New forum for talking about race

African American museum offers digital program

As mass demonstrations protesting the death of a black man in police custody have been happening in cities across the nation, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has introduced a digital program exploring race, racial identity and its influence on American society.

“Talking About Race” is a web-based initiative that uses videos, role-playing exercises and question-based activities to explore the origins and definitions of race and identity. Built on the museum’s long-standing educational work, the project was released Sunday to respond to the current crisis, according to Candra Flanagan, the Smithsonian museum’s director of teaching and learning.

“There’s a moment of possibility and change, and this is a resource for thinking in different ways, acting in different ways,” Flanagan said. “But it’s a process. It takes steps and practice and commitment to work.”

Lonnie Bunch, the museum’s founding director who is now secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, issued a statement Sunday acknowledging the troubled times.

“Not only have we been forced to grapple with the impact of a global pandemic, we have been forced to confront the reality that, despite gains made in the past 50 years, we are still a nation riven by inequality and racial division. The state of our democracy feels fragile and precarious,” he said.

Bunch added that lessons from the past can help. “History is a guide to a better future and demonstrates that we can become a better society — but only if we collectively demand it from each other and from the institutions responsible for administering justice,” he said.