Resources for Self-Education on Race-Based Bias, Prejudice, and Discrimination

White Folk’s Work: Learning About Racism, Respectfully

These resources have been selected for white individuals who seek to self-educate about racism. Please consider that self-education may be more respectful and thoughtful than asking members of communities of color to provide you with explanations about racism. Many excellent resources exist and are easily accessible -- and many of these resources are created by or in collaboration with people of color for just this purpose. You can honor their talent and dedication, and get great insights at the same time, by utilizing their books, articles, and videos to educate yourself about race-based bias, discrimination, and prejudice.

And, of course, please consider starting your self-education journey with Waking Up White!

This resource list will be updated regularly. Know a great book, article, website, or video related to white privilege and social injustice? Please share by emailing ​LaXWakingUpWhite@gmail.com. Our Steering Committee will review your suggestion and consider adding it to the list published here.
READ​ WATCH/LISTEN ACT
WAKING UP WHITE EDUCATIONAL PARTNERS
  • Debby Irving - "Waking up White" author, 2021 White Privilege Symposium keynote speaker, and racial justice educator and speaker
  • Dr. Eddie Moore Jr.- currently serves as Director of The Privilege Institute (TPI) and The National White Privilege Conference (WPC), both founded under his direction to provide opportunities and possibilities for research, publications, speaking and collaborations by those committed to true social and institutional change.
  • Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council- strengthens the workplaces and communities of the Greater La Crosse Area by promoting and cultivating diversity, access, inclusion and equity through collaborative projects and programs.
  • Nurturing Diversity Partnerships- co-founded by Reggie Jackson and Dr. Fran Kaplan, provides education, training, and consulting services to foster diversity, inclusion, and equity within institutions and communities. 
  • The Privilege Institute (TPI) provides challenging, informative, and practical strategies, programs, and resources. We equip and empower people, organizations, institutions, and communities committed to action and accountability related to issues of diversity, power, privilege, and leadership.

How Should White People Talk about Race? - Keonte Turner

In this episode of Ethics Today we talk to Keonte Turner, member of the La Crosse School Board and the La Crosse MLK Community Celebration Committee, about the discomfort white people often feel in addressing racial issues, the burden of publicly representing minority populations, and the challenge of working to reform institutions from within. Hosted by Richard Kyte of the DB Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University
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Sundown Towns - Jenny DeRocher

In 2016, UW-La Crosse History student Jenny DeRocher wrote and presented her capstone project, which argues that the city of La Crosse, WI can be considered a sundown town. DeRocher used framework outlined by sociologist James W. Loewen, a researcher of sundown towns who defined them as U.S. communities that historically worked to keep their population all-white throughout the 20th century by intentionally using a variety of tactics, including what he called "freeze outs." It is through this strategy that DeRocher found supporting evidence to argue that La Crosse was a sundown town, which has lasting effects in today's community.
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Let's Get to the Root of Racial Injustice - Megan Ming Francis

In this talk, Megan Francis traces the root causes of our current racial climate to their core causes, debunking common misconceptions and calling out "fix-all" cures to a complex social problem. Megan Ming Francis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington where she specializes in the study of American politics, race, and the development of constitutional law.

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White Rage: The Unspoken truth of our nation’s divide - Carol Anderson.

​Carol Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University. Her research focuses on public policy with regards to race, justice, and equality.



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Race: The Power of an Illusion

Award-winning three-part video series from PBS. Shorter clips and text resources available online. A great place to start your learning journey. The clip at left focuses on unjust structural systems that have led over time to a huge gap in wealth between white and non-white population groups in the U.S. Important factual, historical information usually left out of textbooks. 
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30 minutes









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Concepts Unwrapped: Implicit Bias

What is implicit bias, what's the evidence, and how does it affect us?

University of Texas-Austin
McCombs School of Business

8 minutes




How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time

TED Talk by Baratunde Thurston "explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walking or generally 'living while black.'" Read more on the TED Talk webpage.

NPR CodeSwitch

NPR website section and newsletter focused on race. Excellent short articles on current events, bias, and discrimination. Subscribe to receive in your inbox weekly.
As you do this work, we invite you to read and reflect on the the following statement from Mr. Keonte R. Turner, member of the La Crosse School Board and the La Crose MLK Community Celebration Commitee:

​To our fellow white folks who are protesting and shedding light on the deep rooted problems of injustice in our country, in our world, and in our community, thank you. But we must make a few things clear to you for ongoing protest.

Do not speak for the black community of La Crosse.

I see this as stripping the black community of La Crosse our voices. Doing something good for a community of people  to show face  without coming up with real solutions is none other than a beautiful red apple with a rotten core. It looks edible, but rather problematic on the inside.

The protesting is not the problem, entirely. Nothing wrong with that in the sense that of course, raising awareness and speaking out against injustice in theory is a good thing. What is problematic is when whites don’t stop before they start and ask theirselves, “But WHAT is actually needed? We don’t need assumptions. Nor do we need for whites to speak for us. We need you to listen.

We in the black community respect our allies if they’re willing to put in the work, check their assumptions, and acknowledge that “cultural competence” and “anti-racism” are not skills that can be mastered. Meet us at our table where we make our own decisions and come up with our own solutions within our communities- because nobody knows what is best for our community but us.

If you have to ask us (The black community) if it okay to “Do” something, it probably means ...it is not okay to do. Again, thank you for fighting and marching along side us. But don’t be our voice. It is important that you understand to not drown out the voices of the black community in times like this. It can be rather be counterproductive and problematic to true justice and change. - June 2020 ​

Explore More

Special resources for Facilitators-in-Training
Creating a Healthier Multicultural Community Project

Resource materials provided by Dr. Fran Kaplan. Click on the titles OR click on "download file" to access. 
how_we_got_here_lax_select_slides_nov_2019.pdf
File Size: 4114 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
disparities_reading_list_chmc__1_.pdf
File Size: 165 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File