Matthew Cooke is a white documentary producer who has created a number of well regarded films, Deliver Us From Evil (about child sexual abuse in the Catholic church) among them. This week he released a short film he calls “Race Baiting 101” which is a compelling look at US history, and an argument for why white people need to band together with people of color against racism.
Category Archives: race
The Kids Who Die
In 1938 Langston Hughes wrote a poem about lynchings. This month it was set to a new set of images by Frank Chi and Terrence Green, showing how pertinent it remains. Please share it.
Yes, I’m an angry Black woman
Stacey Patton has written a lyrical, eloquent, clear piece that is particularly useful for white people who can’t understand why Black women would be angry this summer. Honestly, as a white woman myself, I have a hard time understanding why white people would think it wrong to be angry in the midst of what is going on. But if you need a piece to help someone “hear” more deeply, this is it.
Black lives matter
Many white people find themselves confronted by the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and respond by saying “all lives matter,” thoroughly missing the point. It can be hard to help them see what’s wrong with their sentiment, but here’s a quick and helpful explanation to which to point them.
Kids talk about race
Here’s a powerful set of reflections from kids talking about race:
What is privilege? exercise and video
Many people in dismantling racism contexts do some kind of “privilege walk exercise” as a way to help participants see the diversity of experiences people bring into this work, as well as the systemic nature of racial oppression. Here’s a video which has been widely shared recently, talking about one such exercise. This link includes the list of questions used.
Engaging the history of enslaved peoples
It often is the case that white people have little or no grasp of the history of enslavement in the US. Here’s a powerful essay by a woman who once led tours at a slavery museum, with the set of questions she was often asked.
Racism is Real
Brave New Films has a short pithy film out — Racism is Real — that explores some of the many statistics available concerning structural and systemic racism. This three minute film documents why we need to continue to work on civil rights enforcement — many of the laws currently on the books in MN, for instance, are not being enforced. And charter schools, to give one example in MN, are exempt from civil rights laws. The credits at the end of the film reference the various studies.
UPDATE: The Washington Post has chimed in to affirm this piece, and more than 10 million people have viewed it as of today.
Systemic racism, “is that a thing?”
Jay Smooth and the good folks at RaceForward have released a set of very short videos that explore different elements of systemic racism using statistics. As one example, here’s their video on the wealth gap:
Each one is a great “think about that” moment — why not open a class with one?
What’s cultural appropriation?
This is an excellent and brief description of what’s wrong with cultural appropriation (as opposed to cultural exchange):