. In substituting a broad class struggle for an anti-racist struggle, progressives hope to assemble a coalition by changing the subject.

The politics of racial evasion are seductive. But the record is mixed. Aid to Families With Dependent Children was originally written largely to exclude blacks-yet by the 1990s it was perceived as a giveaway to blacks. The Affordable Care Act makes no mention of race, but this did not keep Rush Limbaugh from denouncing it as reparations. Moreover, the act's expansion of Medicaid was effectively made optional, meaning that many poor blacks in the former Confederate states do not benefit from it. The Affordable Care Act, like Social Security, will eventually expand its reach to those left out; in the meantime, black people will be injured.

"All that it would take to sink a new WPA program would be some skillfully packaged footage of black men leaning on shovels smoking cigarettes," the sociologist Douglas S. Massey writes. "Papering over the issue of race makes for bad social theory, bad research, and bad public policy." To ignore the fact that one of the oldest republics in the world was erected on a foundation of white supremacy, to pretend that the problems of a dual society are the same as the problems of unregulated capitalism, is to cover the sin of national plunder with the sin of national lying. The lie ignores the fact that reducing American poverty and ending white supremacy are not the same. The lie ignores the fact that closing the "achievement gap" will do nothing to close the "injury gap," in which black college graduates still suffer higher unemployment rates than white college graduates, and black job applicants without criminal records enjoy roughly the same chance of getting hired as white applicants with criminal records.

Chicago, like the country at large, embraced policies that placed black America's most energetic, ambitious, and thrifty countrymen beyond the pale of society and marked them as rightful targets for legal theft. The effects reverberate beyond the families who were robbed to the community that beholds the spectacle. Don't just picture Clyde Ross working three jobs so he could hold on to his home. Think of his North Lawndale neighbors-their children, their nephews and nieces-and consider how watching this affects them. Imagine yourself as a young black child watching your elders play by all the rules only to have their possessions tossed out in the street and to have their most sacred possession-their home-taken from them.

The message the young black boy receives from his country, Billy Brooks says, is " 'You ain't shit. You not no good. The only thing you are worth is working for us. You will never own anything. You not going to get an education. We are sending your ass to the penitentiary.' They're telling you no matter how hard you struggle, no matter what you put down, you ain't shit. 'We're going to take what you got. You will never own anything, nigger.' "

IX. Toward A New Country

When Clyde Ross was a child, his older brother Winter had a seizure. He was picked up by the authorities and delivered to Parchman Farm, a 20,000-acre state prison in the Mississippi Delta region.

"He was a gentle person," Clyde Ross says of his brother. "You know, he was good to everybody. And he started having spells, and he couldn't control himself. And they had him picked up, because they thought he was dangerous."

Built at the turn of the century, Parchman was supposed to be a progressive and reformist response to the problem of "Negro crime." In fact it was the gulag of Mississippi, an object of terror to African Americans in the Delta. In the early years of the 20th century, Mississippi Governor James K. Vardaman used to amuse himself by releasing black convicts into the surrounding wilderness and hunting them down with bloodhounds. "Throughout the American South," writes David M. Oshinsky in his book Worse Than Slavery, "Parchman Farm is synonymous with punishment and brutality, as well it should be ... Parchman is the quintessential penal farm, the closest thing to slavery that survived the Civil War."

When the Ross family went to retrieve Winter, the authorities told them that Winter had died. When the Ross family asked for his body, the authorities at Parchman said they had buried him. The family never saw Winter's body.

And this was just one of their losses.

Scholars have long discussed methods by which America might make reparations to those on whose labor and exclusion the country was built. In the 1970s, the Yale Law professor Boris Bittker argued in The Case for Black Reparations that a rough price tag for reparations could be determined by multiplying the number of African Americans in the population by the difference in white and black per capita income. That number-$34 billion in 1973, when Bittker wrote his book-could be added to a reparations program each year for a decade or two. Today Charles Ogletree, the Harvard Law School professor, argues for something broader: a program of job training and public works that takes racial justice as its mission but includes the poor of all races.

To celebrate freedom and democracy while forgetting America's origins in a slavery economy is patriotism à la carte.

Perhaps no statistic better illustrates the enduring legacy of our country's shameful history of treating black people as sub-citizens, sub-Americans, and sub-humans than the wealth gap. Reparations would seek to close this chasm. But as surely as the creation of the wealth gap required the cooperation of every aspect of the society, bridging it will require the same.
When we think of white supremacy, we picture Colored Only signs, but we should picture pirate flags.
Perhaps after a serious discussion and debate-the kind that HR 40 proposes-we may find that the country can never fully repay African Americans. But we stand to discover much about ourselves in such a discussion-and that is perhaps what scares us. The idea of reparations is frightening not simply because we might lack the ability to pay. The idea of reparations threatens something much deeper-America's heritage, history, and standing in the world.

The early American economy was built on slave labor. The Capitol and the White House were built by slaves. President James K. Polk traded slaves from the Oval Office. The laments about "black pathology," the criticism of black family structures by pundits and intellectuals, ring hollow in a country whose existence was predicated on the torture of black fathers, on the rape of black mothers, on the sale of black children. An honest assessment of America's relationship to the black family reveals the country to be not its nurturer but its destroyer.

And this destruction did not end with slavery. Discriminatory laws joined the equal burden of citizenship to unequal distribution of its bounty. These laws reached their apex in the mid-20th century, when the federal government-through housing policies-engineered the wealth gap, which remains with us to this day. When we think of white supremacy, we picture Colored Only signs, but we should picture pirate flags.

On some level, we have always grasped this.

"Negro poverty is not white poverty," President Johnson said in his historic civil-rights speech.

Many of its causes and many of its cures are the same. But there are differences-deep, corrosive, obstinate differences-radiating painful roots into the community and into the family, and the nature of the individual. These differences are not racial differences. They are solely and simply the consequence of ancient brutality, past injustice, and present prejudice.

We invoke the words of Jefferson and Lincoln because they say something about our legacy and our traditions. We do this because we recognize our links to the past-at least when they flatter us. But black history does not flatter American democracy; it chastens it. The popular mocking of reparations as a harebrained scheme authored by wild-eyed lefties and intellectually unserious black nationalists is fear masquerading as laughter. Black nationalists have always perceived something unmentionable about America that integrationists dare not acknowledge-that white supremacy is not merely the work of hotheaded demagogues, or a matter of false consciousness, but a force so fundamental to America that it is difficult to imagine the country without it.

And so we must imagine a new country. Reparations-by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences-is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely. The recovering alcoholic may well have to live with his illness for the rest of his life. But at least he is not living a drunken lie. Reparations beckons us to reject the intoxication of hubris and see America as it is-the work of fallible humans.

Won't reparations divide us? Not any more than we are already divided. The wealth gap merely puts a number on something we feel but cannot say-that American prosperity was ill-gotten and selective in its distribution. What is needed is an airing of family secrets, a settling with old ghosts. What is needed is a healing of the American psyche and the banishment of white guilt.

What I'm talking about is more than recompense for past injustices-more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I'm talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal. Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage. Reparations would mean the end of yelling "patriotism" while waving a Confederate flag. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history.

X. "There Will Be No 'Reparations' From Germany"

We are not the first to be summoned to such a challenge.

In 1952, when West Germany began the process of making amends for the Holocaust, it did so under conditions that should be instructive to us. Resistance was violent. Very few Germans believed that Jews were entitled to anything. Only 5 percent of West Germans surveyed reported feeling guilty about the Holocaust, and only 29 percent believed that Jews were owed restitution from the German people.

"The rest," the historian Tony Judt wrote in his 2005 book, Postwar, "were divided between those (some two-fifths of respondents) who thought that only people 'who really committed something' were responsible and should pay, and those (21 percent) who thought 'that the Jews themselves were partly responsible for what happened to them during the Third Reich.' "

Germany's unwillingness to squarely face its history went beyond polls. Movies that suggested a societal responsibility for the Holocaust beyond Hitler were banned. "The German soldier fought bravely and honorably for his homeland," claimed President Eisenhower, endorsing the Teutonic national myth. Judt wrote, "Throughout the fifties West German officialdom encouraged a comfortable view of the German past in which the Wehrmacht was heroic, while Nazis were in a minority and properly punished."

Konrad Adenauer, the postwar German chancellor, was in favor of reparations, but his own party was divided, and he was able to get an agreement passed only with the votes of the Social Democratic opposition.
"If I could take German property without sitting down with them for even a minute but go in with jeeps and machine guns," said David Ben-Gurion, "I would do that."
Among the Jews of Israel, reparations provoked violent and venomous reactions ranging from denunciation to assassination plots. On January 7, 1952, as the Knesset-the Israeli parliament-convened to discuss the prospect of a reparations agreement with West Germany, Menachem Begin, the future prime minister of Israel, stood in front of a large crowd, inveighing against the country that had plundered the lives, labor, and property of his people. Begin claimed that all Germans were Nazis and guilty of murder. His condemnations then spread to his own young state. He urged the crowd to stop paying taxes and claimed that the nascent Israeli nation characterized the fight over whether or not to accept reparations as a "war to the death." When alerted that the police watching the gathering were carrying tear gas, allegedly of German manufacture, Begin yelled, "The same gases that asphyxiated our parents!"

Begin then led the crowd in an oath to never forget the victims of the Shoah, lest "my right hand lose its cunning" and "my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth." He took the crowd through the streets toward the Knesset. From the rooftops, police repelled the crowd with tear gas and smoke bombs. But the wind shifted, and the gas blew back toward the Knesset, billowing through windows shattered by rocks. In the chaos, Begin and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion exchanged insults. Two hundred civilians and 140 police officers were wounded. Nearly 400 people were arrested. Knesset business was halted.

Begin then addressed the chamber with a fiery speech condemning the actions the legislature was about to take. "Today you arrested hundreds," he said. "Tomorrow you may arrest thousands. No matter, they will go, they will sit in prison. We will sit there with them. If necessary, we will be killed with them. But there will be no 'reparations' from Germany."

Survivors of the Holocaust feared laundering the reputation of Germany with money, and mortgaging the memory of their dead. Beyond that, there was a taste for revenge. "My soul would be at rest if I knew there would be 6 million German dead to match the 6 million Jews," said Meir Dworzecki, who'd survived the concentration camps of Estonia.

Ben-Gurion countered this sentiment, not by repudiating vengeance but with cold calculation: "If I could take German property without sitting down with them for even a minute but go in with jeeps and machine guns to the warehouses and take it, I would do that-if, for instance, we had the ability to send a hundred divisions and tell them, 'Take it.' But we can't do that."

The reparations conversation set off a wave of bomb attempts by Israeli militants. One was aimed at the foreign ministry in Tel Aviv. Another was aimed at Chancellor Adenauer himself. And one was aimed at the port of Haifa, where the goods bought with reparations money were arriving. West Germany ultimately agreed to pay Israel 3.45 billion deutsche marks, or more than $7 billion in today's dollars. Individual reparations claims followed-for psychological trauma, for offense to Jewish honor, for halting law careers, for life insurance, for time spent in concentration camps. Seventeen percent of funds went toward purchasing ships. "By the end of 1961, these reparations vessels constituted two-thirds of the Israeli merchant fleet," writes the Israeli historian Tom Segev in his book The Seventh Million. "From 1953 to 1963, the reparations money funded about a third of the total investment in Israel's electrical system, which tripled its capacity, and nearly half the total investment in the railways."

Israel's GNP tripled during the 12 years of the agreement. The Bank of Israel attributed 15 percent of this growth, along with 45,000 jobs, to investments made with reparations money. But Segev argues that the impact went far beyond that. Reparations "had indisputable psychological and political importance," he writes.

Reparations could not make up for the murder perpetrated by the Nazis. But they did launch Germany's reckoning with itself, and perhaps provided a road map for how a great civilization might make itself worthy of the name.

Assessing the reparations agreement, David Ben-Gurion said:

For the first time in the history of relations between people, a precedent has been created by which a great State, as a result of moral pressure alone, takes it upon itself to pay compensation to the victims of the government that preceded it. For the first time in the history of a people that has been persecuted, oppressed, plundered and despoiled for hundreds of years in the countries of Europe, a persecutor and despoiler has been obliged to return part of his spoils and has even undertaken to make collective reparation as partial compensation for material losses.

Something more than moral pressure calls America to reparations. We cannot escape our history. All of our solutions to the great problems of health care, education, housing, and economic inequality are troubled by what must go unspoken. "The reason black people are so far behind now is not because of now," Clyde Ross told me. "It's because of then." In the early 2000s, Charles Ogletree went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet with the survivors of the 1921 race riot that had devastated "Black Wall Street." The past was not the past to them. "It was amazing seeing these black women and men who were crippled, blind, in wheelchairs," Ogletree told me. "I had no idea who they were and why they wanted to see me. They said, 'We want you to represent us in this lawsuit.' "

A commission authorized by the Oklahoma legislature produced a report affirming that the riot, the knowledge of which had been suppressed for years, had happened. But the lawsuit ultimately failed, in 2004. Similar suits pushed against corporations such as Aetna (which insured slaves) and Lehman Brothers (whose co-founding partner owned them) also have thus far failed. These results are dispiriting, but the crime with which reparations activists charge the country implicates more than just a few towns or corporations. The crime indicts the American people themselves, at every level, and in nearly every configuration. A crime that implicates the entire American people deserves its hearing in the legislative body that represents them.

John Conyers's HR 40 is the vehicle for that hearing. No one can know what would come out of such a debate. Perhaps no number can fully capture the multi-century plunder of black people in America. Perhaps the number is so large that it can't be imagined, let alone calculated and dispensed. But I believe that wrestling publicly with these questions matters as much as-if not more than-the specific answers that might be produced. An America that asks what it owes its most vulnerable citizens is improved and humane. An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future. More important than any single check cut to any African American, the payment of reparations would represent America's maturation out of the childhood myth of its innocence into a wisdom worthy of its founders.

In 2010, Jacob S. Rugh, then a doctoral candidate at Princeton, and the sociologist Douglas S. Massey published a study of the recent foreclosure crisis. Among its drivers, they found an old foe: segregation. Black home buyers-even after controlling for factors like creditworthiness-were still more likely than white home buyers to be steered toward subprime loans. Decades of racist housing policies by the American government, along with decades of racist housing practices by American businesses, had conspired to concentrate African Americans in the same neighborhoods. As in North Lawndale half a century earlier, these neighborhoods were filled with people who had been cut off from mainstream financial institutions. When subprime lenders went looking for prey, they found black people waiting like ducks in a pen.
"Wells Fargo mortgage had an emerging-markets unit that specifically targeted black churches."
"High levels of segregation create a natural market for subprime lending," Rugh and Massey write, "and cause riskier mortgages, and thus foreclosures, to accumulate disproportionately in racially segregated cities' minority neighborhoods."

Plunder in the past made plunder in the present efficient. The banks of America understood this. In 2005, Wells Fargo promoted a series of Wealth Building Strategies seminars. Dubbing itself "the nation's leading originator of home loans to ethnic minority customers," the bank enrolled black public figures in an ostensible effort to educate blacks on building "generational wealth." But the "wealth building" seminars were a front for wealth theft. In 2010, the Justice Department filed a discrimination suit against Wells Fargo alleging that the bank had shunted blacks into predatory loans regardless of their creditworthiness. This was not magic or coincidence or misfortune. It was racism reifying itself. According to The New York Times, affidavits found loan officers referring to their black customers as "mud people" and to their subprime products as "ghetto loans."

"We just went right after them," Beth Jacobson, a former Wells Fargo loan officer, told The Times. "Wells Fargo mortgage had an emerging-markets unit that specifically targeted black churches because it figured church leaders had a lot of influence and could convince congregants to take out subprime loans."

In 2011, Bank of America agreed to pay $355 million to settle charges of discrimination against its Countrywide unit. The following year, Wells Fargo settled its discrimination suit for more than $175 million. But the damage had been done. In 2009, half the properties in Baltimore whose owners had been granted loans by Wells Fargo between 2005 and 2008 were vacant; 71 percent of these properties were in predominantly black neighborhoods.
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products of many generations of privilege

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Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

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Baruti Kafele

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By Principal Baruti Kafele (NJ '09)
Protests and civil unrest are sweeping the nation as Americans react to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. We asked school leadership expert and author Principal Baruti Kafele (NJ '09) how teachers can help students process what's happening-and what school leaders can do to make sure their educators are prepared for the dialogue.
There's social unrest all over our country right now. Students are seeing it on TV, but some, depending on where they live, are in the midst of it. And there are all sorts of conversations going on at home.

The conversations in black homes aren't new-they may be tweaked for the specific focus on George Floyd right now, but the larger conversation about racism and how to maneuver around it, through it, overcome it, that's a normal black family living room conversation. A home that's not black may also be talking about George Floyd. But for a non-black family, racism against people of color may not affect them or their children directly, so they're not necessarily talking about this on a regular basis.

For teachers to talk with students about George Floyd and the current unrest, they have to be comfortable and equipped to talk about social justice. An African American teacher, especially a male teacher, is likely to dive into this conversation immediately with students, because it's part of their lived experience and they're passionate about it. For white teachers, it depends on their politics, the politics of their schools, their comfort level and their relationships with students.

In my workshops I often ask white teachers who work with students of color to tell me about their experience with black people prior to entering the classroom. For several of them, their black and brown students are the first people of color they've actually had sustained relationships with. Facing this makes the teachers uncomfortable, but it puts both teacher and student at an extreme deficit. For the first few decades of their lives, the teachers have only seen black people from a distance: on TV, at the mall, on the field. Pop culture does not always provide an accurate definition or description of who their students are. At this juncture, they really do not know their students.
[During the pandemic, I've been holding a weekly Virtual Assistant Principal Leadership Academy via Facebook Live. Last week (see the video below), I scrapped my planned curriculum and focused on one very timely question: Is social justice education an inherent part of your practice and your school?]
School is out for the summer in many parts of the country, and COVID-19 has kept kids out of actual classrooms since March. But there's a silver lining for educators who care about their students. If they had built meaningful relationships with their kids before schools closed, technology (assuming students have access, which I know is not a given) has allowed them to sustain those relationships. Those relationships have moved from the classroom to the laptop, but they're still there.
To teachers who aren't yet comfortable engaging with students about social justice, here's my advice: Let them talk. Open the floor and listen without judgment. Let them disclose what they're feeling and thinking. Be the facilitator. You don't know what you're going to hear, but let them speak their truth.
And we're not just talking about students of color. It's equally important for white students to have these conversations about social justice. I have had occasions where I have met with small groups of white teachers for discussions centered around race and diversity, and I started the discussion by asking them what they saw when I walked into the room: a presenter, or a black presenter? Most of them eventually admit that they see a black presenter. I'm the exception, a black man coming in to teach them, so they notice my color. That needs to change. White kids get most of their cultural education about black people from music and TV, and those images don't accurately represent us. When white students become adults and someone like me comes into the room, that has to become normalized, not an aberration.

If I were in the classroom now, in a global pandemic, with what's happening around us, no way would I end discussions and lessons with my students when the school year ends. No union or board of education would sanction it, and I wouldn't be paid for it, but I would tell parents that I want access to their children every week of the summer until school reopens. I want to gauge what they're feeling and living through. Two or three days a week for an hour, I'd be teaching, inspiring and empowering them. Teachers, if you love these children and are concerned about what happens when school is closed, keep school open through your laptop. Talk to them instead of watching TV. Let the children on your computer be your story.

HOMEWORK: Principal Kafele suggests that teachers and administrators consider the questions below as they work through how to connect with students about social unrest.

1. What is social justice education? What does it mean to me? Is social justice a part of my repertoire?

2. What purpose does social justice education fulfill in my classroom or school (assuming it exists)?

3. If social justice education does not exist in my classroom or school, why not? Social justice should be part of every aspect of the curriculum: math, science, social studies, language arts, etc. It's an infusion, not an isolated add-on.

4. Can my students, particularly students of color, articulate, intellectualize and explain the injustices that surround them, separate from their emotional reactions?

5. Do I have (or does my staff have) the necessary cultural competency to engage students in issues of social justice?

6. What professional development do I have access to (or provide to staff) to help develop comfort and confidence in engaging students in issues of social justice?

7. How knowledgeable am I (or is my staff) on issues of social justice? Black people aren't surprised by police murders of unarmed black men-they're angry, of course, but not surprised. But there are definitely people out there who are watching the protests on TV and questioning the level and volume of social unrest.

8. For administrators: How competent am I at incorporating issues of social justice in my overall instructional leadership of my staff? Is it something I pursue and prioritize, or is social justice unimportant compared with test scores? I would argue that the social justice conversation will elevate the academic one, by opening a wider door for talking about equity and social-emotional learning.

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"To me, it's really important to hold high standards [for my students]. I think sometimes kids don't hold those high standards for themselves. But if I hold the bar [high], then they start to believe in themselves, and then they believe they can achieve - and they do."
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Connections amplifies the voices of Milken Educators by focusing attention on the work and experiences of excellent educators across the nation. Through articles written by and about the work of Milken Educators, as well as features exploring classroom technology, strategies, education news and more, Connections sparks meaningful conversations about education.

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How to Talk to Students About Social Justice " Connections Article

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Protests and civil unrest are sweeping the nation as Americans react to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. We asked school leadership expert and author Principal Baruti Kafele (NJ '09) how teachers can help students process what's happening-and what school leaders can do to make

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“What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently" by Pirette McKamey

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“What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently" by Pirette McKamey

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The Atlantic

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They view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching.

Editor's Note: In 1988, a teacher most commonly had 15 years of experience. In recent years, that number is closer to just three years leading a classroom. The "On Teaching" series focuses on the wisdom of veteran teachers.
Ask black students who their favorite teacher is, and they will joyfully tell you. Ask them what it is about their favorite teacher, and most will say some version of this: They know how to work with me. So much is in that statement. It means that these students want to work, that they see their teachers as partners in the learning process, and that they know the teacher-student relationship is one in which they both have power. In other words, black students know that they bring intellect to the classroom, and they know when they are seen-and not seen.

As the principal of San Francisco's Mission High School and an anti-racist educator for more than 30 years, I have witnessed countless black students thrive in classrooms where teachers see them accurately and show that they are happy to have them there. In these classes, students choose to sit in the front of the class, take careful notes, shoot their hands up in discussions, and ask unexpected questions that cause the teacher and other classmates to stop and think. Given the chance, they email, text, and call the teachers who believe in them. In short, these students are everything their families and community members have raised and supported them to be.

I have seen some of these very same students walk into another teacher's classroom, go to the last row of desks, and put their head down. I have seen them sit frozen in their seat, staring at an assignment-when earlier I had heard them make jokes, talk excitedly about the content of their history class, celebrate solving a vexing algebra equation, or shake a test tube with authority, waiting for a result. Their report cards often reveal this disparity in classroom experiences: A's and B's in classes where they feel valued and C's, D's, or even F's in classes where they don't.

When black students' academic strengths are overlooked, black students are marginalized. They are kept out of advanced courses, given bad grades, and sent to the dean's office. Over the years, the power that they initially bring to school is siphoned off by educators at every level of the educational system who do not respect, and in some cases do not wish to respect, the intellectual contributions of black students.

Anti-racist teachers take black students seriously. They create a curriculum with black students in mind, and they carefully read students' work to understand what they are expressing. This might sound fairly standard, but making black students feel valued goes beyond general "good teaching." It requires educators to view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching. This is a paradigm shift: Instead of only asking black students who are not doing well in class to start identifying with school, we also ask teachers whose black students are not doing well in their classes to start identifying with those students.

I spent the majority of my career in the classroom, and I loved it because-to do it well-it required that I call on all aspects of my humanity. Standing in front of my black students, I knew that it was my responsibility to invite them into the classroom and then to see, push, and protect them once they were there. Over the years, collaborating with other anti-racist educators, I co-developed an approach that was successful-and it showed in the students' attendance, grades, and quality of work.

We read articles and books, and we attend workshops centered around black pedagogy. That helps us examine cultural differences in discourse styles, so we can better understand black students' analytical approaches in essays. We learn how to integrate oral language into our curriculum, such as adding a debate unit or a poetry-recitation assignment, and to provide ample opportunities for students to work together. And we learn that nothing goes without saying and that praise and direction should be plentiful. In essence, we do what works for black students, which also works for all students.

Educators who are committed to black students use evidence in their own classrooms to find ways to improve. They analyze the assignments handed in, identifying ways in which their teaching reached-and didn't reach-all of their students. They recognize the brilliance of a black student's contribution to a class discussion and seize on it. They disaggregate data such as grades and attendance by ethnicity, look for patterns, and problematize their own practice-rather than assume that their students weren't motivated or sufficiently prepared to engage with challenging material. They ask themselves: Why did Taylor get a C on the final when he earned an A or a B on all of his other assignments, many of them equally demanding? Why is Vince silent in his group? What inspired Hile to write multiple drafts of her essay, each time asking for more detailed feedback? They seek support from colleagues who are effective teachers for all of their students, including black students, because they know that the changes they make to their teaching practice will have an impact on their students' achievement. All of this makes them better educators.

Teachers who do not value black students will shift the discussion away from their own practice when they see that black students are not succeeding in their classes. They will create bonds that eventually turn into factions with fellow educators who are also unwilling to change their approach.

To fight against systemic racism means to buck norms. Educators at every level must be willing to be uncomfortable in their struggle for black students, recognizing students' power and feeding it by honoring their many contributions to our schools. Teachers need to insist on using their own power to consistently reveal and examine their practice, and seek input from black stakeholders; they must invite black parents to the table, listen to their concerns and ideas, and act on them. Principals must clearly and consistently communicate the anti-racist vision for their school, create professional-development opportunities for staff, recognize teachers who successfully teach all of their students, and intervene when they see problems. District-level administrators must more firmly root their anti-racist messaging in black students' school experiences, making expectations for educators clear. And school-board members need to listen to educators who have shown efficacy in educating black students. They must enact policies that hold us all accountable to our black families. We must make demands of ourselves and work together in our communities.

The only measure of our anti-racist teaching will be the academic success of all of our students, including our black students.
This article is part of our project "On Teaching," which is supported by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Panta Rhea Foundation.

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What Anti-racist Teachers Do Differently

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They view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching. Editor's Note: In 1988, a teacher most commonly had 15 years of experience. In recent years, that number is closer to just three years leading a classroom. The "On Teaching" series focuses on the wisdom of veteran teachers.

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Celebrating a Second Independence Day: A Juneteenth Reading List

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Celebrating a Second Independence Day: A Juneteenth Reading List

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Miss Juneteenth waves to the crowd during a celebration parade in Denver, 2015. (Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

June 19, also known as Juneteenth, marks the day when, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, slaves in Texas were informed of their freedom. As the National Museum of African-American History and Culture notes in a Tumblr post, it could - and arguably should - be celebrated as a "second independence day." But as the museum writes, "Though it has long been celebrated among the African American community it is a history that has been marginalized and still remains largely unknown to the wider public."

This morning, the White House issued a statement on Juneteenth that didn't land well. compared his statement to that of President Barack Obama, highlighting, as a commentator at the Independent Journal Review also noted, that Trump chose to praise a white person where Obama focused on the freed slaves. For more on Juneteenth, we've collected stories that explain the fraught history of the holiday, and the need for celebration.

Gates gives a thorough overview of the history of Juneteenth, including a look at other days worthy of celebration.

The Emancipation Proclamation itself, ending slavery in the Confederacy (at least on paper), had taken effect two-and-a-half years before, and in the interim, close to 200,000 black men had enlisted in the fight. So, formalities aside, wasn't it all over, literally, but the shouting?

It would be easy to think so in our world of immediate communication, but as Granger and the 1,800 bluecoats under him soon found out, news traveled slowly in Texas. Whatever Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered in Virginia, the Army of the Trans-Mississippi had held out until late May, and even with its formal surrender on June 2, a number of ex-rebels in the region took to bushwhacking and plunder.

Bouie is one of many who argues for Juneteenth to be a federal holiday, pointing out that "far more than our Independence Day, it belongs to all Americans."

Insofar that modern Americans celebrate the past, it's to honor the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation or to celebrate the vision of the Founders. Both periods are worthy of the attention. But I think we owe more to emancipation and the Civil War. If we inaugurated freedom with our nation's founding and defended it with World War II, we actualized it with the Civil War. Indeed, our struggle against slave power marks the real beginning of our commitment to liberty and equality, in word, if not always in deed.

Jim O'Grady's story on New York City's plan to own up to the northern city's participation in slavery notes that the unveiling of a marker to memorialize that history would be pegged to Juneteenth.

"It's not a feel-good story," said Thomas J. Davis, a professor at Arizona State University who writes about slavery in the north. "It's not a story that people have wanted to hear." Davis and other historians say Americans in the north tend to think of slavery as a fever that gripped the south - a fever cured by the Civil War.

But New York and other northern cities accrued vast wealth from slave labor and profited for centuries from dealings in the slave trade. Africans who passed through the Wall Street slave market contributed to the prosperity of some very famous companies, some of which are still around: Aetna, New York Life and JPMorgan Chase, to name a few.

Like Bouie, Rice argues that Juneteenth deserves to be a holiday, in part to combat the attempts at "erasure" by those who claim the Civil War was about states' rights, not slavery.

In Texas - the state where Juneteenth originated - a new spate of social studies textbooks de-emphasizes the role slavery played in launching the Civil War.

"[It's] a side issue to the Civil War," Pat Hardy, a Republican school board member said when the board adopted this new statewide standard in 2010, according to the Washington Post. "There would be those who would say the reason for the Civil War was over slavery. No. It was over states' rights."

Dawn Godbolt links the importance of Juneteenth to our current Attorney General's efforts to write policy "in a manner that attempts to steal the futures of African Americans - begetting the question of what democracy means for blacks."

Previous attorney generals, including Eric Holder and Sally Yates, ordered prosecutors to avoid charges that exacerbated the mass prison industrial complex and to cease using private prisons to house federal prisoners. These changes were implemented in response to a better understanding of how incarceration affects the life chances of offenders, their families, and their communities, and a shift in social attitudes towards marijuana. Session's policy initiative signals to Americans that race-based policies intended to restrict the freedom of blacks to be a priority for the attorney general's agenda.

There is an insidious, racially motived ideological belief, that black men in America need to be contained.

In this lengthy feature, two writers look at "Texas, old newspapers, race music, and two black lives that shaped the history of civil rights," particularly at C.N. Love, a black albino who worked as "the Houston advertising agent for several African-American newspapers."

As a schoolboy in Houston, Love became known as a good public speaker, a deliverer of "orations." He loved to read, even if holding the book against his face, and he paid attention to preachers' tricks. His earliest nickname, apart from C.N., was Judge or "the Honorable." Despite or perhaps helped in part by his unusual appearance, he grew into an object of community pride. In the 1880s he emerged as a figure in the city's black cultural life, a fixture on the committees that planned the yearly "Juneteenth" or Emancipation Day celebrations, a perennial decider of beauty contests.

Holness looks both at Obama's pre-presidency support of making Juneteenth a national holiday and arguments against doing so, such as:

"[Juneteenth] reinforces Black people as passive and as people waiting for others to free them when black people in the South would tell Union soldiers when they showed up that they were free and come and set up camp with Union soldiers," Penrice says. "Many of them wrote letters to the White House for instructions as to what to do. This influenced the drafting of the Emancipation Proclamation."

Penrice also doesn't believe that June 19 is a particularly special day as slaves throughout the South became aware of their freedom on different days.

Davis looks at how celebrations of Juneteenth fell and rose in popularity, ultimately arguing, as Bouie did, that it is "a shared point of pride in the symbolic end of centuries of racial slavery."

Spurred by a revival of pride in African-American traditions long denied or suppressed, Juneteenth has gained official recognition - although not necessarily full legal holiday status - in a number of states, starting, appropriately, with Texas, which made Juneteenth a paid holiday for state employees in 1980.

Still, 150 years after its birth, Juneteenth remains largely unacknowledged on America's national calendar. Many Americans are unaware of its existence, or its roots. Sadly, that ignorance of Juneteenth reflects a deeper issue: the continued existence of two histories, black and white, separate and unequal.

On the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, Vaughn pays tribute to "the menu of Emancipation Day."

Barbecue wasn't the only item on the menu. The middle of June being the beginning of watermelon season in Texas, it also found a spot at the table. The Galveston Daily News reported on celebrations across the state in 1883 including one in San Antonio where "twenty-three wagons loaded with watermelons...were destroyed with marvelous rapidity." By 1933, the menu had been cemented per the Dallas Morning News. "Watermelon, barbecue and red lemonade will be consumed in quantity.

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Celebrating a Second Independence Day: A Juneteenth Reading List

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Miss Juneteenth waves to the crowd during a celebration parade in Denver, 2015. (Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images) June 19, also known as Juneteenth, marks the day when, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, slaves in Texas were informed of their freedom.

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Articles from The Atlantic from 1857-1920.

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Paul Spella / The Atlantic

America recently passed the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first captive Africans brought to what would become the United States. September 2019 was chosen as an imperfect but significant date to mark the start of American slavery and the systems of inequality perpetuated by the nation's original sin.

For 163 years, The Atlantic has discussed, argued, and analyzed America, its lofty ideals and the reality that often falls short of them. This magazine was founded, in part, to argue in favor of abolition, and has been a home for black voices such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., W. E. B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington-each calling upon the country to realize its promise of freedom and equity for all its citizens.

Amid a pandemic that is disproportionately killing brown and black people and an economic recession disproportionately devastating the finances of people of color, a major moment of racial reckoning has arisen after yet another series of police murders of black Americans-the latest in a generations-old trend of disproportionate killing and violence against black communities by those sworn to serve and protect.

There have been protests, looting, and more police violence. Major companies and individuals are being called to account for discrimination, leaders in the public and private sectors are losing their jobs for failing communities of color, and many Americans are seeking new ways to support the movement toward racial equity. Confronting the continued realities of racism and its steep cost is painful and complex, and forces a question: How did it come to this?

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series of police murders of black americans

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secretary of the smithsonian lonnie bunch

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America recently passed the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first captive Africans brought to what would become the United States. September 2019 was chosen as an imperfect but significant date to mark the start of American slavery and the systems of inequality perpetuated by the nation's original sin.

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

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Peggy McIntosh

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'White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' and 'Some Notes for Facilitators' - National SEED Project

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack Downloadable PDF © 1989 Peggy McIntosh 'White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack' first appeared in P...

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What’s My Complicity? Talking White Fragility with Robin DiAngelo

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What’s My Complicity? Talking White Fragility with Robin DiAngelo

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Teaching Tolerance (2019.) Includes a 30-minute video.

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When it comes to her well-established career as an anti-racist educator, Robin DiAngelo says, "I kind of fell into it." Years of deep learning, research and mentorship from colleagues of color led her not only to understand that her whiteness has meaning-but also to become really good at explaining this to other white people.

The New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism sat down with Teaching Tolerance to discuss why working against one's own fragility is a necessary part of white anti-racist work-and why good intentions don't matter.

In a nutshell, what is white fragility?

Well, when I coined that term, the fragility part was meant to capture how little it takes to upset white people racially. For a lot of white people, the mere suggestion that being white has meaning will cause great umbrage. Certainly generalizing about white people will. Right now, me saying "white people," as if our race had meaning, and as if I could know anything about somebody just because they're white, will cause a lot of white people to erupt in defensiveness. And I think of it as a kind of weaponized defensiveness. Weaponized tears. Weaponized hurt feelings. And in that way, I think white fragility actually functions as a kind of white racial bullying.

We white people make it so difficult for people of color to talk to us about our inevitable-but often unaware-racist patterns and assumptions that, most of the time, they don't. People of color working and living in primarily white environments take home way more daily indignities and slights and microaggressions than they bother talking to us about because their experience consistently is that it's not going to go well. In fact, they're going to risk more punishment, not less. They're going to now have to take care of the white person's upset feelings. They're going to be seen as a troublemaker. The white person is going to withdraw, defend, explain, insist it had to have been a misunderstanding.

And who is the primary audience for this book?

My audience is the average, well-intended white person who sees themselves as open-minded, and yet cannot answer the question: "What does it mean to be white?"

I think white progressives can be the most challenging because we tend to be so certain that it isn't us. And that certitude is problematic. It doesn't allow for humility, and, to be direct, it's quite arrogant. So we don't tend to be receptive at all. ... I think the worst fear of a well-intended white person is that we would accidentally say something racist. But then how do we respond when someone lets us know, "Hey, you just accidentally said something racist"? We respond with, "How dare you. No, I didn't!"

So, to the degree that our identities are very attached to this idea of being free of racism, we're actually going to resist any of the critical examination that we need to be engaged in for our entire lives. Because every moment that I push against the socialization that I've received into a white supremacist culture, that culture is pushing right back at me. And that pressure is seductive. It's comfortable. There are social rewards for not challenging racism. [White] people perceive you as easier to get along with when you maintain white solidarity.

In the book, you talk about the danger of assuming good intentions. Can you say a little bit about why assuming good intentions can actually be dangerous or harmful?

I think intentions are irrelevant. It's nice to know you had good intentions, but the impact of what you did was harmful. And we need to let go of our intentions and attend to the impact, to focus on that.

A lot of groups that come together to have these discussions generate a list of guidelines or ground rules. And if we really looked critically at those, I think we would see that mostly they're about maintaining white comfort. They presume a lack of differential power in the space. But power relations are always at play, and people are in different power positions in that room. So the very things that might make a white person feel comfortable may be exactly what says to a person of color, "Do not be authentic; do not be yourself. Do not show your emotions. Do not get upset. Do not be angry." ...

There's a question that's never failed me in this work to uncover how racism keeps reproducing itself despite all of the evidence we like to give for why it couldn't be us. And that question isn't, "Is this true or is this false: Was the person's intention good or not?" We're never going to be able to come to an agreement on intentions. You cannot prove somebody's intentions. They might not even know their intentions. And if they weren't good, they're probably not going to admit that. The question I ask is, "How does this function?" The impact of the action is what is relevant.

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What's My Complicity? Talking White Fragility With Robin DiAngelo

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When it comes to her well-established career as an anti-racist educator, Robin DiAngelo says, "I kind of fell into it." Years of deep learning, research and mentorship from colleagues of color led her not only to understand that her whiteness has meaning-but also to become really good at explaining this to other white people.

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The Atlantic
Some historians have criticized the 1619 Project. This article captures the gist of those criticisms. The contents of the project are intended to supplement American history curricula, not replace them.

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When The New York Times Magazine published its 1619 Project in August, people lined up on the street in New York City to get copies. Since then, the project-a historical analysis of how slavery shaped American political, social, and economic institutions-has spawned a podcast, a high-school curriculum, and an upcoming book. For Nikole Hannah-Jones, the reporter who conceived of the project, the response has been deeply gratifying.

"They had not seen this type of demand for a print product of The New York Times, they said, since 2008, when people wanted copies of Obama's historic presidency edition," Hannah-Jones told me. "I know when I talk to people, they have said that they feel like they are understanding the architecture of their country in a way that they had not."

U.S. history is often taught and popularly understood through the eyes of its great men, who are seen as either heroic or tragic figures in a global struggle for human freedom. The 1619 Project, named for the date of the first arrival of Africans on American soil, sought to place "the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative." Viewed from the perspective of those historically denied the rights enumerated in America's founding documents, the story of the country's great men necessarily looks very different.

The reaction to the project was not universally enthusiastic. Several weeks ago, the Princeton historian Sean Wilentz, who had criticized the 1619 Project's "cynicism" in a lecture in November, began quietly circulating a letter objecting to the project, and some of Hannah-Jones's work in particular. The letter acquired four signatories-James McPherson, Gordon Wood, Victoria Bynum, and James Oakes, all leading scholars in their field. They sent their letter to three top Times editors and the publisher, A. G. Sulzberger, on December 4. A version of that letter was published on Friday, along with a detailed rebuttal from Jake Silverstein, the editor of the Times Magazine.

The letter sent to the Times says, "We applaud all efforts to address the foundational centrality of slavery and racism to our history," but then veers into harsh criticism of the 1619 Project. The letter refers to "matters of verifiable fact" that "cannot be described as interpretation or 'framing'" and says the project reflected "a displacement of historical understanding by ideology." Wilentz and his fellow signatories didn't just dispute the Times Magazine 's interpretation of past events, but demanded corrections.

In the age of social-media invective, a strongly worded letter might not seem particularly significant. But given the stature of the historians involved, the letter is a serious challenge to the credibility of the 1619 Project, which has drawn its share not just of admirers but also critics.

Nevertheless, some historians who declined to sign the letter wondered whether the letter was intended less to resolve factual disputes than to discredit laymen who had challenged an interpretation of American national identity that is cherished by liberals and conservatives alike.

"I think had any of the scholars who signed the letter contacted me or contacted the Times with concerns [before sending the letter], we would've taken those concerns very seriously," Hannah-Jones said. "And instead there was kind of a campaign to kind of get people to sign on to a letter that was attempting really to discredit the entire project without having had a conversation."

Underlying each of the disagreements in the letter is not just a matter of historical fact but a conflict about whether Americans, from the Founders to the present day, are committed to the ideals they claim to revere. And while some of the critiques can be answered with historical fact, others are questions of interpretation grounded in perspective and experience.

In fact, the harshness of the Wilentz letter may obscure the extent to which its authors and the creators of the 1619 Project share a broad historical vision. Both sides agree, as many of the project's right-wing critics do not, that slavery's legacy still shapes American life-an argument that is less radical than it may appear at first glance. If you think anti-black racism still shapes American society, then you are in agreement with the thrust of the 1619 Project, though not necessarily with all of its individual arguments.

The clash between the Times authors and their historian critics represents a fundamental disagreement over the trajectory of American society. Was America founded as a slavocracy, and are current racial inequities the natural outgrowth of that? Or was America conceived in liberty, a nation haltingly redeeming itself through its founding principles? These are not simple questions to answer, because the nation's pro-slavery and anti-slavery tendencies are so closely intertwined.

The letter is rooted in a vision of American history as a slow, uncertain march toward a more perfect union. The 1619 Project, and Hannah-Jones's introductory essay in particular, offer a darker vision of the nation, in which Americans have made less progress than they think, and in which black people continue to struggle indefinitely for rights they may never fully realize. Inherent in that vision is a kind of pessimism, not about black struggle but about the sincerity and viability of white anti-racism. It is a harsh verdict, and one of the reasons the 1619 Project has provoked pointed criticism alongside praise.

Americans need to believe that, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, the arc of history bends toward justice. And they are rarely kind to those who question whether it does.

Most Americans still learn very little about the lives of the enslaved, or how the struggle over slavery shaped a young nation. Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center found that few American high-school students know that slavery was the cause of the Civil War, that the Constitution protected slavery without explicitly mentioning it, or that ending slavery required a constitutional amendment.

"The biggest obstacle to teaching slavery effectively in America is the deep, abiding American need to conceive of and understand our history as 'progress,' as the story of a people and a nation that always sought the improvement of mankind, the advancement of liberty and justice, the broadening of pursuits of happiness for all," the Yale historian David Blight wrote in the introduction to the report. "While there are many real threads to this story-about immigration, about our creeds and ideologies, and about race and emancipation and civil rights, there is also the broad, untidy underside."

In conjunction with the Pulitzer Center, the Times has produced educational materials based on the 1619 Project for students-one of the reasons Wilentz told me he and his colleagues wrote the letter. But the materials are intended to enhance traditional curricula, not replace them. "I think that there is a misunderstanding that this curriculum is meant to replace all of U.S. history," Silverstein told me. "It's being used as supplementary material for teaching American history." Given the state of American education on slavery, some kind of adjustment is sorely needed.

Published 400 years after the first Africans were brought to in Virginia, the project asked readers to consider "what it would mean to regard 1619 as our nation's birth year." The special issue of the Times Magazine included essays from the Princeton historian Kevin Kruse, who argued that sprawl in Atlanta is a consequence of segregation and white flight; the Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, who posited that American countermajoritarianism was shaped by pro-slavery politicians seeking to preserve the peculiar institution; and the journalist Linda Villarosa, who traced racist stereotypes about higher pain tolerance in black people from the 18th century to the present day. The articles that drew the most attention and criticism, though, were Hannah-Jones's introductory essay chronicling black Americans' struggle to "make democracy real" and the sociologist Matthew Desmond's essay linking the crueler aspects of American capitalism to the labor practices that arose under slavery.

The letter's signatories recognize the problem the Times aimed to remedy, Wilentz told me. "Each of us, all of us, think that the idea of the 1619 Project is fantastic. I mean, it's just urgently needed. The idea of bringing to light not only scholarship but all sorts of things that have to do with the centrality of slavery and of racism to American history is a wonderful idea," he said. In a subsequent interview, he said, "Far from an attempt to discredit the 1619 Project, our letter is intended to help it."

The letter disputes a passage in Hannah-Jones's introductory essay, which lauds the contributions of black people to making America a full democracy and says that "one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery" as abolitionist sentiment began rising in Britain.

This argument is explosive. From abolition to the civil-rights movement, activists have reached back to the rhetoric and documents of the founding era to present their claims to equal citizenship as consonant with the American tradition. The Wilentz letter contends that the 1619 Project's argument concedes too much to slavery's defenders, likening it to South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun's assertion that "there is not a word of truth" in the Declaration of Independence's famous phrase that "all men are created equal." Where Wilentz and his colleagues see the rising anti-slavery movement in the colonies and its influence on the Revolution as a radical break from millennia in which human slavery was accepted around the world, Hannah-Jones' essay outlines how the ideology of white supremacy that sustained slavery still endures today.

"To teach children that the American Revolution was fought in part to secure slavery would be giving a fundamental misunderstanding not only of what the American Revolution was all about but what America stood for and has stood for since the Founding," Wilentz told me. Anti-slavery ideology was a "very new thing in the world in the 18th century," he said, and "there was more anti-slavery activity in the colonies than in Britain."

Hannah-Jones hasn't budged from her conviction that slavery helped fuel the Revolution. "I do still back up that claim," she told me last week-before Silverstein's rebuttal was published-although she says she phrased it too strongly in her essay, in a way that might mislead readers into thinking that support for slavery was universal. "I think someone reading that would assume that this was the case: all 13 colonies and most people involved. And I accept that criticism, for sure." She said that as the 1619 Project is expanded into a history curriculum and published in book form, the text will be changed to make sure claims are properly contextualized.

On this question, the critics of the 1619 Project are on firm ground. Although some southern slave owners likely were fighting the British to preserve slavery, as Silverstein writes in his rebuttal, the Revolution was kindled in New England, where prewar anti-slavery sentiment was strongest. Early patriots like James Otis, John Adams, and Thomas Paine were opposed to slavery, and the Revolution helped fuel abolitionism in the North.

Historians who are in neither Wilentz's camp nor the 1619 Project's say both have a point. "I do not agree that the American Revolution was just a slaveholders' rebellion," Manisha Sinha, a history professor at the University of Connecticut and the author of The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition, told me.* "But also understand that the original Constitution did give some ironclad protections to slavery without mentioning it."

The most radical thread in the 1619 Project is not its contention that slavery's legacy continues to shape American institutions; it's the authors' pessimism that a majority of white people will abandon racism and work with black Americans toward a more perfect union. Every essay tracing racial injustice from slavery to the present day speaks to the endurance of racial caste. And it is this profound pessimism about white America that many of the 1619 Project's critics find most galling.

Newt Gingrich called the 1619 Project a "lie," arguing that "there were several hundred thousand white Americans who died in the Civil War in order to free the slaves." In City Journal, the historian Allen Guelzo dismissed the Times Magazine project as a "conspiracy theory" developed from the "chair of ultimate cultural privilege in America, because in no human society has an enslaved people suddenly found itself vaulted into positions of such privilege, and with the consent-even the approbation-of those who were once the enslavers." The conservative pundit Erick Erickson went so far as to accuse the Times of adopting "the Neo-Confederate world view" that the "South actually won the Civil War by weaving itself into the fabric of post war society so it can then discredit the entire American enterprise." Erickson's bizarre sleight of hand turns the 1619 Project's criticism of ongoing racial injustice into a brief for white supremacy.

The project's pessimism has drawn criticism from the left as well as the right. Hannah-Jones's contention that "anti-black racism runs in the very DNA of this country" drew a rebuke from James Oakes, one of the Wilentz letter's signatories. In an interview with the World Socialist Web Site, Oakes said, "The function of those tropes is to deny change over time ... The worst thing about it is that it leads to political paralysis. It's always been here. There's nothing we can do to get out of it. If it's the DNA, there's nothing you can do. What do you do? Alter your DNA?"

These are objections not to misstatements of historical fact, but to the argument that anti-black racism is a more intractable problem than most Americans are willing to admit. A major theme of the 1619 Project is that the progress that has been made has been fragile and reversible-and has been achieved in spite of the nation's true founding principles, which are not the lofty ideals few Americans genuinely believe in. Chances are, what you think of the 1619 Project depends on whether you believe someone might reasonably come to such a despairing conclusion-whether you agree with it or not.

Wilentz reached out to a larger group of historians, but ultimately sent a letter signed by five historians who had publicly criticized the 1619 Project in interviews with the World Socialist Web Site. He told me that the idea of trying to rally a larger group was "misconceived," citing the holiday season and the end of the semester, among other factors. (A different letter written by Wilentz, calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, quickly amassed hundreds of signatures last week.) The refusal of other historians to sign on, despite their misgivings about some claims made by the 1619 Project, speaks to a divide over whether the letter was focused on correcting specific factual inaccuracies or aimed at discrediting the project more broadly.

Sinha saw an early version of the letter that was circulated among a larger group of historians. But, despite her disagreement with some of the assertions in the 1619 Project, she said she wouldn't have signed it if she had been asked to. "There are legitimate critiques that one can engage in discussion with, but for them to just kind of dismiss the entire project in that manner, I thought, was really unwise," she said. "It was a worthy thing to actually shine a light on a subject that the average person on the street doesn't know much about."

Although the letter writers deny that their objections are merely matters of "interpretation or 'framing,'" the question of whether black Americans have fought their freedom struggles "largely alone," as Hannah-Jones put it in her essay, is subject to vigorous debate. Viewed through the lens of major historical events-from anti-slavery Quakers organizing boycotts of goods produced through slave labor, to abolitionists springing fugitive slaves from prison, to union workers massing at the March on Washington-the struggle for black freedom has been an interracial struggle. Frederick Douglass had William Garrison; W. E. B. Du Bois had Moorfield Storey; Martin Luther King Jr. had Stanley Levison.

"The fight for black freedom is a universal fight; it's a fight for everyone. In the end, it affected the fight for women's rights-everything. That's the glory of it," Wilentz told me. "To minimize that in any way is, I think, bad for understanding the radical tradition in America."

But looking back to the long stretches of night before the light of dawn broke-the centuries of slavery and the century of Jim Crow that followed-"largely alone" seems more than defensible. Douglass had Garrison, but the onetime Maryland slave had to go north to find him. The millions who continued to labor in bondage until 1865 struggled, survived, and resisted far from the welcoming arms of northern abolitionists.

"I think one would be very hard-pressed to look at the factual record from 1619 to the present of the black freedom movement and come away with any conclusion other than that most of the time, black people did not have a lot of allies in that movement," Hannah-Jones told me. "It is not saying that black people only fought alone. It is saying that most of the time we did."

Nell Irvin Painter, a professor emeritus of history at Princeton who was asked to sign the letter, had objected to the 1619 Project's portrayal of the arrival of African laborers in 1619 as slaves. The 1619 Project was not history "as I would write it," Painter told me. But she still declined to sign the Wilentz letter.

"I felt that if I signed on to that, I would be signing on to the white guy's attack of something that has given a lot of black journalists and writers a chance to speak up in a really big way. So I support the 1619 Project as kind of a cultural event," Painter said. "For Sean and his colleagues, true history is how they would write it. And I feel like he was asking me to choose sides, and my side is 1619's side, not his side, in a world in which there are only those two sides."

This was a recurrent theme among historians I spoke with who had seen the letter but declined to sign it. While they may have agreed with some of the factual objections in the letter or had other reservations of their own, several told me they thought the letter was an unnecessary escalation.

"The tone to me rather suggested a deep-seated concern about the project. And by that I mean the version of history the project offered. The deep-seated concern is that placing the enslavement of black people and white supremacy at the forefront of a project somehow diminishes American history," Thavolia Glymph, a history professor at Duke who was asked to sign the letter, told me. "Maybe some of their factual criticisms are correct. But they've set a tone that makes it hard to deal with that."

"I don't think they think they're trying to discredit the project," Painter said. " The y think they're trying to fix the project, the way that only they know how."

Historical interpretations are often contested, and those debates often reflect the perspective of the participants. To this day, the pro-Confederate "Lost Cause" interpretation of history shapes the mistaken perception that slavery was not the catalyst for the Civil War. For decades, a group of white historians known as the Dunning School, after the Columbia University historian William Archibald Dunning, portrayed Reconstruction as a tragic period of, in his words, the "scandalous misrule of the carpet-baggers and negroes," brought on by the misguided enfranchisement of black men. As the historian Eric Foner has written, the Dunning School and its interpretation of Reconstruction helped provide moral and historical cover for the Jim Crow system.

In Black Reconstruction in America, W. E. B. Du Bois challenged the consensus of "white historians" who "ascribed the faults and failures of Reconstruction to Negro ignorance and corruption," and offered what is now considered a more reliable account of the era as an imperfect but noble effort to build a multiracial democracy in the South.

To Wilentz, the failures of earlier scholarship don't illustrate the danger of a monochromatic group of historians writing about the American past, but rather the risk that ideologues can hijack the narrative. "[It was] when the southern racists took over the historical profession that things changed, and W. E. B. Du Bois fought a very, very courageous fight against all of that," Wilentz told me. The Dunning School, he said, was "not a white point of view; it's a southern, racist point of view."

In the letter, Wilentz portrays the authors of the 1619 Project as ideologues as well. He implies-apparently based on a combative but ambiguous exchange between Hannah-Jones and the writer Wesley Yang on Twitter-that she had discounted objections raised by "white historians" since publication.

Hannah-Jones told me she was misinterpreted. "I rely heavily on the scholarship of historians no matter what race, and I would never discount the work of any historian because that person is white or any other race," she told me. "I did respond to someone who was saying white scholars were afraid, and I think my point was that history is not objective. And that people who write history are not simply objective arbiters of facts, and that white scholars are no more objective than any other scholars, and that they can object to the framing and we can object to their framing as well."

When I asked Wilentz about Hannah-Jones's clarification, he was dismissive. "Fact and objectivity are the foundation of both honest journalism and honest history. And so to dismiss it, to say, 'No, I'm not really talking about whites'-well, she did, and then she takes it back in those tweets and then says it's about the inability of anybody to write objective history. That's objectionable too," Wilentz told me.

Both Du Bois and the Dunning School saw themselves as having reached the truth by objective means. But as a target of the Dunning School's ideology, Du Bois understood the motives and blind spots of Dunning School scholars far better than they themselves did.

"We shall never have a science of history until we have in our colleges men who regard the truth as more important than the defense of the white race," Du Bois wrote, "and who will not deliberately encourage students to gather thesis material in order to support a prejudice or buttress a lie."

The problem, as Du Bois argued, is that much of American history has been written by scholars offering ideological claims in place of rigorous historical analysis. But which claims are ideological, and which ones are objective, is not always easy to discern.
*An earlier version of this article contained an incorrect title for historian Manisha Sinha's book.

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interpretation of american national identity

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The Fight Over the 1619 Project Is Not About the Facts

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When The New York Times Magazine published its 1619 Project in August, people lined up on the street in New York City to get copies. Since then, the project-a historical analysis of how slavery shaped American political, social, and economic institutions-has spawned a podcast, a high-school curriculum, and an upcoming book.

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Dena Simmons. ASCD.

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1. Engage in Vigilant Self-Awareness

People who are white or perceived as white have more privilege and fewer barriers to resources than Black people and other people of color. If we do not know our power, we can abuse it unintentionally or fail to leverage it toward antiracism. Constant self-reflection enhances our ability to disrupt white privilege when we see or enact it. Some questions to ask yourself include

How does your identity provide or prevent access to necessary resources?

How does your power and privilege show up in your work with students, take up space, or silence others?

What single narratives are you telling yourself about students, and how does that affect grading, behavior management, and other interactions?

Do you and the academic materials you use uphold whiteness or lift up the voices and experiences of people of color?

2. Acknowledge Racism and the Ideology of White Supremacy

Acknowledging the social construct of race and racism and the ideology of white supremacy recognizes the problem so that we are not harmful in our ignorance and so that, together, we can strive for solutions. For educators of color, the work means continuing to call out racism and recruiting white coconspirators to join in antiracist work.

3. Study and Teach Representative History

No matter what subject you teach, history (including African American history, which is U.S. history) is important. Knowing our country's whole history helps us make sense of how our current education system perpetuates inequity.

For too long, we have taught U.S. history devoid of a true depiction of Black excellence and have focused on erasing the truth of racial oppression and uplifting whiteness. Our curriculum superficially talks about slavery and civil rights (notably, textbook provider McGraw-Hill called enslaved Africans "immigrants" and "workers" ), and teaching practices risk traumatizing Black students by enacting mock slave auctions, slave games, and underground railroad games. Alternately, resources such as Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s PBS documentary series on Reconstruction or The New York Times Magazine's 1619 Project provide a comprehensive opportunity to learn and discuss history and race with colleagues and students. The Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools also have teaching materials that explore topics like the Tulsa race riots and colonization.

4. Talk About Race with Students

To open up conversations with young people, use stories from history and literature as a starting point, and ask students to take on the perspective of a character about whom they are reading. Reading literature and role-playing enhance empathy and other social cognitive skills. Teaching Tolerance's resource, " Let's Talk: Discussing Race, Racism, and Other Difficult Topics," includes suggestions for working through discomfort. The Educational Leadership article " Helping Students Discuss Race Openly " also has a great list of steps to begin the conversation. (And the September 2019 issue of this newsletter includes guidance from educator Liz Kleinrock on how to lead students through challenging topics like race .)

5. When You See Racism, Do Something

Most important, when we see racism-whether at the individual or policy level-we must have the courage to act. White Fragility author Robin DiAngelo provides guidance for engaging in gentle but firm conversations with offenders that prevents the defensiveness that race conversations inspire. Share data on specific practices and use stories to humanize the data. Build partnerships with racial-justice organizations in your communities to integrate their work in teaching and learning. Form a taskforce to assess data, policies, and practices with an antiracist lens to disrupt systemic decisions that historically have disenfranchised people of color. Be mindful that these efforts should not be carried solely by the people of color in your school, who are living and struggling with racism on a daily basis.

Shape an Antiracist Future

In his book How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi writes, "The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'anti-racist.' ... One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist'" (p. 9). Teaching for an antiracist future starts with us, the educators. An antiracist educator actively works to dismantle the structures, policies, institutions, and systems that create barriers and perpetuate race-based inequities for people of color. Educating students to see and respect the humanity and dignity of all people should be a national imperative, especially if we want to heal-and have a future-as a nation.

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Educators have an obligation to confront the harm of racism, says one social-emotional learning expert.

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Compiled and Reviewed                 by Gina Bunch

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Looking to Diversify your Child’s Library

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Reconstruction: America After the Civil War (4 part series, PBS)

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Reconstruction: America After the Civil War (4 part series, PBS)

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Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

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Reconstruction: America After the Civil War

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents a vital new four-hour documentary series on Reconstruction: America After the Civil War.

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In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Classroom Experiment

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The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, third-grade teacher Jane Elliott gave her class an unforgettable lesson in discrimination.

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Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of Our Schools

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Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of Our Schools

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Abolitionist Teaching Network

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What We Do

Grants

APS Teacher Campaign

APS Teacher Campaign

ATN awards grants to educators and community members who strive to disrupt inequalities and injustice within their schools, communities, or both. We will be launching our 3rd annual grant cycle in late October 2023.

APS Teacher Campaign

APS Teacher Campaign

APS Teacher Campaign

Explore resources to learn about the Atlanta Public Schools "Cheating Scandal" and support the educators facing prison

Programming

Programming

Programming

Year round, we host political education, healing justice, and affinity group events for educators, organizers, students, and parents/caregivers. Follow us on socials to stay up to date.

Resources

Programming

Programming

From our founding guide for racial justice and abolitionist social and emotional learning to a database for queer, trans, and non-binary educators + students, we pride ourselves on being a resource hub for education communities.

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Abolitionist Teaching Network's mission is simple: develop and support educators to fight injustice within their schools and communities. Utilizing the intellectual work and direct action of community organizers, Abolitionist Teachers will organize and take action for educational freedom.

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The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (6 part series, PBS)

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The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (6 part series, PBS)

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Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

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PBS American Experience

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Hear the rattle of gravel as it rides whistling through the day and night. Not the old or the young on it, nor people with any difference in their color or shape, not girls or men, Negroes or white, but people with this in common: people that no one had use for, had nothing to give to, no place to offer, but the cars of a freight-train careening through Paint Rock, through Memphis, through town after town without halting.

FRANK GRIGG, Resident: I've had people that knew that you and I were going to have this conversation and some of them said, no, don't do it. Don't stir it up again. I said, 'well, it's a part of us.'

WAYNE FLYNT, Historian: It begins with a fairly clear cut issue of black and white, of sexuality, of rape. Then it becomes increasing confused.

The image of the black man was that he was anxious at all times to rape a white woman. It was the Scottsboro case that met that issue head on.

PERRY BRUSKIN, Former Activist: Will you let them murder the nine Negro boys in Scottsboro? No! Louder: No! Organize, demonstrate, protest. Raise your voices.

BRYAN STEVENSON, Attorney: What Scottsboro teaches us is that you cannot underestimate the power of our history as it relates to race, as it relates to poverty, as it relates to sectionalism, in the struggle for justice.

FLYNT: There're are heroes in this story. But that's the footnote to this story. The tragedy of this are nine boys lives hopelessly, eternally interrupted, sent cascading down roads of terror and imprisonment. No, I don't think there's I don't think there's any way to see this story but as a great tragedy.

On the morning of March 25, 1931, a freight of the Southern Rail Corporation left Chattanooga, Tennessee bound for points west. Scattered among the cars of the freight were some two dozen hoboes -- black and white.

A few minutes out of Lookout Mountain, the train dipped into the Northeastern corner of Alabama.

MILLS THORNTON, Historian: As the train emerged from the tunnel under Lookout Mountain, a group of whites was moving along the top of the train and they stepped on the hand of one of the blacks and almost knocked him off the train.

The hand belonged to an 18 year-old named Haywood Patterson, who was on his way to Memphis to look for work.

Voice of Patterson: We was just mindin' our own business, when one of them said, 'This is a white man's train. All you Nigger bastards unload.' But we weren't goin' nowhere so there was a fight. We got the best of it and threw them off.

Word of the fight reached the tiny town of Paint Rock, Alabama, where the train was scheduled to stop and take on water.

JAMES GOODMAN, Historian: In Paint Rock news goes out that there is a gang of Blacks, a gang of Negroes on the train that beat up a gang of Whites. A posse is organized. Virtually every man in Paint Rock with a gun or a rope shows up. The train stops. The posse goes up and down the train looking in all the cars.

FLYNT: What they thought they were gonna find is a group of blacks who had beaten up a group of whites and thrown them off the train. Immediately unexpected things began to happen. That's what you most fear in a racial confrontation is the unexpected.

Suddenly, from the shadows of a box-car, emerged two white women: pale and disheveled.

DAN CARTER, Historian: At first they weren't even aware that they were women. They were wearing overalls. They identified themselves as Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. And there are conflicting accounts about who said what, when. But one of the young women said, 'we've been raped. All those colored boys raped us.' And that was it.

CLYDE BARCLAY, Paint Rock Resident: A bunch of people here got the guys off the train, marched them up here about where this old building, right across from where the white wrecked car is there -- lined them up against the wall there.

BILLY O'NEAL, Paint Rock Resident: I saw a lot of people surrounding those boys, many of them having guns of course and ropes or pieces of rope. They were intent on mayhem.

STEVENSON: For any black man in Alabama whenever you saw a group of white men with guns in the menacing ominous way in which people were collected in Paint Rock, Alabama, you knew you were in a lot of trouble.

There were nine prisoners in all. One of them was 19 year-old Clarence Norris.

Norris, audio: The place was surrounded with a mob. They had shotguns, pistols, sticks, pieces a' iron, everything. The crowd commenced to hollerin' let's take these black son-or-a-bitches up here and put 'em to a tree. I just thought that I was gonna die. Clarence Norris.

GRIGG: Mr. Broadway sent up to the store to get a skein, I never did hear that word before, a skein of ploughline, and the rope was cut into pieces where they could tie the hands of the ones that was under arrest. And the next thing was, how we going to get them to Scottsboro?

The prisoners were loaded onto a truck and driven to the nearby town of Scottsboro.

ROBERT WANN, Sheriff's son: On March 25, 1931, a friend and I were playing basketball on the side of the Jackson County jail. And we noticed a flatbed stake-body truck stop in front of the jail with a guard with rifles on each corner. They quickly unloaded the prisoners.

BILLY WANN, Sheriff's son: Crowds were beginning to form outside the jail.....The rumor was that they were going to go into the jail. There was already poles outside that they were going to break the door down with.

Norris, audio: Cars, trucks, they was comin' in all kinds of ways, the mob was. 'Bring them niggers outta there. If you don't bring them out, we'll come in and get 'em.' That's all you could hear, all over that little town.

KWANDO KINSHASA, Historian: The sheriff goes out on the front porch and basically makes the comment to the growing crowd outside that the first individual that puts a step on that door, puts their foot on their door step he's gonna kill 'em.

ROBERT WANN: As the situation became desperate, my father took his pistol off and he gave it to his deputies.... he walked out the front door right through the middle of the mob and the crowd separated for him, not a hand touched him. He went to the courthouse and called the governor.

By the next morning, the National Guard had secured the jail while newspapers identified what one called "the nine Negro brutes."

Of the nine, only four had known each other before their arrest. Charlie Weems, the oldest, was 19; Eugene Williams, the youngest, 13. Willie Roberson suffered from syphilis so severe he could barely walk. Olin Montgomery, nearly blind, had been looking for a job to pay for a pair of glasses. Clarence Norris had left behind ten brothers and sisters in rural Georgia. Ozie Powell had been found riding alone. Andy Wright, 19, and his thirteen year-old brother Roy had ridden from Chattanooga together. It was Roy's first time away from home. Haywood Patterson had been riding the freight trains so long, he said he could light a butt in the wind from the top of a moving car.

By the time the nine defendants had taken to the rails, the full brunt of the Depression had already struck the South. And no state was hurting worse than Alabama.

FLYNT: Alabama in the 1930's was literally a world coming apart, with massive unemployment in a state that had always been poor, with increasing conflict between both classes and races. It was a state that was in calamitous conditions, families were disintegrating. Hoboes were frequenting the railroads by the thousands and the tens of thousands.

Like the nine alleged rapists, their two accusers had been driven onto the rails by economic necessity. Ruby Bates, 17, and Victoria Price, 21, hailed from the cotton center of Huntsville, 50 miles from Scottsboro. They worked together in the poorest of the town's textile mills.

At 21, Price was already twice married and had served time in the workhouse for adultery and vagrancy.

CARTER: Victoria Price was tough, a survivor in every way. She hardly fit the stereotype of the young Southern lady -- hard-talking, tobacco chewing, but a kind of feistiness to her. Ruby Bates is totally different. Very quiet, soft spoken. In effect it was a kind of relationship in which Victoria totally dominated Ruby Bates.

The mills in which the girls worked employed mostly young women. They labored up to 14 hours a day in deafening noise, air choked with cotton lint, and near complete darkness.

By 1931, wages in the mills had dropped so low that Victoria and Ruby could only afford to live in the black section of Huntsville where they occasionally traded sex with both black and white men for food and clothing.

GOODMAN: Their lives are in fact a complete violation of the ideals of segregation. But the second they accuse a black man of rape at least for an instant they became a pure white woman.

The trials of the nine defendants for rape got under way on Monday, April 6 in the Scottsboro courthouse. It was a traditional trading day in town, but the usual crowd was swelled by thousands more from hundreds of miles around. Eventually, the largest crowd in Scottsboro's history squeezed into the courthouse square, as a brass band played "Dixie" and "Hail, hail, the gang's all here."

GRIGG: I saw many strangers, lots of strangers. I saw a car-load over here and a carload over there. I saw Tennessee tags and Georgia tags. And some of them were armed, most of them had shotguns.

Two hundred national guardsmen ringed the courthouse to keep the crowd from rushing its doors.

ARCHIE STEWART, Scottsboro Resident: They had strings up so the mob could not get up beyond the string. So whenever the guard would pass, the crowd would push beyond the sting, and the guard would turn on his heels, throw his gun down, and say:' get back!' But as soon as he would turn his back, they were back again.

The crowds outside the courthouse were drawn by what one newspaper called the "most unspeakable crime in the history of Alabama."

Since the days of slavery and before, what was presumed to be the black man's insatiable sexual appetite for white women had struck fear in the hearts of Southern whites.

ROBIN KELLEY, Historian: The protection of white womanhood it might be the pivot around all of Southern culture. The five thousand people who were lynched from 1880 to 1940, most of those were cases of black men accused of raping or sexually assaulting a white woman.

In the early 1930's the incidents of lynchings in the South had spiked upward, tracking the economic misery of poor whites. But so too had the efforts of a small, but powerful faction opposed to lynching.

With the Scottsboro trials, the anti-lynching forces hoped to prove that in Alabama the rule of law would prevail against the passions of the mob

THORNTON: Here was an example of their doing it right! Of showing to the world that they were capable of giving equal and fair justice to prisoners in the most emotional and threatening kinds of conditions.

As the trial began, Victoria Price took the stand and told a chilling story.

Voice: There were six to me and three to her. One was holding my legs and the other had a knife to my throat while another ravished me. That one sitting behind the defendants' counsel took my overalls off. Six of them had intercourse with me. 'Pour it to her, pour it to her' they hollered.

Ruby Bates corroborated her friend's story in every detail, though she could not identify any of her attackers.

Unable to get a lawyer in Scottsboro, the nine accused rapists were being represented by a Chattanooga real estate attorney hired with $60 scraped together by their parents.

The defendants had just one twenty-minute meeting with their lawyer, during which he urged them to plead guilty.

Now, the boys were the only witnesses called to testify in their own defense. Clarence Norris and Haywood Patterson were the first two to take the stand.

FLYNT: The first thing they try to do is concoct an excuse for themselves. Norris says well the other eight did it but I didn't do it. And Patterson says well I didn't do it but they did it. And it's the classic reaction of people trapped in a world where they know they're not gonna be believed; where they have no resources. And so that's the way they explode.

Norris, audiotape: The courthouse were full of people and they were jumpin' up out their seats with pistols, wasn't a black person around nowhere. Everybody was white but just us nine.

CARTER: When they announced the verdict of guilty, people ran out. And the judge was trying to bring order. And as soon as the as soon as the word got outside the crowd outside went crazy.

The trials lasted three days. All nine Scottsboro defendants were convicted of rape. The jury could not decide whether to sentence thirteen year-old Roy Wright to life-in-prison or death. All the others were sentenced to die in the Alabama electric chair.

The Scottsboro defendants, now convicted rapists, were taken to Kilby prison near Montgomery, the pride of the Alabama system. Two to a cell, the boys looked out on 50 foot walls topped by gun turrets on each corner.

Their first night in Kilby, the boys rioted, tearing up their bedding and hurling their food through the bars. Guards rushed their cells and beat them.

Patterson voice: The cell door banged open. They beat on us with their fists, they kicked and tramped on our legs. The sheriff said to me: 'see that gallows, nigger. If you don't quieten' down I'll take you around to that gallows and hang you myself.' Haywood Patterson.

CARTER: Understandably they're terrified. They're in one of the most brutal prisons in the United States. They have a death sentence hanging over them and they're like drowning individuals, grasping for a life raft, grasping for a life preserver, grasping for straws.

When help did come, it was from the most unlikely of sources: the Communist Party of the United States.

By 1931, the Communists were a small but dynamic force. Opportunistic and organized, they seized on the Depression as proof of the inevitable decline of capitalism and the rise of a workers' paradise.

THORNTON: The advent of the Depression had made it possible for the Communists to gain a hearing among people who just a few years before would have dismissed their claims. It did appear to a great many people in the 1930s that capitalism was in crisis.

For years, the Communist Party had devoted special attention to the American South, and to Southern blacks in particular.

VOICE: It is only the Communist Party which day in and day out fights for every demand and need of the Negroes in the terror and lynch-ridden South.

LLOYD BROWN, Former Communist: The view was that in the south we had a uncompleted revolution. The abolition of slavery had not been really fulfilled we now had sharecropping. We had literally tens of thousands of people who were bound to the farm in debt, work all year, at the end of the year they would have nothing left. We felt that the system was maintained only in one way: by terror. Terror -- if you get out of line you're lynched.

But the communists had found Southern blacks deeply rooted in the system. Organizers believed they needed a striking example of what they called "Southern lynch justice" to rouse blacks to action. The mass arrests in Scottsboro were just what they were waiting for.

GOODMAN: Two local communists organizers are actually in the courtroom during the trials. They immediately send word of this up to party headquarters in New York saying this is a wonderful opportunity to publicize all the things we're trying to publicize in the South. The National Party agrees.

Only three weeks after the Scottsboro trials, the communists launched their first demonstration on behalf of the Scottsboro defendants.

Voice: Two hundred communists undertook to march down Lenox Avenue through the center of Harlem yesterday afternoon in defiance of the police. Fifteen minutes later, when twenty policemen had replaced their nightsticks and the screams of women in the crowd had died down, the sidewalk was strewn with communist banners. The New York Times.

But there were other organizations, principally the venerable NAACP, eager to defend the Scottsboro boys, for whom the Communist Party's public demonstrations seemed self-serving, even dangerous.

CARTER: The NAACP's position is these people are revolutionaries. We can talk all we want to about the ultimate revolution. We've got to defend these young men in Alabama. And the last thing you wanna do is enrage and inflame local juries by raising the specter of communism and the class struggle and social equality.

BROWN: We were propagandizing. There's just no doubt, we were using, yes. We were using the Scottsboro case to expose what was going on in the South.

In June, lawyers from the International Labor Defense, the legal arm of the Communist Party, visited the boys in Kilby, trying to raise their spirits and secure control of their defense. The ILD lawyers dressed as farmers to elude the suspicions of Kilby's wardens.

SYBIL WASHINGTON, Writer: They put on overalls and a straw hat and put a straw in their mouth and went down to Alabama to see the Scottsboro boys.

Voice of Schwartzbart: They had been in a very bad psychological condition. We brought them cigarettes and chocolate. They were scared but they were they were delighted to see us.

But the boys' remained deeply confused by the appearance of white men from the North bearing promises of liberation. It was not until a young organizer visited the parents of Haywood Patterson and the mother of Ozie Powell, that the communists finally secured control of the defense.

MARY LICHT, Communist Organizer: I told them if the International Labor Defense comes we don't believe in just having a trial. We believe in masses of people being behind the causes you're fighting for, and that's how the International Labor Defense Works.

VOICE: Workers, Farmers, Negro and White....

With control of the case, the communists set about to bring Scottsboro to the attention of the entire world.

GOODMAN: There was demonstrations in Germany. There was demonstrations in Spain. There was demonstrations in Moscow. The world knew about this case because of the way the Communists spread the word.

BRUSKIN: Attention, attention comrades. Will you let them murder the nine Negro boys in Scottsboro? No! Louder: No! Organize, demonstrate, protest. Raise your voices and raise your fists and scream. Stop! Stop! Stop! I got all excited all over again.

In November 1932, Communists took their public protests to the steps of the Capitol, where they were routed by the police. But inside, their lawyers were appealing the Scottsboro verdict before the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Justices considered whether in Scottsboro trials, the boys' legal defense had been so inadequate that it violated their rights to legal due process. By a vote of 7-2, they concluded that it had.

STEVENSON: The Supreme Court in a precedent-setting decision for the first time held that poor people like the Scottsboro defendants get effective assistance from lawyers, and where they were denied effective assistance from lawyers they would be afforded new trials.

Alabama authorities immediately resolved to retry, reconvict, and execute the nine defendants.

GOODMAN: The communist realize at this point that they've got to show the world that these defendants are actually innocent. What's the best way to do that? Get the best criminal lawyer around.

In the early 1930's, the best-known criminal lawyer in America, after Clarence Darrow, was New York's Samuel L. Leibowitz. Leibowitz had won fame and fortune by defending gangsters, kidnappers, rapists, corrupt cops, and jealous lovers. In fifteen years, he had won 77 out of 78 murder cases -- the 78th resulted in a hung jury.

GOODMAN: Leibowitz was, first of all, a remarkably thorough researcher. He studied every aspect of a case. Never left a stone unturned. Add to that, he was a showman. He literally could have been an actor.

ROBERT LEIBOWITZ, Defense Attorney's son: He had a supple baritone instrument for a voice which he could use like a Paderevsky or a Yasha Haifitz so to speak. And he had a sense of timing that Jack Benny would have envied.

In January, 1933, Joseph Brodsky, one of the leaders of the International Labor Defense, asked Leibowitz to take over as chief defense attorney. But Leibowitz was wary of entanglement with the communists.

BROWN: Ideologically, he would be about the last man to represent the Scottsboro movement. He made it clear, 'I don't agree with you guys, I don't like what you're doing.'

But if one thing was more important to Leibowitz than political principal it was his personal reputation, and the Scottsboro affair was fast becoming an international cause celebre.

GOODMAN: He wanted to make a name for himself that was larger than the criminal's lawyer. He wanted to widen the circle of his renown.

LEIBOWITZ: After my father met with Brodsky and Patterson of the ILD and their agreement was finalized, he said to them look, if I don't bring these nine boys back and dump them in your lap, I'll buy both of you the finest hats that Stetson makes. Take my word on it.

BROWN: He was he was probably as provincial as most New Yorkers were then and I think still are in the sense of thinking that things would be the same down there. He had no idea what it was like going into a different country. Rules are different. Everything is different. He had no idea.

The second trial of the Scottsboro defendants had been moved to Decatur, a town in Northeast, Alabama. As it opened in April, 1933, three hundred spectators crowded the hallways waiting to enter the courtroom. Hundreds more gathered outside.

ATHLENE BANKS, Decatur Resident: I went because of history. I had never seen anything like that before, and I wanted to know just how it would be carried on. When we entered the courtroom, we were not told the way to go, we knew the way to go: because it was black on one side and white on the other.

Leibowitz had won a motion to try the defendants separately. To stand trial first, the state had selected 19 year-old Haywood Patterson.

KELLEY: If the prosecutors were gonna win and win big Haywood Patterson was the best person to put on trial. Because Haywood Patterson was the exemplar of the bad Negro. He was someone who looked the closest you can imagine to a rapist as far as the white imagination's is concerned.

VAN GLASSCOCK, Former National Guardsman: Patterson was mean. I looked him in the eye first time we brought him out of jail. I saw he'd kill if he got a chance.

Alabama would entrust the prosecution of the case to its highest-ranking lawyer -- Attorney General Thomas Knight.

The 34 year-old Knight had the demeanor, one reporter wrote, "of a small and enthusiastic child." Yet he was Leibowitz' equal in the courtroom; and like Leibowitz, he was highly ambitious.

MILLS: He said I'm going to prosecute these nine boys and ride their black asses right into the governor's mansion.

Presiding over the case would be the chief judge of the local circuit court, 55 year-old James E. Horton.

LEIBOWITZ: The trial judge in Decatur was a Lincolnesque type thorough Southern gentleman. Very mannerly. Very sober. Very conscious of proper procedure in a courtroom.

Jury selection took place under heavy security. The twelve jurors ultimately chosen to sit in judgment of Patterson included a shopkeeper, a barber, a clerk and several farmers. All of them were white.

As the state prepared to present its case, newspapers reported the mysterious disappearance of Ruby Bates who was rumored to have been kidnapped or even killed. Every effort by the prosecution and defense to find her had come up empty. More than ever, the prosecution would rise or fall on the testimony of Victoria Price alone.

GOODMAN: Victoria Price gets on the stand and in a matter of minutes says she was riding on a freight train. Suddenly a large group of Blacks comes hopping over on to the car that she is on, quickly dispatches with her White companions, beats them up, throws them off the train, and then en masse holds her up, rips her clothes off, and rapes her.

Voice: I hollered for help until they stopped me, until some of them knocked me in the head with the butt-end of a gun. They unfastened my overalls while I was standing up and then they threw me down on the gravel and finished pulling them off my feet. This Negro grabbed me by the legs and pulled them open and then one of them put a knife on my throat, and one got on top of me.

GLASSCOCK: She just pointed at Haywood Patterson and said: "He raped me" right there in the courtroom.

Price's direct testimony lasted just 16 minutes, but made a powerful impression on the jury and the audience in the courtroom.

But Leibowitz was unconcerned. For months, he had waited for this moment: the chance to confront Victoria Price in a court of law.

He began his cross-examination by setting out an exact replica of the freight train which he had procured from the Lionel Toy Corporation.

LEIBOWITZ: My father had set up this Lionel train set in the courtroom in order to demonstrate where the alleged rape took place. Because his own clients had told him where and it did not coincide with where she claimed she was.
Voices:
Leibowitz: Just look at this little replica and tell me it fairly represents the general appearance of the box car you rode on?

Price: It kinda represents one, but it ain't like the one I was on.

Leibowitz: In what way is it different, can you say?

Price: I won't say.

Leibowitz: If you can't say, why do you say it is different?

Price: Because that is not the train I was on. It was bigger, lots bigger -- that is a toy.

GOODMAN: She just refuses for question after question after question to admit the most basic point that this in any way resembles the train that she was riding on.

CARTER: I think at that moment Sam Leibowitz realized that she may have been uneducated. But she was gonna be a hell of a witness for the prosecution.

Again and again, Leibowitz attacked Price's story in every possible detail: her location on the train; her physical condition; her movements on the day before the alleged rape. But in each case, Price was able to parry his attacks.

GOODMAN: He finds dozens, scores of inconsistencies. Yet she has a manner that makes it difficult for him to make his points. It wasn't that he'd never had a difficult witness before. It was that he'd never had a witness that said over and over I 'can't remember'. Usually a witness is defensive when they say 'I I can't remember.' She aggressively said she couldn't remember and used it to her advantage.

BANKS: I feel if you are telling the truth you could look anybody in the eye. Victoria never looked directly. It was almost to the floor. Until she was made angry, and then she would shout, 'I don't know anything. I told you that before, and I'll tell it to you again.'

Leibowitz knew that he had to overcome one crucial piece of State's evidence: an examination of the girls just hours after they were brought from the train had turned up traces of semen in their bodies.

But Leibowitz believed he could explain the semen found in Price and Bates: not by rape on the day of the train ride, but by consensual sex the night before.

Price had claimed that she and Bates had spent that night in a boarding house in Chattanooga owned by a Mrs. Callie Brochie.

But Leibowitz had scoured Chattanooga and found no Callie Brochie anywhere.

GOODMAN: So he asked her dozens of questions about Ms. Callie Brochie and where she lived and what she looked like and had she ever met her before.
Voices:
Leibowitz: You went to bed in the lady's house?

Price: Yes sir.

Leibowitz: Was it one floor or two floor?

Price: I don't remember, four or five room house.

Leibowitz: What sort of food, what did you do in the evening, what sort of bed or room?

Price: I don't know.

Leibowitz: By the way, Mrs. Price, as a matter of fact the name of Mrs. Callie you apply to this boarding house lady is the name of a boarding house lady used in the Saturday Evening Post stories: isn't that where you got the name?

Price: I ain't never heard of that Callie!

LEIBOWITZ: The truth about Callie Brochie was that she was a fictional character in stories that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. There was no Callie Brochie on Seventh Street in Chattanooga.

Leibowitz had found a witness, a drifter named Lester Carter, who claimed that he knew where Price and Bates had really been the night before the train ride: with himself and a friend in a hobo camp near the train yards. Now, Leibowitz confronted Price with this story.
Voices:
Leibowitz: Did you tell a man by the name of Lester Carter that you would introduce him to Ruby ?

Price: I told you, I never seen Lester Carter before.

Leibowitz: Isn't it a fact that the night before you left Chattanooga you and your boyfriend and Ruby and Lester Carter went walking along the railroad tracks?

Price: No sir, we never have been on the railroad together.

Leibowitz: Isn't it a fact, Mrs. Price, that you had intercourse with your boyfriend on the ground while Ruby had intercourse with Lester Carter right beside you?

Price: We absolutely did not.

Frustrated, Leibowitz finally shouted: "You're a pretty good little actress aren't you?"

Royer: And she fired right back at him immediately; she said you are a pretty good actor yourself. I remember that.

Unable to shake her story, Leibowitz resorted to accusing Price directly of lying.

Leibowitz: Isn't the reason why you are making these charges you were found hoboing on a freight train?

Price: I was seeking work for my mother.

Leibowitz: And you saw the Negroes had been captured by the people at Paint Rock and you thought you would be arrested for vagrancy for being a hobo on a train in company with Negroes and at that time you determined to say they raped you to save yourself?!

Price: No sir, I didn't!

Northern reporters who had been in the courtroom, wired breathless accounts of Leibowitz' brilliant cross-examination. But to many Southerners, it had been a deep affront.

Voice: One possessed of that old Southern chivalry cannot read the trial and keep within the law. The brutal manner in which Leibowitz cross-examines Mrs. Price makes one feel like reaching for his gun. The Sylacauga News.

CARTER: He thought with each attack he was strengthening his case. And what he didn't understand was that each with each attack on Victoria Price he was weakening his case. Because the audience saw this not as an attack as he saw it upon this woman of ill-repute, this prostitute. They saw it as an attack on Southern womanhood.

Leibowitz' cross-examination had stirred deep memories among Southerners of humiliation suffered at the hands of the North.

GOODMAN: In the minds of many Alabamians, by the middle of the trial in Judge Horton's court, this case is not so much about what happened on that freight train. This trial is a replaying of abolitionism, Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Voice: Seventy years ago the scalawags and carpetbaggers marched into the South and said: 'The Negro is your equal and you will accept him as such.' Today, the reds of New York march into the South with a law book and again say, 'The Negro is your equal and you will accept him as such.' We will not!" The Jackson County Sentinel

THORNTON: While blacks felt that they were oppressed by Southern whites, Southern whites had a strong sense of their own oppression. They were junior partners in the American experiment, that they were not fully accepted as citizens of the United States. And they resented that.

Much of that resentment was directed at Leibowitz himself.

GRIGG: He didn't like the South and the South didn't like him in numbers. No get, we didn't ever care for him.

Royer: You've heard the expression from the outside of the courtroom so to speak that that the Jew lawyer ought'a go back to New York.

Two retired New York City police detectives began to accompany Leibowitz everywhere he went.

Voice: Cable to the Brooklyn Eagle: There's intense feeling here because we have brought the question of Negro rights into the open. I have received numerous crank letters threatening death if I don't stop. We are sitting on a mountain of TNT. Samuel Leibowitz.

ROSE SHAPIRO, Member of Defense Team: I was walking along on the sidewalk; a dirt farmer came along and shoved me off the sidewalk into the road and spit his tobacco juice. And to this day I can feel that spit running down my cheek.

As the trial resumed, the tense atmosphere in the courtroom was heightened by a spring heat wave.

The state called to the stand Dr. R.R. Bridges, the Scottsboro physician who had examined Price and Bates hours after they'd been taken from the train. As expected, he confirmed that he had found semen in their bodies.

GOODMAN: Leibowitz now cross-examines him and over the course of that cross-examination essentially turns him into a witness for the defense.

Leibowitz asked the doctor if the girls had shown any signs of a struggle -- bruises, or scratches? He answered: 'No'. Had the girls been hysterical, breathing heavily, with elevated pulses? 'No.' Had the sperm he had seen in his microscope been moving? Again: 'No.'

LEIBOWITZ: The spermatozoa were non-motile, that means they were dead. They would not have been non-motile if six Negroes had ejaculated into her an hour to an hour-and-a-half before she was examined by the doctor.

Leibowitz next called his star witness, Lester Carter, to the stand. Carter testified that he and a friend had been with the two girls the night before the fateful train ride.
Voices:
Carter: Victoria Price said she knew where we could go and see fun, take a walk for instance.

Leibowitz; Go ahead, what happened?

Carter: We walked up the yards 'til we came to the (hobo) jungles.

Leibowitz: What occurred in the hobo jungles that night?

Carter: We all sat down near a bendin' lake of water where they was honeysuckles and a little ditch. I hung my hat on a little limb and went to having intercourse with Ruby... by firelight I saw Victoria's boyfriend had intercourse with her.

Carter: This is what happened. It wasn't that they were raped. Victoria Price, Ruby Bates and their two boyfriends had sex. And that's all it amounts to.

Throughout Patterson's trial, the other eight defendants had been kept locked away in the Decatur jail, unaware of the proceedings. Now, Leibowitz had them brought to the courthouse under heavy guard.

Inside, Leibowitz called each to the stand in turn. Each denied having ever touched Victoria Price or Ruby Bates.

The last to take the stand was Haywood Patterson.
Voices:
Leibowitz: Haywood Patterson: Did you have anything to do with a white girl?

Patterson: I didn't see any girls on the train

Leibowitz: You are a colored boy, would you dare rape a white girl

Patterson: No sir.

Leibowitz: Haywood Patterson, did you rape this girl?

Patterson: No sir!

BANKS: Each time he would say: "I did not touch any of them. I had nothing to do with any of them."

With Patterson's testimony over, many thought Leibowitz would rest his case.

GOODMAN: What Leibowitz does is pretend that he's about to rest his case. And then he quietly goes up to the Judge and says I'm going to have one more witness. The crowd is buzzing. Horton doesn't know what's going on. The prosecution doesn't have the slightest idea of what's going on.

CARTER: The door opens in the back of the courtroom and in comes Ruby Bates. Only she's coming into the courtroom not as a witness for the prosecution, but as a witness for the defense.

Voice of Elias Schwartzbart, ILD Attorney: When she made her appearance, the tension in the courtroom was palpable. Knight was jittery; he turned red. The crowd gasped: "there's Ruby Bates testifying for the defense".

Ruby Bates had spent the months before the trial in hiding -- as far from the media glare, and the clutches of the prosecution and defense as she could get. She had made her way to New York, until finally representatives of the ILD tracked her down and convinced her to return to Alabama and testify.
Voices:
Leibowitz: You testified at Scottsboro that six Negroes raped you and six Negroes raped Victoria. Who coached you to say that?

Bates: She told it and I told it just like she told it.

Leibowitz: Did Victoria tell you what would happen to you if you didn't follow her story?

Bates: She said we might have to lay out a sentence in jail.

GOODMAN: So Bates essentially says that she made the whole thing up. She comes right out and says said that: 'I made the whole story up because Victoria told me to make it up.' If I didn't make up the story then we would have to go to jail.

But Ruby fell apart on cross-examination. Knight pointed out that either she was lying now or had lied two years earlier in Scottsboro. Ruby became flustered. Knight hammered away at her:

GOODMAN: He asks her where she got her pocket book, where she got her hat, where she got her coat. What was she doing in New York? How did she get from New York to Alabama?

To each question, she answered: "The communists."

Leibowitz: Ah, ha! The only reason she's doing this is because she's been bought and paid for. She told the truth the first time, now she's lying for the money and for the clothing.

The jury, one reporter said, "smelled the North" on Ruby.

CARTER: By the time she gets down off the witness stand what should have been the most effective witness for the defense, as one of the jurors said later, 'we never even considered her testimony.'

Summations began the next day. Wade Wright, one of Knight's co-prosecutors, opened with an emotional appeal. He ridiculed Bates' "fancy New York clothes"; and called Lester Carter "Carterinsky."

CARTER: He turns to the jury, points his finger to the jury and says: 'Show them that Alabama justice can't be bought and sold with Jew money from New York!' Of course immediately Leibowitz is on his feet.

LEIBOWITZ: He objected. He wanted, called for a mistrial immediately. Of course it was over ruled.

In his closing argument, Leibowitz called Wade Wright's summation for the prosecution a "hangman's speech".

Voice: What is it but an appeal to prejudice, to sectionalism, to bigotry. He was simply saying: 'Come on boys! We can lick this Jew from New York.' The question here is whether even this poor scrap of colored humanity will receive a square deal.

Finally, Leibowitz said of Price's testimony: "It is the foul, contemptible lie of an abandoned, brazen woman."

At one o'clock on Saturday afternoon Judge Horton gave the case to the jury. The twelve men filed out of the courthouse, less than two weeks after they had been sworn in.

Haywood Patterson, nearly forgotten in the courtroom hubbub, passed the time with his mother on a bench outside.

At ten o'clock the next morning, word came that a verdict had been reached -- guilty. And the sentence: death by electrocution.

Patterson conceded no emotion as he sat at the defense table, but Leibowitz was crushed.

CARTER: When that jury brought in that verdict of guilty, everyone said he looked like someone had struck him. He just sank back in his seat with a look of disbelief on his face.

The verdict had finally made plain to Leibowitz himself how naive he had been. He had carefully considered how the jury would see every aspect of the trial, but one: himself.

FLYNT: They saw the ultimate outsider. Someone who was Jewish, totally foreign to their religion. They saw someone who was allegedly a communist, totally foreign to their political values. They saw someone who was defending accused black rapists, someone totally contrary to their racial values. The minute a Jewish lawyer from New York City came to Alabama that case was lost.

Upon his return to New York, Leibowitz was swamped by more than three thousands admirers. Carried away, he vented his anger at the verdict.

Voice: If you ever saw those creatures those bigots whose mouths are slits in their faces, whose eyes popped out at you like frogs, whose chins dripped tobacco juice, bewhiskered and filthy, you would not ask how they could do it.

CARTER: And of course you had the reporters writing it down. And the next morning there it's in the newspapers all over Alabama. In this case, I think Leibowitz's ego, his anger got the best of him.

Leibowitz's outburst elicited howls of protest throughout the South. Grover Hall, influential editor of The Montgomery Advertiser, immediately lashed back.

Voice: He left little if anything undone to arouse the resentment if not the bitterness of everyone in the courtroom, including members of the jury. He came into Alabama as the voice of bigotry and arrogance. What a stupid lawyer poor Patterson had! Grover Hall, The Montgomery Advertiser.

Whatever Leibowitz had been when he entered the case, he was now a different man.

CARTER: I don't think there's any question that Leibowitz felt much more keenly having gone through this trial, seeing what had happened to these defendants, seen the attacks on him, there was a kind of bond in which he saw this is not simply these defendants, but also in a sense his own Jewishness was on trial.

In the months following the verdict, he began to appear at Scottsboro rallies in Harlem, where he promised to carry on the struggle in the South.

Leibowitz, SOT: " I will fight to my last breath to send these boys back to their parents and to their loved ones."

From his home in Brooklyn, Leibowitz prepared a motion asking Judge Horton to overturn the verdict and order a new trial.

Judge Horton had retreated to his farm in Limestone County after the verdict. But Leibowitz' motion now forced him to confront his own doubts about the case.

FLYNT: I think when that trial began he thought the nine boys were guilty. And Lord knows there was plenty of evidence. Their contradictory testimony; the allegations of the two women. Then all of a sudden there's this cascading kind of evidence that indicates something has gone terribly wrong.

HORTON: At one point I remember he arose from his chair, went and sat down on the bench and watched the manner in which Victoria Price testified. And you know they say you can tell a lot from the way a person speaks. And I think he thought probably from early on in the trial that this woman was lying.

But Horton was a man of the South, and the South was speaking in a single voice. More than 800 letters arrived at the Horton home, nearly all praising the verdict.

CHRIS DOSS: He had all kinds of pressure from friends, both personal and political friends, saying 'Don't do what we think you may do. If you do, it will destroy you politically.'

In his colonnaded home, Horton took up Leibowitz' motion for a new trial. Working deep into the night he poured over every word of the trial transcript.

Why, he wondered, in the "rich cloud" of possible witnesses had none stepped forward to corroborate Price's story. After being brutally raped, why would Price show only minor scrapes and bruises to an examining doctor, and only traces of dead semen? Was it likely that nine black teenagers could have raped two white women in full view on a slowly moving train and then made no move to escape?

Voice: Her testimony was contradictory, often evasive. The proof tends strongly to show that she knowingly testified falsely in many material aspects of the case. Deliberate injustice is more fatal to the one who imposes it than to the one on whom it is imposed. Judge James Horton.

DOSS: Here is a man that sees himself as having to go against much of what has been his life, much of a system that he's been a part of, that he's benefited from, that's been good to him and now he's gonna have to stand up and say uh-uh.

On June 22nd, 1933, in a crowded courtroom Horton set aside the guilty verdict. He ordered the Scottsboro defendants to stand trial for the third time.

While the trials had been going on in the South, outrage over the Scottsboro affair had migrated from radical circles to ordinary people. In Harlem, thousands had closely followed the events in Alabama; the verdict shocked and radicalized many.

Scottsboro helped forge a new kind of movement: whites and blacks marched side by side for the first time since the days of abolition.

GOODMAN: Scottsboro is the rekindling of an interracial movement of equality. Black people and white people together trying to overcome the legacy of slavery and of segregation.

BROWN: "Black and white unite and fight". That was a standard in all of the demonstrations. This concept of interracial unity.

The communists seized on Scottsboro's notoriety to reach a wider audience. They sponsored the mothers of the defendants on a national speaking tour. Janie Patterson, who had never traveled more than 100 miles from her home, led a protest march on the White House. Ada Wright, mother of Roy and Andy Wright, embarked on a six-month tour of Europe ending in Moscow, where she spoke before crowds of thousands.

On many stages, the mothers were joined by Ruby Bates. Cast out of the South for her testimony in Decatur, Ruby now apologized for her lie, and proudly proclaimed herself a communist.

BROWN: She spoke many times and told of the great wrong that she had done and that she was concerned that these boys' lives should not be lost on account of her.

But all the speeches and rallies in the North did nothing to deter Alabama. Almost immediately after Judge Horton's decision the state announced that it would retry the Scottsboro prisoners.

FLYNT: Alabamians have never backed away from a fight. There's no state in this union that has a bigger chip on its shoulder than Alabama. And so in a sense this national reaction works against the Scottsboro Boys. Not to back Alabamians off but to harden and toughen the resistance to any kind of fair trial.

Once again, Patterson would go first, but this time Alabama authorities were taking no chances. Attorney General Thomas Knight, also the State's prosecutor, engineered the removal of Judge Horton from the case, and named in his place 70 year-old judge William Callahan.

CARTER: Judge Callahan was from the old school in many ways. I think much less widely read than Judge Horton. Much less sensitive to these issues and in fact to an extraordinary degree, a creature of his own prejudices. So that from day one in the trial he becomes in effect another prosecutor.

Repeatedly, throughout the trial in Callahan's courtroom, the judge frustrated Leibowitz' defense -- overruling his objections, and excluding crucial evidence to his case.

LEIBOWITZ: At one point Attorney General Knight wanted to voice an objection and Callahan said to Attorney Knight: 'Sit down. I'll take care of him.' So after that, Attorney General Knight knew it was all right. It wasn't necessary to voice an objection, Callahan would take care of it.

The jury deliberated a day before reconvicting Patterson and sentencing him to death for the third time. Norris' trial followed quickly with the same result. Leibowitz managed to postpone the trials of the other seven, but with little hope of a different outcome.

All nine boys were sent back to Kilby's death house.

By this time, their hope was fading; Kilby prison was closing in around them like a shroud. Despite contributions from around the world to purchase new clothes, food, even musical instruments, the boys' international notoriety singled them out for continual torment by guards.

STEVENSON: The guards who ran Kilby Prison, certainly the death row unit, also saw it as their role to punish you on a daily basis. To torture you. To beat you. To brutalize you. To break you. And that's what happened.

When Charlie Weems was discovered reading Communist literature, guards dragged him from his cell and beat him until he begged for mercy.

At one point, Ozie Powell slashed the throat of a Sheriff's Deputy with a home-made knife. A second officer then shot him in the head. Though he survived, Powell was never the same.

Patterson and Norris feuded constantly over gambling debts; Norris once stabbing Patterson with a prison shank.

STEVENSON: They started to turn on one another. They started to fight with one another. They grew more hopeless about their situation. They were literally living like dying men might live.

The boys' cells were separated by a thin door from Kilby's electric chair. Norris would lay awake listening to the midnight executions.

KINSHASA: Norris can hear the last words. Everything the individual who was who was going to be executed Norris hears the last words. The switch is thrown. The lights actually dim in the death house itself.

WASHINGTON: Every time it was him going in there. It was him dying, over and over and over and over again.

Back in New York, Mr. Leibowitz tells of the appeals.

Leibowitz, SOT: The appeals are now being rushed to the Alabama Supreme Court. I have every confidence in the world that we shall win there. In the event that we do not we are going right on up to the United States Supreme Court in Washington

Leibowitz soldiered on with one last appeal to stop the scheduled execution of his clients. In each of the Scottsboro trials the boys had faced an all-white jury -- a clear violation, he believed, of their right to equal protection under the law.

THORNTON: White Alabamians did not believe that blacks ought to serve on juries. And black Alabamians assumed that they would not serve on juries. They never had.

In February, 1935, the Supreme Court of the United States heard Norris vs. Alabama, which would determine whether Alabama had purposely excluded blacks from their juries.

To prove that they had, Leibowitz brought with him the huge jury rolls from Decatur. In them, he had made a startling discovery -- of the prospective jurors listed, all were whites, except for a handful of blacks whose names appeared to have been hastily scrawled at the bottoms of several pages.

BROWN: They just took a whole group of blacks and added them to the list as if they had been there all the time. And when the judges of the Supreme Court looked at that they had no comment. They just said and in effect said: 'Oh my God!'" It was crude.

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama had deliberately excluded blacks from their juries, and yet again overturned the guilty verdicts.

Exhausted, embarrassed, and near broke from trial after trial, Alabama's once united front regarding Scottsboro finally began to crumble.

CARTER: A lot of Southerners begin to say look this thing is more trouble than it's worth. And there are really are serious questions here and maybe the best thing to do is to settle this case.

Grover Hall, editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, once one of the most ardent defenders of the Scottsboro verdicts, began to wonder if something had not gone terribly wrong.

Voice: The Advertiser knows, all of its readers know, the whole of this sordid, sickening story. "Scottsboro" has stigmatized Alabama throughout the civilized world. We herewith suggest and urge that the State now move for a decent, dignified compromise. Nothing can be gained by demanding the final pound of flesh. Throw this body of death away from Alabama. Grover Hall, Editor, The Montgomery Advertiser.

Hall quietly began to lobby for an end of the Scottsboro prosecutions and the parole of the defendants. State officials listened, but made clear that one condition would have to be met: Samuel Leibowitz would have to go.

For Leibowitz, the notion that he shared blame for the convictions of his own clients was almost too bitter to swallow.

LEIBOWITZ: He never believed that for a moment. Their blackness convicted them. Not him. Not the ILD. Not all the other extraneous influences in the case. The fact is they're black and that's what convicted them.

But, Leibowitz had no choice but to give in. As Alabama began the fourth trial of the Scottsboro defendants, he stepped aside in favor of a Southern attorney.

CARTER: I can't imagine many things more difficult for Sam Leibowitz than to sit in a courtroom and be the second ranked attorney, to sit there while another attorney takes on the case. But everyone convinced him that that's what he had to do.

With Leibowitz gone, Alabama quickly convicted five of the defendants. But it aburptly dropped the charges against the other four: Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Roy Wright and Eugene Williams.

CARTER: Two of them are 13 years old at the time the incident took place. One of them was blind. One of them had syphilis and simply couldn't have had sexual intercourse. And basically the state said, all right, we'll give you those.

The four were spirited out of Alabama in July, 1937, after six years in jail. They arrived in New York the next day. Leibowitz was so overcome that he took off his straw hat and punched a hole through it.

For a moment, the freed defendants were treated like celebrities; they were taken on a speaking tour and booked into the Apollo Theater where they sang, danced, and took part in a reenactment of their trial.

But just as suddenly the fanfare died down. The boys drifted back into obscurity -- their pleas for help to their former sponsors frequently went unanswered.

For the five defendants remaining in Kilby, the release of the four others only heightened their despair.

Their supporters continued to push for their release. How, asked Grover Hall, could the Scottsboro defendants be "half guilty and half innocent?" By 1941, the Alabama Parole board met three times; each time refusing to free the prisoners.

The boys, now grown to men in prison, received fewer and fewer visitors, and watched as the Scottsboro case began to disappear from the nation's consciousness.

But world's forgetfulness proved to be the Scottsboro prisoners' greatest ally. As the rancorous attacks on Alabama ended, the state at last bowed to reason and exhaustion. In the end, it was not letters, marches, or editorials, but time alone that brought the Scottsboro affair to an end.

In November, 1943, the Alabama Parole Board met for a fourth time. This time, it voted to parole 31 year-old Charlie Weems after 12 years in Kilby. Two months later, Andy Wright was released, then Clarence Norris. In 1946, Ozie Powell, 33, was let go.

Only Patterson, the man whose defiant pride had marked him from the beginning as the most visible, the most hated of the Scottsboro defendants, remained in prison -- "sullen, vicious, and incorrigible," according to the Alabama Parole Board.

Patterson had become a creature of Alabama's prisons. He was sent to Atmore Prison Farm, where he worked in the hot sun for 12 hours a day, chained to other prisoners. Throughout everything, he would later write, Scottsboro haunted his dreams.

Voice: I laid on the top bunk, in a way still feeling I was on a moving freight. Nothing was standing still. I was busy living from minute to minute. Everything was rumbling. I dreamed bad dreams, with freight trains, guards' faces, and courtrooms mixed up with the look of the sky at night. Haywood Patterson.

On a hot afternoon in July, 1948, Patterson slipped away from Atmore with eight other prisoners. With dogs in pursuit, he waded through streams for days, and was harbored at night by sympathetic black families. Finally, he hopped a freight north to Detroit where his sister and her family were waiting.

The last of the Scottsboro boys was free.
Epilogue:
The town of Scottsboro has never lived down the accident of geography that forged its name with those of the defendants.

GRIGG: If the train had gone another 300 yards I believe it was it would have been in Madison County, and we certainly wouldn't have objected.

COOK: That's very true, it would have been the Huntsville boys instead of the Scottsboro boys and we would have been very glad of that.

The year after Judge James Horton overturned the verdict in the Decatur trial, he was defeated for reelection, and would never again serve on the bench. On the top of a campaign speech he had scrawled a note to himself: "Yea Shall Know the Truth and the Truth Shall Make you Free."

Samuel Leibowitz never won a victory in an Alabama court for the Scottsboro defendants, but he did save their lives.

With the Supreme Court decision in Norris vs. Alabama, he also set in motion the integration of Southern juries, which would make possible many of the civil rights victories in later decades.

In 1941, Leibowitz was appointed to the bench in New York, where, with a new vantage point, he became a passionate advocate for capital punishment.

Victoria Price, disappeared after the last Scottsboro trial and was presumed to have died sometime in the mid-1950's. Then, in 1976, she surfaced to sue NBC for broadcasting a television movie that portrayed her as a prostitute and a liar.

The suit was settled quietly for what for NBC was a pittance, but for Victoria Price was more money than she'd ever known. She died for real a few years later still insisting that she had told the truth.

After their release from prison, most of the Scottsboro defendants led troubled lives in the North.

Haywood Patterson killed a man in self-defense in a bar fight and died in a Michigan Penitentiary at the age of 39.

Andy Wright wound up in Albany, New York, where he was again falsely accused of raping a white girl: this time he was acquitted.

His brother Roy, youngest of the defendants, served in the army and married. In 1959, convinced that his wife was cheating on him, Roy shot and killed her, and then, with his Bible by his side, shot and killed himself. He is buried in a neglected cemetery in Chattanooga. Beside him, in an unmarked grave, lies his brother, Andy.

FLYNT: I think that's perhaps an ultimate tragedy. People pulled into history who never wanted to be pulled into history suddenly put on a national platform, and tragically paraded out for everybody's benefit but their own. And the question of who really cared about them, who really defended them? Almost everyone had an agenda that involved the Scottsboro Boys. And I think the courage of the Scottsboro Boys is just surviving, just enduring.

Of all the Scottsboro defendants, only Clarence Norris made a life for himself in the North.

He broke parole in 1946 and fled Alabama, making his way to New York. Assuming his brother's name, he got a job as a sanitation worker, married twice, raised a family, and began a fight to get a full pardon from the state of Alabama.

KINSHASA: He wanted the world to know that he was an innocent man. He had a responsibility now to make sure that the world understood that those nine defendants in 1931 were innocent and that it was racism, only racism, that in fact forced them to spend all those years in prison.

On an October day in 1976, Norris received word that Governor George Wallace had pardoned him.

CARTER: Clarence Norris flies to Alabama, goes and meets the members of the Pardon and Parole Board and there goes into George Wallace's office and George Wallace, the great defender of the racial status quo in the South, signs a pardon saying we were wrong. That Alabama made a mistake in the 1930s and Clarence Norris never raped anybody. The Scottsboro defendants never raped anybody.

Voice: Mr. Norris, this is your pardon, full pardon, on behalf of the state of Alabama, the board of pardons and paroles and the governor...

WASHINGTON: He was very emotional when he received the pardon at the press conference. Because he remembered getting off that train with those other eight guys and here he was getting his pardon alone. And I'm sure he could feel them around him. I'm sure he could feel their presence and he thought about them, why me?

Norris, SOT: I have no hate toward any creed or color. I like all people, and I think all people accused of things which they didn't commit should be free. I wish these other eight boys were around...

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Scottsboro: An American Tragedy | American Experience | PBS

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In 1931, two white women made a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on a train. The trial of the nine falsely accused teens would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War.

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Discrimination in Housing

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Mark lopez

director, designer & animator

Mark Lopez is an award-winning director of motion design who has refined his craft at world-class motion studios on both coasts of the U.S. alongside some of the most creative minds in the country. Mark specializes in illustrated 2D mixed media storytelling with an eye for composition. Silkworm is Mark's studio practice, based in Austin, Texas, and collaborating all over the world.

RICHARD ROTHSTEIN

WRITER & NARRATOR

Richard Rothstein is a distinguished fellow of the Economic Policy Institute, a senior fellow, emeritus, at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and a senior fellow of the Haas Institute at the University of California (Berkeley). Richard's book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America , was designated one of ten finalists on the National Book Awards' long list for the best nonfiction book of 2017.

YOUTOOCANWOO

MUSIC, SOUND DESIGN & MIX

YouTooCanWoo is a an artist-owned music and audio production company based in Brooklyn, New York. YouTooCanWoo's holistic approach to audio blurs the lines between the conventional roles of music and sound design, blending genres, influences, and historical context to create truly immersive experiences. They have been responsible for the production and mixing of MGMT's debut EP Time to Pretend, creating the sound identity of Spotify, MTV, and NBCUniversal; the sound design for official SXSW Film Festival selection Mateo. as well as the original music, sound design and mix in ads for major brands like Apple, Google, Hershey's, and Pepsi.

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Mark Lopez is an award-winning director of motion design who has refined his craft at world-class motion studios on both coasts of the U.S. alongside some of the most creative minds in the country. Mark specializes in illustrated 2D mixed media storytelling with an eye for composition.

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Based on James Baldwin's unfinished book, this visual essay explores racism through the stories of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

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A documentary about school segregation

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Library of Congress: 995 audio recordings of about Jazz and Blues. Search by artist, title, topic, era, etc.

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Search results from Audio Recording, Jazz, Blues (Music)

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NPR

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What's CODE SWITCH? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for. Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor. We explore how race affects every part of society - from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between.

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The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (2010)

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (2010)

How to be an Anti-racist by Ibram X. Kendi (2019)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)

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The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B.Tyson (2017)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum (2017)

Pushout by Monique Morris (2016)

Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools by Amanda Lewis and John Diamond (2015)

White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngeli and Michael Eric Dyson (2018)

Waking Up White. Debby Irving (2014)

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We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Bettina Love (2019)

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein (2017)

Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy, edited by David S. Cecelski and Timothy B.Tyson ((1998)

Wilmington’s Lie by David Zucchino (2020)

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Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (1963)

How the Suburbs Were Segregated by Paige Glotzer (2020)

Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (2019)

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Just Like Us by Helen Thorpe

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National Museum of African-American History and Culture (Washington DC) 

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National Museum of African-American History and Culture (Washington DC) 

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The National Museum of African-American History in Washington, D.C. has an extensive image gallery as well as a video archive and lesson plans. Currently featured: Talking about Race nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race  Material is suitable for secondary students.

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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The Selma to  Montgomery Voting  Rights March

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https://www.nps.gov/semo/learn/historyculture/bloody-sunday.htm ...gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma and proceeded through town to the Edmund

https://www.nps.gov/places/alabama-brown-chapel-ame-church-selma.htm Chapel AME Church Selma Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama. Photo by...410, Martin Luther King, Jr. Street, Selma, Alabama Designation ...

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/04-06-2020-nps-announces-african-american-civil-rights-grants.htm Historical Commission $500,000 Alabama Selma Oral Histories: Selma's Voting Rights...Baptist Church Selma AL LegacyFoundationInc $37,000 Alabama Selma ...

https://www.nps.gov/places/alabama-the-selmatomontgomery-march.htm The Selma-to-Montgomery March A north view of Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama...curid=50267861 Quick Facts Location: Selma, Alabama to ...

https://www.nps.gov/semo/planyourvisit/hours.htm Street view of the Selma Interpretive Center (NPS, SEMO) Selma to Montgomery National...Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. The Selma Interpretive ...

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Selma - National Park Service Search Results

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https://www.nps.gov/semo/learn/historyculture/bloody-sunday.htm ...gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma and proceeded through town to the Edmund https://www.nps.gov/places/alabama-brown-chapel-ame-church-selma.htm Chapel AME Church Selma Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama. Photo by...410, Martin Luther King, Jr. Street, Selma, Alabama Designation ... https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/04-06-2020-nps-announces-african-american-civil-rights-grants.htm Historical Commission $500,000 Alabama Selma Oral Histories: Selma's Voting Rights...Baptist Church Selma AL LegacyFoundationInc $37,000 Alabama Selma ...

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Many other Smithsonian Museums include aspects of African-American History and Culture--for example, the National Museum of American History and the many art museums. The Smithsonian collection of African American music--its origins, impact on culture, role in resistance, luminaries--is comprehensive and deep:

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The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 19 museums and the National Zoo-shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.

The Institution was founded in 1846 with funds from the Englishman James Smithson (1765-1829) according to his wishes "under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." We continue to honor this mission and invite you to join us in our quest.

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The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 19 museums and the National Zoo-shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.

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Founded by the Equal Justice Initiative (Dir., Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy), the Legacy Museum focuses on Black history from slavery to mass incarceration. From the website: “An unparalleled resource for researchers, the museum houses the nation's most comprehensive collection of data on lynching. It also presents previously unseen archival information about the domestic slave trade brought to life through new technology.” A short film on the website explains the mission of the Museum and makes the connection between lynching and mass incarceration

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Visit the Legacy Sites, a museum, memorial, and monument in Montgomery, Alabama, that document our country's history of racial injustice.

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The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (Montgomery, AL) 

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The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (Montgomery, AL) 

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is a separate site but is associated with the Legacy Museum and founded by the Equal Justice Initiative. This six-acre memorial museum “uses sculpture, art, and design to contextualize racial terror. The site includes a memorial square with 800 six-foot monuments to symbolize thousands of racial terror lynching victims in the United States and the counties and states where this terrorism took place.”   A short film on the Memorial website explains the origins of the Memorial.

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Visit the Legacy Sites, a museum, memorial, and monument in Montgomery, Alabama, that document our country's history of racial injustice.

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National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN), a Smithsonian affiliate 

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National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN), a Smithsonian affiliate 

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The museum is housed at the former Lorraine Hotel, site of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum is dedicated to telling the story of the struggle for freedom and justice  and features exhibits, films, and artifacts from the civil rights movement and other items of historical significance donated by individuals.  Some of these artifacts are accessible through a rotating online feature. Lesson plans link to the exhibits at the Museum and cover the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

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The DuSable Museum of African-American History (Chicago, IL), an affiliate of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC

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The DuSable Museum of African-American History (Chicago, IL), an affiliate of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC

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The DuSable Museum of African American History has served as the “keeper and presenter of history, art and culture, educating all people through stories of Black accomplishment and excellence.” The DuSable Museum is the nation’s oldest independent Black history museum.

Education resources are currently being updated.

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DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center

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The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center

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The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center is a Chicago community institution and the first non-profit Museum dedicated to the

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The education division of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance is probably the largest repository of teaching materials, curricula, and lesson plans for topics related to civil rights, poverty, voting rights, and social justice for all minorities and underserved populations in the United States. It is certainly the oldest. You must create an account, but most of their material is free. They also publish a free monthly magazine and a free newsletter. The main page includes registration information. Teaching Tolerance also provides professional development information.

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Learning for Justice seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.

We support this mission by focusing our work with educators, students, caregivers and communities in these areas:

1. Culture and Climate

2. Curriculum and Instruction

3. Leadership

4. Family and Community Engagement

Since our founding as Teaching Tolerance in 1991, we have had a strong foundation of providing educational resources, and we are building on that foundation with expanded engagement opportunities for communities, especially in the South.

Our free educational resources-articles, guides, lessons, films, webinars, frameworks and more-help foster shared learning and reflection for educators, young people, caregivers and all community members. Our engagement opportunities-conferences, workshops, and school and community partnerships-provide space where people can harness collective power and take action.

Through this continual cycle of education and engagement, we hope that we can build and maintain meaningful relationships with communities and we can all move from learning for justice to creating it.

You can learn more about the reasons for our name change here and read the announcement of our new name here.

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Learning for Justice seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.