Internet Activities

  1. Watch this clip about the post–World War II housing boom from “The House We Lived In” (excerpted from Race: The Power of an Illusion, volume 3) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW764dXEI_8). How did lending practices exclude families of color? How do they illustrate institutional discrimination? Given that home ownership is the major source of wealth for most families, how did discrimination in the past influence the Black–White wealth gap today? Consider issues of inheritance, tax deductions for mortgage interest, and the ability to take out college (or other) loans using one’s house as collateral. What benefits might White families get from living in the new suburbs? Think broadly about quality of life. Also consider the connection between neighborhoods, public school districts and funding, and quality of education. On the flipside, what did African Americans potentially lose by being excluded from these neighborhoods? Use chapter information to answer or use the Internet to do more research. 
  2. Listen to Part 2 and/or Part 3 of House Rules from the podcast, This American Life. Act One: Rental Gymnastics (about racial discrimination in housing). Act Two: The Missionary (about the Fair Housing Act). What did you learn that seems significant? How does it relate to the chapter/this book? What do you want to know now based on what you learned?
  3. Watch the TEDTalk, “We Need to Talk About an Injustice” by Bryan Stevenson, an award-winning human rights lawyer and founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative (https://eji.org/videos/bryan-stevenson-ted-talk). What two connections can you make between Stevenson’s talk and ideas in the book? What’s something new that you learned that’s important? Why is it important?
  4. What this 5-min animated video, “Slavery to Mass Incarceration” at http://www.eji.org/slaveryevolved, which offers information about slavery in America. How does it illustrate the American social construction of race? Describe the social construction in America at that time. What vestiges of these ideas remain in our society--especially our criminal justice system? How else do you see them play out in the world?