RaceWorks Instructions

Late high school, college; young adults and adults

Students or co-workers will be able to:

1. Define what it means to think about race as actions that people “do” rather than as a thing that people “are.”
2. Identify how people do race across different levels of society: individual, interactional, institutional, and ideological.
3. Discuss the relationships among race, power, inequality, privilege, and constructions of social difference.

The concept guides on defining race and the culture cycle will be helpful here.

1. What is race?
2. Where do people’s understandings of race come from?
3. Can understanding how people do race help us undo racism and inequality?

1. How is the idea of race as a doing (i.e., as actions that people do) different from the idea that race is something that people are?
2. In Doing Race, Paula Moya talks about how race operates across different levels of society: the individual level, the interactional level, the institutional level, and the ideological level.
   • How is race “done” across these levels?
   • How can these levels interact with or reinforce one another?
   • In what ways are these levels dynamic, evolving, and changing? In what ways are they relatively stable or enduring?
3. In Doing Race, Matt Snipp, and Hazel Rose Markus give research-based examples of how people do race at these different levels in society.
   • How do these examples illustrate the idea of race as a “doing”?
   • How might these examples of how people do race suggest ways to undo racism?
4. In Doing Race, Harry Elam says that race is both a “social construction” and a “lived experience.” Does this mean that race is real? Why/why not?
5. In Doing Race, Tomás Jiménez says that race tells us something about what “people who look a particular way deserve.” How does race shape who has power in society and how they can use it?
   • What does this mean for inequality? Privilege? Advantage and disadvantage?
   • How do power and race work together to shape how people think about social group differences?
6. Is race always negative? Can it be positive?
7. How does race intersect with social class, gender, sexual orientation, and other significant social distinctions? Can race operate differently for people from different social classes, genders, sexual orientations, etc.?
8. If we all participate in doing race, does that mean that we are all racist or have racial bias?
9. If we all participate in doing race, how can we use that participation to start to undo racism?

Before watching Doing Race, have students or co-workers complete the following reflection questions. Then, after watching Doing Race, have them review their responses and note any changes to them that they would make. Discuss reflections and observations as a group.

• Think about the word race. How would you distill your thoughts, experiences, or observations about race into one sentence that only has six words? (Source: The Race Card Project By Michele Norris, theracecardproject.com).
• Reflect on your personal experience with race. What kind of an impact has it had on your life? Why do you think that is?
• Please complete the following sentences in your own words.
  • Talking about race/racism makes me feel…
  • Not talking about race/racism makes me feel…
  • Conversations about race are difficult when…
  • Conversations about race go more smoothly when…
  • I am least equipped to engage in conversations about race when…
  • I would be more equipped to engage in conversations about race if…

(Suggested time: 45 minutes)

As discussed in Doing Race, people often think that race is a thing that people have or are rather than as actions that people do. Refer back to the defining race concept guide.

Here are 10 common conversations that people have about race in the U.S. These conversations happen between people, but also on TV, in films, in advertisements, in the news, online, and in social media.

First, review these common conversations with students or co-workers.

10 Common Conversations About Race in the U.S.

(Expanded from “Doing Race: An Introduction,” Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century, Moya & Markus, 2010)

1. We’re beyond race.
2. Racial diversity is killing us.
3. That’s just identity politics.
4. Race is in our DNA.
5. Everyone’s a little bit racist.
6. It’s a  ________ thing—you wouldn’t understand.
7. Variety is the spice of life.
8. I’m ________ and I’m proud.
9. You’re not  ________ enough.
10. You’re not a “real” American.

Click here to download the Common Conversations About Race handout.

Next, break students or co-workers into small groups.

• First, ask each group to review the conversations and generate examples of each kind of conversation. Have each group discuss which conversations seem most common to them and why.
• Second, ask each group to discuss how these common conversations both reflect and contribute to how people do race.
• Third, have the groups share their observations with the larger group.
• Fourth, discuss as a large group how these conversations: 1) create and establish meanings about human differences; 2) contain powerful assumptions about the importance, nature, and meaning of race; and 3) like stereotypes, often recirculate narrow and flawed assumptions about race.
• Fifth, review the information in the defining race concept guide. Discuss how these common conversations about race: 1) can create problems; 2) can also serve as necessary starting points for productive discussions; and 3) all conceive of race as a thing that people have or are rather than as actions that people do.
• How can we use these common conversations to help people start to think about how to do race differently and/or undo racism?

(Suggested time: 1 hour)

In Doing Race, Paula Moya talks about how race operates across different levels of society: the individual level, the interactional level, the institutional level, and the ideological level. These levels can be represented in a useful tool called the “culture cycle.” Refer back to the culture cycle concept guide. The culture cycle represents how individuals, interactions, institutions, and ideologies or ideas dynamically work together in society.

After introducing students or co-workers to the culture cycle and how it can be used to map how we do race in society, break them into small groups. Ask them to choose one racial identity group and provide specific examples of how race is done for that group at each level drawing from real-world events or personal experience. Ask them to think about how the group they chose experiences inequality or racism across the different levels of the culture cycle. Also ask them to think about how the group they chose can also experience race as a source of pride, meaning, and motivation. They can write down or draw their ideas.

Click here to download the Culture Cycle worksheet.

Have the groups share their observations with the larger group.

Next, ask students or co-workers to get back into their small groups. Have them strategize about how to combat inequality and start to undo racism at each of the levels.

(Suggested time: 45 minutes)

Late high school, college; young adults and adults

Students or co-workers will be able to:

1. Identify how race is done through different topic areas and domains of life: immigration, emotion, performance, literature, and systems thinking.
2. Identify what people can do to combat inequality and undo racism in each of these areas.
3. Consider the different research backgrounds of the scholars featured in the films and how their expertise contributes to our understanding of race as a doing.

The featured scholars section will be helpful here.

1. What can we learn from how people do race through immigration, emotion, performance, literature, and systems thinking?
2. By understanding how people do race through each of these areas, how can we use this knowledge to combat inequality and undo racism?
3. How do the perspectives of sociology, history, psychology, literature, and performance help us ask particular questions and provide certain kinds of answers to how people do race? What can we gain by investigating how race is done from different disciplinary perspectives?

Immigration & Assimilation (Tomás Jiménez)

1. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Immigration & Assimilation, Tomás Jiménez says that “there have always been competing notions about what it means to be American.”
   • What are some examples of these competing notions?
   • Are there competing notions about what it means to be American today?
2. How do immigrants contribute to or even remake societies?
   • How have immigrants changed or remade the United States and/or different communities in the United States over time?
3. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Immigration & Assimilation, Tomás Jiménez discusses how integration or assimilation can work as a two-way street.
   • What are some examples in the video?
   • What are some examples in your community?
   • How might understanding integration as a two-way street help people undo racism?

Immigration & Migration (Ana Raquel Minian)

1. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Immigration & Migration, Ana Minian talks about how stereotypes about Mexicans have changed over time in the United States.
   • How have stereotypes about Mexicans changed over time?
   • What are some of the social and historical factors that contributed to those changes?
   • Do these stereotypes about Mexicans show up in today’s society? If so, how?
2. How can telling the untold or underrepresented stories of Mexican migrants help people undo racism?

Emotion (Jeanne Tsai)

1. How can the emotions people value in a particular culture (i.e., what researchers call “ideal emotions” or “ideal affect”) influence how people judge or evaluate others?
   • How might these cultural preferences or biases in emotional styles shape how people think about what makes a good leader? A smart, competent, or successful person? A happy or satisfied person? A healthy person?
2. How can workplaces and schools be more inclusive of people’s diverse emotional styles?
   • What kinds of changes might they need to make to their practices and policies?
   • How might these changes help people undo racism?

Literature (Paula Moya)

1. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Literature, Paula Moya says that “one of the problems we are facing is actually a lack of exposure to people who are different from ourselves.”
   • How might this lack of exposure contribute to how people do race?
2. How can reading multicultural literature help us learn about people who are different from ourselves?
   • Is there a novel, short story, poem, or other work of literature that has helped you learn about people who are different from you?
   • How might authors’ different perspectives and experiences come through in their stories?
3. How can reading multicultural literature help people undo racism?

Performance (Harry Elam)

1. What are some examples of how people perform race in different domains and settings. For example, in music, TV, films, politics, or everyday life?
2. Can people perform race in both positive and negative ways? If so, how?
3. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Performance, Harry Elam discusses the example of the musical Hamilton as a performance that can help people undo racism.
   • How does Hamilton accomplish this?
   • What are some other examples of performances that can challenge people’s commonly held ideas, beliefs, or assumptions about race?

Systems Thinking (Hazel Rose Markus, Paula Moya, and Tomás Jiménez)

1. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Systems Thinking, Paula Moya says that “one of the reasons that people have difficulty understanding race as a system of social distinction is because in general people just have trouble recognizing the systemic nature of the world in which we live.”
   • What are some reasons discussed in the video about why this might be the case?
   • Can you think of any examples in your own life or in your own community?
2. In Doing Race | Undoing Racism: Systems Thinking, Tomás Jiménez suggests that knowing and owning our history can help people undo racism.
   • How might people learn about U.S. American history in ways that can help them undo racism?

Remind students or co-workers about using the culture cycle to map how race is done across different levels of society: the individual level, the interactional level, the institutional level, and the ideological level. Refer back to the activities in STEP 3 and the culture cycle concept guide.

Divide students or co-workers into small groups. Assign each group one of the topic areas from this set of films: immigration and assimilation, immigration and migration, emotion, performance, literature, and systems thinking. First, ask each group to map how race is done across the different levels of the culture cycle for each topic. They can write down or draw their ideas. Then, ask the groups to identify how inequality or racism takes place at each level in relation to their topic area and explore how the levels relate to one another. Finally, ask each group to discuss how people can start to undo racism at each level of the culture cycle in relation to their topic area based on the recommendations from the films.

Click here to download the Culture Cycle worksheet.

Bring the groups together and have each group share their observations and learnings with the larger group.

(Suggested time: 45 minutes)

After watching the Doing Race | Undoing Racism by subject films, assign students or co-workers one of the topic areas: immigration and assimilation, immigration and migration, emotion, performance, literature, and systems thinking. Ask students and co-workers to find a recent news article that relates to each topic area. First, ask them to analyze each article for examples of doing race. Second, ask them to investigate whether their article reflects any of the 10 common conversations about race from the activities in STEP 3.  Finally, ask them whether their article offers any suggestions or solutions about how to undo racism.

Have students or co-workers present their news article analysis to the larger class or group to demonstrate the myriad ways in which people do race across different topics areas and domains of society.

(Suggested time: 30 minutes to find article, 1 hour in-class activity)

Late high school, college; young adults and adults

Students or co-workers will be able to:

1. Identify the role of racial perception in how people do race.
2. Identify how racial perception operates in criminal justice, education, and literature.
3. Discuss how racial perception can also be leveraged to undo racism.

1. How does race influence how people perceive others and the world around them? How does race influence how people perceive themselves?
2. How are people’s ideas about what is good, right, normal, and valuable shaped by how we do race? What about people’s ideas about what is bad, deviant, abnormal, and less valuable?
3. What can we do to change how people perceive race? How can this help us work to undo racism?

1. How does being a member of society shape our racial perceptions?
   • What about being a member of certain groups within society, like police officers?
   • Why might how we see ourselves differ from how others see us?
2. Jonathan Rosa says that racial perceptions are “structurally produced in very powerful ways.” What kinds of structures in society influence or shape our racial perceptions?
3. How can racial associations become automatic, unconscious, and/or implicit?
   • What are the implications of this for how we do race?
4. How can stereotypes affect how we perceive others? In what ways can they affect us—for example, how can they affect students’ performance in school?
5. Paula Moya talks about how literature can both reflect and shape racial perception.
   • What are some examples?
6. How can people work to challenge or change negative or detrimental racial perceptions?
7. Hazel Rose Markus says that an essential way to change the racial biases in people’s heads is to change the world that they live in. If you could change one thing, what would it be?
8. How can diversifying representations or people’s experiences change their racial perceptions?
9. Jennifer Eberhardt, Hazel Rose Markus, and Paula Moya offer specific suggestions and solutions for how to change people’s racial perceptions and start to undo racism.
   • What are these suggestions and solutions?
   • What are some other ideas that are not mentioned in the videos?
10. How do the topics discussed in the films intersect with social class, gender, sexual orientation, and other significant social distinctions?
    • Can racial perception operate differently for people from different social classes, genders, sexual orientations, etc.?

Remind students or co-workers about using the culture cycle to map how race is done across different levels of society: the individual level, the interactional level, the institutional level, and the ideological level. Refer back to the activities in STEP 3 and the culture cycle concept guide.

To change people’s negative racial associations, we need to disrupt the links between the biases and stereotypes in people’s heads and the cultural and historical ideas about race that they are exposed to in society and the world around them. That is, we need to disrupt the links between the individuals and ideas levels through what people experience at the interactional and institutional levels of society. How might we start to do this?

Divide students or co-workers into small groups. Assign each group either the institutional or interactional level. Have each group brainstorm how biases or stereotypes about the following racial or ethnic groups in the U.S. are reinforced at their assigned level in society (institutional or interactional): African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinxs, Middle Eastern/North African Americans, Natives or Indigenous Peoples, and/or White Americans. Then ask each group to brainstorm how these racial associations or biases could be disrupted, diversified, and/or changed, leveraging strategies or solutions within their assigned level (institutional or interactional).

Bring the groups together and have each group share their observations and strategies for change with the larger group.

(Suggested time: 45 minutes)

Ask students or co-workers to find a recent advertisement, TV show, movie, play or performance, or other type of artistic product (e.g., a song, painting) that challenges or counters negative stereotypes or biases about racial groups in society. First, ask students or co-workers to identify how the cultural product that they selected works to counter or change the representation or narrative around different racial groups in society. Then, ask students or co-workers to imagine that they had the opportunity to design their own cultural product of a similar type to the one they selected. What would their product look like? How would it challenge or counter negative stereotypes or biases about racial groups in society? How would they ideally disseminate or share their product with people? Why does having more diverse representations matter?

Have students or co-workers present their cultural product analysis and design idea to the larger class or group to demonstrate how negative racial perceptions can be challenged or undone through diversifying the representations of race that people are exposed to in society.

(Suggested time: 30 minutes to find cultural product, 1 hour in-class activity)

• Take a self-assessment to reflect on bright spots and blind spots in your knowledge and experiences about race. To start, we recommend:
  • Mapping your identity
  • Taking the implicit association test 
  • Reflecting on your privileges or advantages
• Keep a “doing race diary” to track examples of how doing race comes up in your daily life and experiences.
• Research a current social issue or historical event that involves race that you are unfamiliar with or want to learn more about.

• Read a book, go see a performance, go to a museum, or watch a movie or television show that features a story or experience about race that you are unfamiliar with or want to learn more about.

• Engage a friend or family member in a conversation about a current social issue or historical event that involves race.

• Get a group of friends, family members, or fellow students/coworkers together to read a book, go see a performance, go to a museum, or watch a movie or television show that features a story or experience about race and discuss your experiences.
• Engage your fellow students or coworkers in conversation about your school or workplace. Ask: How do people do race in your school or workplace? How can people work together to start to undo racism where it might show up?
• Organize and host a group conversation to help students or coworkers explore their differences and disagreements. Visit SPARQ’s Beyond the Line toolkit for activity instructions and materials.  

• Create and share a blog post, picture, photo, story, poem, video, or song about race with your online social networks and communities. Encourage people to respond by sharing their own blog posts, pictures, photos, stories, poems, videos, or songs.
• Support or lead an effort to make your school, workplace, or community group more inclusive and equitable. Ask: How do people do race in your school, workplace, or community group? Are there existing efforts to deal with these issues? If so, how can I be an ally or support the effort? If not, what effort can I start to undo racism where it might show up?
• Be an active ally: Support local community groups and initiatives working for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Be an active ally: Get involved in a local campaign working for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion.