Racial Justice

Cancel culture on the silver screen

Iconic films like the 1939 blockbuster “Gone With the Wind” are being scrutinized in light of the Black Lives Matter movement against racial injustice. Cinema studies’ Meta Mazaj says framing films within context is more valuable than erasure and disclaimers.

Louisa Shepard

Children’s literature as ‘seed work’

Penn GSE’s Ebony Elizabeth Thomas discusses the importance of more diverse books for kids and the challenges that continue to stifle early anti-racist learning. She also shares a curated list of recommended books for youth catered to this particular moment.

Lauren Hertzler

What the 1968 Kerner Commission can teach us

Criminologist and statistician Richard Berk, who worked on the report as a graduate student, explains the systemic racism and poverty found to underlie violent unrest in the 1960s and where COVID-19 and the economy fit today.

Michele W. Berger

How to begin talking about race in the workplace

Wharton management professor Stephanie Creary explains her framework for middle managers in corporate environments who would like to initiate conversations about race in the workplace.

From Knowledge at Wharton



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

A law meant to bust blight puts Black and Asian American property owners at risk, report warns

A new analysis by the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic at Penn Carey Law concludes that Philadelphia property conservatorships have come at the expense of vulnerable property owners, particularly Black and Asian American owners. Cara McClellan says that such petitions are filed in communities already at risk for gentrification.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Pennridge School District has created hostile environment for Black and LGBTQ students, federal complaint says

A federal complaint filed by Penn Carey Law’s Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic asserts that the Pennridge School District has failed to protect children of color and LGBTQ students, with remarks from Cara McClellan.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

America’s blueprint for urban inequity was drawn in Philly. It failed Black Philadelphians

Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta of the Weitzman School of Design sees an opportunity for Philadelphia to reset with an antiracist foundation, using Sankofa urban planning to incorporate Black history as a guide toward the future.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Affirmative action’s future waits as SCOTUS hears arguments

Cara McClellan of Penn Carey Law calls the claims that race-conscious admissions are unconstitutional a direct attack on more than 40 years of legal precedent.

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Associated Press

‘We’re triaging’: Cops combat violent crime as ranks dwindle

Ben Struhl of the School of Arts & Sciences says that violent crime is rising for reasons separate from social justice protests.

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WITF.org

A councilman in Reading wants the city to implement reparations for slavery

Mary Frances Berry of the School of Arts & Sciences notes that nearly a dozen mayors in cities across the country have pledged to pilot reparations programs in their cities.

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