Content Warning:
Understanding the history and ongoing reality of racism and racist violence involves encountering the harsh realities faced by people who have experienced and live with injustice. The sources in this guide may require confronting accounts of physical and/or sexual violence, enslavement, incarceration, other forms of labor exploitation, and racism in its various institutional and intimate forms. Reading about these difficult truths is crucial to critical thinking, intercultural understanding, and cultivating empathy for individuals both past and present; moreover, it allows us to comprehend the innovative ways that people have exhibited both resilience and resistance. For some of you, however, these accounts may be painfully close to your own histories and personal experiences to grapple with. You can find campus mental health resources here.
Welcome
This guide is intended to provide general information and resources about anti-racism, inequality, and white privilege. It heavily focuses on black experiences and resources, but does include several materials about Latinx, Asian, and Native American experiences. While many of these resources are available in the Tredway Library or through I-Share, there are many resources available to access online right away. This is not an exhaustive list, but is a starting point for those who would like to learn more.
In this guide, you will find the following:
A little overwhelmed by all of the resources out there? The Google Doc, Justice for June, was created by friends Autumn Gupa and Bryanna Wallace. They provide suggestions on how to be an ally to the black community by organizing the resources into different time amounts to devote each day to for the month of June.
In addition to this library guide, there are Augustana College resources available as well to help provide support and information.
This is a guide that will continue to be updated over time, so make sure to come back to see what was added.
What is Systemic Racism?
Before delving into this guide, it would be helpful to have a basic understanding of what systemic racism is. If you aren't positive of what it is, take a few minutes to watch this video posted on the Instagram account of Academy Award winner, Viola Davis.