Alexander, M. (2011). The New Jim Crow. The American Prospect, 22(1), A19-A21

Abstract: The New Jim Crow is a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class status—denied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights Movement. Since its publication in 2010, the book has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year; been dubbed the “secular bible of a new social movement” by numerous commentators, including Cornel West; and has led to consciousness-raising efforts in universities, churches, community centers, re-entry centers, and prisons nationwide. The New Jim Crow tells a truth our nation has been reluctant to face.

As the United States celebrates its “triumph over race” with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of black men in major urban areas are under correctional control or saddled with criminal records for life. Jim Crow laws were wiped off the books decades ago, but today an extraordinary percentage of the African American community is warehoused in prisons or trapped in a parallel social universe, denied basic civil and human rights—including the right to vote; the right to serve on juries; and the right to be free of legal discrimination in employment, housing, access to education and public benefits. Today, it is no longer socially permissible to use race explicitly as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. Yet as civil-rights-lawyer-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander demonstrates, it is perfectly legal to discriminate against convicted criminals in nearly all the ways in which it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. Once labeled a felon, even for a minor drug crime, the old forms of discrimination are suddenly legal again. In her words, “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

Alexander shows that, by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness.

The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community—and all of us—to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.

 

Anderson, M. Hill Collins, P. Race, Class & Gender . Thompson & Wadsworth. Belmont CA 

Abstract: Featuring an accessible and diverse collection of more than 60 writings by a variety of scholars, RACE, CLASS, & GENDER demonstrates how the complex intersection of people's race, class, and gender (and also sexuality) shapes their experiences, and who they become as individuals. Each reading addresses a timely--and often controversial--topic, such as the sub-prime mortgage crisis, health care inequality, undocumented students, and social media, thus giving readers a multidimensional perspective on a number of social issues. To provide an analytical framework for the articles, co-editors Andersen and Hill Collins begin each section with an in-depth introduction.

 

Frankenberg, R. (1993) The Social Construction of Whiteness; White Women, Race Matters . The University of Minnesota. Press Minneapolis MI

Abstract: Traditional debates concerning racially hierarchical societies have tended to focus on the experience of being black. White Women, Race Matters breaks with this tradition by focusing on the particular experiences of white women in a racially hierarchical society. By considering the ways in which their experience not only contributes to but challenges the reproduction of racism, the work offers a rigorous examination of existing methodologies, practices and assumptions concerning racism and gender relations. Supported by extracts from in-depth life history interviews, White Women, Race Matters provides valuable course material.

 

Gates, H. L. (1994). Colored People, A Memoir. Vintage books, New York, N,

Abstract: In a coming-of-age story as enchantingly vivid and ribald as anything Mark Twain or Zora Neale Hurston, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., recounts his childhood in the mill town of Piedmont, West Virginia, in the 1950s and 1960s and ushers readers into a gossip, of lye-and-mashed-potato “processes,” and of slyly stubborn resistance to the indignities of segregation.

 

Jellhoun, T. B. (1994) Racism Explained to my Daughter. The New Press New York NY 

Abstract: When Tahar Ben Jelloun took his ten-year-old daughter to a street protest against anti-immigration laws in Paris, she asked question after question: “What is racism? What is an immigrant? What is discrimination?”

Out of their frank discussion comes this book, an international bestseller translated into twenty languages. Ben Jelloun has created a unique and compelling dialogue in which he explains difficult concepts from ghettos and genocide to slavery and anti-Semitism in language we can all understand, and adds an all-new chapter for this edition. Also included are personal essays from four prizewinning writers and educators who themselves are parents: Patricia Williams, David Mura, William Ayers, and Lisa D. Delpit.

Elegant and sensitive, Racism Explained to My Daughter is for all parents and educators who have struggled to engage their children in discussions of this complex issue.

 

Johnson. A. G. Privilege Power and Difference. McGraw-Hill Education; 3 edition 

Abstract: Privilege, Power, and Difference is a groundbreaking tool for students and non-students alike to examine systems of privilege and difference in our society. Written in an accessible, conversational style, the 3rd edition links theory with engaging examples in ways that enable readers to see the underlying nature and consequences of privilege and their connection to it. This program has been used across the country, both inside and outside the classroom, to shed light on issues of power and privilege. The Connect course for this offering includes SmartBook, an adaptive reading and study experience which guides students to master, recall, and apply key concepts while providing automatically-graded assessments.

 

Kendall, F. (2006). Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Relationships Across Race. Routledge New York NY 

Abstract: Knowingly and unknowingly we all grapple with race every day. Understanding White Privilege delves into the complex interplay between race, power, and privilege in both organizations and private life. It offers an unflinching look at how ignorance can perpetuate privilege, and offers practical and thoughtful insights into how people of all races can work to break this cycle. Based on thirty years of work in diversity and colleges, universities, and corporations, Frances Kendall candidly invites readers to think personally about how race ― theirs and others’ ― frames experiences and relationships, focusing squarely on white privilege and its implications for building authentic relationships across race.

This much-anticipated revised edition includes two full new chapters, one on white women and another extending the discussion on race. It continues the important work of the first, deepening our knowledge of the recurring history on which cross-race relationships issues exist. Kendall’s book provides readers with a more meaningful understanding of white privilege and equips them with strategies for making personal and organizational changes.

Kivel, P. (2002) Uprooting Racism. New Society Publishers.

Abstract: In 2016, the president-elect of the United States openly called for segregation and deportation based on race and religion. Meanwhile, inequalities in education, housing, health care and the job market continue to prevail, while increased insecurity and fear have led to an epidemic of scapegoating and harassment of people of color. Yet recent polls show that only 31 percent of white people in the US believe racism is a major societal problem; at the same time, resistance is strong, as highlighted by Indigenous struggles for land and sovereignty and the Movement for Black Lives.

Completely revised and updated, this 4th edition of Uprooting Racism offers a framework around neoliberalism and interpersonal, institutional, and cultural racism, along with stories of resistance and white solidarity. It provides practical tools and advice on how white people can work as allies for racial justice, engaging the reader through questions, exercises, and suggestions for action, and includes a wealth of information about specific cultural groups such as Muslims, people with mixed-heritage, Native Americans, Jews, recent immigrants, Asian Americans, and Latino/as.

Previous editions of Uprooting Racism have sold more than 50,000 copies. This accessible, personal, supportive, and practical guide is ideal for students, community activists, teachers, youth workers, and anyone interested in issues of diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice.

Tatum, B. D. (2003) Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Basic Books New York NY

Abstract: Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.

Yancy, G. (2004). What White looks like: African American Philosophers on the Whiteness Question. Routledge New York NY

Abstract: In the burgeoning field of whiteness studies, What White Looks Like is the first volume in which the subject is addressed by African-American philosophers. George Yancy has brought together a group of thinkers who address the problematic issue of whiteness as a category requiring serious analysis. What does white look like when viewed through philosophical training and African-American experience? In this volume, Robert Birt asks if whites can 'live whiteness authentically'. Janine Jones examines what it means to be a "goodwill white." Joy James tells of beating her 'addiction' to white supremacy, while Arnold Farr writes on making whiteness visible in Western philosophy. What White Looks Like brings a badly needed critique and philosophically sophisticated perspective to a central issue of contemporary society.

 

Wise, T. (2008). White Like Me: Reflections From a Privileged Son. Soft Skull Press Berkeley CA

Abstract: With a new preface and updated chapters, White Like Me is one-part memoir, one-part polemical essay collection. It is a personal examination of the way in which racial privilege shapes the daily lives of white Americans in every realm: employment, education, housing, criminal justice, and elsewhere. Using stories from his own life, Tim Wise demonstrates the ways in which racism not only burdens people of color, but also benefits, in relative terms, those who are “white like him.” He discusses how racial privilege can harm whites in the long run and make progressive social change less likely. He explores the ways in which whites can challenge their unjust privileges, and explains in clear and convincing language why it is in the best interest of whites themselves to do so. Using anecdotes instead of stale statistics, Wise weaves a narrative that is at once readable and yet scholarly, analytical and yet accessible.

 

 

 

 

Bailey, Z., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J.   Linos, N. & Bassett, M. (2017) Structural Racism and Health Inequities in the USA: Evidence and Interventions. 

Abstract: Despite growing interest in understanding how social factors drive poor health outcomes, many academics, policy makers, scientists, elected officials, journalists, and others responsible for de ning and responding to the public discourse remain reluctant to identify racism as a root cause of racial health inequities. In this conceptual report, the third in a Series on equity and equality in health in the USA, we use a contemporary and historical perspective to discuss research and interventions that grapple with the implications of what is known as structural racism on population health and health inequities. Structural racism refers to the totality of ways in which societies foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, bene ts, credit, media, health care, and criminal justice. These patterns and practices, in turn, reinforce discriminatory beliefs, values, and distribution of resources. We argue that a focus on structural racism o ers a concrete, feasible, and promising approach towards advancing health equity and improving population health.

 

Brondolo, E., Libby, D. J., Denton, E. G., Thompson, S., Beatty, D. L., Schwartz, J., ... & Gerin, W. (2008). Racism and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in a Community Sample. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(1), 49-56.

 

DiAngelo, R. (2011). White Fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3 (3), pp 54-70. 

Abstract: White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress.  Although white racial insulation is somewhat mediated by social class (with poor and working-class urban whites being generally less racially insulated than suburban or rural whites), the larger social environment insulates and protects whites as a group through institutions, cultural representations, media, school textbooks, movies, advertising, and dominant discourses. Racial stress results from an interruption to what is racially familiar. In turn, whites are often at a loss for how to respond in constructive ways., as we have not had to build the cognitive or affective skills or develop the stamina that that would allow for constructive engagement across racial divides. leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of

defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium. This book explicates the dynamics of White Fragility and how we might build our capacity in the on-going work towards racial justice.

 

Drevdahl, D. (2001). Teaching About Race, Racism, and Health. Journal of Nursing Education, 40(6), 285-8. 

Abstract: Purpose. Indigenous Peoples are underrepresented in the health professions. This paper examines indigenous identity and the quality and nature of nursing work-life. The knowledge generated should enhance strategies to increase representation of indigenous peoples in nursing to reduce health inequities. Design. Community-based participatory research employing Grounded Theory as the method was the design for this study. Theoretical sampling and constant comparison guided the data collection and analysis, and a number of validation strategies including member checks were employed to ensure rigor of the research process. Sample. Twenty-two Aboriginal nurses in Atlantic Canada. Findings. Six major themes emerged from the study: Cultural Context of Work-life, Becoming a Nurse, Navigating Nursing, Race Racism and Nursing, Socio-Political Context of Aboriginal Nursing, and Way Forward. Race and racism in nursing and related subthemes are the focus of this paper. Implications. The experiences of Aboriginal nurses as described in this paper illuminate the need to understand the interplay of race and racism in the health care system. Our paper concludes with Aboriginal nurses' suggestions for systemic change at various levels.

 

Ford, C. L., PhD., & Airhihenbuwa, C. O., PhD. (2010). Critical Race Theory, Race Equity, and Public Health: Toward Antiracism Praxis. American Journal of Public Health. 100, S30-5.

Abstract: Racial scholars argue that racism produces rates of morbidity, mortality, and overall well-being that vary depending on socially assigned race. Eliminating racism is therefore central to achieving health equity, but this requires new paradigms that are responsive to structural racism's contemporary influence on health, health inequities, and research.

Critical Race Theory is an emerging transdisciplinary, race-equity methodology that originated in legal studies and is grounded in social justice. Critical Race Theory's tools for conducting research and practice are intended to elucidate contemporary racial phenomena, expand the vocabulary with which to discuss complex racial concepts, and challenge racial hierarchies.

We introduce Critical Race Theory to the public health community, highlight key Critical Race Theory characteristics (race consciousness, emphases on contemporary societal dynamics and socially marginalized groups, and praxis between research and practice) and describe Critical Race Theory's contribution to a study on racism and HIV testing among African Americans.

 

Kivel, P. (2017). Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. Gabriola, BC, Canada: New Society.

Abstract: In 2008 the United States elected its first black president, and recent polls show that only twenty-two percent of white people in the United States believe that racism is a major societal problem. On the surface, it may seem to be in decline. However, the evidence of discrimination persists throughout our society. Segregation and inequalities in education, housing, 

health care, and the job market continue to be the norm. Post 9/11, increased insecurity and fear have led to an epidemic of the scapegoating and harassment of people of color. Uprooting Racism offers a framework for understanding institutional racism. It provides practical suggestions, tools, examples, and advice on how white people can intervene in interpersonal and organizational situations to work as allies for racial justice. Completely revised and updated, this expanded third edition directly engages the reader through questions, exercises, and suggestions for action, and takes a detailed look at current issues such as affirmative action, immigration, and health care. It also includes a wealth of information about specific cultural groups such as Muslims, people with mixed-heritage, Native Americans, Jews, recent immigrants, Asian Americans, and Latinos.

Previous editions of Uprooting Racism have sold more than fifty thousand copies. Accessible, personal, supportive, and practical, this book is ideal for students, community activists, teachers, youth workers, and anyone interested in issues of diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice.

 

Kuzawa & Sweet. (2009). Epigenetics and the Embodiment of Race: Developmental Origins of US Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Health. American Journal of Human Biology, 21: 2-15. DOI10.1002/ajhb.20822

Abstract: The relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences to the US black-white disparity in cardiovascular disease (CVD) is hotly debated within the public health, anthropology, and medical communities. In this article, we review evidence for developmental and epigenetic pathways linking early life environments with CVD, and critically evaluate their possible role in the origins of these racial health disparities. African Americans not only suffer from a disproportionate burden of CVD relative to whites, but also have higher rates of the perinatal health disparities now known to be the antecedents of these conditions. There is extensive evidence for a social origin to prematurity and low birth weight in African Americans, reflecting pathways such as the effects of discrimination on maternal stress physiology. In light of the inverse relationship between birth weight and adult CVD, there is now a strong rationale to consider developmental and epigenetic mechanisms as links between early life environmental factors like maternal stress during pregnancy and adult race-based health disparities in diseases like hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and coronary heart disease. The model outlined here builds upon social constructivist perspectives to highlight an important set of mechanisms by which social influences can become embodied, having durable and even transgenerational influences on the most pressing US health disparities. We conclude that environmentally responsive phenotypic plasticity, in combination with the better-studied acute and chronic effects of social-environmental exposures, provides a more parsimonious explanation than genetics for the persistence of CVD disparities between members of socially imposed racial categories.

 

Nairn, S. Hardy, C., Parumal. L., & Williams, G. (2004). Multicultural or Anti-Racist Teaching in Nurse Education: A Critical Appraisal. Nurse Education Today, 24( 3), 188-195.

Abstract: There are many conceptual and practical difficulties in teaching culturally sensitive issues to student nurses. There is little clear evidence about the most effective way that the subject of racism can be explored in the classroom setting. This critical appraisal is a collation of the evidence as a means of identifying current practice and the theoretical difficulties and debates that characterize this area. The evidence is based on English language material, largely if not exclusively, from the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The central tension lies between a multicultural and an anti-racist approach, which reflects philosophically diverse opinions about what should be included in the nursing curriculum. The outcome of this tension is reliant on providing evidence about the experiences of students and tutors and whether the problem is one of the difficulties in cross-cultural communication or racism. Recommendations from the literature for the teaching of multiculturalism and/or anti-racism are synthesized and discussed in light of the tension existing between the two philosophies.

 

Puzan, E. (2003), The Unbearable Whiteness of Being (in nursing). Nursing Inquiry, 10: 193–200. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1800.2003. 00180.x

Schroeder, C. & Diangelo, R. (2010). Addressing Whiteness in Nursing Education: The Sociopolitical Climate Project at the University of Washington School of Nursing. ANS Adv Nurs Sci. 2010 Jul-Sep;33(3):244-55. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0b013e3181eb41cf.  

 

Viruell-Fuentes, E. Miranda, P. Abdulrahim S (2011). More Than Culture: Structural Racism, Intersectionality Theory, and Immigrant Health. Social Science & Medicine, 75, (12) 2099– 2106.

 

Walters, K., Mohammed, S., Evans-Campbell, T., Beltrán, R., Chae, D., & Duran, B. (2011). Bodies Don't Just Tell Stories, They Tell Histories. Du Bois Review, 8(1), 179-189. 

 

 

 

 

 

Bourgois, P. M., Holmes, S., Sue, K., & Quesada, J. (2017). Structural Vulnerability: Operationalizing the Concept to Address Health Disparities in Clinical Care. Academic Medicine, 92(3), 299-307. 

 

David E.J.R. (2014) Internalized Oppression the Psychology of Marginalized Groups. Springer Publishing. New York. NY

 

Farmer, P. (2005). Pathologies of Power. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA

 

Georges, J. (2008). Bio-Power, Agamben, and Emerging Nursing Knowledge. Advances in Nursing Science. 31(1). 4-12 

 

Georges, J. (2011). Evidence of the Unspeakable: Biopower, Compassion, and Nursing. Advances in  Nursing Science. 34(2), 536-544.

 

Perron, A., Fluet, C., & Holmes, D. (2005). Agents of Care and Agents of the State: Biopower and Nursing Practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 50(5), 536-544.

 

Metzl, J.  & Hansen, H. (2013). Structural competency: Theorizing a New Medical Engagement with Stigma and Inequality. Social Science & Medicine 103 (2014) 126e133 

 

Wallerstein, E. (2006). European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power. The New Press. New York NY

 

 

 

 

 

PBS - Race the Power of Illusion

 

The Harvard Implicit Bias Test

 

Kanopy. (2014). Unnatural Causes. San Francisco, California, USA]: Kanopy Streaming.

 

Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites (CARW)

 

The Anti-Racist Neighborhood Watch Starter Kit.  Portland Assembly.  

Mass Incarceration Visualized. The Atlantic October 2, 2015
 

Jane Elliott. How Racist Are You? - Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise
 

The People’s Institute Northwest

 

Deconstructing White Privilege. Robin DiAngelo

 

 

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