Whiteness video resources

Beyond Whiteness: http://www.beyondwhiteness.com/

Checkout this excellent site. There are some powerful video clips of lectures from the likes of bell hooks, James Baldwin, Paul Kivel, Allen Johnson, Tim Wise and others, plus many other resources such as the 2007 BBC documentary three part series Racism: A History.

I couldn't find any information about the site, but the video collection is quite amazing.

Just another Indian joke

I saw this on Media Indigena: Interactive Indigenous Insight

http://www.mediaindigena.com/rickharp/polls/poll-how-should-a-bc-legion-atone-for-publishing-a-joke-about-beer-baiting-and-hunting-indigenous-people-to-their-death?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mediaINDIGENA+%28mediaINDIGENA%29

This is something to talk about with students. How are 'Indian jokes' connected to and used to justify colonization and ongoing violence towards Indigenous peoples? Children hear such jokes at a young age, and it is important that teachers take the time to help them understand the destructiveness of this racism masked as humour. But teachers need support to do this work from parents and administrators. As September is coming up, I hope all of the teachers out there have an amazing year with lots of support to have those difficult conversations our children so desperately need.

I am Kenyan Project

Here are links to a Kenyan driven activist project!

See 'I Am Kenyan Project' at: 

https://www.facebook.com/IAmKenyanProject
http://iamkenyan.or.ke/
It would be interesting to use this project to introduce students to the history and current context of Kenya. Students could also talk about how to show solidarity (through such projects) without erasing racialized power inequities at global levels.

Deficit views of racism in sports and society

After Gabby Douglas won gold, NBC aired a commercial about a monkey that does gymnastics and people were outraged. And when people commented about her hair on Twitter, others were outraged. But when Bob Costas (NBC) claimed that the barriers for African Americans in gymnastics have long been torn down, after Gabby won gold, there was a lack of outrage. He further explained that it is psychological barriers that now keep African Americans from competing in the sport. In this way, Gabby is a role model for African American youth who have low self-esteem. This is one reason why racism is powerful - the 'hidden common sense' attitudes/ideologies of whiteness that are left unexamined. In this case, it is the belief that racial inequality is caused by the low self-esteem of the victims of systemic and structural racism. 

Here is an interesting take on the matter:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0809/Olympian-Gabby-Douglas-the-gymnast-is-golden-but-her-family-is-obscured

This might be a great way to start the year off with students. Perhaps it will keep them thinking critically about the discourses we use to talk about race...

Photo from: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/american-gabby-douglas-wins-gold-in-womens-gymnastics-all-around-20120802

The Race Card Project

Thought you might find this interesting.
Could be used as a way to start conversations about race and racism in your school: http://theracecardproject.com