What’s Shaping Our Neighborhoods?
Our neighborhood association, with financial support from the Rochester Area Community Foundation, hosted a special event November 9, 2023, for Rochester-area residents. “What’s Shaping Our Neighborhoods?” addressed the long-term, continuing impact of a national law that led to “redlining” and to local decisions endorsing “restrictive covenants” in housing deeds.
As a result, for decades residents of color in our community did not have opportunities equal to those of white residents to own homes and grow wealth through home equity. Although redlining is now against the law and local restrictive covenants are no longer enforced, their impacts are still evident today, event presenters Shane Wiegand and Kesha James explained. They are co-executive directors of the Antiracist Curriculum Project (ACP), a part of Coordinated Care Services Inc.
In recent years, ACP leaders and volunteers have trained thousands of teachers, taught thousands of students, and taught members of corporations, business associations, realty firms, and the community about past policies that led to harm. Their presentations encourage actions to bring about positive change.
To access the documentary and maps presented at the special event, click the link below:
Other Association-Hosted Discussions
Backyard Conversations – Racism
When protests, outrage and unrest engulfed Rochester and the nation several years ago following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, neighborhood association board members dialogued about how to achieve meaningful, positive change.
Recognizing that the work each person does to make a better world is personal, takes countless forms, and involves actively and respectfully listening to one another, board members supported a series of “backyard conversations.” The goal was to give interested neighbors the opportunity to further the dialogue. The series has been completed, but some of the resources provided for discussion are accessible below.
Understanding Implicit Bias
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr8G7MtRNlk
Local TEDx Talk by Rochester’s Melanie Funchess: Implicit Bias – How It Affects Us and How We Push Through. Length: 16 minutes
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIf43L6hNkM
TEDx Kansas City Talk by Kori Carew entitled: Just Belonging – Finding the Courage to Interrupt Bias. Length: 19 minutes
TEDx Mid-Atlantic Talk by Dushaw Hockett: We All Have Implicit Biases - So What Can We Do About It? Length: 12 minutes
Exploring the Black Experience
o “How to Deconstruct Racism One Headline at a Time”
TED Talk, Vancouver B.C. by Baratunde Thurston, Emmy-nominated writer, activist, comedian. Length: 17 minutes
o 60 Minutes “Uncovering the Greenwood Massacre” (June 2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA8t8PW-OkA
In 1921 an attempted lynching of a black teen led to the destruction of a prosperous Tulsa black neighborhood and 1,200 homes, the deaths of an estimated 150-300 black residents, and left 10,000 African Americans homeless. No one was ever held accountable. Length: 13 minutes
Exploring Racial Privilege
o What is White Privilege, Really?
This article from Teaching Tolerance Magazine, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, says recognizing it begins with really understanding the term. Length: 12-15 minutes
Interview with Robin DiAngelo, author of a best-selling book, aired on Amanpour & Co on PBS. Length: 9 minutes
o As Discussions About Race Have Evolved
New York Times article describing why some people embrace the term “white supremacy” and others balk at its use.
Additional Resources
o Inventing Black and White – (scroll down to the text)
The notion of “race” became important in America as a result of Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. Length: about 8 minutes
o “A Conversation About Growing Up Black”
Young Black men share their experiences of being Black in America. Length: 5 minutes