On Racism

Notes:

George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis sparked huge anti-racist demonstrations in most of the western world protesting discrimination and police violence. This programme questions the definition of race, shows how racism is based on false premises and who profits from it.

‘They’re talkin’ ’bout a revolution’ sings Tracy Chapman, US-American singer-songwriter and human rights activist …but it’s not a whisper anymore. Toni Morrison (1931 –2019), US-American novelist and college professor was the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Price (1993). Her powerful words on racism are followed by Reni Eddo-Lodge, British journalist and author, writing on feminism and structural racism. She explains her considered refusal to talk to White people about race and is followed by Robin DiAngelo, US-American academic, lecturer, and author, whouncovers Whiteness as the invisible standard at the top of the power pyramid of our society. Alana Arenas, US-American actress reads from the recollection of Sylvia Wood’s ‘childhood quest for freedom as a 10-year-old girl in Louisiana at the beginning of the 20^th century while the hope in Nina Simon’s song from 1976 has been (temporarily) eclipsed by the brutal reality of 2020.