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Category: Race and Ethnicity in America

  • From Alcatraz to Standing Rock: Indigenous Resistance Has Always Been About Sovereignty

    By Dina Gilio-Whitaker The resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline taking place at Standing Rock right now is the most significant political event in Indian country since those struggles of the early 1970s, and there was no way I was going to miss it. I managed to carve out a few days and take a…

  • Why We Need the Secular Gospel of James Baldwin in Our Times

    A Q&A with Rich Blint | Baldwin’s consistent and insistent interrogation of how the mythology of race, class, and power operates in America to blind and divide us is singular in its analytical depth, sweep, and emotional power. His work reads as a kind of prophecy simply because he was clear about how profoundly dangerous…

  • Post-Election 2016 Reading to Inspire Action, Find Meaning, and Learn from Our History

    The results of the 2016 presidential election have left many people in shock and disappointment. In a time where people are fearing that a new administration will work to reverse much of the progress made in the last eight years, we are left wondering what the future holds. How do we continue to fight against…

  • Reconstructing America Again

    By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II Early Wednesday morning, after running a controversial campaign that was even endorsed by the KKK, Donald J. Trump thanked his supporters for victory and promised to be a president for all Americans. A shock to almost every pollster and political pundit, his victory has been heralded as an…

  • Whitelash and Blacklash

    By Sharon Leslie Morgan and Thomas Norman DeWolf Deep, authentic relationships with people we’ve been raised to see as “other” are key to understanding and reversing the impacts of racism and other forms of intolerance and inequity, and the misuse of power, and privilege. For the two of us, there is solace in knowing that…

  • America’s Forgotten Chapter in the Fight for Desegregation in Southern Schools

    A Q&A with Adrienne Berard | I found the Lums’ case completely by accident. I was visiting the archives at Delta State University, researching my own family history in Mississippi, and happened upon a meeting of members from the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum. The museum was just an idea at the time. The thought…

  • Why We Need to Talk About Colorism

    By Maya Fernandez I have always believed I’m Black. Both of my parents are Black, the majority of my immediate family identifies as Black, so essentially, I am Black. While race was a continuous topic of discussion in my household, colorism—discrimination or prejudice based on skin color—was left unattended. Similar to racism, colorism establishes a…

  • Recommended Reading for the 2016 Election Cycle

    Throughout this election cycle, we’ve seen the rise of the radical right reminiscent of the pull of ultraconservative organizations from the past; increasing calls to prevent new immigrants from entering our country; increased calls to improve gun control legislation; a resurging wave of religious intolerance against Muslim Americans; and nationwide protests imploring racial justice and…

  • The Subtle “Cousin to Racism”: Colorism Exposed in America’s Diverse Families

    A Q&A with Lori L. Tharps The answer to eradicating colorism is not colorblindness. What we need to do as a society is learn to appreciate the great diversity of human skin colors. It’s that easy and that hard. We love different colored flowers and different colored candies—why can’t we love different colored skin in…

  • Surfing and Indigeneity

    By Dina Gilio-Whitaker I am a person of Native American heritage, and I also happen to love surfing. I began board surfing as a young adult thirty-six years ago, but in reality I grew up riding waves as a kid born and raised in coastal Southern California. I spent lots of time on the beach,…