What is the YWCA Racial Justice Challenge?
Previously known as the 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge, the YWCA Racial Justice Challenge is the same program developed by YWCA and adopted nationwide.
Racial Justice Challenge is an exciting opportunity to dive deep into racial equity and social justice while participants investigate different subjects week, Disability, Housing, Mental Health, and Music.
Participation in an activity like this helps discover how racial injustice and social injustice impact their community, connect with one another, and identify action steps to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination. This is an exciting opportunity to join a learning community dedicated to racial equity and social justice.
A virtual keynote event for Until Justice Just Is: Advancing Racial Justice and the Challenge will be held on April 13. Join the YWCA community on for a watch party for Advancing Justice: Ensuring Equity for All. We will gather at 3 p.m. in the multi-purpose room (MPR) of the YW. Register here to join us at the YW, and here to join the virtual event remotely.
The Challenge will begin on April 17, 2023. Register now, and you will receive emails with more information as the start date approaches.
Racial equity work is consistently underfunded. In order for organizations like ours to continue to provide high-quality programming like our Stand Against Racism Challenge, please consider contributing $21 — that’s just $1 for each day of the challenge — to sustain this work. Your help towards the cost of creating and hosting the challenge assures that resources like this are widely accessible to all, and help advance our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.
HONORING THE WORK
YWCA of Asheville wants to thank and acknowledge Dr. Eddie Moore Jr., Debby Irving, and Dr. Marguerite Penick for their leadership in the field of racial equity as exhibited in their 21-Day Racial Equity and Habit Building Challenge and the movement they helped to initiate. YWCA’s content is independently designed, written, and curated by YWCA staff as part of racial equity and social justice programs offered to the community.
You can also do a self-directed version of the challenge with our original content from 2020 listed below.
WEEK 1 - VOTING
Welcome to our 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge – 2021! We hope that your participation will help you set habits that you will continue for the rest of the year and beyond. As we go through the next four weeks together, keep in mind the goals and intentions you set when you signed up for the challenge, and know that we are here to support you in reaching those goals. Over the next four weeks, you will receive an early morning email Sundays-Thursdays with small challenges that are designated with a time commitment. It is your choice which resource to use, all the daily challenges will build on each other and deliver the full curriculum of the overall challenge.
We hope that you will go into this challenge with an open heart and an open mind, ready to be pushed out of your comfort zone. We recognize that these discussions can be difficult and can evoke powerful emotions, but your commitment to growth and increasing awareness is what will help move our community forward.
If you participated in our first 21-day challenge, many of these topics will be familiar to you. Throughout the challenge, you will be given opportunities to expand your knowledge and delve deeper into the issues. We also invite you to join our private Facebook group, a safe space to continue the conversation with your fellow participants, and where we will be sharing resources. We encourage you to refer to the Aspen Institute’s structural racism glossary for key terms and definitions that will come up in the challenge.
In our first challenge, we shared this article as an introduction to the difference between equality and equity. We’d like to expand on that during this challenge and say that we should really be striving for justice, as illustrated in the article’s graphic.
The YWCA’s mission is eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. We are so happy you have decided to join us!
Remember to keep an open heart and mind as we move through this challenge together. Be ready to be pushed out of your comfort zone and have your idea of the world challenged. We recognize that these discussions can be difficult and can evoke powerful emotions, but your commitment to increasing your awareness is what will help move our community forward.
To engage with other people doing the challenge, use the hashtags #YWCAEquityChallenge and #ABetterMeABetterAVL to share your reflections on social media.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
10 minutes:
We all have biases. Your willingness to examine your own possible biases is a crucial first step in understanding the roots of stereotypes and prejudice in our society.
Take this test today to see what hidden biases you might be holding onto and then take some time to reflect on these questions: Where do these biases come from? How do they influence my actions? What can I do about them?
5 minutes:
Read this article about why it’s important for non-black people to begin having hard conversations about anti-blackness in our communities, and then formulate a plan to begin having these conversations.
5 minutes:
Watch this video featuring Mathew Kincaid, founder of Overcoming Racism, as he discusses the advice he would give to white people looking to incorporate anti-racism practices into their day-to-day lives.
The movement for women’s suffrage was not as straightforward as you might think. Today we will examine the intersections of race and gender and how they played out during the fight for the 19th Amendment. Black women were marginalized in the movement and their contributions sidelined by history. Today, we will look back at these pioneering leaders and how they laid the groundwork for universal suffrage and the civil rights movement.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
5 minutes:
Oftentimes when we discuss the women’s suffrage movement we highlight the leadership of women such as Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. However, we want to highlight some lesser-told stores for today’s challenge by focusing on the leadership of women of color. To begin, take 5 minutes to read about the long history of Black leadership within the women’s suffrage movement.
10 minutes:
The branches of the women’s suffrage movement within North Carolina date back to 1894. Follow this link to learn more about its history. As you read be sure to take note of what is mentioned regarding race and hesitation regarding ratification of the 19th amendment.
10 minutes:
Now that we’ve looked at the history of Black leadership within the women’s suffrage movement, and examined the history of white lead suffrage movement within North Carolina. Let’s take 10 minutes to complete the narrative with this video that helps contextualize the intersectional nature of the Women’s Suffrage movement
Today, we are looking at the history of voter suppression within the United States and North Carolina, and the ways in which people of color were systemically kept from the ballot box, as well as the challenges they had to overcome in order to exercise their right to vote. Today’s activities will provide a much-needed context for tomorrow’s challenge, which will show how voter suppression has changed over time and how it is disenfranchising marginalized communities today.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
15 minutes:
To begin please take 15 minutes to read this article regarding the history of voter suppression within the United States. As you read be sure to consider the racial climate that existed at this time and the emotional burden it placed upon people of color.
5 minutes:
Now that we’ve looked at the history of voter suppression within the broader context, let’s move to local. Take 5 minutes to watch this video about the history of voter suppression within North Carolina and the Black leaders who strove for change.
10 minutes:
If you want to get a head start on tomorrow’s topic take 10 minutes to take this quiz regarding the current state of voter suppression. Maybe challenge 3 friends to see if they can beat your score!
Yesterday you learned about voter suppression and its impact on United States history and people of color. Today, we are going to learn how voter suppression continues to impact our democracy and communities of color. It is important that we recognize the barriers to voting that many people still face and work to eliminate those barriers so that our representatives and laws reflect our increasingly diverse country.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
5 minutes:
Have you heard of “Voter Purging”? Watch this short video to learn the history and how it affects elections.
10 minutes:
Voter ID laws have an interesting history within North Carolina. Recently a federal judge formally blocked North Carolina’s new voter identification law, ruling that discriminatory intent was likely a motivating factor in how the measure was crafted. Take 10 minutes to read this article and learn about how the law works to suppress voting.
10 minutes:
Two-thirds of eligible voters made their voices heard in November. Much of this voter mobilization is thanks to the tireless efforts of Black, brown, and Indigenous organizers in states all over the country who spent months and even years registering people to vote, educating them on the issues and breaking down barriers to voting. Read this article to learn more about these organizers.
Every 10 years the federal government undertakes the important task of counting every person living in the United States. Today, you are going to learn about the Census’ history, why people of color are routinely undercounted, and how this unsung program impacts the lives of every American without most of us even realizing it. Before you begin, click HERE to see a map of the Buncombe county area where an undercounting in the 2020 Census was predicted and make a note of any observations you have.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
5 minutes:
Challenge step one, watch this short video about the history of the Census and why it’s so important to make sure each and every one of us is counted.
5 minutes:
Now that you’ve learned the who, what and why regarding the Census test your knowledge with this quick video quiz.
15 minutes:
The counting portion of the Census is now closed. Tabulation of that count and the outcomes is what we are now awaiting. This critical information is used to distribute resources and representation. Read this analysis from the Pew Research Center diving into the accuracy of the count, how this atypical year may have affected the data, and what we know right now.
WEEK 2 - EDUCATION
Welcome to week two of the 21 Day Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge 2021! This week we will discuss the history and impact of inequity within our education systems. Over 65 years ago the Supreme Court’s ruling in the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case declared racial segregation unconstitutional, yet today we see our schools just as segregated, if not more than in 1954. The result of this continued segregation has perpetuated a lasting negative effect on children and communities of color. Today we will explore that history and its continued and renewed impact on our education systems.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
15 minutes:
To begin let’s take a look at the history of both education and de-segregation within Asheville and Buncombe county schools. As you read this article be sure to follow the links that mention Isaac Dickson, “Rosenwald Schools,” and Allen High School.
5 minutes:
Districts can draw school zones to make classrooms more or less racially segregated. Read this quick article and find your school district to see how well it’s doing.
5 minutes:
Let’s end by exploring how America has used schools as a weapon against Native Americans. From years of coerced assimilation and historical trauma, generations of Native children find themselves suffering with subpar education outcomes. As you read this article, make note of the information that you already knew and that which you didn’t.
If you’ve ever changed schools in the middle of the year, you may be able to recall minor differences in curriculum between districts. Now imagine moving from a predominantly white high school in Texas to a more diverse school in California– the difference would be staggering. You may not think much about the vast ways in which the exact same material can vary depending on a pupil’s school, school district, and instructional materials. Today we will examine how textbooks, authors, and state legislation collectively become “what we teach,” and how what we teach impacts society’s worldview and understanding of history.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
30 minutes:
To start, let’s watch this video regarding the implementation of Ethnic Study pedagogy within K–12 schools and then take some time minutes to reflect on your own K–12 curriculum and what information you were or weren’t taught.
15 minutes:
American history textbooks are supposed to teach us a common set of facts about who we are as a nation, but the influence of religion and politics in instructional material can skew those facts. Read this article to see how history textbooks reflect America’s refusal to reckon with slavery.
10 minutes:
Very few states require Holocaust education in their school systems and a 2018 survey showed that two-thirds of U.S. Millenials were not familiar with Auschwitz. Read this article on how one state hopes to change that statistic, during a surge of anti-Semitic hate crimes.
As individuals interested in learning more about racial equity, you’ve likely heard of the term “school-to-prison pipeline” (if you haven’t, check out this infographic made by the ACLU). This umbrella term covers the systems that funnel African-American boys out of school and into prison at alarming rates. Today we will learn more about how school disciplinary policies disproportionately affect Black students, including Black girls, who are often overlooked when discussing this problem. Stereotypes and misconceptions, which view Black girls as older, more mature, and more aggressive have led to a lesser-discussed trend: the adultification of Black girls.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
10 minutes:
Take 10 minutes to watch this video regarding the school-to-prison pipeline, the detrimental impacts of this national trend, and how youth are organizing today to create change.
5 minutes:
Across the country, Black girls are six times more likely to be suspended than white girls. Check out this study to better understand how Black girls are being pushed out of school.
15 minutes:
In this interactive data-set, you can plug in your school system and those around you to investigate whether there is racial inequality at your school.
Yesterday we challenged ourselves to look deeper into the ways in which school disciplinary policies disproportionately affect children of color and Black girls. Today, let’s take a look at the early impact teachers have on a student’s educational outcomes and their likelihood to attend college. Unconscious biases in white teachers, who favor a “colorblind” approach may cause unintentional harm to their students, while the early acknowledgment of differences can prepare students for a diverse world. Positive outcomes sparked by same-race role models can potentially shrink the education achievement gap and usher more Black and brown students into colleges and universities.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
10 minutes:
Watch this quick video illustrating how some California preschools are getting children to participate in conversations about racial differences at an early age.
10 minutes:
K-6 classrooms are led by a primarily white, female teacher population, whose inherent biases often come into play in their approaches to children and teaching. Read this interview with Dr. Robin DiAngelo, YWCA’s 2020 It’s Time for Equity speaker, on white fragility in teaching and education.
5 minutes:
Black students who had just one black teacher by third grade were 13% more likely to enroll in college. Check out this quick article on how the role-model effect can potentially shrink the educational achievement gap.
To wrap up week two and our discussion around issues of racism and inequity within our educational systems, let’s challenge ourselves to consider some of the barriers that people of color face in attaining a college degree. Standardized tests designed to keep students of color and women out, the adversities poor brown and Black students experience while on campus and the economic turmoil graduates of color face in repaying their loans, are all a part of a flawed higher education system.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
5 minutes:
Carl Brigham, the creator of the original SAT believed that American education was declining and “will proceed with an accelerating rate as the racial mixture becomes more and more extensive.” Watch this video on how standardized tests were designed by racists and eugenicists.
5 minutes:
While the model minority myth characterizes Asian-Americans as the most educated minority group in the U.S., Southeast Asian American students experience serious educational inequalities that are often masked due to their categorization as “Asian.” Look at this graphic for more statistical data on Southeast Asian American students.
15 minutes:
12 years after starting college, white men have paid off 44% of their student loans, while Black women owe 13% more. Read this article to better understand how the student debt crisis has hit Black students especially hard.
WEEK 3 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Welcome to week 3 of The Challenge– we’ve reached the halfway point! Today we begin by discussing bias within the criminal justice system. Bias within the criminal justice system is not a new phenomenon, however, in recent years, the massive impact of these biases on communities of color has been highlighted in the media, creating a national movement around criminal justice reform. Today we will learn about the damaging and often fatal effects of bias and over-policing.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
5 minutes:
To help give some historical context to the police killing of George Floyd and so many other Black people in this country please take 5 minutes to watch this short video from NPR regarding the history of policing in the United States to help better understand how the relationship between police and the Black community has evolved to be what it is today.
15 minutes:
In 2016 the Cato Institute released this study regarding public opinion on policing in the United States. Take 15 minutes to review the results and then write down any thoughts you have regarding this information and the variations in opinion between racial groups.
15 minutes:
Are prisons necessary? Social Scientist Ruth Wilson Gilmore thinks not. Take 10 minutes to read this article and then take 5 minutes to create a pro and con list regarding the imprisonment of United States citizens.
Today we will discuss the impact of racial disparities in incarceration on minority communities in the U.S. Building on last week’s discussion on education and the school to prison pipeline, mass incarceration of targeted demographics has an effect not only on those incarcerated individuals but entire ethnic and religious groups. The impacts can be felt for generations.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
2 hours:
Ava DuVernay’s documentary “13th” chronicles how our justice system has been driven by racism from the days of slavery to today’s era of mass incarceration. The film is named for the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery with the exception of punishment for crime. Today, the United States accounts for 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of its prisoners. In 2020, more than 2 million people were incarcerated in the United States—of those, 40 percent were Black even though they only make up 13% of the population. Today we challenge you to watch the film and then to take some time to reflect on your learning by utilizing this discussion guide.
5 minutes:
Watch this video on mass incarceration to understand how for certain demographics of young black men, the current inevitability of prison has become a sort-of normal life event. Netflix’s film “13th” offers a deeper view of the same topic.
5 minutes:
Muslims make up about 9% of state prisoners, though they are only about 1% of the U.S. population, a new report finds. Listen to this report which sheds light on the obstacles some incarcerated Muslims face in prison while practicing their faith.
North Carolina has an incarceration rate of 639 per 100,000 people, meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than many wealthy democracies do. Today we will take a deep dive into the multitude of policies that keep North Carolina residents tied up in the criminal justice system at an alarming rate. From pre-trial holding to probation, as well as disturbing occurrences within the juvenile system, North Carolina has a serious criminal justice issue that needs to be addressed.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
15 minutes:
To begin, take 15 minutes to review the North Carolina incarceration profile from our friends at the Prison Policy Initiative.
15 minutes:
The inequalities of the cash bail system are not new. Three out of 5 people in U.S. jails today have not been convicted of a crime. This amounts to nearly half a million people sitting in jails each day, despite the fact that they are legally innocent of the crime with which they have been charged. In effect, the cash bail system criminalizes poverty, which in turn impacts people of color at higher rates than Whites. Take 15 minutes to read this article regarding how Orange County has worked to mitigate these disparities.
10 minutes:
Disparities within the justice system are only limited to pre-trial or arrests. Did you know that the odds of a typical Black drug offender being sentenced to imprisonment are about 20 percent higher than the odds of a typical White offender? Take 10 minutes to read this article regarding a North Carolina man who was sentenced to 22 years in prison on a drug charge.
Over the past 30 years, the trend of confining more women to federal, state, and local correctional facilities has exploded at an increase of 700%. Today we will discuss how anecdotal and antiquated healthcare policies, harsher disciplinary consequences, and unmet needs, while incarcerated and post-release, perpetuates a cycle of generational imprisonment, poverty, and trauma for women and families.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
15 minutes:
Did you know that from 1980 to 2017 the number of women and girls incarcerated has risen from 13,000 to 113,000? Today we challenge you to take 15 minutes to review this article regarding the history of incarceration amongst women within the last quarter-century.
10 minutes:
Take 10 minutes to watch this video regarding the crisis of Black female incarceration from MadameNoir magazine.
15 minutes:
80% of the women who will go to jail this year are mothers. This is why the National Bail Out Collective is working to help mothers pay their bail so they can be reunited with their families each Mother’s Day. Take 15 minutes to watch this video regarding the local effort’s organizers are making on this campaign and brainstorm some ways you can help mitigate this crisis.
Life after prison can often be just as difficult as time spent behind bars. Most former convicts struggle with culture shock, mental health issues, disenfranchisement, unemployment, and a whole host of other problems upon release. Today we will learn more about some of those issues and the struggle the formerly incarcerated face when trying to re-engage in society.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
30 minutes:
Every year, more than half a million inmates are released from prison, for most the transition is not an easy process. Today we challenge you to take 30 minutes to listen to this podcast from NPR regarding life after incarceration and the challenges formerly incarcerated individuals face as they transition back into society.
15 minutes:
Long-term imprisonment inevitably changes the personalities of former convicts. Read these findings from interviews with 25 former ‘lifers,’ who had served an average of 19 years in jail.
15 minutes:
Formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27% – higher than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression. Read this article which outlines the barriers formerly incarcerated people face when looking for unemployment.
WEEK 4 - PUBLIC HEALTH
Welcome to the last week of the 21 Day Racial Equity and social justice challenge. People of color suffer worse health outcomes than white people, even when controlling for income and other factors. Learn why these disparities aren’t about race, but racism. Today we are talking about the impact of toxic stress caused by daily exposure to discrimination on the health of people of color.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
30 minutes:
Watch this TED Talk about how research has found that higher levels of discrimination are associated with a broad range of negative health outcomes such as obesity, high blood pressure, breast cancer, heart disease, and early death.
5 minutes:
Listen to this podcast about the effect of chronic stress from frequent racist encounters on the health outcomes of people of color. The article also features a case study on how a large scale I.C.E. raid in Iowa impacted the health of pregnant Latinx women across the state.
15 minutes:
Read this article about how the mental burdens of bias, trauma, and family hardship lead to unequal life outcomes for girls and women and girls and women of color in particular.
America is the most dangerous wealthy country in the world to give birth. This is, in part, due to the dramatic racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality. Toxic stress and bias in medical care mean that women of color are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications. Racism is a public health crisis and it is time to treat it as such.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
15 minutes:
In the US, black babies die at twice the rate of white babies. In Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, black babies were nearly four times as likely as white babies to die before their first birthday. Read this article about the infant mortality gap and what black doulas in Asheville are doing to change it.
30 minutes:
Watch this interview featuring Stacey D. Stewart, the President and CEO of March of Dimes, where she and her co-panelists grapple with the growing maternal health crisis, and how to provide every mother the best care.
5 minutes:
Read this article on how the negative impact of institutional racism on maternal and infant mortality for Native American women closely parallels that of African American women.
A large part of our health is determined by our environment. For generations, the impact of pollution and environmental damage has largely fallen on marginalized communities. Systemically racist policies have resulted in people of color having an increased likelihood of exposure to unsafe drinking water, lead paint in homes, and industrial waste. Today we are looking at the environmental justice movement and Black and brown activists pushing for change.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
5 minutes:
Watch this video about how systemic racism means that communities of color face disproportionate rates of lead poisoning, asthma, and environmental harm.
10 minutes:
Read about the climate crisis’s disproportionate impacts on Indigenous communities, and how Indigenous people have been at the forefront of the fight against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and other environmental injustices.
5 minutes:
We already know that pollution and climate change negatively affect people’s health and quality of life. But we’re not always clear about which people are most exposed and impacted. Watch this short video highlighting how this continues to happen.
The history of the exploitation and brutalization of people of color by doctors and others in the medical field is one of America’s most tragic and largely untold stories. Thanks to the work of people like Harriet Washington, author of Medical Apartheid, there is a new willingness to grapple with the impact of this trauma. Awareness about our past is the first step towards a more equitable future.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
10 minutes:
Watch this video about the history of institutional racism in American medicine and how racist 18th-century beliefs and practices are still leading to adverse health outcomes for people of color today.
30 minutes:
Listen to this podcast about the United States Supreme Court ruling, Buck v. Bell, that institutionalized the racist eugenics movement and led to 70,000 forced sterilizations of people of color and people with physical and mental disabilities.
5 minutes:
Read this article about how racist stereotypes led to approximately 20,000 people – many of them Latinx – being forcibly sterilized in California and how this is echoed in the political landscape today.
Have you ever been to the doctor and have them tell you that the pain or discomfort you are feeling isn’t real or isn’t serious? Do you worry that, in an emergency, unconscious bias could delay or deny you life-saving care? If you are a person of color this is an all to common experience. Today we are learning how a history of racism in American medicine combined with unconscious bias from health care professionals is impacting the quality of care that people of color receive today.
WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE…
15 minutes:
Watch this interview with Harriet Washington, author of “Medical Apartheid” who talks about how, even though the worst medical practices of 18th and 19th centuries are over, there are still a lot of medical research studies that can be abusive.
10 minutes:
Read this article about the dangerous racial and ethnic stereotypes that still exist in medicine today and how they impact the care that people of color receive from their healthcare providers.
15 minutes:
Read this article about how unconscious bias becomes dangerous in emergency medical situations where providers are much more likely to default to making decisions based on stereotypes. Bonus: there is a 4-minute excerpt from a radio program.
Thank you for your commitment to Racial Equity and Social Justice. In addition to the challenge, we’ve created a Continuing the Challenge on our Blog. Follow the link below for the first of that series.
DID YOU KNOW
Only about 9 percent of grant-making from foundations goes into communities of color? Make a gift to YWCA today and support our mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.