Lesson of the day
The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “Talking About Race”
Listen: The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to our Constitution. And in our episode about the Bill of Rights, the final seven minutes of the episode, featuring Alvin Tillery and Linda Monk, is about the actions it took to make these rights actually apply to our lives. Listen here:
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), itself a hard-won feat of activism and legislation, is currently closed along with the rest of the nation’s Smithsonians. But among the many incredible digital resources the Museum offers is their new web portal, “Talking About Race.”
The museum launched the portal earlier than planned in response to the racially-motivated violent incidents of the past few months, and the nationwide protests and calls to action that have followed. Staff say the number one question they’ve received since opening is, “how do we talk about race?” This portal is part of the answer, providing resources and information that can facilitate the conversations that we must have in our country.
For today’s Lesson of the Day, take a look at the portal’s main topics below. Are you struggling to understand race as a social construct? Do you want to figure out where race came from to begin with? How power and systems of oppression facilitate and feed racism? Choose a topic and begin to explore. This is a chance to find the words to talk about what people can find difficult to express.
Consider sharing what you’ve learned with a parent or caregiver in your home. This page can help, too.
Bias: All humans have it. But we also have the power to challenge negative bias and change what we think.
Historical Foundations of Race: How race, a social construct, white privilege, and anti-blackness came to be.
Community Building: Finding community in both what we have in common and what makes us different.
Social Identities and Systems of Oppression: Individual, institutional and societal throughout American history and culture.
Being Anti-Racist: Committing to making unbiased choices and living life against racism.
Race and Racial Identity: Race is not a biological concept, but it is important.
Self-Care: Maintaining wellness and health while doing anti-racist work.
Whiteness: White people hold most of the power in society and receive advantages that non-white people do not.