Racial CrossFit Exercise for Black History Month: Study White Racism

"If you teach the Negro that he has accomplished as much good as any other race he will aspire to equality and justice without regard to race. Such an effort would upset the program of the oppressor in Africa and America. Play up before the Negro, then, his crimes and shortcomings. Let him learn to admire the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin and the Teuton. Lead the Negro to detest the man of African blood—to hate himself.”

― Carter G. Woodson, "The Mis-Education of the Negro"

  In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, noted historian of the Black experience in the United States, developed

Negro History Week (now Black History Month) as a twofold strategy toward racial equality. First, it was designed to educate Black people about their history, their contributions, and their humanity in a country that, from its founding, considered them property and worth only three-quarters of a person. To counteract the deliberate strategy of keeping Black people ignorant of their history, Woodson proposed creating intentional time and space to honor Black Americans and their achievements. Woodson believed Black people needed to know their full history for dignity and as a tool to participate thoughtfully and strategically in U.S. society and politics.

Woodson wrote his classic masterpiece, "The Mis-Education of the Negro," to make the case that Black people would require a totally new education to attain full freedom and dignity. Even today, Black people continue to re-educate themselves and their children using the tools provided by Woodson and other Black intellectuals that are not available in most American schools.

Woodson also promoted Black history to educate white Americans about the contributions of Black Americans as proof they were equally human: intellectually, culturally, physically, and socially. In a country hellbent on denying the equality of Black people, Negro History Week served as a counterweight.

Woodson hoped that eventually Negro History Week (today’s Black History Month) would no longer be needed because all Americans would honor the contributions of Black Americans to their country’s history without a second thought.

An Experiment

This year, I challenge all of us to a Black History Month thought experiment.

Let’s assume Black Americans’ humanity, dignity, and equality as citizens of the United States is a given, just as Woodson hoped it would be.

This year, instead of focusing on Black people, let’s question why white people denied Black people’s humanity in the first place. Let’s really study racism to answer the profound challenge raised by James Baldwin:

"What white people have to do is try to find out in their hearts why it was necessary to have a n---r in the first place."

Before You Start This Workout, Explore the History of 'Whiteness'

• There is a 99% chance you will cry.
• There is a 99% chance you will want to quit.
• There is a 99% chance you will be angry and want to fight me.

Do it anyway! As your Racial CrossFit coach, I expect you to work through all your pain and emotions to reach your goal. Yup, it hurts; do it anyway!

Moreover, if you do this workout, there is a 100% chance you will learn something new and deepen your level of racial awareness. And all the pain will be worth it in order to gain the strength needed to finally guide us towards an end to racism.

To get you ready, this Racial CrossFit workout kicks off with some background on the history of whiteness. Whiteness and “the white race,” as we know it today, are relatively new concepts. The word Caucasian was invented in 1776. It may surprise you to learn how many people we now consider white Americans without a second thought only “became white” very recently. Here’s just one example: The documentary, "Race: The Power of an Illusion," produced by California Newsreel and shown on PBS, includes a timeline of how whiteness and the idea of “races” developed. You’ll want to refer to it as you take on this tough assignment.

Now You’re Ready for Racial CrossFit: Beyond Black History Month!

1. Who were the European tribes that the Romans considered “barbaric?” Choose one modern European country, name its ancient ethnic tribes, and describe how and when they became civilized: Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, or Sweden. (15 points)
   
   
2. When did the term “white race” first appear in colonial laws? Through colonial times and early U.S. History, how was the law used to define and privilege “whiteness?” (15 points)
   
   
3. How and why did the Irish and Scottish people, who were considered non-white in the early Americas, participate in racism and white supremacy? What political, economic, and psychological benefits did they receive after a period of oppression? (10 points)
   
   
4. Create a timeline of when and where the following people became “white” in America. For extra credit, summarize why they were included in the white race: Irish, Scots, Russians, Jews, Eastern Europeans. (5 points each)

Whiteness In the 19th and 20th Centuries

1. Describe how the Homestead Act of 1862 was used historically to privilege white people and how those effects persist today. (10 points)
   
   
2. Define who Hitler described as “the superior Aryan race.” Would the white race in America today qualify? Why or why not? (10 points)
   
   
3. Research the Marshall Plan. Take the viewpoint of a Black soldier in World War II and write about the racism in the plan. (10 points)
   
   
4. Read Ta-Nehshi Coates' case for reparations in The Atlantic. Describe the FHA racial discriminatory policies, and please give a personal example of someone in your family or a white friend who benefited from the racial policy. (Mandatory Question: 25 points)

Whiteness and Racism Today

Watch this clip of James Baldwin speaking on " The Dick Cavett Show" in 1968 before answering these questions. 

1. If you live in a community where less than 20% of the population includes low-income people of color, please examine the resource gap between your neighborhood and neighborhoods where low-income people of color live and reflect on how to change it. What resources does your community have that low-income communities of color do not have? Name three actions you can take now to close the racial resource gap between your community and less-affluent communities of color. (10 points)
   
   
2. If your children’s school population is less than 15% low-income students of color, please examine the resource gap between your school and nearby schools attended by large numbers of less-affluent students of color and reflect on how to change it. What resources does your local school have access to that nearby low-income communities of color do not have? Name three actions you can take now to close the racial resource gap between your child’s school and schools in less-affluent communities of color. (10 points)
   
   
3. Give three examples of racist policies in our criminal justice system that affect Black people but do not affect white people. (10 points)
   
   
4. Name three tangible privileges possessed by people who are considered white today in the U.S. that are not available to non-whites. (5 points each)

EXTRA CREDIT

1. "Stamped from the Beginning"—Ibram X. Kendi
2. "The New Jim Crow"—Michelle Alexander
3. "The Mis-Education of the Negro"- Carter G. Woodson
4. "Between the World and Me"—Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. "How to Slowly Kill Yourself in America"—Kiese Laymon

1. "I am Not Your Negro"
2. "13th"
3. "Selma"