Race – the Power of an Illusion

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An eye-opening three-part series confronting our myths and misconceptions about race through the distinct lenses of science, history and social institutions.

Race: The Power of an Illusion was a three-part series that was produced by California Newsreel and investigated race in society, science and history. The educational documentary originally screened on PBS and was primarily funded by CPD, the Ford Foundation and PBS.

The division of people into distinct categories—“white,” “black,” “yellow,” “red” peoples—has become so widely accepted and so deeply rooted in our psyches, that most people would not think to question its veracity. This three-hour documentary tackles the theory of race by subverting the idea of race as biology, tracing the idea back to its origin in the 19th century.

Chapters

• Chapter One – The Difference Between Us

examines the contemporary science – including genetics – that challenges our common sense assumptions that human beings can be bundled into three or four fundamentally different groups according to their physical traits.

• Chapter Two – The Story We Tell

uncovers the roots of the race concept in North America, the 19th century science that legitimated it, and how it came to be held so fiercely in the western imagination. The episode is an eye-opening tale of how race served to rationalize, even justify, American social inequalities as “natural.”

• Chapter Three – The House We Live In

asks, If race is not biology, what is it? This episode uncovers how race resides not in nature but in politics, economics and culture. It reveals how our social institutions “make” race by disproportionately channeling resources, power, status and wealth to white people.

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Economic Collapse & The Rise of Fascist & Racist Elements

The purpose of this video is to draw attention to a dangerous undercurrent of racism, anti-semitism and outright fascism which has been growing within our ranks in recent years. We’re going to point to where this could end up if we allow it to continue, and to we’re going to explain how to confront it effectively.

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This image was used several times in the film ‘Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden’ to help understand the multiple processes of colonization and the dominant understanding of ‘American Progress’.

The image captures a disturbing truth about the history of our education system. The truth is chilling. But it is a history we should never forget!

This is a clip from the feature documentary:Schooling the World

(Thanks to the generosity of the film-makers, you can watch the full film online for free and in HD)

Other images used in the film: Photo gallery