News

Now more than ever, understanding racism and discrimination in all its forms is crucial in order to foster inclusive societies. How are prejudices constructed? What is the reality of “race” from a genetic point of view? What are the arguments against the supporters of a division of humanity into “races”? Why have States come to institutionalize racism against specific categories of individuals?

These are all questions that are addressed in the traveling exhibition “Us and Them – From Prejudice to Racism”, launched in March 2017 which was produced and conceived by the French Natural Museum of Natural History-Musée de l’Homme, with the collaboration of UNESCO. The exhibition continues to travel in various cities, including those from UNESCO’s International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities – ICCAR, and made its way to the United Nations Headquarters in New York in March 2020.

From the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the international community has witnessed the stigmatization and discrimination of populations of Asian origin and/or appearance. #IAmNotAVirus movement has risen up to combat such hate speech, but the xenophobic rhetoric used by leaders and populist groups has sparked a new wave of extreme right-wing movements that have galvanized racist messages advocating violence.

Today, the global outrage that has heard the voices of citizens marching #BlackLivesMatter in different cities around the world, while appealing for racial justice for people of African descent, has substantiated that the legacy of slavery is still haunting us. The racial wounds that persist are once again uncovering the centuries-old legacies of bias and prejudice and has taken a toll in the construction of the moral fibre of our societies.

In light of the current events, Musée de l'Homme has published several resources including a podcast series, reading materials, a MOOC, and videos revolving around the topic of racism. Under the name of “Us and Them”, the podcast series focuses on the scientific lies in which discrimination and racism were built on.

RESOURCES

• Podcast series: « Nous et les autres : des préjugés au racisme » (in French)
  Using testimonies to dissect racism, this series of podcasts deconstructs the scientific lie on which this discrimination was built.
• Video: « La génétique permet-elle de classer les humains ? » (in French)
  Classifying humans according to morphological, geographical or cultural criteria does not work to describe their genetic diversity. Their variation is the result of movements, encounters and migrations, which retrace the complex and extremely rich history of our species.
• Reading materials: « Discriminations, préjugé, racisme, des définitions pour mieux comprendre ces phénomènes… » (in French)
• MOOC : « Les origines de l’Homme » (in French)
  Discover the history of our species, its origins and evolution with online courses.
• “15 stories: 15 musical voyages”
  From the stories of Nina Simone to that of Gaël Faye, discover 15 stories, 15 musical trajectories echoing the past exhibition "Nous et les autres, des préjugés au racisme", in partnership with the Médiathèque musicale de Paris.

Other links

• Us and Them – From Prejudice to Racism
• Exhibition "Us and Them – From Prejudice to Racism" | UNESCO
• International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities – ICCAR
• United Nations hosts “Us and Them – From Prejudice to Racism” exhibition
• Master Class Series against Racism and Discriminations

URL:

https://en.unesco.org/news/new-resources-us-and-them-prejudice-racism-podcasts-and-musical-voyages