The original article was featured in the New School News and is linked here.
In 1619, the first Africans arrived in the United States, in Jamestown, where they were sold into bondage. The tragedy marked the beginning of centuries of persistent inequality in the United States.
Starting now, The New School is preparing for this anniversary in 2019 by calling for an institution-wide effort to deepen our understanding of the history of inequality and build new coalitions to define and address common needs.
That effort, 400 Years Of Inequality, is propelled by a week of “curriculum disruptions” in which classes throughout the university will be encouraged to “take a break from business as usual” and think of how the class’ subject area relates to 400 years of inequality, according to Mindy Fullilove, William Morrish, Robert Sember, and Maya Wiley, the professors leading the effort. The curriculum disruptions take place October 12-18 and coincide with Fullilove’s talk at Race in The U.S. on Monday, Oct. 16.
“Nearly 400 years of division have created an apartheid society: we need a new social infrastructure to carry us through the challenges of climate change, decaying physical infrastructure, a rapidly evolving marketplace, underperforming schools, uneven access to health care, and a lack of affordable housing,” the faculty organizers say. “What we need is to move from inequality to equality, from some people being counted as 3/5’s to all being counted as 5/5’s.”
If you plan on doing a Curriculum Disruption in a course of your own, please submit your idea here and view others’ submitted ideas here.
We will be posting Daily Disruptions here on the blog so be sure to check back in for the most recent updates!
Earlier this year, Fullilove took the opportunity to talk about 400 Years of Inequality during New School Minute. See the clip below:
