This webpage is designed to provide additional support for the participants of Karen Gaffney’s session “Dismantling the Racism Machine: Why White People Must Confront the Resurgence of the ‘Race is Biological’ Myth and Its Perpetuation of White Supremacy.” Note that additional resources are available on the rest of Karen’s website – go to the tab for Resources on Race and Racism as well as the additional Resource pages under that tab. Also see Karen’s blog posts on the main page.

Karen’s Powerpoint Slides:

Recommended Resources

Articles and Books

Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox by Karen Gaffney – note that the publisher is offering 20% off at their site until May 1 – this link takes you directly there – no coupon code needed, or you can get 30% off by going to that same link and entering this coupon code: SS213 (I’m not sure when that code expires)

“Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Race” (from Race: The Power of an Illusion)

US Census Bureau website: About Race

“The disturbing reason some African American patients may be undertreated for pain”

“I Don’t Feel Your Pain: A failure of empathy perpetuates racial disparities”

“What Scientists Mean When They Say ‘Race’ Is Not Genetic”

“Race ≠ DNA: If race is a social construct, what’s up with DNA ancestry testing?”

“Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth”

“Doctors Don’t Always Believe You When You’re a Black Woman”

“Racism in the Kindergarten Classroom: New research finds faces of five-year-old black boys put whites in a more threat-conscious state of mind”

“Why Won’t Society Let Black Girls Be Children?”

“The school to prison pipeline, explained” (Justice Policy Institute)

“There’s one epidemic we may never find a vaccine for: fear of black men in public spaces”

“People See Black Men as Larger, More Threatening Than Same-Sized White Men”

“US police kill up to 6 times more black people than white people”

“Researchers studied nearly 100 million traffic stops and found black motorists are more likely to be pulled over”

Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini (book)

Films, videos, and podcasts

Race: The Power of an Illusion Episode 1 “The Difference Among Us” (PBS documentary) (just under 1 hour) (Note that Episodes 2 and 3 are also worth watching. All three episodes are available on vimeo for $4.99 rental. They are also available on Kanopy, if you have access to that service through a library).

TED Talk with Dorothy Roberts “The Problem with Race-Based Medicine” (15 minutes)

What DNA ancestry tests can — and can’t — tell you (7 minutes)

“The Biology of Skin Color,” Nina Jablonski (HHMI Biointeractive) (20 minutes)

The Surprisingly Racist History of “Caucasian” (5 minute video)

TED Talks with Titus Kaphar “Can art amend history?” and “Can beauty open our hearts to difficult conversations?”

“Seeing White” (14-part podcast series from Scene on Radio that covers the social construction of race, the invention of whiteness, systemic racism, and more)

“The Origin of Race in the USA,” Danielle Bainbridge (The Origin of Everything series, PBS Digital Studios) (10 minutes)

The History Of White People In America, Episode One: How America Invented Race

Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo’s TED Talk “What it takes to be racially literate”