DEI Educator Guide

An Oscar-nominated documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO explores the continued peril America faces from institutionalized racism.

Valerie Alexander is the Founder and CEO of Goalkeeper Media, maker of communication bots to amplify happiness, including the Happy Couples Bot. Valerie has extensive experience in corporate and start-up arenas, but left Silicon Valley to find success as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Valerie wrote, produced and directed more than 50 shorts, commercials and PSAs, including the award-winning, anti-bullying short film, “Ballpark Bullies”, and the groundbreaking commercial, “Say I Do”, in support of marriage equality. As author of the Amazon #1 seller, “Happiness as a Second Language”, and a nationally known speaker on happiness in the workplace and the advancement of women, Valerie is a recognized expert on the topics. In addition to “Happiness as a Second Language”, Valerie’s books include “Success as a Second Language” and “How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace (Despite Having “Female Brains)”. She holds an honors certificate in the Science of Happiness from the Greater Good Science This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event.

What does it mean to be white? MTV’s ‘White People’ is a groundbreaking documentary on race that aims to answer that question from the viewpoint of young white people living in America today. The film follows Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and filmmaker, Jose Antonio Vargas, as he travels across the country to get this complicated conversation started. ‘White People’ asks what’s fair when it comes to affirmative action, if colorblindness is a good thing, what privilege really means, and what it’s like to become the “white minority” in your neighborhood. For more information on ‘White People,’ and to join the conversation, head to race.lookdifferent.org.

Anti-racist writer and educator Tim Wise presented a talk on “Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity,” at Stetson University in February.

Distinguished historian John H. Bracey Jr. offers a provocative analysis of the devastating economic, political, and social effects of racism on white Americans. In a departure from analyses of racism that have focused primarily on white power and privilege, Bracey trains his focus on the high price that white people, especially working class whites, have paid for more than two centuries of divisive race-based policies and attitudes.

Whether he’s discussing the pivotal role slavery played in the war for independence, the two million white Americans who died in a civil war fought over the question of slavery, or how business owners took advantage of the segregation of America’s first labor unions and used low-wage, non-unionized black workers to undercut the bargaining power of white workers, Bracey’s central point is that failing to acknowledge the centrality of race, and racism, to the American project not only minimizes the suffering of black people, but also blinds us to how white people have been harmed as well.

In this documentary film, Isabelle Boni-Claverie explores the role of race and the persistence of racism in France, as well as the impact of the French colonial past. Through an exploration of her personal family history, and interviews with historians and academics, TOO BLACK TO BE FRENCH peels back the layers of race relations in supposedly institutionally colorblind France.
Boni-Claverie, a French-Ivorian, who grew up in upper class French society, unpacks how socio-economic privilege doesn’t mean protection from racial discrimination. TOO BLACK TO BE FRENCH also features interviews with acclaimed sociologists and historians to help contextualize racial history in France.

BLACK BOYS illuminates the full humanity of Black men and boys in America. An intimate, inter-generational exploration, Black Boys strives for insight to black identity and opportunity at the nexus of sports, education, and criminal justice. Speaking with an array of figures — ranging from educators, athletes, journalists, activists, parents, and youth — the documentary explores the body, mind, voice, and heart of Black boys and the double-edged sword of having to build up their own self worth while knowing the world is not built for them. As various Black men and boys open themselves up to the camera, the emotional landscape of racism and its affects on them are revealed.
Interspersed throughout the documentary is archival footage of police brutality, protesting, and historic lynchings to historically demonstrate the ways in which the voices of Black men have been ignored and devalued for successive generations. When speaking about ways in which to break thee various cycles, several Black men hold up the beauty of a healthy relationship with a caring adult. Though societal fear and negativity exist in reaction to their very existence, the power of love can serve as a healer for a variety of traumas.

This program brings viewers face-to-face with the mindless ugliness and irrevocable consequences of racism. Examining five case studies in which racism led to violence, we see how each act destroyed not only its victim, but others as well, including the perpetrator. Each case leaves in its wake a string of broken lives—strained marriages, financial ruin, psychologically traumatized adults and children. The inevitable conclusion is: hate destroys. Anyone tempted to take racism lightly will benefit from this program.

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They’re an average American family at a typical American restaurant. They also happen to be Hispanic (not to mention that the restaurant is situated in Tucson, Arizona, a hub of our nation’s ongoing immigration debate). From out of nowhere, an off-duty security guard asks to see their documentation, and as he grows more insistent, the other diners nervously consider what steps, if any, to take. It’s a scenario drawn from real life, no doubt, but in this case, the guard and the family are actors in a hidden-camera ABC News segment—one designed to spark reactions from onlookers. Several other staged dilemmas are also included here: Jewish customers face an anti-Semitic cashier, hearing-impaired job seekers aren’t allowed to fill out applications, an HIV-positive man is subjected to verbal attacks, and an African-American man is accosted for having a white daughter. Part of the series What Would You Do? Series 2: Instinctive Reactions and What They Reveal.

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Muslims, blacks, gays, people with disabilities, and immigrants of every ethnicity and color: these and many other groups have stood in the spotlight glare of intolerance, easy targets for every sort of discrimination and violence. What makes people prone to irrational hate, and what steps can individuals and society take to eradicate it? In this program, psychology professors Susan Fiske, of Princeton University, and Mahzarin Banaji, of Harvard University; representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other pro-tolerance groups; and victims of prejudice share their insights and experiences. A pro-gay Baptist minister who formerly took a biblical stance against homosexuality and an ex–imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who now speaks out for tolerance also offer their views. Contains inflammatory language and images. Recommended for grades 9-college.