Anti-Racism Resource Guide: Films

The United States entered WWII. More than 110,000 citizens of Japanese origin were rounded up and dispatched to camps until the end of the war. Hollywood was quick to react with films from OBJECTIVE BURMA to THE BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI and THE STORY OF GI JOE to KNOW YOUR ENEMY: JAPAN. Already in 1941 Warner, who was manipulating public opinion in favor of entering the war, had released DIVE BOMBER with Errol Flynn. It showed very clearly that America was threatened from the Pacific region. In almost all of these films, the enemy is vilified, we see particularly ugly Japanese in THE FIGHTING SEABEE. With the arrival of the Cold War, the enemy image had to change quickly and Hollywood obliged; this is well explained in Naoko Shibusawa's The Geisha Ally. This program features interviews with film critic Joseph McBride, Reel Inequality author Nancy Wang Yuen, Japanese film history specialist Dan Akira, and more.

Go inside the lives of people working to create an antiracist American future. They film themselves doing the work, confronting the obstacles and achieving the victories that could add up to real change in the movement for racial justice. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

This emotionally charged program follows five participants of different ethnic and racial backgrounds through a three-day Unlearning Racism workshop. As the workshop begins, a European-American man offends his African-American workshop partner by making a joke during a one-on-one dialogue. The incident sparks anger among African-American participants, who openly confront the offender. White participants in the workshop express their frustration over their inability to understand the reactions of the people of color. The five main participants later meet to reflect on the honest sharing of feelings that took place during the workshop. This program represents both a strong statement on the complex issues surrounding racism and an honest depiction of the difficulties involved in resolving them.

When we define racism as behaviors instead of feelings, we can measure it -- and transform it from an impossible problem into a solvable one, says justice scientist Phillip Atiba Goff. In an actionable talk, he shares his work at the Center for Policing Equity, an organization that helps police departments diagnose and track racial gaps in policing in order to eliminate them. Learn more about their data-driven approach -- and how you can get involved with the work that still needs to be done. (This ambitious plan is part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

White supremacy has become a crisis in the United States. The number of hate groups has soared to a record – over 1,000 – and hate crimes are up by double digits. How did this happen? Fareed Zakaria traces the roots of the current crisis, looks at history to discover how racism becomes a political movement, and interviews a White Supremacist in an effort to understand the forces driving the dangerous racial moment we find ourselves in.

This link will direct you to films with a tag of "Race and Ethnicity" sorted with the most recent at the top of the list.