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“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” These few words, spoken casually by Sonia Sotomayor at the annual Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture at UC-Berkeley in 2001, came back to haunt President Barack Obama’s nominee for the United States Supreme Court during the spring and summer of 2009. Hard to believe that this brief statement could cause such anguish, particularly among the conservative white senators who form part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, yet they led to days of arrogant grilling by the Senators and weeks of newspaper articles and commentary by television pundits speculating on what Sotomayor meant, whether it would hurt her confirmation, and what it would signal for the new court.

During a day of lessons about Asian-American culture and history, students in this Philadelphia school experienced deep learning and reflection.

This teacher believes it’s crucial for white teachers like her to seek out productive ways to talk about race and racism with students.

This educator asks, “How can I as a white ally amplify the voices of those affected by racial violence? How can I honor their stories?”

Perspectives for a Diverse America just turned one year old! Here are five things you need to know about this curriculum.