white supremacy
What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design?
This article defines decolonization and offers suggestions on how those in the design industry can engage in decolonization practices through their work. The author also provides a list of resources for further reading on the subject. For more read here.
Shenandoah National Park Is Confronting Its History
This articles discusses the history of racism and exclusion in American National Parks, in particular at Shenandoah National Park, which had segregated facilities under Jim Crow Laws. The author provides examples of how the National Parks Service is beginning to reckon with this long history of exclusion in their efforts to make National Parks for inclusive. For more read here.
“Now You Can’t Just Do Nothing”: Unsettling the Settler Self within Social Studies Education
This article shows how social science education often reinforces settler-colonial narratives and provides tools for how educators can work to “unsettle” this narrative in their teaching by challenging the way Indigenous history is taught and reckoning with their own personal connections to settler-colonialism. For more read here.
What’s Wrong With This Diorama? You Can Read All About It
This article details how the American Museum of Natural History modified a problematic diorama that depicted a fictional meeting between Dutch settlers and the Lenape people. The diorama contained a number of historical inaccuracies that perpetuated stereotypes about indigenous people and reinforced cultural hierarchies. Rather than cover or change the diorama, the museum chose to put up signs that addressed those inaccuracies. For more read here.
Diversifying Boards Means Ceding Control—Are White Nonprofit Leaders Ready?
This article discusses the lack of diverse representation on the boards of nonprofits and how nonprofits do work “for” marginalized communities rather than “with” them. They suggest that those in leadership in nonprofits are not willing to genuinely engage in equity work because it would mean radically changing their structures. For more read here.
A Cree Artist Redraws History
This article describes an installation in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Cree Artist Kent Monkman. His installation features two paintings that flip historical narratives about Indigenous victimhood on its head. For more read here.
The pitfalls of symbolic decolonization
This articles discusses how decolonization efforts in the West fall short by engaging in decolonization in philosophical terms instead of through economic means. In the authors word’s, “Symbolic decolonization is useful, but it is also useless without material decolonization”. The author explores the harm of “symbolic decolonization” and also provides examples of efforts that are both symbolic and material. For more read here.
Two States. Eight Textbooks. Two American Stories.
This article shows how the differences between history textbooks produced for California and Texas present radically different narratives of American history. They present side by side examples from the textbooks to visually show the different history being taught in each state. They discuss the examples in thought provoking analysis that exposes how political ideology shapes historical narratives. For more read here.
The Intersectionality Wars
This article explores the history of the concept of intersectionality and its rise to prominence over the last 30 years. The article includes an interview with the term’s founder, Kimberlé Crenshaw. The author describes resistance to the word by the American political right, who fear a creation of a new racial hierarchy, and explains how Crenshaw is seeking to dismantle racial hierarchies through acknowledging intersection identities. For more read here.
How This Native American Elder Reclaimed Sacred Land in the Bay Area
This documentary describes the history of the displacement and attempted erasure of the Ohlone people. It also describes an Elder’s effort to reestablish connection with Ohlone religious practices. For more watch here.
Hiring a Chief Diversity Officer Won’t Fix Your Racist Company Culture
This article discusses how while diversity, equity and inclusion are becoming parts of the mission statements of companies across America, many companies are failing or unwilling to address deeper issues of racist culture. Through a series of examples, the author exposes how people of color are often hired by companies to “solve their racism problem”, but are prevented from doing substantive work. For more read here.
Public lands in the United States: A curriculum
This article provides an introduction to a curriculum on public land in the United States created by The Wilderness Society and The Avarna Group. The curriculum teaches a holistic view of the history of public lands, which includes the displacement of Indigenous people and exclusionary conservation practices. For more read here.