I didn't learn that in school.

A collection of facts with sources for change.

I didn't learn that in school.

We don't have all day and neither do you. But, why should that stop you from learning and growing? It shouldn't.

We're going through our list of things that we didn't learn in school and sharing them with you. Why didn't we learn them?

Bookmark this page. This is the place we will periodically drop #antiracist facts, with sources, for change.

What's on your list?

Number	Fact
1.0	Race is a social construct.
2.0	Climate theory began the myth of superiority.

1.0

Race is a social construct.

Doesn't fit the narrative.

We are 99.9% the same.

Read "Stamped"

1.0 FACT

Race is a social construct. We may look unique but we are genetically the same.

Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/

1.1

Why didn't we learn that?

It doesn't fit the current narrative. If you remove race from history, how do you explain it?

Education Week: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05

1.2

Where's the proof?

The human genome. We are 99.9% the same. Why and when did the 0.1% start to matter?

NHGRI https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Genetics-vs-Genomics

1.3 NEXT STEP

Book suggestion: "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America" by Ibram X. Kendi

https://bookshop.org/books/stamped-from-the-beginning-the-definitive-history-of-racist-ideas-in-america-9781568585987/9781568585987

Additional Resources:

• https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/what-we-mean-when-we-say-race-is-a-social-construct/275872/

• https://www.vox.com/2014/10/10/6943461/race-social-construct-origins-census

• https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-century/

• https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/video/race-power-illusion-difference-between-us

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2.0

Climate theory began the myth.

Ancient origins–today's norms.

Intermediate climate as ideal.

Extreme hot and cold climates.

Read "Philosophers on Race"

2.0 FACT

Climate theory began the myth of difference. Aristotle used extreme climates to justify it.

The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/04/06/aristotle-father-of-scientific-racism/

2.1

Why didn't we learn that?

We study column styles, but don't trace the ancient origins of today's norms.

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/10/813922147/its-not-a-history-lesson-new-booktackles-racist-ideas

2.2

Where's the proof?

Aristotle cast Greeks as the ideal, at the top of the human hierarchy, and Greece supreme with its intermediate climate.

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP): https://iep.utm.edu/aristotle-politics/#SH13b

2.1.2

Where's the proof?

To Aristotle, extreme hot and cold climates produced Barbarians, inferior and lacking capacity for freedom and self-government. Enter natural slavery.

"Philosophers on Race: Critical Essays" by Julie K. Ward and Tommy L. Lott: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dDg76N2Oz6IC&oi=fnd&pg=PA14&dq=climate+theory+aristotle&ots=HEl2WkGF8U&sig=xwJhbt_3OH9yw6e1_Xb6jmaSOzE#v=onepage&q=climate%20theory%20aristotle&f=false

2.3 NEXT STEP

Book Suggestion: "Philosophers on Race: Critical Essays" by Julie K. Ward and Tommy L. Lott

https://bookshop.org/books/philosophers-on-race/9780631222279

Additional Resources:

• Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ugly-history-of-climate-determinism-is-still-evident-today/

• Scene on Radio "How Race was Made (Seeing White: Part 2)": https://www.sceneonradio.org/episode-32-how-race-was-made-seeing-white-part-2/

• M.L.P. Graduate Studies Blog: https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/marlee1/2017/09/19/climate-theory-vs-curse-theory/

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