Creating a Multicultural Nation Without Racism
Photo by Liz Falconer / Unsplash License
This section of the website contains essays, book reviews, and links to material that discusses the ‘science’ of racism as it relates specifically to structures of American society.
The pages encourage discussion that is helpful in understanding how structures like the laws, regulations, court decisions, and the Constitution support and preserve American racism.
Paulo Freire, Tom Boomershine and Marshall McLuhan all explore the connection between communication technology and the structures of society.
Ken Bedell reviews this history, applies it to social media, and asks: "How can a new technology open possibilities for expressing multicultural values and developing a nation without racism?"
History reminds us that many of our movements were led by young people. Their leadership is needed in the present and future as well. Who are the young people in your circle? Let’s invite them to become thought partners and build new relationships with us as we continue to find ways to overcome racism.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was a famous abolitionist and a great orator. In one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” he shared his frustration about our nation. “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” What does Independence Day mean? Why should we celebrate?
The Fourth of July holiday is often seen as a time for feasting and celebrating. Considering the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Declaration of Independence calls us to make the holiday a time for remembering and reflecting. It is also a time to be inspired by the 56 men who took bold action and "mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" to create the future. Would that we might have the same courage to commit to creating a multicultural nation without racism.
From his disadvantaged childhood spent on the “have-not side” of Westminster, through trials and tragedies of his teen years, and on to his rise as a celebrity and influencer who is accepted and appreciated on both sides of the city, Billy Lyve’s life was a search for purpose. He’s now in a place where he is able to facilitate connecting across the barriers that have separated people. Ironically, he found his purpose in helping others find theirs.
Annette Gordon-Reed is a history professor at Harvard University who has written a book that every American should read, and it should be required reading in every high school. Her special gift as a historian is to describe the complexity of past events so that they reveal the people who made them. Then, as a social commentator, she shows how Texans and Americans are products of history by sharing stories about her family and herself.
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Opal Lee, a former schoolteacher and counselor, advocated for it to be a national holiday.