Now more than ever, it is essential to understand racism and discrimination in all its forms in order to build inclusive societies. How are prejudices constructed? What does the concept of "race" mean from a genetic point of view? What are the arguments against the advocates of dividing humanity into "races"? Why and how have states come to institutionalize racism?
These are all questions that are addressed in the traveling exhibition “Us and Them – From Prejudice to Racism”. Produced and designed by the National Museum of Natural History - Musée de l'Homme in collaboration with UNESCO, the exhibition continues to travel to different cities, including those of UNESCO’s International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities – ICCAR, and the United Nations Headquarters in New York (March 2020).
From the 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, citizens demonstrating around the world on behalf of the #BlackLivesMatter movement to call 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 this news, the Musée de l'Homme has published several resources, including a series of podcasts, reading material, a MOOC and musical trajectories revolving around the topic of racism.
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