Film Discussion Group: How Racism Harms White Americans

The West Linn Alliance February film discussion will review the film How Racism Harms White Americans 

Running Time: 46 min
Year: 2013

Kanopy Link: https://westlinnoregon.kanopy.com/video/how-racism-harms-white-americans

Registration Link: https://calendly.com/wlpl-programs/feb2022-discussion

What is the cost of racism on American society? Distinguished historian John H. Bracey Jr., professor in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst since 1972, offers a provocative analysis of the devastating economic, political, and social effects of racism on white Americans. Focusing beyond white power and privilege, Bracey turns his lens on the high price that white people, especially working-class whites, have paid for more than two centuries of divisive race-based policies and attitudes.

This includes:

• the pivotal role slavery played in the American Revolution,
• the two million white Americans who died in a civil war fought over the question of slavery,
• how business owners took advantage of the segregation of America’s first labor unions and used low-wage, non-unionized black workers to undercut the bargaining power of white workers,
• and why Americans do not enjoy the benefits of a national health care system as other European countries have for over a century.

Bracey’s key theme is that failing to acknowledge the centrality of racism not only minimizes the suffering of black people, but also blinds us to how white people have been harmed as well. Well-chosen historical imagery underscores the film’s compelling narrative. A central question for the film discussion is How can our society learn from the past and move toward a more equitable future?