The History of Race

Want to learn more about the history of race? See the list of excellent sources below or check out our previous posts on this topic (with video clips). The documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion is a great resource to use in the classroom and is available at the University of Saskatchewan library. This video can be incorporated across subject areas: social studies, science, economics, health, language arts .

Banton, M. (1998). Racial theories. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Bernasconi, R. & Lotts, T. (eds.). The idea of race. USA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Dickason, O. (1984). The myth of the savage and the beginnings of French colonialisms in the Americas. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press.

Gould, S.J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. New York: Norton.

Hannaford, I. (1996). Race: The history of an idea in the west. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

Kaye, H. L. (1997). The social meaning of modern biology: From social Darwinism to socio-biology. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.

Malik, K. (1996). The meaning of race. New York: New York University Press.

McLaren, A. (1990). Our own master race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885 – 1945. Toronto: The Canadian Publishers.

Mead, M., Dobzhansky,T., Tobach, E. & Light, R. (Eds.). (1968). Science and the concept of race. New York: Columbia University Press.

Prentiss, C (Ed.). (2003). Religion and the creation of race and ethnicity: An introduction. New York: New York University Press.

Smedley, A. (1999). Race in North America: Origin and evolution of a worldview. Boulder: Westview Press.

Willinsky, J. (1998). Learning to divide the world: Education at empire’s end. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Young, R. (1995). Colonial desire: Hybridity in theory, culture and race. London: Routledge.

Racism and the Sexualization of Indigenous Women

Callaloo Parade and the Sexualization of Native American Women: Sexual Violence as a Tool of Conquest: http://beyondbuckskin.blogspot.com/2011/07/callaloo-parade-and-sexualization-of.html

The violence (racism and misogyny) Indigenous women experience is systemic. Last year we were fortunate to have Marilyn Wapass present a powerful and inspirational talk called Racism and Violence Against Aboriginal Women. She left us with many resources and ideas to create change.To learn more from some of the many resources available see:

Stolen Sisters http://www.amnesty.ca/our-work/campaigns/no-more-stolen-sisters
Native Women's Association of Canada: Sisters in Spirit http://www.nwac.ca/
Video: Finding Dawn (NFB, 2007) http://www.nfb.ca/film/finding_dawn/
Video: Stolen Sisters ( Fahrenheit Films, 2007) http://www.stolensisters.com/page3.html
Book: Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide (Andrea Smith, 2005)

Book: Making Space for Indigenous Feminism (Joyce Green ed., 2007)

The 'S' word: Talking about white supremacy

We sometimes receive comments from white supremacist/racial purity groups. The comments are removed, but they remind us to think about why we sometimes talk/teach about white privilege and racism, but may not always make clear connections to white supremacy. We wonder how and why teachers may or may not address this in schools.

What are your thoughts regarding teaching K - 12 students about the connection between racism, white privilege and white supremacy?

For a good read on this topic see: Leonardo's The Color of Supremacy: Beyond the Discourse of White Privilege (2004) http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ980322

SpeakOut: Speakers, Artists, Exhibits, Films...

"SpeakOut is dedicated to the advancement of education, racial and social justice, cultural literacy, leadership development and activism. Our network of speakers, artists, and strategic partners provide experiential learning opportunities through lectures, workshops, film screenings, performances and curriculum development."

Check it out! http://www.speakoutnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=12

Visit the SpeakOut resource list for many (many, many) excellent ides: http://www.speakoutnow.org/section.php?id=6

Backlash to renaming Nova Scotia school

Cornwallis renaming is the right thing to do: We shouldn't honour the architects of genocide: http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2011/06/26/cornwallis-renaming-is-the-right-thing-to-do

Sign the rename Cornwallis petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/01101749/petition.html

Learn more: www.danielnpaul.com

Learning about patriarchy and race: Tough Guise

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Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity

Video:http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=211

For more information and the Study Guide see: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=211#filmmaker-about

Jackson Katz argues that widespread violence in American society, including the tragic school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and elsewhere, needs to be understood as part of an ongoing crisis in masculinity. Tough Guise is the first educational video geared toward college and high school students to systematically examine the relationship between pop-cultural imagery and the social construction of masculine identities in the U.S. at the dawn of the 21st century.

Globalization & Whiteness

Check out this book review of Black Bloc, White Riot: Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2011/06/stuff-white-people-smash

It looks like an excellent read and well-needed analysis of why globalization movements are not always anti-racist. It's important to understand the connection between racism/white supremacy and the global economy (and make this explicit) so that we can teach students about the historical and current relationships between race and political/economic power at global and local levels. Too often, it seems, the focus is on helping 'underdeveloped' countries and local communities without examining the role that whiteness plays in maintaining these inhumane inequalities and global systems of oppression. A few articles/chapters/books that make this connection and are worth reading include:

-Abu-Laban, Y. & Gabriel, C. (2008). Selling (out) diversity in an age of globalization. In M. Wallis & S. Kwok (eds.), Daily struggles: The deepening of racialization and feminization of poverty in Canada. Canada: Canadian Scholars Press.

-Allen, P. (2001). The globalization of white supremacy: Toward a critical discourse on the racialization of the world. Educational Theory, 51(4), 467-485.

-Arat-Koc, S. (2009). New whiteness(es), beyond the colour line? Assessing the contradictions and complexities of “whiteness” in the (geo)political economy of capitalist globalism. In S. Razack, M. Smith & S. Thobani (eds.), States of race: Critical race feminism for the 21^st century (pp. 147-168). Toronto: Between the Lines.

-Battiste, M. (2005). You can’t be the doctor if you’re the colonial disease. In P. Tripp & L.Muzzin (eds.), Teaching as activism: Equity meets environmentalism (pp. 121-133). Montreal: McGill Queens University Press.

-Bonnett, A. (2006). The Americanisation of anti-racism? Global power and hegemony in ethnic equity. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32(7), 1083-1103.

-Dhruvarajan, V. (2005). Colonialsim and capitalism: Continuities and variations in strategies of domination and oppression. In P. Tripp & L.Muzzin (eds.), Teaching as activism: Equity meets environmentalism (pp. 134-148). Montreal: McGill Queens University Press.

-Farmer, P. (2005). Pathologies of power: Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. Berkeley: University of California Press.

-Glenn, E. N. (2009). Consuming lightness: Segmented markets and global capital in the skin whitening trade. In E. N. Glenn (ed.), Shades of difference: Why skin color matters (pp. 166-187). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

-Goldberg, D. T. (2006). The global reach of raceless states. In D. Macedo & P. Gounari (eds.), The globalization of racism (pp. 45-67). Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.

-Leonardo, Z. (2002). The souls of white folk: Critical pedagogy, whiteness studies, and globalization discourse. Race Ethnicity and Education,5(1), 29-50.

-Massey, D. (2007). Categorically unequal: The American stratification system. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

-Razack, S. (2004). Dark threats and white knights: The Somalia affair, peacekeeping and the new imperialism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

-Stewart-Harawira, M. (2005). The new imperial order: Indigenous responses to globalization. London: Zed Books.

-Vaid, J. (2009). Fair enough? Color and the commodification of self in Indian matrimonials. In E. N. Glenn (ed.), Shades of difference: Why skin color matters (pp. 148-165). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Slam Poetry as Anti-Racist Education

Anti-racist education works to counter and dismantle all forms of interconnected oppression. I recently found out about slam poetry from a student I taught last summer. Although it seemed very powerful and empowering, I wasn't introduced to poets who use slam poetry to counter oppression. Then, I met an inspirational young man and teacher who does just that and has won national awards for his work and passion. We were fortunate to have Khodi Dill present at our EraceISM conference this year. His presentation focused on the spoken word and how it can be used with students of all grade levels as anti-racist education. Here is a link to some of his incredible work on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsDwOKUHZbA&feature=related

Teaching Tolerance offers some links about Slam Poetry as anti-racist education. Check out this blog post about a group of students called Rapid Fire at an American high school: Full post http://www.tolerance.org/blog/change-rapid-fire-pace

Amazing and courageous work!

A group of talented young poets has emerged at my school, Life Academy, over the last three years. They call themselves “Rapid Fire.” When they speak, there is heat, and their words do catch. They’ve met critical success in district and area slam competitions. This year, the team placed second in the preliminary Unified District Poetry Slam sponsored by Youth Speaks and went on to place second in the finals. Not only are their words deliberately beautiful, but their messages can transform and teach tolerance.
Through poetry Mendoza, Phan, and Garcia have found their political voice. “I learned to get involved in social issues that affect me, like immigration and gangs,” Mendoza said. “Through poetry I realized that I wanted to major in women and gender studies for college. It's just completely transformed me and helped me grow.”
As these three seniors leave Life Academy for college, they gift the school the legacy of poetry, the message of change. They also leave big footsteps to be filled by their younger classmates, the next generation of poets.