Written by Lisa E. Mercer & Terresa Moses; Foreword by Cheryl D. Miller A powerful and proven guidebook that shows organizations how to recognize racism in designed artifacts, systems, and experiences—and how to replace them with anti-racist design solutions. Anti-racist design interventions can be difficult. Well-intentioned conversations can fuel tensions, activate racialized trauma, and lead to misunderstandings, especially in spaces not typically focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Even when progress is made, white supremacy culture can resurface. We need anti-racist guidelines and approaches that lay bare racialized systems of oppression and fundamentally disrupt their replication. In Racism Untaught, Lisa E. Mercer and Terresa Moses, two veteran anti-racist educators, deliver this exact approach.Mercer and Moses provide a step-by-step guide to anti-racist interventions in academic, business, and community settings that benefits all participants. Adapted from their successful workshop series and filled with concrete examples and ample case studies, their book teaches participants how to analyze design—and reimagine racialized artifacts, systems, and experiences guided by anti-oppressive principles. They demonstrate how to examine positionality within the context of racism and oppression; help us understand how design can reinforce and perpetuate oppression; and reveal the unique relationship among equity, ethics, and responsibility that constitutes the core value of an anti-racist design discipline. In Racism Untaught, Mercer and Moses provide the framework we need to unlearn racialized design practices and move more generatively toward collective liberation.With a foreword by renowned designer Cheryl D. Miller, Racism Untaught is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to help themselves and their organization create an actionable and inclusive plan to dismantle racial oppression and instead realize equitable, anti-racist, and liberatory design. Product Details: Book Dimensions: 7.0" H x 9" L x 6" W ISBN: 9780262048583 Binding: Paperback Pages: 256 pp., 90 color illus., 2 b&w illus. Published: Oct. 3. 2023 by The MIT Press About the Authors: Lisa E. Mercer is Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.Terresa Moses is Creative Director of Blackbird Revolt as well as Director of Design Justice and Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Minnesota. She created Project Naptural, co-created Racism Untaught, and is a board member of the Black Liberation Lab.
