MetroFocus: July 9, 2020

SPECIAL REPORT: LONG ISLAND’S ANTI-RACISM PROJECT GAINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION

America is grappling with its own difficult and painful history as it pertains to issues of race. For white Americans, this has been an opportunity to reckon, in many cases for the first time, with the legacy of slavery and racial injustice. But for black Americans, systemic racism is and has always been a lived experience. The question now, is how do we bridge that difference in understanding? The answer may not be too far from home.

On May 30th, 2020, an Obama Foundation newsletter featured Long Island’s Anti-Racism Project, saying its website contained “very comprehensive and practical resources that the world should see.” The Obama Foundation’s email also shared a message from President Barack Obama addressing George Floyd’s death and how “for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’” — and shouldn’t be in 2020 America. This is the very same topic the Anti-Racism Project has made it their mission to inform communities about. For the past several years, this group of diverse members have led workshops discussing how to be “anti-racist” (taking concrete actions to eliminate one’s own racial bias and working to dismantle racist systems) in hopes of educating participants about how institutionalized racism, internalized racism and white privilege feed oppression. Tonight, Bill Walton, one of the project’s early participants turned facilitator and Hedda Marcus, a facilitator who helped develop the Anti-Racism Project’s curriculum, join us for a very candid discussion on social change and creating a society that is truly egalitarian.

For more on the Anti-Racism Project, click here.