Our Pillars

Narrator:

"Race is an idea, not a fact."

Our ideas about race are not just our own.

They're socially constructed and reinforced through who and what we see.

Public representations influence who and what we consider worthy of being recognized and preserved, and how or if we see ourselves.

Whiteness has been normalized as the social standard.

Racist stereotypes and caricatures create distorted representations of non-white people and cultures including in real life and entertainment.

A 2021 study shows that roles for people of color are often negative stereotypes.

In film, for example, Latinos and Latinas are regularly presented as violent, angry, and criminal.

Across platforms, the majority of all lead actors are white.

Our preservation landscape also privileges one perspective at the expense of others.

In the United States, public monuments overwhelmingly memorialize white men.

This imbalance skews how we understand each other and our shared history.

But public opinions can shift.

Movements led by people of color have sparked the removal of biased monuments and more racial diversity among creators and decision makers has increased positive inclusive narratives in preservation, in public spaces, in entertainment and popular culture, and in cultural institutions like museums.

Consistently seeing people like and unlike us helps construct an inclusive past and imagine a shared future.

Everyone has a racial identity.

In art and life, all people should see themselves and their experiences presented with care and dignity.

Join the Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past to better understand what was and create what can be.