Racial Equity Resources 

The Raikes Foundation is committed to creating a more just and equitable world. Within our organization, we are working to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, and in our strategies we seek to break down barriers to equity so that all young people can thrive.

The resources below have helped to guide our equity work, both as individuals and as a team. We offer these resources, articles, and videos as a starting point to anyone who is interested in racial equity work with the hope that learning leads to bold action.

 

Getting Started

Start with these resources if you’re just beginning your racial equity journey. The articles and videos below provide an overview of racial discrimination in the United States and guidance on how to enter conversations about race.

• Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views on Effects of Discrimination Across Major Population Groups in the United States, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys, Emily Badger, Claire Cain Miller, Adam Pearce and Kevin Quealy, The New York Times
• Identity Politics: Friend or Foe, Alicia Garza, Othering and Belonging Institute
• TED: "Color blind or Color brave?", Mellody Hobson
• TED: Racism Has A Cost For Everyone, Heather C. McGhee
• TED: We Need To Talk About An Injustice, Bryan Stevenson
• TED: How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time, Baratunde Thurston
• TEDxUSA: No Way But Through, Melanie Domenech Rodríguez
• TEDxHampshireCollege: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race, Jay Smooth
• TEDxBeaconStreet, How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them, Vernā Myers
• Confronting Racism Is Not About The Needs And Feelings Of White People, Ijeoma Oluo, The Guardian
• Racial Equity Overview, Giving Compass
• The Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 Minutes, Vox
• It's More Than Racism: Isabel Wilkerson Explains America's 'Caste' System, NPR
• Don’t Talk about Implicit Bias Without Talking about Structural Racism, National Equity Project
• Six Ways to be Antiracist, Because Being 'Not Racist' Isn't Enough, Mashable

 

Racial Equity Resources for Foundations and Nonprofits

If you lead or work for a nonprofit organization or foundation, these resources offer guidance on implementing diversity, equity and inclusion programs internally and revamping your strategies to address racial oppression.  

• Demos’ Racial Equity Transformation, Demos
• Implicit Bias and Structural Racialization, National Equity Project
• Lens of Systemic Oppression, National Equity Project
• Targeted Universalism: Policy and Practice, Othering and Belonging Institute
• The Curb-Cut Effect, Angela Glover Blackwell, Stanford Social Innovation Review
• Racial Equity and Philanthropy: Disparities in Funding for Leaders of Color Leave Impact on the Table, Bridgespan and Echoing Green
• The Role of Senior Leaders in Building a Race Equity Culture, Bridgespan
• Policies, Practices, and Programs for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, D5
• Grantmaking with a Racial Equity Lens, GrantCraft

 

Racial Equity Resources for Businesses

If you lead or work for a company of any size, these resources offer guidance on connecting racial equity and justice to your company’s work and internal operations.  

• A CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity, PolicyLink
• The 10 Commitments Companies Must Make to Advance Racial Justice, Mark R. Kramer
• Banks Should Face History and Pay Reparations, Angela Glover Blackwell and Michael McAfee
• A Company Backs a Cause. It Funds a Politician Who Doesn’t. What Gives?, Andrew Ross Sorkin
• How to Promote Racial Equity in the Workplace, Harvard Business Review

 

Long Reads and Books

If you’re looking to dive deep into your learning, the resources below provide extensive information on a variety of topics related to racial justice.

History

• America’s Enduring Caste System, Isabel Wilkerson, The New York Times Magazine
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• The 1619 Project, The New York Times
• The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic
• The Color of Law: The Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
• The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, Eric Foner
• What Is Owed, Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine
• The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, Heather McGhee

Personal Growth And Action

• How To Be An Anti-Racist, Dr. Ibram Kendi
• So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo
• Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, Debby Irving
• White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo

Research On Racial Discrimination

• Biased: Uncover in the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
• Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affects Us and What We Can Do, Claude Steele

Philanthropy

• Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance, Edgar Villanueva
• Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World, Anand Ghiridharadas

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Please visit Racial Equity Tools for an extensive library of racial equity tools for both individuals and organizations. This list would not have been possible with Racial Equity Tools’ thoughtful cataloging of resources.