Stuff you can read
Books
Sundown Towns by James W. Loewen – watch author talk about the book here.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Dear White Christians by Jennifer Harvey
What Does it Mean to be White by Robin DiAngelo – this is the author that Debbie was telling us about when she detailed “white fragility.” Author presentation about on her book here.
Waking up White by Debbie Irving – see her TEDx Talk here and a longer talk here.
Good White People by Shannon Sullivan – there’s a link to an interview with this author in the podcast section
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow by Jerrold Packard
Dear White America by Tim Wise – his documentary is a must-see (linked to below)
Articles/Blog posts
The Case for Reparations – This article is one of those must-reads for all Americans. It’s super long. Counts as a book! Don’t let the title fool you! (Ta Nahisi-Coates is one of my favorites. Here’s an interview with Coates on Bill Moyers.)
White America’s Racial Illiteracy: Why our national conversation is poisoned from the start – Debbie summarized this well at our first gathering. These reactions oftentimes end conversations. (also see a video lecture from the author, Dr. Robin Diangelo, below)
How Home Ownership Keeps Blacks Poorer than Whites (Forbes) – “The higher the percentage of blacks in the neighborhood, the less the home is worth, even when researchers control for age, social class, household structure, and geography.” “Blacks who live in overwhelmingly white neighborhoods win as long as they remain a very small part of the community.”
Has America Given up on the Dream of Racial Integration? (The Atlantic) – a good example of rationalizing away change, forced integration, people accepting their lot in life, fear, hate,… going on right now in Beaumont, Texas.
How Texas is White Washing Civil War History (op-ed from Washington Post) – “It is alarming that 150 years after the Civil War’s end children are learning that slavery was, as one Texas board of education member put it in 2010, “a side issue.” No serious scholar agrees.”
How Texas Teaches History ( op-ed from NYTimes) – interesting op-ed about the impact of subtle language
How to Actually Fight for Racial Reconciliation (Relevant) – Explains 5 steps from a Christian perspective and has a book list
Why Racial Reconciliation is a Gospel Issue (The Gospel Coalition)
Confessions of a Taiwanese-American White Supremacist in Recovery (Part 1) – by Judy Dominick – This writer is part of the BTB group on Facebook. I first started realizing that we are all white supremacists to some extent, regardless of our background.
Stuff you can watch (video lectures, documentaries)
Racial Reconciliation – Race and The Church from IF Gathering on Vimeo. Clips from 2015 IF:gathering – a sample of a BTB round-table. There are several clips in this series.
What About the Minority Experience in America Do Whites Often Miss? (The Gospel Coalition) – In a new roundtable video, Trip Lee (hip-hop artist and pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta), Alex Medina (creative director at Reach Records), and Jemar Tisby (co-founder of Reformed African American Network) help us to grasp some issues minorities in our churches face and to consider ways “cultural-majority believers” can be more considerate of the minority experience.
*Creating a Common Memory – about Native Americans. This presentation was done at a church this summer. It is SOBERING. Really important concepts about how we remember history and treat people according to that narrative.
A Trip to the Grocery Store – love this story. It illustrates so much.
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome – Dr. DeGruy. This is the lady that tells the story at the checkout line above. She is a professor who wrote about about Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. She has several presentations on youtube, many with the same information, same examples…though I learn something new in each one. This is a good one because you can see the slides. You’ve gotta steel yourself up to watch this one if you’re just easing into the conversation. BUT it talks about the “injury” that slavery and racism has caused blacks *and* whites.
Immigration Series (PBS) – The first episode of the three-part series looks at the spectrum of immigrant jobs and the complex maze of rules, regulations, caps and quotas challenging the country at many levels.
HARVEST OF EMPIRE is a documentary that astutely examines the role that U.S. military and corporate intervention in Latin America played in triggering massive waves of migration from Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America
Cracking the Codes – available for streaming for $4.99 – asks America to talk about the causes and consequences of systemic inequity
The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (PBS/Henry Louis Gates)- First episode is “The Black Atlantic” -explores the global experiences that created the African-American people. The link to PBS might expire, but the entire series streams on Netflix.
Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North (clip below) – I have this on DVD if anyone would like to borrow it. It is not available to stream online.
White People (MTV) – this documentary skims the surface of a lot of topics, mostly white privilege.
*Dog Whistle Politics-part 1 (Bill Moyers) – Exploring code words that win votes by stirring racial animosity. Here’s Part 2.
Brian Stevenson interview (Charlie Rose) – Brian Stevenson is a modern-day superhero confronting the legacy of slavery. So much to think about in this interview. He has great TED videos too.
Interview with Daria Roithmayr author of Reproducing Racism. She describes the feedback loops that reinforce the status quo.
Michelle Alexander author of The New Jim Crow is another super-hero. She breaks down the issues in mass incarceration and shares her personal journey in the video below. It makes you question everything about our criminal justice system. Sobering. There are several other presentations on YouTube by her that are worth watching. This one was to a faith audience and she talks about the importance of remembering that we’re all sinners/guilty.
Stuff you can listen to (podcasts)
The Melting Pot (Think/KERA)- an interview with the author of A Nation of Nations. He explains how US immigration policy was designed to favor immigrants from certain countries.
A Chosen Exile (Think/KERA)- an interview with the author of a book about racial passing. Fascinating stories here.
Playing with Perceptions (NPR) – interesting thoughts on stereotypes. The Sarah Jones bit is epic. Watch her TED talk here.
Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey: Interview with Latasha Morrison – Latasha’s curriculum “Be the Bridge” is the one we are loosely following.
Good White People – interview with Author Dr. Shannon Sullivan on her new book that explores the question: What can white people do to help end racial injustice?
*The Problem We All Live With (This American Life) – Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there’s one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. Nikole Hannah-Jones looks at a district that, not long ago, accidentally launched a desegregation program. First of a two-part series. Here is Part 2. I wept after listening to these podcasts this summer.
Respectability Politics (NPR/Think) – In Group.me we talked about the pressure to be extra strict with my kids so that they won’t be stereotyped so readily. This podcast explores this controversial topic.
Black Man in a White Coat (NPR) -interview with author of this book where he reflects on race and medicine.
Entertainment
Blackish (ABC)- a comedic take on some of the issues we discuss. This episode about church was particularly funny.
12 Years a Slave -based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom
Princess Kaiulani – I’m pretty sure I didn’t pay to watch this movie but I can’t find it free anywhere… sorry. This movie shows how Americans took over the nation of Hawaii.