The National Museum of African American History and Culture Has Released a New Portal to Help Americans Have Conversations About Race

Spurred on by a rash of nationwide protests following the police
killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in
Louisville, the National Museum of African American History and
Culture in Washington, DC, has released a new online portal to
facilitate conversations about race and racism in America.

The project, titled Talking About Race, collects more than 100 multimedia
tools, including videos, scholarly articles, and exercises to help
educators, parents, and others develop the language to have
productive conversations about “one of the nation’s most
challenging topics,” according to a press release.

“We hope that people will use this site to become more
comfortable about engaging in honest dialogue and self-reflection,”
Spencer Crew, NMAAHC’s interim director, said in a statement.

Talking About Race, which was in gestation before protests broke
out in scores of cities across the US, draws upon decades of
collective research conducted by the museum’s education staff. It
incorporates insights gleaned from historians, psychologists, and
activists including Bishop Desmond Tutu, the feminist writer Audre
Lord, and Ibram X. Kendi, the author of How to Be an
Antiracist, among others.

The project, which is supported financially by the Atlantic
Philanthropies, includes resources on the historical
foundations of race, the ideology of whiteness, the importance of
self-care, and how system of oppression are built, among other
topics.

The Smithsonian Institution’s secretary, Lonnie Bunch, who
was formerly the director of NMAAHC, issued a statement on
March 31 to express the Smithsonian’s “deepest sympathy to the
families and communities” of Floyd, Taylor, “and the far too
many preceding them whose needless deaths were brought about by
unjustified violence.”

“Will we heed the call of courageous figures throughout history
who spoke out against slavery, marched on for voting rights, and
sat in for basic equality?”, the statement continues. “Will we
challenge the nation to live up to its founding ideals? In the
memory of those taken from us and for the good of the country, I
hope that we do.”

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Culture Has Released a New Portal to Help Americans Have
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