Featured Readings

Here are some articles that provide good background information about race and racism in the United States and some perspectives that many people have found helpful.

A Long History of Racial Preferences for Whites
This article by Larry Adelman is on the website of “Race: The Power of an Illusion”, a PBS documentary.

Facts About Racism and How Systemic It Is
A single page of potent facts that illustrate the systemic nature of racism.  These can be very useful in conversations with people who don’t yet grasp how systemic racism is in the United States.

We All Have Feelings About Race and Racism
This article by Russ Vernon-Jones includes ideas about the emotional roots of racism and healing from the effects of racism on our lives.

Environmental Sustainability and Anti-Racism
An essay that explains how care of the environment, climate change, and anti-racism are linked and benefit from being taken on together.  By Russ Vernon-Jones.

Racial Micro-aggressions in Everyday Life – Excerpts
Excerpts from one of the classic articles by Derald Sue, explaining what micro-aggressions are and offering many examples.  Includes analysis of the “changing nature of racism” and of “the invisibility and dynamics of racial micro-aggressions”.

OTHER SELECTED READINGS

29 Stupid Things White People Do and What We Can Do Instead
From  Baltimore Racial Justice Action

Michelle Alexander – Cruel and Unequal
This article by the renowned author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness describes a major aspect of systemic racism in the United States today.

Racism Hurts Everyone – Costs to White People
Developed by local groups of white anti-racism activists in conjunction with a member of the Coming Together Steering Committee.

Brief Helpful Perspectives on Race and Racism
Twenty brief statements that summarize key concepts that are often not stated explicitly.

Excerpts INTERVIEW WITH BEVERLY DANIEL TATUM?
From Background Readings for “Race: The Power of an Illusion” – addresses how affects everyone and how we can have control over stereotypes, from the perspective of an African American woman and scholar