The Racial Competency Working Group (RCWG) was formed in Summer 2020 and has been meeting monthly since inception. The intent for this workgroup is to think critically about the role of racism in our lives inside and outside of the department and to develop and nurture racial competence. We think of racial competence as the skills and attitudes required to develop and maintain healthy cross-racial relationships, notice and analyze racial dynamics, and confront racism in the environment and in oneself.
In preparation for each meeting, the workgroup engages with a curated list of assigned materials including readings, podcasts, and videos, and reflect on a set of prompts. At each meeting, we discuss the topic at hand both in small and large groups.
How to Participate?
We want to ensure that the group is as inclusive as possible, the group will open an invitation periodically for new members to join. The next period for new members will be the beginning of the Spring 2022 semester.
If you would like to find out more, if you have questions, or if you are interested in joining, feel free to email María Vélez (velezmb [at] umd.edu) or Sarah Tahamont (tahamont [at] umd.edu).
[themes of the month - link to the documents in google drive]
Introduction to Settler Colonialism
Read: Definitions from Oxford Encyclopedia
Watch: Ted Talk Hetero-patriarchy and Settler Colonialism by Ried Gustafson (TEDxPortlandStateUniversity)
Listen: Breaking History Podcast Settler-Colonialism in World History (first 30 minutes; last 10 minutes)
Listen Podcast Settler Colonialism and the Struggle for Abolition
The Model Minority Myth & the Resurgence in Anti-Asian Violence
Read: Stop AAPI Hate, New Data on Anti-Asian Hate Incidents Against Elderly and Total National Incidents in 2020
Read: Anne Anlin Cheng, What This Wave of Anti-Asian Violence Reveals About America
Read: Cady Lang, The Asian American Response to Black Lives Matter Is Part of a Long, Complicated History
Read: Black and Asian Americans Find Common Cause in Hate Crimes
Watch: Asian American Good American - The Model Minority Myth (3:48-16:35)
Supplementary
Read: Kat Chow, 'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks
History of Anti-Asian Racism
Read: Nina Strochlic, America’s long history of scapegoating its Asian Citizens
Read: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All
Watch (24 mins): Asian American Breaking Ground - Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Act (9:15-33:00)
Watch (27 mins): Asian American Breaking Through - Murder of Vincent Chin (3:25-30:16)
Supplementary
Watch: Asian American A Question of Loyalty - Japanese Internment Camps during WWII
Intersectionality and Code-Switching
Read: W.E.B DuBois, The Atlantic Strivings of the Negro People
Listen: FANTI Podcast Da-Da Got Fired: Intersectionality and Code-Switching (10:40-36:30) (Also available on apple podcasts)
Watch: Obama Meet and Greet- Key and Peele
Read: Code-Switching Is Not Trying to Fit in to White Culture, It’s Surviving It
Read: The Costs of Code-Switching
Supplemental
Watch: Higher Learning by John Singleton (1995) (Available on Hulu)
Institutionalized Whiteness & Microaggressions
Read: Jasmine Roberts, White Academia: Do Better
Watch (5 mins): Sy Stokes (UCLA), The Black Bruins
Watch (5 mins): I, too, am Harvard
Twitter: #BlackintheIvory
Read: Crandall & Garcia, Am I overreacting…
Read: Stacey Patton, Dear White Academics…
Read: Martinez-Cola (2020), Collectors, Nightlights, and Allies, Oh My! White Mentors in the Academy
Read: Sean K. Wilson, Surviving Academic Karens While Black
Racism & White Supremacy Culture
Watch/Read: Letter from Birmingham Jail (starts at 45:30 on YouTube) (Read here)
Watch: Baratunde Thurston, How to Deconstruct Racism One Headline At A Time
Read: Notes on White Supremacy Culture
Racism & Race/Ethnic Identity
Listen: If You See Racism, Say Racism
Read: The New York Times, “The Moms are Here”: “Wall of Moms” groups mobilize nationwide
Read: Arianna Bradford on Facebook, I will no longer be affiliating with Wall of Moms. That’s the short of it.
Read: Oregon Live, Portland’s Wall of Moms crumbles amid online allegations by former partner, Don’t Shoot PDX
Racism & Anti-Racism
Read: Harvard Educational Review, Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom
Read: White People, Please Stop Declaring Yourself Allies
Watch: UMD Teach-In: Leading Toward Anti-Racism
