The House We Live In (Race: The Power of an Illusion)

California Newsreel

Virginia law once defined a black person as someone with 1/16th African ancestry; in Florida, it was 1/8th African ancestry. If you can cross a state line and literally, legally change race, what does race really mean? This program argues that the idea of race was developed and reinforced through politics, economics, and culture. Real estate practices as well as federal regulations kept new neighborhoods segregated after World War II, and it was the white families awarded mortgages whose assets accumulated, creating a legacy of opportunity for their children and grandchildren. With the starting line for the next generation drawn at different points on the field, the racial divide could only grow larger. Part of the series Race: The Power of an Illusion. (56 minutes)

The Story We Tell (Race: The Power of an Illusion)

California Newsreel

Ironically, it was the notion of political liberty and the natural rights of man that led to the ideology of white supremacy. Ancient peoples stigmatized others on the basis of language, class, and religion, but they did not sort people into races. As the Founding Fathers grappled with the hypocrisy of slavery in the new democracy, Thomas Jefferson was among the first to discuss “the natural inferiority of Africans”—a convenient justification for social inequality, and the same type of thinking that rationalized the seizing of Native American lands. In this program the history of the concept of “race” is explored, along with the 19th-century science that legitimized racism. Part of the series Race: The Power of an Illusion. (56 minutes)