DEIB Resources

A Collection of Material Submitted by Parents, Old Boys, and Faculty and Staff

This online resource is a place for parents, Old Boys, faculty and staff, and members of the extended community to continue learning on a variety of topics related to anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. 

As this resource is living and crowd-sourced, we invite ongoing input from our community for suggested books, articles, podcasts, shows, and any other materials that you would suggest on these topics.  We encourage you to contribute to this effort – we believe the resource will benefit from a myriad of views, perspectives, and experiences across a wide range of disciplines.

Materials for students, curated by our school librarians, are accessible by clicking here.
A collection of books on social justice for boys in our Upper School is accessible by clicking here.

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List of 6 items.

  • Articles



    "This is the Casual Racism That I Face at My Elite High School"
    Rainer Harris
    The New York Times
    September 24, 2020 (updated March 18, 2021)

    A personal account of a high school student attending a private school on the Upper East Side.  The author discusses the school’s approach using restorative justice (repairing the harm caused by a crime) instead of expelling students for racist and discriminatory actions. 

    1,055 words, 5 minute read



    "The Problem with Inclusion: Time to Shift to Belonging"
    Dwight Vidale
    NAIS Independent Ideas Blog
    January 26, 2021

    With a background in institutional equity and belonging in New York City independent schools, the author describes discovering that school’s need to increase efforts to ensure that community members feel seen, heard, valued, and loved. Students and faculty members of color often feel the need to fit in to the school culture.  With a greater focus on belonging, communities will have greater awareness of what needs to change and see that all voices are being heard.

    1,147 words, 5 minute read

    "America's Enduring Caste System"
    Isabel Wilkserson
    New York Times Magazine
    July 1, 2020 (updated January 21, 2021)

    Adapted from Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, this article highlights the core concepts of the racial hierarchy in America.  Defining a caste system and looking at historical caste systems across the globe help the reader better understand this hierarchy.

    10,626 words, 33 minute read 



    "103 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice"
    Corinne Shutack
    Medium
    August 13, 2017 (last updated September 21, 2020)

    The author provides concrete examples for white individuals striving to become better accomplices.  Examples include making charitable contributions to nonprofits dedicated to social justice, contacting your political representatives, and seek out a diverse group of friends for you and your family.

    6,209 words, 24 minute read

    "America's long history of scapegoating its Asian citizens"
    Nina Strochlic 
    National Geographic
    September 2, 2020

    The author begins with the story of a woman who was recently the victim of targeted Chinese racial violence. Unbeknownst to the offender, she is an American of Japanese descent, and her grandfather, Eisaku "Ace" Hiromura, is a decorated US veteran who fought for this country during WWII.  The article examines the histories and struggles of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and some of the policies that made their journeys particularly challenging.

    2,500 words, 15 minute read
    Readers are asked to provide their e-mail address to create a free account to access this article.

    Evelyn R. Carter
    Harvard Business Review
    June 22, 2020

    Organizations want to both support their Black employees and upskill their workforce around racism, bias, and inclusivity in ways that are unprecedented.  How will they restructure their workplaces to truly advance equity and inclusion for their Black employees? Meaningful and long-lasting action requires strategic vision and intent through training and education, community building, and going beyond recruiting and hiring.

    1,500 words, 7 minute read
     


    "Don’t Be an Ally, Be an Accomplice"
    Willie Jackson
    Forge
    November 23, 2019

    “Without context, most folks would consider “ally” to be positive and “accomplice” to be negative. But bringing history into focus means recognizing that many of the liberties we now enjoy — civil rights for black folks and gay marriage, for example — were but a dream not long ago, and required major disruption of the status quo to happen. Disruption isn’t easy or polite.”

    1,369 words, 6 minute read

    Sarah-Soonling Blackburn
    Learning for Justice
    This document is part of a series of resources developed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) in response to recent acts of racial violence and the increasingly uncivil discourse occurring across The United States.  Self-reflection questions are included along with talking points to create meaningful conversation with friends and family.

    2,413 words, 10 minute read
     

  • Books


    A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School ...

    Kendra James
    2002
    Kendra James, an African American legacy of The Taft School, guides us through her experience with school life, friendships, family expectations, and eventually, as an admissions officer specializing in diversity recruitment for independent prep schools.




    Marcus Mabry
    1995
    Marcus Mabry shares the successes and challenges he experienced in his childhood, during prep school, and at Stanford University as a young African American man. He details the difficulty of navigating both white and African-American cultures.
    In Memoriam:
    Mac Morris ‘02 recommended this book in July of 2021 for the D.E.I.B. section of the St. Bernard’s School website.



    Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
    Ibram X. Kendi
    2020

    This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future.  Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.

    320 pages


    Reading While Black:  African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope
    Esau McCaulley
    2020

    McCaulley’s new book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation As An Exercise in Hope covers how the Bible addresses topics such as policing, being a political witness, the Black identity, and slavery.

    208 pages


    Caste: The Orgins of Our Discontent
    Isabel Wilkerson
    2020

    The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

    496 pages


    How to Be An Antiracist
    Ibram X. Kendi
    2019

    In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.  Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism.  This is an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

    320 pages

    Bryan Stevenson
    2019

    An unforgettable true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America — from one of the most inspiring lawyers of our time.
    Just Mercy is an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

    368 pages


    White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
    Robin DiAngelo
    2018

    Antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility.  Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence.  These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue.  White Fragility is an in-depth exploration of how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively. 

    192 pages


    Between the World and Me
    Ta-Nehisi Coates
    2015

    Between the World and Me is a letter that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes to his teenage son as an attempt to prepare him for adulthood, by revealing his own reality as a black man living in America.  Between the World and Me is a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history, to a framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis.

    176 pages


    An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    2015

    Acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortizoffers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire.

    320 pages



    Barrio Dreams: Puetro Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City
    Arlene Dávila
    2004

    Providing a unique multifaceted view of the place of Latinos in the changing urban landscape, Barrio Dreams is one of the most nuanced and original examinations of the complex social and economic forces shaping our cities today.

    271 pages


    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
    Maya Angelou
    1969

    Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself.  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right.  Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic.

    304 pages

  • Film & Television

    Asian Americans – CAAM Home
    PBS, 2020

    Asian Americans is a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever.  Told through intimate personal stories, the series will cast a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played.

    5, one-hour episodes


    Just Mercy
    Available on YouTube, Apple TV, and through most cable providers, 2019

    Based on the powerful book by Bryan Stevenson, the movie presents Stevenson's work in Alabama defending those who were wrongly condemned, were not given proper legal representation, and many of whom were on death row.  The film examines in detail the case against Walter McMillian, played by Jamie Foxx, as well as highlights the racism and legal maneuverings that Stevenson faced as he fought for McMillian's life.

    2 hours 17 minutes

    When They See Us
    Netflix, 2019

    Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.  Based on a true story.

    1 hour 28 minutes


    If Beale Street Could Talk
    Available on Hulu, 2018

    Set in Harlem in the 1970s and based on a 1974 James Baldwin novel.  If Beale Street Could Talk "is a soulful drama about a young couple fighting for justice" (on Hulu).  Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

    2 hours


    13th
    Netflix, 2016

    Documentary - scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the US prison system.

    1 hour 40 minutes
     

    Moonlight
    Available on Netflix, 2016

    Won the Academy Award winner for Best Picture in 2017.  A coming-of-age film, with an entirely African-American cast, that looks at three defining stages in the main character's life as he grapples with his identity and sexuality.

    1 hour 50 minutes




    Fruitvale Station
    Available on Netflix, 2013

    Based on the 2009 shooting of an unarmed young black man by a police officer at a Bay area subway station, Fruitvale chronicles the final hours of Oscar Grant.  Won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

    1 hour 25 minutes

    Latino Americans
    PBS, 2013

    The films chronicle Latinos in the United States from the sixteenth century to present day.  It is a story of people, politics, and culture, large in scale and deep in its reach.

    6, one-hour episodes

  • Government Statistics

    E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician
    Bureau of Justice Statistics
    April 2020

    The 93rd report in a series that began in 1926.  It provides counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities in 2018 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.  It describes demographic and offense characteristics of state and federal prisoners.

    20,886 words, 60+ minutes

  • Multimedia

    History.com Editors
    History
    September 14, 2020
    From early Spanish colonialism to civil and worker rights laws,  famous firsts, and recent Supreme Court decisions on immigration, this is a timeline of notable events in U.S. Hispanic and Latinx history.
    Catherine Halley
    JSTOR Daily, 2020
    A collection of articles published over the course of five years.  The escalation of protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department was tragic and not an isolated incident perpetrated by a few bad individuals, but part of a broader pattern of institutionalized racism.  Note: Some readers may find some of the stories in this syllabus or the photos used to illustrate them disturbing.

    Multiple Articles
    Read Time Within Each Article
    Developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, writers from The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine, 2019

    The 1619 Project shifts our historical lens to re-frame U.S. history by marking 1619 as the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation's foundational date.  The New York Times Magazine published this project in August 2019 and some historians, scholars, and political leaders dispute the content.

    Multiple Episode Audio Content and Long Form Journalism

     
    "3 Ways to be a Better Ally in the Workplace"
    Melinda Epler
    TED Salon: Brightline Initiative 2018

    Melinda Epler provides three ways to support people who are underrepresented in the workplace.  She provides her thoughts on how gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability,  and sexual orientation are among the many factors that affect our success.

    9 minutes and 28 seconds
    transcribed in 19 languages

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    TED Global 2009

    Chimamanda Adichie explains the importance of seeking diverse perspectives and the dangers of one point of view.  She warns us of the risk in accepting one experience as the only truth and how it will lead us to a narrative that is incomplete and prevents critical thinking.

    18 minutes and 33 seconds
    Transcribed in 49 languages
    Stop AAPI Hate

    Escalating xenophobia and bigotry toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) is very real - Stop AAPI Hate is the leading aggregator of anti-AAPI incidents.  Through their reports, advocacy, and analyses of patterns and sources of anti-Asian racism, the center seeks to raise awareness and to support government agencies and community-based organizations.  Materials on this website include their incident reports, victim resources, and useful links to resources and a FAQ page.

  • Parenting Strategies

Do you know of a resource that belongs on this webpage?  Please submit the media type, title, and if possible, a link to your resource.  We plan to update this website regularly and welcome your suggestions.