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EDUCATION

Education is key to effectively defeating systemic racism and discrimination.  This section offers some resources that can help.

 

Numerous organizations have developed anti-racism tools to help grapple with the problem. I have assembled a number of them here, but one that stands out is one developed by Stanford University.  It provides an excellent template to help deal with racism in any environment. 

This particular set of tools has been designed and curated to work together to support you on your anti-racism journey. You can “Start with Self” and work through each of the tools in order, or you can jump to learning more about “How to Talk about Racism.” There is no 'right' way to start; what matters is that you start.

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  1. Start with Self
    This section includes tools to help you understand personal biases and self-care.

  2. Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
    This section includes tools to create psychological safety to have difficult conversations.

  3. How to Talk about Racism
    This section includes tools to help you understand why it’s important to discuss racism and how to lead an effective discussion.

  4. Anti-racism: Take Action to Confront and Reject Racism
    This section includes tools to help you understand what anti-racism is and how to be an anti-racist.

  5. Practice Allyship
    This section includes tools to help you understand what it means to be an ally and how to act beyond being an ally.

  6. Keep Focused on the Change
    This section includes tools to help you create and sustain change/cultural transformation.

MORE ANTI-RACISM EDUCATION

RRC POLYTECH
Anti-Racism Learning Toolkit

 

A starting point to better understand racism and take action.

This guide goes over historical instances of racism but also focuses on what's happening now. Anti-racism aims to learn from the dark side of history in order to be mindful to do better, to listen to other’s voices, and to help effect true change to promote authentic diversity. 

It is the goal of this guide to contribute to our educational efforts in acknowledging how racism has shaped our thinking and actions so that we can enhance our knowledge and speak out against racism and systemic barriers

embracerace

 

Let’s raise a generation of children who are thoughtful, informed, and brave About race.

There is a growing body of research and evidence that makes clear that children’s racial sensibilities begin to form in infancy, that almost all children develop racial and other biases by kindergarten, and that those biases become fairly entrenched by adolescence. And yet, most national organizations dedicated to children’s racial learning direct their resources mainly to middle and high school educators. There are too few resources for young children available for parents, grandparents or other caregivers or for early childhood educators.

EmbraceRace helps fill that gap.

ANTIHATE.CA 

 

Confronting hate in Canadian schools

The goal of this toolkit and its associated workshops is to supplement a comprehensive anti-racism education program. It will give you the tools to identify when a young person is consuming hate propaganda and is becoming radicalized, and to intervene as early as possible before the situation escalates.

Everyone who engages in the life of a school is in a unique position to isolate and push back against growing hate-promoting movements. It’s time to own that power. Our job is to build schools where everyone feels valued, and where students can grow to be engaged citizens of an inclusive democracy.

BU CARES Research Centre

Anti-racism Resource Toolkits

 

BU CARES Research Centre is an applied research institution of the Faculty of Education at Brandon University.

The Centre has produced four toolkits of curated lists including blogs, books, websites, videos, and more:

Black Anti-Racism Toolkit

Immigrant Anti-Racism Toolkit

Muslim Anti-Racism Toolkit

Indigenous Anti-Racism Toolkit

BU CARES Toolkits

BGC Canada

Anti-racism Toolkit

 

This toolkit seeks to identify and recognize the barriers our members face and to support equity, diversity and inclusion commitments more explicitly.

The toolkit includes the following sections:

 

Anti-Racism Key Concepts

To help you explore and expand your understanding of the principles.

 

Implementation Guidance

To share tips and suggestions on ways to support anti-racist programming.

 

Activities

To provide you with stand-alone activities you can run as needed.

Wellcome

Anti-racist principles, guidance and toolkit


Wellcome has developed this resource to help us achieve racial equity in our organisation and work. This is not legal advice, it is a framework for how to be anti-racist.

Anti-racism is the active work to oppose racism and to produce racial equity – so that racial identity is no longer a factor in determining how anyone fares in life. Being anti-racist means supporting an anti-racist policy through your actions. An anti-racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups.

PBS TeachersLounge

Tools for Anti-Racist Teaching

 

In this four-part series, we will explore tools for anti-racist teaching and will consider the ways in which we can use media and media literacy to deepen our understanding of systemic racism. Wherever you are in your social justice journey, this series is designed to introduce you to curated anti-racism resources,  support your own learnings of anti-Black racism, help you discover innovative ways to integrate media into inclusive teaching practices, and show you how to amplify your Black students’ voices and experiences. By attending, you will reflect on your role in systemic oppression within education, and leave with new tools and ideas for creating lasting change in their classrooms.

Part 1
Deepening Your Understanding of Race and Racism

Part 2

Using Media to Know Better, Teach Better

Part 3

Amplify Student Voice

Part 4

Focusing on Young Learners

PBS LearningMedia

Tools for Anti-Racist Teaching

 

This four-part series investigates how racism, mental health, history, and education intersect. We also discuss how media and media literacy can deepen our understanding, turn knowledge into action, and create positive change in the fight against anti-Black racism in education.

 

EPISODE 1

Deepening Understanding - Systemic Racism's Impact on Education.

 

EPISODE 2

Affirming Identities -
The Content We Teach

EPISODE 3

Mental Health -
Centering Our Learners

EPISODE 4

Accountability -
Designing a Path Forward

Resource Guide

To provide you with stand-alone activities you can run as needed.

Canadian Centre for
Diversity and Inclusion

TOOLKITS 

The research that feeds our reports and toolkits zeroes in on the topics of diversity and inclusion, and employment equity, identified as the most pressing issues in Canadian workplaces.

Toolkit 1:

Getting Started - Diversity and identity

Workshop 1

Toolkit 2:

Exploring my power and privilege

Workshop 2

Toolkit 3:
Prejudice, bias and discrimination

Workshop 3

Toolkit 4:
Navigating the conflict zone and becoming an ally

Workshop 4

Toolkit 5:
Taking action - building a school wide initiative

Workshop 5

familyservices WINDSOR-ESSEX

Anti-Racism
Toolkit

 

A Beginner’s Journey to Understanding: Race, Racism, Oppression, Structural Racism, and White Privilege

 

The toolkit is designed as a semi-interactive resource for FSWE staff to learn about the core concepts necessary to advance racial equity. It discusses race, racism, oppression, structural racism, and white privilege.

 

The toolkit’s goal is to create a framework for reflection, discussion and personal growth. It’s composed of seven sections (or modules), each which focuses on a different core concept. Each module ends with a video, an article, and three reflection questions.

American Psychological Association

Understanding and combating racism

 

This website presents a variety of related articles, guidelines and podcasts and makes the important link between psychology and racism.

 

Where does one begin when “taking on” the issue of racism? The intersecting individual, environmental, and structural factors that contribute to racism and discrimination can make it feel overwhelming to determine which pieces of the issue we can affect. Our socialization and our training can make it challenging to navigate, with many who want to make a difference at a loss for where to start.

 

There is action that we can take immediately to help abolish racism and contribute to equity and inclusion in our own communities, and that is to challenge our thinking. Reframing how we think about racism and discrimination can promote greater understanding in ourselves and others and open our eyes to new solutions. 

BC Teachers Federation

Teaching Resources: Anti-racism

 

Teaching and Classroom Resources

TeachBC is your go-to site for free downloadable lesson plans, posters and classroom resources. These include a variety of material on addressing racism and discrimination.

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Justice in June

 

Justice in June cultivates a community rooted in truth, inspires action and is committed to awareness.

 

This resource was compiled for the purpose of providing a starting place for individuals trying to become better allies.

 

Choose how much time you have each day to become more informed as step one to becoming an active ally to the black community. On this website are links to the learning resources and a schedule of what to do each day.

Learning For Justice

 

Learning for Justice seeks to uphold the mission of the Southern Poverty Law Center: to be a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.

 

The free educational resources - articles, guides, lessons, films, webinars, podcasts, frameworks and more - help foster shared learning and reflection for educators, young people, caregivers and all community members.

RacismNoWay

Teaching Resources and Cultural Exchange


Racism.No way! is a project by which school communities find information and resources to combat racism in the learning environment. While the organization is based in Australia, their material is largely applicable worldwide.

Understanding others makes possible a better knowledge of oneself: any form of identity is complex, for individuals are defined in relation to other people – both individually and collectively – and the various groups to which they show allegiance, in a constantly shifting pattern. 

-  UNESCO (1996)
   ‘Learning: The Treasure Within’

US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Teaching Materials on Antisemitism and Racism

 

This website offers a variety of lesson plans and resources that prmote effective teaching about antisemitism and the Holocaust. These include:

  • The Holocaust

  • Antisemitism and Racism

  • Books and Literature

  • Nazism and Jim Crow

  • Primary Sources and the Museum's Collection

  • Propaganda

  • Roles of Individuals

See also

Antisemitism: From Its Origins to the Present (Free Online Course)

Join 50 leading scholars in exploring antisemitism, from its roots to its contemporary forms.

ResilienceBC 
Anti-Racism Network

Anti-Racism Tools

 

They see a future free from racism and hate. The Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network website provides tools to help you do the hard work and make this vision a reality.

Tools include:

  • E-Learning options

  • Websites: Anti-racism and anti-hate efforts in Canada and around the world

  • Read: a list of recommended videos, podcasts, and books
    Gather your friends, host an online watch party or start a virtual book club to engage in creating a future free from racism and hate.

  • Watch: Video presentations

  • Listen: Podcasts

  • Research and Tools: Learn more from researchers and experts about how you we can work together to make this vision of a racism- and hate-free world a reality.

See also

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University of
British Columbia

Anti-Racism Awareness

 

Historical, Systemic and Intersectional Anti-racism:
From Awareness to Action


This course will systemically cover and uncover implicit and explicit forms of historic, systemic and institutional racisms and their colonial and intersectional impacts on marginalized peoples and their communities in the past and in contemporary times.

 

Participants will gain a deep understanding of the hegemony of racism and how it is embedded and experienced in every day interactions and relationships in all facets of society and its institutions. Learners from across disciplines, professions, organizations and communities will be challenged to think critically about racism and to move from denial to awareness, action and dismantling institutional and systemic racism so as to create lasting change.

Participation in this online course is FREE!

 

Love has No Labels

Challenge Bias

 

Inclusion starts with knowledge

Learn how bias, discrimination and inclusion impact different communities.

Every day, we have an opportunity to create a more just, equitable and inclusive society. Check out the resources here to learn about the many ways we can support and include people of various racial and ethnic groups.

THE UNFORGOTTEN
Toolkit

An educational guide to learn about, reflect on and dismantle anti-Indigenous racism in health care.

A five-part film exploring the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples living in Canada

The events and issues raised in The Unforgotten can leave many questions unanswered. With the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, the CMA has created resources to help viewers learn, reflect and discuss topics that were raised in the film.

 

BlackNorth Initiative

Racial Equity Playbook

The objective of the BlackNorth Initiative Racial Equity Playbook is to provide organizations with context on the situation that the Black community faces in Canada, such as their challenges and continued inequities faced in the workplace.

It contains a list of tools and tactics that organizations can use to fulfill their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals; becoming more equitable corporate citizens.

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National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health

Anti-Indigenous Racism

 

Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are turning the tide.


This series of three fact sheets focuses on racism experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada – how to understand it in historical context, how it affects individuals and communities, and what programs, policies and strategies exist to combat it.

  1. Understanding racism

  2. Indigenous experiences with racism and its impacts

  3. Policies, programs and strategies to address anti-Indigenous racism: A Canadian perspective

Home on
NATIVE LAND

This free, self-directed course aims to help non-Indigenous people learn about some of the harder-to-digest aspects of the country’s history, using humour to soften the blow.

The course, called Home on Native Land, deals with Indigenous law, colonial history and environmental injustice and is divided into 10 modules which comprise:

  1. 10 video conversations with prominent Indigenous thinkers, scholars, and legal experts with host Ryan McMahon

  2. 10 lessons laying out the fundamentals of Treaty rights, the Indian Act, Constitutional rights, and environmental rights & Indigenous stewardship – with illustrations

  3. Prompts for self-reflection and ways to initiate dialogue – at work, at school, or around the dinner table

See also How to Talk to Your Racist Relatives about Indigenous Rights

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Ten Lessons for Talking About Race, Racism, and Racial Justice

As we strive to improve conversations about race, racism, and racial justice in this country, the environment in which we’re speaking seems to be constantly shifting, which shows that these conversations are more important than ever. We’ve put together some advice on finding entry points based on research, experience, and the input of partners from around the country. This is by no means a complete list, but it is a starting point for moving these discussions forward.

Please note that while there are many reasons to communicate with various audiences about racial justice issues, this memo focuses on messaging with the primary goal of persuading them toward action. There are many times when people need to communicate their anger, frustration, and pain to the world and to speak truth to power. Doing so may not always be persuasive, but that obviously doesn’t make it any less important.

Since we’re considering persuasion a priority goal in this memo, consider the following advice through that lens.

  1. Lead with shared values: Justice, Opportunity, Community, Equity

  2. Use values as a bridge, NOT a bypass.

  3. Know the counter narratives.

  4. Talk about the systemic obstacles to equal opportunity and equal justice.

  5. Be rigorously solution-oriented and forward-looking.

  6. Consider audience and goals.

  7. Be explicit about the intertwined relationship between racism and economic opportunity and the reverberating consequences.

  8. Describe how racial bias and discrimination hold us all back.

  9. Listen to and center the voices of BIPOC.

  10. Embrace and communicate our racial and ethnic diversity while decentering whiteness as a lens and central frame.

Applying the Lessons

VPSA: Value, Problem, Solution, Action

One useful approach to tying these lessons together is to structure communications around Value, Problem, Solution, and Action, meaning that each message contains these four key components:

  1. Values: Begin by connecting with your audience over shared values. Establish why the audience should care, and how they will connect the issue to themselves.

  2. Problem: Introduce the problem you are addressing and explain how it threatens the values you share.

  3. Solution: Tell your audience how the problem can be solved. By quickly pivoting to solutions, you avoid tapping into compassion fatigue and can motivate your audience to action.

  4. Action: Finally, give your audience specific examples of an action or actions they can take to help - a concrete ask of the audience, to ensure engagement and movement.

How to help children learn about race

Our children receive messages about race all the time - from books, games, movies, television, teachers, family friends and family members, neighbors and neighborhoods, their peers, and from you. They learn from what you say and do, from what you don't say and don't do. They notice patterns around race and gender, among other identities. Which kids get to be the stars in their picture books? Who among their peers is considered beautiful or smart or upstanding? Which children do teachers tend to scold? Who's invited to their home for dinner - and who isn't? Which communities' concerns do we meet with care, attention, and resources? Which groups do what work in the world? Who gets to be president?

As adults in the lives of children, we play a crucial role in shaping how and what they learn about race. Here are some starting points for raising children who can be the thoughtful, informed, and race-brave community members our multiracial democracy needs to thrive.

 

 

Start early. The earlier, the better.

Your 5 Year-Old is Already Racially Biased.

Here's what you can do it about it.

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