Reconstruction 2.0: Creating the Anti-Racist Allies of Tomorrow McGill Living-Learning Community Angela Anderton, Jomai Douangvilay, Angelique Frantzen, Madelyn Harper, Emily Huffstetler, Emily Rogers, and Caleb Tucker Initiative Overview For our initiative, we plan to (1) equip young, college-ready white students with the tools necessary to be an effective ally to communities of color; (2) Educate students about the racism ingrained in our system; (3) Create a curriculum that empowers white-led advocacy and racist de-escalation in a high school setting; (4) Call in students to use critical thinking instead of violence; (5) Equip students with a template to create mandates to change culturally offensive mascots in their schools; (6) Empower courage, action, and empathy as anti-racist tools within a public school system; (7) Collaborate with Showing Up for Racial Justice to begin rebuilding the minds of white students to prepare them for racial advocacy work and justice mindset training. About Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Showing Up for Racial Justice is “a national network of groups and individuals working to undermine white supremacy and to work for racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and educating, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.” By centering the responsibility of ending white silence in the fight for collective liberation; SURJ was the ideal choice for our group to collaborate with in order to provide Upstander training for the rising college students. We identified the importance of this initiative from our observations and experience indicating that students in the Maryville, TN area are underexposed to diversity while simultaneously being overexposed to explicit forms of white supremacy in various forms within society and its institutions. Historically rural, white areas develop children into citizens who believe that certain racist ideas are acceptable in their lives from structural to direct violence. This is a cycle that needs to be broken; we believe that educating these students and equipping them with the right tools to become allies will begin the progress of eliminating racism in the Maryville area. The outcomes of the initiative will be (1) rising college students will understand the dynamics of intersectionality. Students will learn upstander techniques to empower their peers of color and purport diversity in academia; (2) students will understand the micro concepts of white supremacy that uphold it within the institution; (3) students will be able to utilize critical thinking skills to empower equality within their communities on campus; (4) students will be able to recognize instances of inequality and know how to address them; (5) students will begin developing a journey of antiracism that empowers cultural and emotional intelligence. Our Team Emily Huffstetler- Class of 2024 Emily is pursuing majors in writing communication, Spanish, and design. Additionally, she is working to become a Certified Nonprofit Professional. On campus, she serves as the Freshman Class President, an Academic Mentor, a McGill Scholar, and a Mountain Challenge Shadow. Her interests include writing, art, and Spanish. She is the CEO and founder of Build for Bees, a nonprofit organization that works to restore and protect our declining bee populations through accessible education and sustainable bee habitats. Angela Jamison Anderton (She/Her)- Class of 2022 Angela Jamison Anderton is a writer, activist, and aspiring professor. She currently attends Maryville College as a sociology major with a concentration in gender and women’s studies. Her work centers on creative solutions for social problems at the intersections of race, gender, and sexual identity. As a McGill Fellow, Angela brings the unique perspective of being a non-traditional student to empower collaborations that celebrates diversity and foster compassion, empathy, and understanding. “Social issues are a part of our shared culture and they provide an opportunity to humanize and empathize with one another.” Madelyn Harper- Class of 2024 Madelyn Harper is a Maryville College student currently pursuing a double major in Spanish and International Business. Around campus, she is a Mcgill Fellow, Academic Mentor, and Mountain Challenge Staff. She is a member of the Environmental Action Team as well as being in the leadership team of the Harry Potter Club and Global Citizenship Organization. Madelyn is interested in spanish and traveling and is eager to become more educated and involved in social issues such as racial justice. Jomai Douangvilay - Class of 2024 Jomai is pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Criminal Justice at Maryville College. On campus, he is a member of the baseball team, an academic mentor, and a McGill Scholar. He’s interested in pursuing a career in forensic science, weightlifting, and helping others become the best they can be. He hopes to be able to explore and gain knowledge of everything around him, especially people. He believes that if people can understand each other, the world could be a better place. Caleb Tucker- Class of 2024 Caleb is pursuing a B.A. in philosophy with a minor in psychology while at Maryville College. As far as extracurricular activities, he is an academic mentor and a McGill Scholar. Looking forward, he wants to go on to law school and become a divorce lawyer. While at Maryville College, it is his goal to gain a better understanding of both himself and the world as a whole through a well rounded liberal arts education. Emily Rogers (She/Her)- Class of 2024 Emily Rogers is a Maryville College student who is currently pursuing a double major in Sociology and Biochemistry. On campus, she is a member of the volleyball team, a member of the Environmental Action Team, a SGA Hall Senator, an academic mentor, and a McGill Fellow. In the future, she is interested in attending a holistic medical school and pursuing a career as a doctor of naturopathic medicine. Emily is interested in becoming more educated and involved in social justice issues both on and outside of campus. Angelique Frantzen- Class of 2024 Angelique is currently pursuing majors in Counseling Psychology and Spanish during her time at Maryville College. She is passionate about her work to someday be a bilingual counselor with a focus on outreach to communities who lack the accessibility to mental health resources. She shows up on campus as a McGill Scholar and an academic mentor. Being a part of the McGill program, Angelique hopes to learn from those she works with and carry it with her throughout her life. During her time at Maryville College, she hopes to achieve a greater understanding of her community and her place in it. The Overall Issue Racial Justice Racial Justice is equity in education: we must truthfully and accurately confront the history of white supremacy in our nation in order to eliminate it from institutions. This means that institutions must be held accountable for the fair and reparative treatment of marginalized groups: equality is not enough, we must work toward creating programs that help students of color greatly improve their chances of success after being miseducated. Racial Justice is the act of equipping minoritized groups with the tools necessary to even the playing field in the game of white supremacy; creating a basis of knowledge that empowers both communities of color and white communities to unify in an effort to support the well-being of all people. By this, we believe that fostering collective liberation, the work of creating an environment in which there are no double standards that risk the lives nor the livelihoods of people of color, we are committed to the promise of collective liberation through the development of relationships that intersect different identity groups so that all voices are heard and valued. Impact of Racial Justice Racial Justice impacts everyone. Racial injustice is a public health and safety threat and an existential crisis. It is present in every social problem humans face on the planet. Women of color who have been collectively erased, their bodies under control by those who believe in the superiority of the white race are impacted both as women and as minoritized humans. Indigenous peoples who have heritages that are often ignored for the sake of assimilation are dependent on us getting this right. To reestablish a sense of identity with the land and soil is a nuance of racial justice. Accountability for governmental bodies, especially the police, who seek to perform death sentences outside of their scope of practice; think of how many lives could be saved if we could just define and identify equitable forms of justice to improve the lives of BIPOC. History of Racial Justice Movements related to Racial Justice include: 1. The Taíno Rebellion of 1511 - The Conquistadors of Castile, Spain attempted to colonize Puerto Rico on the basis of race. The Taíno people initially conceded because they believed that the Conquistadors’ white skin meant they were gods. To test this theory, the Taíno drowned one of the Conquistadors, Diego Salcedo. When Salcedo did not resurrect, they realized they weren’t gods and decided to rebel. This is known as the Taíno Rebellion of 1511. Although they surrendered, it demonstrated their refusal to be oppressed for their race. 2. The Great Migration With response to the growing concern of anti-Black sentiment in the postbellum south, the Jim Crow movement sought to segregate free Blacks from the White population. As such, in the quest to find equal pay and equal rights at work within the law, there was none to be found. With the occurrence of WWI in 1914, urban areas had become heavily industrialized, thus creating more jobs for people in American cities. Between 1916 and 1970, 6 Million African Americans migrated to northern cities in search of new beginnings. 3. African American Women’s Rights Led by Sojourner Truth - Sojourner truth experienced the horrors of human trafficking and enslavement to breed children with other enslaved men. The criminals who enslaved Truth made a promise to free her on a breeding bond. When, in 1827, the agreement was not upheld and the New York Anti-slavery law made it a criminal offense for Truth to be held captive, she “Walked away by daylight” to her freedom. Truth saw purpose in her pain and became a human rights activist who knew, first hand, what it meant to be a victim of chattel slavery. She began combining abolitionism with feminism and was a well-known suffragist for women’s rights. Her movement came by way of a poem called “Ain’t I a Woman?” This poem challenged the status quo to see Black women as women instead of breeding animals. 4. Abolitionist Movement- Frederick Douglass Speeches As a part of the abolitionist movement, Frederick Douglass traveled across the country and abroad to speak against slavery. He criticized white southern Christians for leveraging Christianity to defend slavery. In a speech presented in England, he said, “a mockery of His religion is practiced in the South,” arguing that white Christians would selectively apply the bible to benefit themselves and oppress African Americans. He also criticized people for supporting slavery while sending missionaries to help other countries. 5. Nat Turner Enslavement Rebellion Nathaniel “Nat” Turner, an educated enslaved man, organized a rebellion with six other enslaved people that took place on August 21, 1831, convinced that this was God’s plan for him. They collected horses and weapons and convinced an additional 75 people to participate. Around 55 white people died in this rebellion, and near 200 black people were killed as a result of their alleged participation in this insurrection. Turner hid for six weeks afterward, but was eventually hanged for his participation along with 16 of his followers. This rebellion resulted in the further persecution of people of color and strengthened pro-slavery and anti-abolitionist movements leading up to the civil war as well as bringing down harsher laws against enslaved people. 6. Freedom Summer Led by Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer was a civil rights activist who used her own personal experiences in a racist society to spread awareness and enact change in society. She participated in the “Freedom Summer” which was a movement led by civil rights activists encouraging people of color to register to vote. This movement fought against the voter intimidation and discrimination that was present at the polls preventing people of color from voting. These acts were opposed by the KKK and other angry whites who lashed back with violence, beatings, arrests, and more. Only 1,200 out of the 17,000 people of color who attempted to register to vote during this movement were approved. However, in the bigger picture, this movement drew international attention to the civil rights movement and helped lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965). 7. Japanese Internment Camps. During WWII, the United States established Japanese internment camps. These camps were ordered into effect under the F. Roosevelt administration (Executive Order 9066) from 1942-1945 shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military. Internment camps were set up in Washington, California, and Oregon as these areas had large populations of Japanese Americans; Canada and Mexico created their own versions of the U.S.’s internment camps, resulting in the isolation of about 140,264 Japanese residents in North America. During this time, the FBI was also searching the private residences and collecting the belongings of thousands of Japanese Americans as well as mass-incarcerating them. When transitioning into the internment camps, the Japanese Americans were only given six days notice to pack up their belongings before they had to report to Assembly and Relocation Centers; these were housing camps that provided underpaid labor in poor working conditions for those placed there. Violence also occurred in these centers. Those who tried to escape were shot and killed, and occasional rebellions broke out that resulted in the tear-gassing of those residing in the camps. The internment camps ended in 1945 as the result of a Supreme Court Case (Endo v. the United States), ruling that “the War Relocation Authority ‘has no authority to subject citizens who are concededly loyal to its leave procedure.’” The last Japanese internment camp was closed in 1946, and in 1988, Congress issued a formal apology and awarded $20,000 each to over 80,000 Japanese Americans as reparations. 8. Haitian Revolution The Haitiain rebellion is known as the most successful slave rebellion in the western hemisphere. It lasted from 1791-1803 and, by the end of it not only were all the slaves free, but the colony was free from all control from France. This revolution was influenced by a number of things, namely the french revolution of 1789. In the 18th century, Haiti, formerly known as Saint Domingue, was France’s most profitable overseas colony. It produced sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton by means of slave labor. After the French Revolution, Hatian Revolutionary movements began to sprout up. Due to being outnumbered, the plantation owners were being pushed back throughout the years. Despite numerous reinforcements from the mainland and new leadership, the conflict ended in 1803 when it was declared independent and became the first black republic in the world, and second country to win independence from a major european power. 9. Queen Nzinga Frees her People from Portugal (Jomai) In the 17th century, the Portuguese threatened Central Africa with their slave trade expansion. Queen Nzinga (1583-1663) was the sister of King Ngola Mbande. She became the monarch of the Mbundu people in 1626, following her brother’s suicide. In 1617, the Portuguese were on Mbundu’s doorstep, and in 1622, the Portuguese invited King Ngola to a peace conference with the Portuguese governor, to which King Ngola sent Queen Nzinga to represent him. This peace conference would become the beginning of a Portuguese plot to enslave and use the people of Mbundu. When she rose to power in 1626, she rejected the Portuguese from usurping the country from her. She brought together other sovereign states to fight back against the Portuguese, even going as far as to form allies with the Dutch. Even when the Dutch were defeated by the Portuguese, she continued to attempt to triumph over them, providing such a strong basis that the war continued beyond her death. In the end, the thirty-year long war ended in 1975, the Mbundu emerging victorious and with freedom. 10. Rodney King Riots On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was pulled over for speeding after a 8 mile chase. When stop him and got him to the ground, they beat him with their batons dozens of times. This incident was filmed and publicly broadcasted for the world to see, which resulted in some rioting. In Los Angeles, there were already concerns among minority groups about the majority white police force, and this event confirmed these suspicions. A year later, when the trial for these police officers was occuring, emotions were still high. The jury acquitted the officers of all charges that included assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force. This sparked the riots known today as the “Rodney King Riots.” After several days of rioting, there were more than 50 deaths, 2300 people injured, thousands of arrests, 1100 damaged buildings, and over a billion dollars of property damage done. Movers & Shakers The leaders in the racial justice movement include: 1. Angela Davis Angela Davis is best known for her political activism with the Black Panthers during the political revolution of the 1960s. She declares herself to be an “Anti-racist feminist,” communist, and socialist who believes that no government can claim democracy that has been founded on slavery. During the civil rights movement, Davis was arrested for transporting arms. At the time, she was studying to be a professor and began authoring books on the movement. She decided to represent herself and was acquitted of all charges. This began her work as a sagely activist in the fight against white supremacy. Here is an important clip that states her take on violence. https://youtu.be/2HnDONDvJVE 2. Tarana Burke https://apnews.com/article/92261fb576434fcd889e12f637726df5 https://www.biography.com/activist/tarana-burke Tarana Burke is an American civil rights activist. Growing up, Burke experienced sexual violence towards women (and specifically towards women of color) first hand. She turned these negative past experiences into a passion for helping others who have experienced similar situations. She is most well known for founding the “Me Too” movement. The phrase “Me Too” was coined by Burke in 2006 while she was working at Just Be Inc., a non-profit organization she has founded for promoting the wellbeing of young women of color. While working with a young woman who had been sexually assaulted, she was looking for the right words to make her feel like she was not alone, deciding on “You’re not alone. This happened to me too”. Since then, Burke has used the phrase “me too” as the backbone of her activism. The “Me Too” movement gained significant traction in 2017 when Alyssa Milano used her platform to boost the movement and unite victims of sexual assault, paying homage to Burke. 3. Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú is a Guatemalan K'iche' Indigenous feminist and human rights activist. Her work began during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996), where she advocated for indigenous peoples’ rights. Over time, her work expanded internationally. She is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, where she advocates for indigenous rights and the role combatting racism plays in it. In a 2004 speech, she said, ““It is essential to integrate the wisdom and knowledge of the indigenous people in a new approach to education in a multicultural context, and in order that we don't just reproduce the structures of colonialism and subjugation, we need a struggle against racism and discrimination.” She has written many books about these topics, including I, Rigoberta Menchú and Crossing Borders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigoberta_Mench%C3%BA https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Rigoberta-Menchu-Denounces-Racism-at-the-UN-2 0140922-0040.html 4. Marie Beecham Marie Beecham is a current influencer who takes complex social issues and spreads awareness to them through her platforms. She is also an activist who is fighting against systemic racism and supports many other social causes. Beecham writes about how to spread more light onto these social issues and actively lets people know how they can help put an end to such injustices. https://www.mariebeecham.org/ 5. Malala Yousufzai https://www.biography.com/activist/malala-yousafzai Malala Yousufzai is an EXTRAORDINARY woman who advocates for women's education. Yousufzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan. As a young girl, she grew up attending a school founded by her father; however, this area later came under attack by the Taliban, who soon began targeting schools that were educating young women. Yousufzai started speaking out against this and continued her pursuit of education for herself and other young women. Because of this, the Taliban issued a death threat against her, but Malala continued to advocate for education. At the age of 15, she was shot in the head by a masked gunman for her activism efforts; however, she survived and continued to fight for the right to education. At the age of 16, Malala Yousufzai released her first book titled I am Malala and delivered a speech to the United Nations highlighting her fight for education and women’s rights, and at 17, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. 6. Benazir Bhutto Bhutto was a woman born in Pakistan who studied at Harvard University and University of Oxford, then returned back home where she would become the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan and chair of a political party, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). She returned home and headed the party, representing women in an authoritative position, breaking all norms, especially for the time period (1990s). She advocated for womens’ rights and economic development, but many of her attempts of reform were met with retaliation and disagreement from military and Islamist opposition. She would continue to fight for what she believed was right until assassinated in 2007. 7. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, aka AOC, is a US representative for New York’s 14th District. She was elected in 2018, defeating incumbent Joe Crowley. At 29, she is the youngest woman to serve in congress. She is in favor of abolishing ICE and making it easier for immigrants to achieve citizenship. She is in favor of anti-poverty legislation that would ensure what she calls “new necessities” to all children. These include things like healthcare and access to the internet. Finally, she has supported the “defund the police’ movement in the past. 8. Ayanna Pressely Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is the representative for Massachusetts’ 7th district and has been an activist and leader for social change, specifically for women of color, in her role. She is outspoken in her belief that “the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power” and that “a diversity of voices in the political process is essential to making policies that benefit more Americans.” She has already made policies made to better her district, including her partnership with the National Black Woman’s Justice Institute which began research into ways to change the school disciplinary policies which cause a pathway from school to prison for girls of color. https://pressley.house.gov/about 9. John Lewis John Lewis began his political career as a Freedom Rider who joined other African Americans in the Jim Crowe south risking their lives and riding on segregated busses up front. Lunch counters were occupied by his non-violent resistance. Meanwhile, white supremacists of the time demanded the death of Lewis and other freedom fighters. They sought to meet their demands, their rapacious blood lust sated with bombs, baseball bats, guns, and fists. John Lewis was arrested and sent to a prison camp for “Black Agitators.” It was there he realized his dream and decided to run for public office. He became one of the most beloved political activists and leaders of our time. He championed for LGBTQIA rights, Women’s rights, and Anti-racism (all of which have significant overlap). He served as Georgia’s 5th congressional district leader until his death in 2020. 10. Little Miss Flint (Mari Copeny) Amariyanna Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, is a young activist from Flint, Michigan. She helped raise awareness for the water crisis in her hometown. She wrote a letter to President Obama, which led him to personally visit the town. When he witnessed the situation there, he declared a state of emergency and a large aid package for the town. The president’s visit also led to major national recognition. After this, she has continued to help the people, specifically children, of flint through different political and fundraising events. Current Issues Specific issues related to racial justice include: 1. Police brutality In America, no group of people have been lucky enough to not be exposed to police brutality. In America however, no group has it worse than people of color. Racism within police departments is what is responsible for most of this violence. Other concerns are cultural concerns within urban police departments, such as the importance of loyalty and the lack of restraint when it comes to using force. When rookie officers want to be accepted, they seek to embody these things. This, along with the majorly racist sentiments of many police departments, contribute to the state of police brutality we have today. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Police-Brutality-in-the-United-States-2064580 2. School-to-prison pipeline The school to prison pipeline is an issue in all forms of education today and affects people of color predominantly. People of color are much more likely to be punished for low-level offenses like disrespect and are also seen to be punished more harshly with suspensions and expulsions. Schools that implement this authoritarian form of punishment specifically against people of color are perpetuating the cycle of kids going straight from school to prison because they can see that the way they are being treated in school is exactly how they will be treated in a government full of systemic racism. Some schools are moving away from zero tolerance policies that have caused these kinds of problems in the past which will hopefully allow the education system to reduce the numbers of students going from getting suspended to being arrested. http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/8775 3. Redlining Redlining is a form of lending discrimination characterized by refusing financial services to residents of a certain area based on the racial/ethnic demographics of that area. For several decades, United States banks have been denying mortgages to people of color living in urban areas, preventing them from purchasing homes or renovating their homes, causing perpetual cyclical poverty and poor living conditions in these demographics. This term was coined by sociologist John McKnight in the 1960s and derives from how the federal government and lenders would literally draw a red line on a map around the neighborhoods they would not invest in based on demographics alone. Inner-city neighborhoods with predominantly african american residents are the most likely to suffer from redlining. Redlining began in the 1930s within the real estate industry; however, redlining extends to other financial services such as student loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, and insurance. In 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act was passed in an effort to prevent redlining; however, these discriminatory practices still occur. For example, redlining has been used to describe discriminatory practices by retailers, both brick-and-mortar and online. This is also evidence of corporate redlining, meaning that lenders are loaning significantly fewer loans to black-owned and black-majority businesses compared to their white-owned and white-majority counterparts. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/redlining-what-is-history-mike-bloomberg-comments/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/redlining.asp 4. Workplace discrimination (Caleb) While it is illegal in the United States, discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race is still a common place problem. It often manifests in subtle ways, such as assignments during work, but it can also be more deliberate such as hiring rates. More specifically, studies have found that employers are more likely to hire white candidates with a criminal record rather than black candidates with no criminal record. Often times reporting such cases of discrimination is a difficult task, as the there can be alot of red tape around it. The EEOC, which is the organization that is supposed to do something about these complaints, has little power to do so. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/28/18241973/workplace-discrimination- cpi-investigation-eeoc 5. Wage gap There is a significant wage gap still seen today between black and white communities. Statistically, black men earn $0.87 to a white man’s one dollar, showing that this wage gap is not only an issue between genders, but races as well. This wage gap is even larger in a woman’s pay with black women earning only 63 cents to a white woman’s 80 cents and a white man’s dollar. This may only seem like a few cents, but it adds up astronomically over a lifetime and can be shown to contribute to people of color having a lower economic status. According to this article, the wage gap can be confronted by policymakers “stepping up enforcement of employment anti-discrimination laws and offering tax incentives for minority entrepreneurs and business owners.” https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/racial-wage-gaps- persistence-poses-challenge.aspx 6. Cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is defined as the “adoption, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers associated with or originating in minority communities by people or communities with a relatively privileged status”. White America consistently steals aspects of other cultures and white washes them. This is evident across a variety of cultures. Some examples are the white washing of the rock ‘n’ roll genre and hip-hop culture stolen from the African American community, appropriation of traditional cultural clothing such as kimonos from Asian cultures and tribal wear from Native American cultures as Halloween costumes and/or festival wear, and appropriation and exploitation of traditional spiritual practices such as sage burning from Native American and other indigenous cultures. In order to address this issue, we must examine our own privilege and cultural biases and learn to appreciate the culture of others rather than steal and demean it. https://dailytrojan.com/2020/06/09/the-afterword-white-people-take-everything-from-bla ck-culture-but-the-burden/ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cultural-appropriation 7. Media Portrayal Minorities in the media are either neglected or portrayed in more negative ways than others in the same situation. Those in a minority group are seen as uneducated or having meaningless opinions, so they’re not always very well represented in the media. Minorities are painted very differently than white counterparts. For example, a group of white men were pulled over on their way from VA to PA Convention Center with AR-15s and were referred to as “White men,” but there are cases of armed minorities being referred to as “thugs” and “terrorists.” Another example are protestors. BLM protestors were referenced as thugs and terrorists, even peaceful protests, but when a group of people marched into Michigan’s capital, heavily armed, it was seen as “people exercising their rights.” 8. Stereotypes The assumption that someone doesn’t belong somewhere because of their skin color is present in the U.S. Through many videos posted to social media, you can see people retaliating against persons of color saying, “You don’t belong here,” when they’re trying to go into their home, that happens to be in a nice neighborhood. Other examples are the generalization of groups that are said, and joked about, to people belonging to those groups. These people receiving these remarks are expected to brush it off, but these things are bothersome. It’s almost okay to make racist jokes, because it’s just a joke. 9. Microaggressions The term Microaggressions was coined in the 1970s by psychiatrist Chester Pierce, M.D., in the 1970s and helped to build the foundation for further studies by Jack Dovidio, Ph.D. (Yale University) and Samuel Gaertner, Ph.D. (University of Delaware). The act of a microaggression is a subtle one; it can be in the form of ableism, racial discrimination, and sexism. For example, when a white woman is walking down the street and she clutches her purse when she sees a Black man, that is an example of a microaggression. When a person refers to a disabled person derogatorily or makes a sexist joke to a woman, those are microaggressions. There is a component of cognitive dissonance that accompanies the act of being microaggressive. Many times people believe that they are socially progressive and even believe in those kinds of ideas, yet subconsciously and almost automatically they behave in a manner that is offensive and harmful to those different from them. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201010/rac ial-microaggressions-in-everyday-life 10. Erasure of Black Women in Historical, Media, and Sociological contexts There are many examples of the erasure of Black women so I will get right to it. The erasure of Black women in historical contexts can be seen in the women’s Suffrage movement. Ida B. Wells was a pioneer of abolitionism which are the roots of suffrage. However, white women in first wave feminism did not want Black women to be their equals and have the right to vote so they removed their contributions and co-opted them as their own. In Media, we often see the names of Black men who have been shot and killed by police, but very few, if any, are women that are recognized. For example, we hear a lot about George Floyed and Ahmaud Arbery, Travon Martin, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray. But can you name as many women? Do you know who Yvonne Smallwood is? Have you heard of Eleanor Bumpurs? How about “The mothers of a movement?” These are names of women from the late 20th century who have been brutalized, raped, and murdered by police. Finally, media is one of the greatest sociological contexts in which we are informed of our own class and stratified social hierarchy. As a big fan of Sci-Fi, every semester I watch Star Trek the Next Generation. Never have I seen in that series a Black captain, but instead the Black women are virtually erased. The lack of representation in news, entertainment, education, media, and history makes the role of a Black woman less real not only to themselves but also to all of us in any one of our communities. If a Black woman is not seen in leadership roles, as a pioneer, or as a type of hero, she will remain a victim or a villain, able to be tossed away, exploited or used because she doesn’t seem real. Here are some great resources. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/magazine/the-painful-consequences-of-erasure.htm l https://theconversation.com/a-short-history-of-black-women-and-police-violence-139937