RECKONING:

A Series on U.S. Presidents and Racial Inequality

In collaboration with other presidential sites, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library is honored to provide these materials that explore the views and the political policies of individual presidents toward minority populations.  This website includes educational materials and videos of the roundtable series that were recorded in 2022.  This series has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

RECKONING: US PRESIDENTS AND RACIAL INEQUALITY

We need to talk about it.  Since the founding of our country, we have grappled with who belongs.  Even as Thomas Jefferson was writing, “all men are created equal,” he enslaved hundreds of individuals.  The struggle for racial equality has existed since the beginning of our nation. 

 

We believe that conversations amongst public historians which include Q&A sessions with the public are opportunities for honest discussion and reflection as we move toward a more just society.

This series explores the views and the political policies of individual presidents toward minority populations, with an in-depth focus on how each of these minority groups was affected by presidential policies directed toward them.  We believe that conversations amongst public historians which include Q&A sessions with the public are opportunities for honest discussion and reflection as we move toward a more just society.

Join us each month on ZOOM as we explore:

In addition to the monthly programs, you will find a virtual toolkit that includes free resources developed by and for each of the discussions, including primary resource materials, information about each contributor, and links to external resources. 

It is our hope that these materials will be used for the study of history and its implications for today.  All resources in the virtual toolkit and on this website are free for educational use.  As an on-going resource, this digital toolkit will provide valuable resources to open, develop, and continue dialogues long after the virtual series ends.