In our efforts to provide more educational resources, Respond to Racism LO is introducing This Week’s 5. This weekly collection of stories provides insight into how racism works by examining it through five different lenses:
Overt- The most recognizable, blatant form of racism that usually comes in the form of violence, slurs, and other forms of flagrant bigotry.
Institutional- When policies and/or practices implicitly target racial groups and/or enforce racist ideals as behavioral norms. For a more expansive definition, click here.
Critical race theory- The exploration of concepts that discuss the nuances of race such as white privilege, colorism, the “model minority” theory, etc.
History- Exploring how events of the past influence how we engage with race in the present.
The Fragility Breaker- One of the biggest obstacles to finding understanding is that marginalized people often have to tiptoe on eggshells when discussing their experiences with people in positions of privilege. These frank, often off-color pieces are designed to give readers a glimpse into what people sound like when they are speaking plainly and offer insights some of you wouldn’t otherwise get in conversations geared more to ensuring comfort than solving the actual problem.
Our hope is that these curated stories will help illustrate how pervasive these problems are, as well as provide examples of how people can better use the tools at their disposal to both combat racism and create communities where all members have the utmost opportunity to thrive. Going forward, This Week's 5 will look something like this:
Overt: YouTube decides to finally remove a neo-Nazi group that's been linked to multiple murders.
Institutional: As ICE continues to terrorize Brown families under the guise of tackling "illegal immigration," Oakland's Mayor uses her position of power to fight back.
Critical Race Theory: Part of understanding white privilege is recognizing why some people's concerns about safety are taken more seriously than others.
History: Turns out the "crisis actor" smear dates back to the Civil War and Confederates trying to deny the horrors of slavery. Who would have ever guessed...
The Fragility Breaker: Tongue placed firmly in cheek but this does address the deeper subject of why you can't have an honest discussion about slurs without also discussing power dynamics.
