Available to participants until September 10, 2022.
Please do not share the link to this webpage or the videos.

Videos and Participant Resources for Understanding Structural Racism 2022



NAACP Arlington Branch, in partnership with Black Parents of Arlington (BPA), and Trinity NOVA Together for Racial Justice (TNT4RJ) hosted a free four-part virtual seminar on structural racism.

The series was held on four Tuesdays in May: 10, 17, 24, 31, from 7:00-9:00 pm and was free and open to the public. Participants learned how racism evolved in the U.S.; how structural racism persists even after the Civil Rights movement; and how we can end it and build a racially just society.  

The online seminar was presented by Ayo Magwood, Educational Consultant, Uprooting Inequity LLC (www.uprootingineqity.com). Ms. Magwood has a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Brown University and an M.Sc. in Applied Economics from Cornell University. Ayo Magwood is a brilliant thinker and teacher, and her webinars offer a unique opportunity to learn how to advance solutions for racial justice.

Understanding Structural Racism was a learning opportunity for people of all experiences! Content is generally appropriate for middle school age and up. The seminar was designed to be accessible to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of history and how structural racism has informed social progress in the United States.

Participant Resources

Available to participants until September 10, 2022.
Please do not share the link to this webpage or the videos.

Additional Resources

Book Club Recommendations

Policy Solutions to Structural Racism

Seminar Evaluation Form

Discussion Questions

Description of Uprooting Inequity Seminars

Uprooting Inequity Website

Understanding Structural Racism: 4-Part Online Seminar
Session 1: The Origins of Race and Racism
Session 2: The Reproduction of Racism
Session 3: Contemporary Structural Racism
Session 4: Remediating Racial and Economic Inequality 

This four-part seminar builds cumulative knowledge each week. We strongly recommend watching each full session recording before moving on to the next session.

Session 1: The Origins of Race and Racism

Understanding Structural Racism. Sponsored by NAACP Arlington Branch, Black Parents of Arlington (BPA), and Trinity NOVA Together for Racial Justice (TNT4RJ) in May 2022.

​Outline
Slide Deck

How and why were the Black and White races first constructed? How and why was anti-Black racism developed?

In this session, we trace the social construction of race from the early colonial period when the colonies were still a class-based society like in England, through the middle colonial period when the Black-White races and a racial hierarchy were socially constructed through laws. Through primary source evidence, we learn that racism did not lead to slavery; rather it was the economic interests of slavery that drove the development of racial narratives and a racial caste system. Ms. Magwood also demonstrates that racism—the myth of Black racial inferiority—was the narrative that white slave owners created to both rationalize slavery (economic interests) and divide poor Whites and Blacks (political interests). 

Session 2: The Historical Reproduction of Racism

Understanding Structural Racism. Sponsored by NAACP Arlington Branch, Black Parents of Arlington (BPA), and Trinity NOVA Together for Racial Justice (TNT4RJ) in May 2022.

​Outline
Slide Deck

Why has there been so little progress towards racial economic progress? Why didn’t civil rights legislation end structural racism?

Contemporary structural racism is rooted in the persistent legacies of historical discrimination: a. racial stereotypes, b. generational racial wealth gaps, and residential and school segregation. The contemporary racial wealth gap is rooted in decades of white-only public investment including FHA/VA-backed mortgages and the G.I. Bill. Contemporary residential segregation is rooted in racial zoning, restrictive covenants, redlining, and (nominally economic) exclusionary zoning. Civil rights legislation does not prevent the perpetuation of these legacies because they only outlawed future discrimination; they did not repair the accumulated gains of past discrimination. Civil rights legislation was further neutralized in the late 1970s when the definition of racial discrimination was redefined to require proven explicit intent. Thus, many forms of historical discrimination are reproduced in facially “race-neutral” forms, with wealth and geography acting as proxies for race. 

Session 3: Contemporary Structural Racism

Understanding Structural Racism. Sponsored by NAACP Arlington Branch, Black Parents of Arlington (BPA), and Trinity NOVA Together for Racial Justice (TNT4RJ) in May 2022.

​Outline
Slide Deck

What is structural racism? How does structural racism lead to racial disparities?

First, Ms. Magwood defines structural racism and demonstrates how it is rooted in the persistent legacies of the accumulated gains of historical discrimination: the racial wealth gap and residential segregation. Thus, eliminating all racial bias would not have much impact on structural racism or racial economic disparities. Then she describes how individuals with privilege reinforce structural racism through self-segregation and opportunity hoarding. Finally, she illustrates how contemporary structural results in racial disparities in access to opportunity: a. access to quality education, b. opportunity to earn employment income, and c. opportunity to build home equity.   

Session 4: Remediating Racial and Economic Inequality

Understanding Structural Racism. Sponsored by NAACP Arlington Branch, Black Parents of Arlington (BPA), and Trinity NOVA Together for Racial Justice (TNT4RJ) in May 2022.

Outline 
Slide Deck

How do we remediate racial and economic inequality? How do we foster the cross-racial and cross-ideological solidarity necessary to do so?

First, Ms. Magwood demonstrates the broader context of racial inequality, including its inextricable link with income inequality. Second, she establishes a few guiding principles, including the need to foster cross-racial, cross-ideological solidarity. Third, she describes social psychology principles for decreasing bias and fostering interracial cooperation. Our ethnocentric tendency to see the world in terms of “us vs. them” is too strong to dismantle through bias awareness training, but we can shift and harness this tendency by getting the “us” and “them” to see themselves as a single equity-conscious “us” ingroup. This strategy involves 1. establishing a shared interdependent purpose, and 2. accommodating for subgroup differences in power, needs, and challenges by learning about each other’s histories. Fourth, she describes the Othering & Belonging Institute’s Scaffolded Universalism policy framework. Fifth, she describes how we can design institutional policies and processes to prevent biased behavior (vs. biased thoughts). Finally, Ms. Magwood identifies a few things that individuals can do to help remediate racial inequality, including minimizing opportunity hoarding.

Alternate Session 4: Remediating Racial and Economic Inequality

This was recorded after the seminar ended in case of a technical issue.

Updated version (a little more streamlined!):
Outline
Slide Deck
Updated Recording

Questions?

Facilitator Biography

Ayo Magwood (Uprooting Inequity LLC)


Ayo Magwood (Uprooting Inequity LLC) is an educational consultant specializing in in-depth, evidence-based education on historical and structural racism for both adults and students. These presentations include primary and secondary historical evidence, data, quantitative maps, research studies, and original diagrams/images. Each session represents 300-400 hours of research, synthesis, and graphic design work. She breaks down grad-school-level social science research, data, and abstract concepts into engaging narratives and visuals. Ayo is also writing a book on her ProEquity instructional framework for teaching historical and structural racism and honest, appreciative, and civic-minded U.S. History. Ayo has a B.A. in economics and international relations from Brown University and a M.Sc. in applied economics from Cornell University. 


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