In this program we will examine the legacies of our racial histories and how they continue to shape African American realities, how racism persists in our “post racial world,” and why being “color-blind” is not the antidote to racial discrimination.  We will explore the concept of “blackness” as represented in films, literature, art and the media.  We will explore how law has codified blackness.  We will examine how the concept of “whiteness” has evolved over time in ways that reinforce and maintain racial categories.  We will explore how race as a category has functioned in our economic system in ways that contribute to persistent inequalities in employment, income and accumulation of wealth. 

We will approach the subject through the lenses of economics, political economy, media studies, history, and science.  In the process, we will build our skills at visual literacy, quantitative reasoning, and critical analytical thinking.   Throughout the quarter, we will ask: How can we study about, learn from, and engage across racial differences in non-dominating ways?  We will develop frameworks and models useful for dismantling systems of racial power at the individual and collective levels.