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Examining Structural Racism in the U.S.: Video/Media Resources

This resource is meant to guide students to Sawyer Library's resources about systematic racism in the United States, and connect students and faculty with other community members on campus

ArtStor

Profile portrait of an African American male blind

#FREEAMERICA

Profile portrait of an African American male blindfolded with an American flag. The message refers to the high rate of incarceration of black men in the United States.

Portrait of civil rights activist and feminist Angela Davis in bold yellow and black. In the bottom left corner is Shepard Fairey's Andre the Giant Obey star, and in the bottom right corner the word giant. Additional text includes: Power and Equality, which is in bold red lettering at the top of the image. This image is a part of Shepard Fairey's

Angela Nubian

This image is a part of Shepard Fairey's "Facing the Giant: The Decades of Dissent" print series. Co-curator Pedro Alonzo explains the work, "In her landmark text, Women, Race and Class, civil rights activist and feminist Angela Davis wrote, “black women bore the terrible burden of equality in oppression.” Aware of the persistent obstacles that African-American women face in this country, Davis has long been an advocate for dismantling flawed and superficial views of race and gender.

Defend Dignity

This woman is Maribel Valdez Gonzalez, a first-generation American Xicana woman of indigenous ancestry. The picture of her on this sticker is a reinterpretation of a photograph of Hermosillo Gonzalez originally taken by Arlene Mejorado. Shepard Fairey used this portrait in his "We The People" series, a response to Donald Trump's election, with the caption "We The People Defend Dignity." The phrase "defend dignity" once again appears in the top left corner of the sticker.

Image of a woman's face, centered in a red diamond motif, surrounded by newspapers headlines and articles featuring racial biases in criminal justice; media culture, etc. This is the first piece in Shepard Fairey's series

Bias By Numbers

Fairey explains that this image "addresses racial bias in policing, criminal justice, and media culture. Racial bias in policing and criminal justice has a long history, including stats like – black people being five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and four times more likely to be subjected to unnecessary use of force, or four times more likely to be killed by the police when unarmed. The statistics revealing racial bias in prosecution and sentencing are compelling as well. Though recreational drug use is equally common in both predominantly black communities and predominantly white communities, convictions for drug possession are almost six times higher for blacks.

Painting of a young African American boy engaged in a serious discussion with his parents. A TV is broadcasting news featuring a police officer charged with the shooting of an unarmed black youth. The white policeman is not being indicted. Framed portraits of Martin Luther King and Barack Obama are hanging on the wall.

Have You Had "The Talk?"

"… scores of black and brown families throughout the United States are struggling with the delicate-but-brutal balancing act of protecting their children’s innocence, while educating them about the realities of what it means to be black in this country. For these parents and their children, “The Talk” has nothing to do with birds and bees. It is about surviving police encounters, being aware of your rights and learning how to live within a complex, systemic, centuries-old framework of race-based prejudice, violence and discrimination. -- Make it home alive. -- It is a discussion many black parents consider a necessary evil, dreading the day when their children go from innocents to threats in the eyes of a historically racist society. And it is a discussion many of their white co-workers, friends and neighbors may be ignorant about.”

Black and white print of three young people with their arms up. The person in the center is holding a Black Lives Matter sign. Flowers are in the background.

Black Lives Matter -- Arms Up -- Surrender

Black and white print of three young people with their arms up. The person in the center is holding a Black Lives Matter sign. Flowers are in the background. "The Black Lives Matter Global Network is a chapter-based, member-led organization whose mission is to build local power and to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes."

Films on Demand

AVON (Academic Video Online)