Short Video and Audio Clips

Summary

All items listed in the REAL resource bank were suggested by research participants of the ‘Exploring Race and Ethnicity on Social Science Degree Programmes’ project, or colleagues at University of Brighton, as resources they had found useful in their own teaching. They are not intended as definitive recommendations from the project team, and readers should make their own judgements as to which items would be most useful and appropriate for their needs. Similarly, the short summaries of each listed item are meant as approximate indicators rather than comprehensive synopses and should act primarily as a starting point for further exploration.

Aamer Rahman – Reverse Racism (2013) Fear of a Brown Planet, 3 mins [Video clip].

In this sharp, comedic takedown, comedian Aamer Rahman dismantles the idea of “reverse racism” by imagining a world where historical power, colonisation and structural domination were reversed. His humour exposes how racism relies on systemic inequality, prompting audiences to rethink race, power and the myths that shape everyday conversations.

Akala On Everyday Racism: What Should We Do? (2015) The Guardian, 3 mins [Video clip].

Akala explores how racism operates as a socially conditioned system tied to power, economics, and media narratives. Using personal reflection, he exposes how stereotypes shape everyday interactions and internal biases, even among those who experience racism. The clip challenges viewers to recognise structural forces behind ‘everyday’ prejudice and actively unlearn harmful assumptions. The video clip includes reference to racial slurs in the context of recounting racist abuse.

Angela Davis: We Can’t Eradicate Racism Without Eradicating Racial Capitalism (2020) Democracy Now! 3 mins [Video clip].

In this Democracy Now! clip, activist and scholar Angela Davis argues that racism is inseparable from capitalism. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, she asserts that true racial justice requires rethinking economic systems, highlighting the exploitation of Black, Latinx, and other racialized communities, and advocating for socialist-inspired approaches to dismantle structural inequality.

Black to Life: Rethinking the Black Presence within British History (2019) BBC Stories, 3 mins [Video clip].

This 3-minute BBC clip highlights the erasure of Black individuals from British history. Focusing beyond the Windrush generation, it uncovers hidden contributions to arts, commerce, and culture, urging recognition of marginalized narratives. By examining overlooked lives, it encourages a fuller understanding of Britain’s diverse historical and cultural legacy.

Everyday Islamophobia (2025) Commissioned by Peter Hopkins, 2 mins [Video clip].

This animated video, commissioned by Peter Hopkins, explores everyday Islamophobia, highlighting how anti-Muslim racism manifests in subtle and systemic ways. Beyond hate crimes, it includes stigmatizing looks, hurtful remarks, workplace discrimination, and social silences. The clip emphasizes how these patterns of exclusion, fear, and marginalization affect Muslim communities and reinforce societal inequities.

 Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore (2020) Antipode Foundation, 16 mins [Video clip].

In this Antipode Foundation film, geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore explains racial capitalism as a global system in which inequality and racial hierarchy are continuously reproduced. Linking slavery, incarceration, and place‑based struggle, Gilmore shows how abolitionist organizing and community study practices illuminate pathways to dismantling carceral power and building collective liberation.

 Gloria Ladson-Billings – Critical Race Theory (2021) The Brainwaves Video Anthology, 10 mins [Video clip]

This concise video features Gloria Ladson-Billings introducing key concepts of Critical Race Theory (CRT) — race as a social construct, systemic racism, and why these ideas matter for education. It frames CRT as a tool for analysing power, law and schooling rather than a politicised buzzword.

 How Microaggressions Are Like Mosquito Bites (2016) Same Difference, Fusion Comedy, 2 mins [Video clip].

This two-minute sketch uses the analogy of mosquito bites to illustrate how microaggressions—small, often unintentional slights tied to race, gender, or other identities—may seem harmless individually but accumulate and sting repeatedly, contributing to a larger environment of exclusion and discomfort.

How ‘White Fragility’ Reinforces Racism – Video Explainer (2020) The Guardian, 5 mins [Video clip]

In this explainer, Robin DiAngelo discusses how defensive reactions from white people—termed “white fragility”—help maintain systemic racism. Created by Ella Wilks-Harper, Nikhita Chulani, Jamie Macwhirter, Neelam Tailor and Katie Lamborn, the video links everyday discomfort to wider structures of inequality, urging white audiences to engage honestly in conversations about race and accountability.

Moving The Race Conversation Forward (2014) Race Forward, 5 mins [Video clip].

This video challenges media habits that focus on individual prejudice while ignoring institutional and structural racism. Drawing on research analysing major news coverage, it explains why systemic awareness is essential for understanding racial injustice and offers strategies to shift public conversations toward deeper, more accurate discussions of race.

No Evidence of Institutional Racism in UK, Says Report Commissioned by Government (2021) Channel 4 News, 5 mins [Video clip].

This Channel 4 News clip reports on the 2021 UK Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which controversially found no evidence of institutional racism. The report attributes inequalities to geography and socio-economic factors, sparking debate among anti-racism campaigners and political figures about the UK’s approach to addressing racial disparities and lived experiences.

 Patricia Hill Collins – Controlling Images (2021) with Mike Mena, 13 mins [Video clip].

This video explores Patricia Hill Collins’ concept of ‘controlling images’, from the book Black Feminist Thought. Controlling images are stereotypical representations designed to normalize racism, sexism, and social inequality, shaping perceptions and producing material consequences. Collins emphasizes their historical roots, systemic power, and intersectionality, highlighting how they persist and influence society, policy, and everyday life.

 Race: The Power of an Illusion (2003) California News Reel [short video clips].

This website provides access to 15 short video clips taken from the three-part documentary series. The series challenges the biological notion of race, tracing how the concept emerged, how science debunks it, and how institutions continue to reproduce racial hierarchies. It argues that while race is not a meaningful biological category, it remains socially real and structurally powerful.

Reni Eddo-Lodge: Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (2017) Foyles, 12 mins [Video clip].

In this interview, Reni Eddo-Lodge reflects on the shutdowns she faced when discussing racism and how this led to her influential book. She critiques colour-blindness, highlights overlooked Black British history, and explains how structural racism shapes daily life, situating her work within rising global far-right politics and ongoing anti-racist struggles.

 Robin DiAngelo: Debunking the Most Common Myths White People Tell About Race (2020) NBC News, 4 mins [Video clip].

DiAngelo unpacks frequent assertions white people make about race (such as “I’m not racist,” or “race no longer matters”), explaining how these myths serve to preserve racial hierarchies. She urges white viewers to shift from whether they are racist to how they have been shaped by systemic racism—and what they can do about it.

Stuart Hall – Race, Gender, Class in the Media (2017) Al Jazeera English, 3 mins [Video clip].

This short, animated video introduces Stuart Hall’s influential ideas on how media shapes understandings of race, gender, and class. Using archival footage and commentary, it explains Hall’s view that representation is never neutral; media constructs meaning and power. The film encourages critical questioning of how identities and inequalities are produced through everyday media narratives.

The Big Idea: Dimensions of Discrimination (2020) BBC World Service Radio, 10 mins [Radio clip] – sign-in through Learning on Screen (Box of Broadcasts).

This radio programme, presented by David Edmonds, explores Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, which analyses how overlapping forms of marginalization—such as race, gender, and class—create unique disadvantages. The program examines whether Black women face compounded prejudice compared to Black men or White women and highlights intersectionality’s influence on policy and academic research.

The Myth of Race (2021) BBC Ideas, 7 mins [Video clip].

This video explains that race is a recent social construct, emerging during 17th-century colonialism to justify inequality and power. It shows that genetic differences between human groups are minimal and overlapping, disproving any biological basis for race. Despite this, racial categories still shape lived experience, opportunities, and social structures today.

The Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 minutes (2015) Vox, 3 mins [Video clip].

This explainer shows that race has no biological basis and has shifted throughout history based on political priorities, census rules, and social needs. Though arbitrary and changeable, racial categories still shape real-life experiences and inequalities. Understanding race as a social construct helps reveal how racism developed and continues to operate.

The US Medical System is Still Haunted by Slavery (2017) Vox, 8 mins [Video clip].

This Vox video traces how racial inequities in U.S. healthcare stem from slavery-era medical practices, spotlighting Harriet Washington’s critique of institutional racism. Through examples from J. Marion Sims to 20th-century eugenics and modern maternal-mortality disparities, it shows how myths about Black bodies persist, shaping mistrust and unequal treatment today.

What Is Intersectionality? (2018) Commissioned by Peter Hopkins, 2 mins [Video clip].

This short video commissioned by Peter Hopkins introduces intersectionality, a concept developed by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. It highlights how overlapping systems of oppression—such as racism, sexism, and ableism—combine to create unique experiences of disadvantage. The clip emphasizes intersectionality’s importance for understanding power, privilege, and designing inclusive policies and practices.

What is “Race”? (2014) PBS Learning Media, 2 mins [Video clip].

This short explainer introduces race as a social, rather than biological, idea. It shows how societies create racial categories based on visible traits, how these categories shift across time and place, and how they become linked to power, opportunity, and inequality. The video encourages questioning taken-for-granted definitions of difference.

What is ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ (2018) SUBU Students’ Union at Bournemouth University, 3 mins [Video clip].

Why Is My Curriculum White? is a student-led campaign at Bournemouth University addressing the BME attainment gap. It critiques the dominance of white, Western, male perspectives in curricula, advocating for diverse voices across race, gender, sexuality, and ability. The campaign promotes equitable opportunities, cultural competency, and a more inclusive, representative educational experience.

 Windrush Generations (2018) 1000 Londoners, 5 x 3 mins [Series of video clips].

This short-film series profiles Londoners of Caribbean heritage across generations, tracing lives shaped by migration, belonging and activism. Through personal stories, it highlights cultural contribution, resilience and community leadership while exposing discrimination linked to Britain’s colonial legacy and the Windrush scandal. A valuable resource for understanding identity, history and justice in modern Britain.