Social Justice Resources – Temple Har Zion

Myths about critical race theory:

Racial Solidarity Resources:

BOOKS

Note: If purchasing on Amazon, be sure to go to smile.amazon.com and select “Temple Har Zion”; we will receive a percentage of the sale.

Title	Author	Notes	Theme	Link
A Fool’s Errand	Lonnie Bunch	Founding Director Lonnie Bunch’s deeply personal tale of the triumphs and challenges bringing the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to life. His story is by turns inspiring, funny, frustrating, quixotic, bittersweet, and above all, a compelling read.	Black History, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Fools-Errand-Creating-National-American/dp/1588346684
Wilmington’s Lie	David Zucchino	By the 1890s, Wilmington was North Carolina’s largest city and a shining example of a mixed-race community. It was a bustling port city with a burgeoning African American middle class and a Fusionist government of Republicans and Populists that included black aldermen, police officers and magistrates. There were successful black-owned businesses and an African American newspaper, The Record. But across the state—and the South— white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny.	Black History, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Wilmingtons-Lie-Murderous-White-Supremacy/dp/0802148654/ref=sr_1_1
Black Power/Jewish Politics	Marc Dolinger	Marc Dollinger charts the transformation of American Jewish political culture from the Cold War liberal consensus of the early postwar years to the rise and influence of Black Power-inspired ethnic nationalism.	Black-Jewish Relations, Black History, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Black-Power-Jewish-Politics-Reinventing/dp/1512602574/ref=sr_1_1ks%2C78

CRT: A Primer	Khiara Bridges	This highly-readable primer on Critical Race Theory (CRT) examines the theory’s basic commitments, strengths and weaknesses.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Black History	https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Race-Theory-Third-Introduction/dp/147980276X/ref=sr_1_1

Cultivating Genius	Gholdy Muhammad	In Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework grounded in history and that restores excellence in literacy education.	Black History, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Genius-Culturally-Historically-Responsive/dp/1338594893/ref=sr_1_1
Decolonizing Wealth	Edgar Villanueva	Decolonizing Wealth is a provocative analysis of the dysfunctional colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Decolonizing-Wealth-Second-Indigenous-Divides/dp/152309141X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents	Isabel Wilkerson	Wilkerson explores how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/s?k=caste+the+origins+of+our+discontents+by+isabel+wilkerson

The Color of Love: A Story of a Mixed- Race Jewish Girl	Marra Gad	The Color of Love explores the idea of yerusha, or inheritance in Yiddish. At turns heart-wrenching and heartwarming, this is a story about what you inherit from your family–identity, disease, melanin, hate, and most powerful of all, love.	Black-Jewish Relations	https://www.amazon.com/Color-Love-Story-Mixed-Race-Jewish/dp/157284275X
The New Jim Crow	Michelle Alexander	Alexander shows that, by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice.	Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1620971933/ref=sr_1_1
A Letter to my White Friends and Colleagues	Steve Rogers	From the life, professional experiences, and research of former Harvard Business School professor Steven Rogers comes an epistle investigating the causes of racial wealth disparity in the U.S. and providing solutions for addressing it.	Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Letter-White-Friends-Colleagues-Community/dp/1119794773
Ain’t I a Woman	Bell Hooks	This book examines the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman’s involvement with feminism.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Feminism	https://www.amazon.com/Aint-Woman-Black-Women-Feminism/dp/1138821519/ref=sr_1_1
Bad Feminist	Roxane Gay	A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism.	Racial Understanding, Feminism	https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Feminist-Essays-Roxane-Gay/dp/0062282719/ref=sr_1_1
Between the World and Me	Ta-Nehisi Coates	In a work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta-Nehisi-Coates/dp/0812993543/ref=sr_1_1

Black White and Jewish	Rebecca Walker	The Civil Rights movement brought author Alice Walker and lawyer Mel Leventhal together, and in 1969 their daughter, Rebecca, was born. Some saw this unusual copper-colored girl as an outrage or an oddity; others viewed her as a symbol of harmony, a triumph of love over hate. In this book, Rebecca Leventhal Walker attempts to define herself as a soul instead of a symbol—and offers a new look at the challenge of personal identity, in a story at once strikingly unique and truly universal.	Black-Jewish Relations	https://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Jewish-Autobiography-Shifting/dp/1573221694/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
Black Anti- Semitism and Jewish Racism	James Baldwin	A critical, personal analysis of Black-Jewish relations.	Black-Jewish Relations	https://amazon.com/Black-Anti-Semitism-Jewish-Racism-Hentoff/dp/0805202803/ref=sr_1_1
The Bluest Eye	Toni Morrison	In Morrison’s bestselling first novel, Pecola Breedlove—an 11- year-old Black girl in America prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment.	Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Bluest-Eye-Vintage-International/dp/0307278441/ref=sr_1_1
The Colors of Jews	Melanie Kaye/ Kantrowitz	Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz exposes and challenges the common assumptions about whom and what Jews are, by presenting in their own voices, Jews of color from the Iberian Peninsula, Asia, Africa, and India. Drawing from her earlier work on Jews and whiteness, Kaye/Kantrowitz delves into the largely uncharted territory of Jews of color, arguing that Jews are an increasingly multiracial people―a fact that, if acknowledged and embraced, could foster cross-race solidarity to help combat racism.	Jewish History, Black-Jewish Relations	https://www.amazon.com/Colors-Jews-Politics-Radical-Diasporism/dp/0253219272/
The Fire Next Time	James Baldwin	A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave voice to the emerging civil rights movement.	Racial Justice	https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Next-Time-James-Baldwin/dp/067974472X

How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America	Karen Brodkin	This question is posted in the context of a wider conversation about American nationhood, to whom it belongs and what belonging means. Race and ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality are all staple ingredients in this conversation.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Became-White-Folks-About-America/dp/081352590X
How to Be an Antiracist	Ibram X. Kendi	Kendi weaves a combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This book takes the conversation from awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Antiracist-Ibram-Kendi/dp/0525509283/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
In the Shadow of Race: Jews, Latinos, and Immigrant Politics in the United States	Victoria C. Hattam	Race in the United States has long been associated with heredity and inequality while ethnicity has been linked to language and culture. In the Shadow of Race recovers the history of this entrenched distinction and the divisive politics it engenders.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding, Immigration	https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Race-Latinos-Immigrant-Politics/dp/0226319237
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison	The book’s nameless narrator describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of “the Brotherhood”, before retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.	Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-ralph-ellison/dp/B09YMGFDQ6/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice	Rabbi Seth M. Limmer, DHL & Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner	The essays in this collection explore the spiritual underpinnings of our Jewish commitment to justice, using Jewish text and tradition, as well as contemporary sources and models. Among the topics covered are women’s health, LGBTQ rights, healthcare, racial justice, speaking truth to power, and community organizing.	Jewish History, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Resistance-Spiritual-Authority-Obligation/dp/0881233188

To Stand Aside or Stand Alone	Allen Krause	Within the pages, readers learn about the attitudes of the rabbis toward each other, toward their congregants, toward national Jewish organizations, and toward local leaders of black and white and Protestant and Catholic groups. Theirs are dramatic stories of frustration, cooperation, and conflict.	Jewish History, Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Aside-Alone-Southern-Movement/dp/0817359095/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
White Fragility	Robin DiAngelo	In this book, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’.” (Claudia Rankine) DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.	Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Waking Up White	Debby Irving	For twenty-five years, Debby Irving sensed inexplicable racial tensions in her personal and professional relationships. As an arts administrator, she didn’t understand why her diversity efforts lacked traction. As a teacher, she found her best efforts to reach out to students and families of color left her wondering what she was missing. Then, in 2009, one “aha!” moment drastically shifted her worldview and upended her life plan.	Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Waking-White-Finding-Myself-Story/dp/0991331303/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
Uprooting Racism	Paul Kivel	Uprooting Racism offers a framework around neoliberalism and interpersonal, institutional, and cultural racism, along with stories of resistance and white solidarity. It provides practical tools and advice on how white people can work as allies for racial justice, engaging the reader through questions, exercises, and suggestions for action, and includes a wealth of information about specific cultural groups such as Muslims, people with mixed heritage, Native Americans, Jews, recent immigrants, Asian Americans, and Latino/as.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Uprooting-Racism-People-Racial-Justice/dp/0865718652
So You Want to Talk About Race	Ijeoma Oluo	Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/You-Want-Talk-About-Race/dp/1580056776/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
Just Mercy	Bryan Stevenson	Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Story-Justice-Redemption/dp/081298496X/ref=sr_1_1

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Beverly Daniel Tatum

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy?

Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides.

Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria/dp/0465060684/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

The Sum of Us

Heather McGhee

McGhee marshals economic and sociological research to paint an irrefutable story of racism’s costs, but at the heart of the book are the humble stories of people yearning to be part of a better America, including white supremacy’s collateral victims: white people themselves.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Sum-Us-Everyone-Prosper-Together/dp/0525509585/ref=sr_1_1

Tyranny of Merit

Michael J. Sandel

Philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the crises that are upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalization and rising inequality.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding

https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Merit-Find-Common-Good/dp/1250800064/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

ARTICLES

Title	Author	Notes	Theme	Link
Jason Stanley on critical race theory and why it matters	Jason Stanley	Critical Race Theory – Opponents caricature it to blunt calls for necessary structural changes to American institutions.	Critical Race Theory	https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2021/05/24/jason-stanley-on-critical-race-theory-and-why-it-matters
John McWhorter on how critical race theory poorly serves its intended beneficiaries	John McWhorter	To help black Americans, focus on policy, not making sure everyone uses your chosen phraseology.	Racial Justice	https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2021/05/24/john-mcwhorter-on-how-critical-race-theory-poorly-serves-its-intended-beneficiaries
After Pittsburgh, is Anyone Considering Jews of Color?	Ilana Kaufman	How do we keep the minds, bodies and spirits of our Jewish community members and our institutions safe in ways that are reality based, racially informed and inclusive?	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://jweekly.com/2018/11/05/after-pittsburgh-is-anyone-considering-jews-of-color/
Bagels, Lox, and Grits: Defining My Jewish Identity	Yolanda Savage-Narva	Often, Black women in America shift who they are when they enter white dominant spaces that set the standards for beauty, etiquette, and overall societal norms.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/bagels-lox-and-grits-defining-my-jewish-identity

Black, Jewish and Avoiding the Synagogue on The High Holy Days	Leah Donella	The author writes about going to synagogue as a Black Jewish woman	Racial Understanding	https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/09/20/552098304/black-jewish-and-avoiding-the-synagogue-on-the-high-holy-days
The Black Jews Are Tired	Chris Harrison	The author unpacks anti-Black violence and claims that very few Jews of Color even exist (delegitimizing efforts to prioritize their issues).	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding, Black-Jewish Relations	https://reformjudaism.org/blog/black-jews-are-tired
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: What are They and Why Do They Matter to Us?	April Baskin	This article promotes learning about and implementing three core principles/practices (diversity, inclusion, and equity) to ensure that Jewish communal spaces are affirming for all Jews and their loved ones.	Racial Understanding, Racial Justice	https://www.reformjudaism.org/beliefs-practices/racial-equity-diversity-inclusion/diversity-inclusion-and-equity-what-are-they-and-why-do-they-matter-us
Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person	Gina Crosley- Corcoran	Understanding how whiteness impacts privilege and accessibility in America	Racial Understanding, Critical Race Theory	https://medschool.duke.edu/sites/default/files/2022-02/explaining_white_privilege_to_a_broke_white_person.pdf
Finding My Jewish Soul: A Black Army Veteran’s Journey to Judaism	Bryant Heinzelman	A Black man’s journey to converting to Judaism.	Racial Understanding	https://reformjudaism.org/blog/finding-my-jewish-soul-black-army-veterans-journey-judaism
I Am Always All Parts of My Identity – and I Hope You Are, Too	Everlyn A. Hunter	Black, Jewish, Lesbian among other things, the author grapples with situations in which people and environments choose to only identify her as one of her identities.	Racial Understanding	https://reformjudaism.org/blog/i-am-always-all-parts-my-identity-and-i-hope-you-are-too
Illana Kaufman: Black, Jewish, and Challenging Ideas about the Face of the Federation	Rebecca Spence	When Ilana Kaufman, a program officer at the S.F.- based Jewish Community Federation, arrived at a local prison for a meeting with the Jewish chaplain, the chaplain couldn’t seem to find her – even though Kaufman was standing in plain sight.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://jweekly.com/2014/12/02/ilana-kaufman-black-jewish-and-challenging-ideas-about-the-face-of-federati/

Jews of Color and Who Counts in the Jewish Community	Ilana Kaufman and Ari Kelman	New study shows U.S. Jewry is less white than you might think	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://www.timesofisrael.com/jews-of-color-and-who-counts-in-the-jewish-community/
Just Because I’m Jewish Doesn’t Mean I’m Not Black	Evan Traylor	The author unpacks his identity as both being black and Jewish and growing up in both communities.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/just-because-im-jewish-doesnt-mean-im-not-black
Mourning, Broken, Afraid: A Letter to My Friends	Jessi Kingston	An article in response to the killing of George Floyd, about police brutality against black people in America	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://reformjudaism.org/blog/mourning-broken-afraid-letter-my-friends
Privileged	Kyle Korver	The author dives into his relationship with a fellow basketball player and how he confronted his privilege when his friend was injured by police.	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/kyle-korver-utah-jazz-nba
What Does it Mean to ‘Code Switch’ in Jewish Spaces?	Chris Harrison	The author, a Black Jew, discusses how to create hospitable environments for Jews of Color.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://reformjudaism.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-code-switch-jewish-spaces
What I Said When My White Friend Asked for My Black Opinion on White Privilege	Lori Lakin Hutcherson	In response to a post on Facebook, the author comments on white privilege and racism.	Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding	https://onbeing.org/blog/what-i-said-when-my-white-friend-asked-for-my-black-opinion-on-white-privilege/
White Jews: It Is on Us	Ali Rosenblatt	What we need to understand about racial inequity and what we can do about it.	Racial Justice, Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://reformjudaism.org/blog/white-jews-it-us

Why I Am a Zionist for Black Lives Matter	Rabbi Josh Weinberg	Early Zionists set out to create a utopian and exemplary society. Their socialist and egalitarian nature called for equal treatment among genders, races, and ethnicities. Today’s Israeli society is far from achieving its utopian ideals, but our job as Zionists, since the State was established, has been to bring it closer to that vision every day.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding, Racial Justice	https://urj.org/blog/why-i-am-zionist-black-lives-matter
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack	Peggy McIntosh	This article addresses white privilege and prompts the question: “Having described it, what will I do to lessen or end it?”	Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding	https://psychology.umbc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2016/10/White-Privilege_McIntosh-1989.pdf
I Helped Coin the Term Jews of Color and it’s Time for a History Lesson	Shahanna McKinney- Baldon	In our continued work to eliminate the ways that racism impacts our Jewish communities, let us lift up the act of Jews of color naming ourselves, as a way of being family and as a way of being awesome in the face of the hostility and toxicity of racism.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://www.heyalma.com/i-helped-coin-the-term-jews-of-color-its-time-for-a-history-lesson/
Wake Up America, and Smell the Anti- Semitism	Eve Barlow	Americans of all races and political outlooks revile and attack Jews with unprecedented glee, while American Jews would rather talk about anything else	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding , Black-Jewish Relations	https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/smell-the-anti-semitism-america
Building Coalitions- Linda Sarsour and American Jewish Politics	Yehudah Kurtzer	Those seeking to build coalitions must make a difficult decision: What compromises are we willing to make to effectively organize with those who share this core commitment?	Black-Jewish Relations	https://www.hartman.org.il/linda-sarsour-and-american-jewish-politics/
Finding Leaders We Can Work with in the BLM Era	Rabbi Abraham Cooper	Even in these uncertain times, many potential friends and allies are waiting to work together with us for the common good	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding	https://themedialine.org/news/opinion/finding-leaders-we-can-work-with-in-the-blm-era/

Black Lives Matter, American Jews, and Anti-Semitism: Distinguishing between the Organization, the Movement, and the Ubiquitous Phrase	Jewish Council for Public Affairs	The author argues that, to most invoking the phrase, Black Lives Matter is an inspiring rallying cry, a slogan, and a demand for racial justice. That fight for racial justice is also a fight for our own multiracial, multiethnic Jewish community.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.jewishpublicaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/BLM-Factsheet-Final.pdf
Stop Using Israel as an Excuse to Not Support Black Lives Matter	Maayan Belding-Zidon	The author asserts that while some Black Lives Matter activists support BDS, that should not mean Jews — no matter their feelings on Israel — can sit this out.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.heyalma.com/stop-using-israel-as-an-excuse-to-not-support-black-lives-matter/
Black Lives Matter is a Jewish Value	Reform Jewish Leadership	From a historical perspective, the author argues that white Americans, including white Jews, have failed to own and end American systemic racial injustices, and instead have actively or passively perpetuated these injustices.	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding , Racial Justice, Jewish History	https://urj.org/press-room/reform-jewish-leadership-statement-black-lives-matter-jewish-value
Unequivocally Black Lives Matter	NY Times ad	Joint letter signed by over 600 multiracial Jewish denominations, organizations, and synagogues represents over half of Jewish people in America	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding , Racial Justice	https://medium.com/@jewishorgssayblacklivesmatter/majority-of-american-jews-in-full-page-new-york-times-ad-unequivocally-black-lives-matter-60ae44e7c305
Skin in the Game: How Anti-Semitism Animates White Nationalism	Eric K. Ward	How antisemitism animates white nationalism.	Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Jewish History, Black- Jewish Relations	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOuHluQmHIU

Why Does Holocaust

Remembrance Day Ignore Middle Eastern Jews

Hen Mazzig

How the Nazi onslaught led directly to the Farhud massacre in Iraq and a untold Jewish deaths in Tunisia and elsewhere

Jewish History, Racial Understanding

https://www.jta.org/2019/05/01/opinion/why-does-holocaust-remembrance-day-ignore-middle-eastern-jews

Connecting to My Jewish-Indian

Roots

Lishai Peel

The history of the Bene Israel is written not just in Lishai’s DNA, but in the stories she tells.

Jewish History

https://www.heyalma.com/connecting-to-my-jewish-indian-roots/

Not Free to Desist

Jewish Libertarian Fund

With a guiding focus of centering Jews of color in the work, and a commitment to anti-racist policies and practices, Not Free to Desist (NFD) outlines seven concrete racial justice goals to help organizations achieve long-term structural change and a more just allocation of resources.

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Black- Jewish

Relations

https://www.notfreetodesist.org/

ORGANIZATIONS

Title

Author

Notes

Theme

Link

Not Free to Desist

Jewish Libertarian Fund

Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Black- Jewish

Relations

https://www.notfreetodesist.org/

PODCASTS

Title	Author	Notes	Theme	Link
A JCC for JOCs	Yitz Jordan (YLove)	Yitz Jordan (also known as the hip-hop artist Y- Love), the co-founder of TribeHerald Media, talks about building online and offline communities that center Jews of Color.	Racial Justice, Critical Race Theory, Black- Jewish Relations	https://podcasts.apple.com/kg/podcast/episode-231-a-jcc-for-jocs-yitz-jordan-y-love/id1088015938?i=1000485259031
The Future of Jewish Progressivism	Yehuda Kurtzer	Arielle Angel and Jacob Plitman join Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about the past and future of Jewish progressivism in America.	Jewish History	https://www.hartman.org.il/identity-crisis-30-the-future-of-jewish-progressivism/
How California Jews Grappled with a New Curriculum	Yehuda Kurtzer	Yehuda Kurtzer, Sarah Levin, and Tye Gregory discuss the California Jewish community’s work on the state’s Ethnic Studies curriculum	Jewish History, Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding	https://www.hartman.org.il/identity-crisis-44-how-california-jews-grappled-with-a-new-curriculum/
Unlearning Racist Conditioning	Erin Trent Johnson	Erin Trent Johnson, senior advisor at the Equity Lab, discusses: What can we do to combat, unlearn, and ultimately unburden ourselves from the influence of systemic structures of racism – both out in the world and inside of ourselves?	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding,	https://www.rickhanson.net/being-well-podcast-erin-trent-johnson-unlearning-racist-conditioning/
Code Switch: ‘Where we come from’: By Any Other Name	Diba Mohtasham, Anjuli Sastry, Julia Furlan, Kumari Devarajan	Have an uncommon name? Introducing yourself can lead to interrogation: Where are you from? What does your name mean? This program talks about what names can tell us, where we’ve been and where we’re going.	Racial Understanding	https://www.npr.org/2021/06/25/1010399875/where-we-come-from-by-any-other-name
Judaism Unbound: Audacious Hospitality	April Baskin	April Baskin, VP of Audacious Hospitality for the Union for Reform Judaism, takes an in-depth look at ideas of welcoming, empowerment, inclusion, and hospitality in contemporary Judaism.	Jewish History	https://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/2017/10/24/judaism-unbound-episode-90-audacious-hospitality-april-baskin-2

Judaism Unbound: 100% Black, 100% Jewish	x MaNishtana	Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson talk about race and intersectionality in contemporary Jewish life through the lens of the protagonist in MaNishtana’s book, Ariel Samson, Freelance Rabbi, an Orthodox rabbi.	x Jewish History, Black-Jewish Relations	x https://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/episode-162-manishtana
Race Matters	NPR	NPR Commentator Fernando Guerra says African Americans need to help move the discussion of race in America beyond black and white.	Race Relations	https://www.npr.org/2003/01/10/912345/race-matters
This American Life: The Problem We All Live With	Nikole Hannah- Jones	Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there’s one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. A look at a district that, not long ago, accidentally launched a desegregation program.	Racial Justice	https://www.thisamericanlife.org/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with-part-one
Wholly Jewish	ReformJudai sm.org	5 interviews with individuals from the Union for Reform Judaism JewV’Nation Fellowship’s Jews of Color Leadership Cohort.	Jewish History	https://reformjudaism.org/podcasts/wholly-jewish

VIDEOS

Title	Author	Notes	Theme	Link
Who Counts? Race and the Jewish Future	Ilana Kaufman	Ilana Kaufman issues a challenge to the Jewish community to think about racial diversity in our own spaces	Racial Understanding, Black-Jewish Relations	https://www.myjewishlearning.com/eli-talks/who-counts-race-and-the-jewish-future/
How to Overcome our Biases: Walk Boldly Toward Them	Vernā Myers	In this TED Talk, diversity advocate Vernā Myers says: Acknowledge your biases, then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable.	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them
What is Systemic Racism?	Jay Smooth	These videos focus on unpacking how significant aspects of our society are organized and impacted by race, including the wealth gap, employment, housing discrimination and government surveillance.	Racial Justice	https://www.raceforward.org/videos/systemic-racism
How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist	Jay Smooth	This three-minute video from Jay Smooth unpacks the difference between the “what you did” conversation and the “who you are” conversation.	Racial Understanding, Racial Justice	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc
5 Tips for Being an Ally	Franchesca Ramsey	5 tips on how to be a better ally	Racial Understanding	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dg86g-QlM0
Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice	Megan Ming Francis	In this inspiring and powerful 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	Racial Justice, Racial Understanding	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s2P5d5tMcY
Practical Diversity: Taking Inclusion from Theory to Practice	Dr. Dawn Bennett- Alexander	We strive to embrace diversity and inclusion in our schools and workplaces, but we often fail to understand what this looks like practically. Dr. Dawn Bennett-Alexander believes that with a little effort, we can move diversity and inclusion from theory to practice.	Critical Race Theory, Racial Understanding	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExcDNly1DbI

Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: The Fierce Urgency of Now	Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Ilana Kaufman, Rabbi Seth M. Limmer, Yolanda Savage- Narva	Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s phrase “the fierce urgency of now” feels just as relevant today as it did in 1963. As a movement for justice sweeps the nation, how can we as Jews take part? The video presents an open dialogue inspired by the CCAR Press book “Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice.”	Black-Jewish Relations, Racial Understanding, Racial Justice	https://vimeo.com/446487877
What Makes This Jew Different Than All Other Jews: Race, Difference, and Safety in Jewish Spaces	MaNishtana	We are a people of questions, but perhaps certain types of questions directed at certain kinds of people diminish the safety of all of us. A modern liberal idea? MaNishtana thinks not; he explains that checking people at the door is not something we Jews can or should recognize as traditional.	Black-Jewish Relations, Jewish History, Racial Understanding	https://www.myjewishlearning.com/eli-talks/what-makes-this-jew-different-than-all-other-jews-race-difference-and-safety-in-jewish-spaces/
We Jews Are Not A Race: Rethinking Race in the Jewish Community	Rabbi Angela Buchdahl	“I’m suggesting that it is time to stop thinking of Jewish Peoplehood as a race. Instead, think of Jewish Peoplehood as a family.”	Jewish History	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhG8aW6gbI
Racism in the Jewish Community: The Uncomfortable Truth	Ilana Kaufman	The racial and ethnic makeup of America is changing, and with it the face of the American Jewish community. Ilana Kaufman makes the case for counting – and accounting for – all the Jewish people.	Black-Jewish Relations, Jewish History, Racial Understanding	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCtBqbsZPLo
Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish	Rabbi Dan Moskowitz	This Rosh Hashanah sermon by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom in Vancouver BC looks at common conceptions of what a Jew looks like.	Jewish History, Racial Understanding	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVsbCvWYUN4
This is Y Love	YLove	Y-Love (Yitz Jordan) has made a name for himself as a hip-hop artist, multicultural educator, fashionista, technology guru, advertising whiz, activist for social change, and political pundit.	Racial Understanding	http://thisisylove.com/videos/

The following is a working document for scaffolding anti-racism resources, provided by Yavilah McCoy, an African-American Jew and founder of Ayecha, a nonprofit organization providing educational resources for Jewish diversity and advocacy for Jews of color in the United States. The goal is to facilitate growth for white individuals to become allies, and eventually accomplices for anti-racist work. These resources have been ordered in an attempt to make them more accessible. We will continue to add resources.

Looking for immediate action steps? Click here: Resources for Accountability and Actions for Black Lives

Anti-Racist Resource Guide

Please note: if you wish to compensate those who curated the list below, donate to one of the following organizations: Unicorn Riot or The Okra Project, or Project Motherpath.* After you’re done, send us a screenshot of the receipt if you’d like – scaffoldedantiracismresources@gmail.com

Documents containing resources used in this list:

Anti-racism Resources for White People (Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein – May 2020)

Summary of the Stages of Identity Development — this document includes white identity development models, as well as models for people of color

A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have – provides the framework for white identity development (Janet E. Helms)

A link to this document was shared on June 11, 2020 and was attached to the image below. This image was not created by the authors of this scaffolded document and the creators of the image were not cited. This image can be found in the reintegration section of this document. An earlier partial attribution has been updated to include the necessary citation additions, which are listed here: Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (2005). Adapted: Ellen Tuzzolo (2016); Mary Julia Cooksey Cordero (2019); The Conscious Kid (2020)

Stage of white identity development (Helms) and their corresponding beliefs/thoughts/actions

Resources

*When purchasing books, please purchase directly from authors or local bookstores.

What to do next?

CONTACT

“I don’t see color.”
“Talking about race brings disunity.”

Belief that racism is caused by talking about race.
Belief that you aren’t racist if you don’t purposely or consciously act in racist ways.

How folks move from this stage: by being confronted with active racism or real-world experiences that highlight their whiteness.

Activities:

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntonsh)

Podcasts:

Whistling Vivaldi (NPR)

Videos:

“I’m Still Here,” by Austin Channing Brown (Art of the Sermon)
“White Awake” by Daniel Hill (FSP Chicago)

Articles:

“Walking While Black” (Garnette Cadogan)

Books:

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria (Beverly Tatum)
I’m Still Here (Austin Channing Brown)
Whistling Vivaldi (Claude Steel)
White Awake (Daniel Hill)

Educating yourself is important — utilize resources about racial inequality and biases.

Reject the desire to ask Black folks, Indigineous folks or people of color (BIPOC) to explain racism for you. Instead, find resources created by BIPOC to help educate yourself, or offer to financially compensate BIPOC folks who are educating you!

DISINTEGRATION

“I feel bad for being white.”
May feel like you’re stuck.

How folks move from this stage: by participating in anti-racist work.

*Big caution for this stage: be aware that sitting in guilt or shame might move us to the reintegration stage.

Activities:

Racial Bias Test (Harvard) — this will help you understand what your biases might be

Videos:

“Why Are White People So Bad at Talking About Race?” – short video summarizing the book by Robin DiAngelo

Do not let guilt (white guilt) or shame stop you from doing anti-racist work.

Find a way to do the work of anti-racism. Some examples might include attending a training, joining an allies group, participating in a protest. Keep working to grow, instead of settling into shame, and ask folks how you can grow.

REINTEGRATION

“It’s not my fault I’m white.”
“I have a black friend/child/relative, etc.”

May notice yourself feeling defensive when talking about race.

How do folks move past this stage? By combating these feelings of defensiveness, shame or superiority.

Activities:

Look over the graph below and reflect on your past, current thoughts/beliefs, and implications of these convictions.

[image source: Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (2005). Adapted: Ellen Tuzzolo (2016); Mary Julia Cooksey Cordero (@jewelspewels) (2019); The Conscious Kid (2020)]

Podcasts:

“Side Effects of White Women” (Small Doses with Amanda Seales)
“Well Meaning White People” (Smartest Person in the Room)

Articles:

“The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism” (Audre Lorde)
“When Feminism is White Supremacy in Heels” (Rachel Elizabeth Cargle)

Books:

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad

Videos:

“Bloomberg and The Legacy of Stop-and-Frisk” (The Daily Show)

Remember that moving forward is important. It might be helpful to revisit some of the previous resources to help remind you of why this work is important.

Continue to find a way to participate. Some examples might include attending a training, joining an allies group, participating in a protest. Keep working to grow, instead of settling into shame.

PSEUDO-INDEPENDENCE

“How can I be white and anti-racist?”
Belief that privilege is not based on merit, but on bias & racism.
Rely on BIPOC to address racism.
Might affirm or seek to comfort the BIPOC who is addressing racism.

Podcasts:

“A Decade on Watching Black People Die” (Code Switch)

“How to Be an Antiracist” (Brené Brown + Ibram X. Kendi)

Books:

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Why I No Longer Talk to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Loge
The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward

Documentary:

13th (Ava DuVernay)

Poem

White Privilege (Kyla Lacey)

Videos

How We Can Win (David Jones)

Begin having difficult conversations with white friends and family about racism and inequality.

Begin to think about how you might use your privilege to support anti-racist work.

IMMERSION

Begins to work against systems of oppression, rather than seeing racism as individual actions.
Is able to embrace their own white identity & what their whiteness means, while also working alongside BIPOC
Works actively to be anti-racist.

Activities:

Reflective Journal Prompts

1. Think about the country that you live in. What are some of the national racial stereotypes–spoken and unspoken, historic and modern–associated with Black women? Black men?
2. How do you see colorism at work in this country? How do you see colorism at work in your own prejudicial thoughts?
3. How have you expected Black women to serve or soothe you?
4. How have you reacted in the presence of Black women who are unapologetic in their confidence, self-expression, boundaries, and refusal to submit to the white gaze?

Podcasts:

Kaepernick (Still Processing)
White Lies (NPR)

Articles:

“The Case for Reparations” (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
“Why Seeing Yourself Represented on Screen Is So Important” (Kimberley Lawson)
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism

Books:

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
How to be An Antiracist by Ibram Kendi

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Video:

5 Tips for Being an Ally

Movies:

The New Negro

Complete the journal prompts and consider completing some of the action items laid out in these resources!

AUTONOMY

Embodied anti-racism: being willing to step in the way of racism when possible, engage in protests
Has done the work to recognize their own identity, so that they can effectively be anti-racist.
Recognizes that growth is continual, and they might need to revisit previous stages.

Activities:

Answer these questions (written by Nii Addo Abrahams, M.A., M. Div. / Twitter & Instagram @_nickyflash_)