Directions: For this discussion, you will have three choices. You will choose one episode to watch from the show Race: The Power of an Illusion. I have included the link where you can find the three episodes online. After watching one of the episodes, you need to answer the discussion questions designated for your episodes

Episode 2: The Story We Tell

How did expanding democracy and giving opportunities to more white men intersect with American society becoming increasingly “race-based”? How did racism benefit white men? Are these practices still the case today? Is there an inevitable trade-off where one group gains privilege at the expense of another or can reversing racial inequality benefit all people, including white people who have traditionally benefited from racism? What might that look like?

2. How was the notion of Manifest Destiny shaped by beliefs about race? What is the relationship of Manifest Destiny to current foreign policies?

3. Compare current responses to racial inequity – e.g., calls for reparations or affirmative action – with the response of those who believed in the “White Man’s Burden.” Which solutions reinforce biological notions of race and/or white superiority? Which acknowledge the social construct of a race without reinforcing those myths? Is it possible to address racial inequities without reinforcing biological notions of race? If so, how?