Find resources to help with equality, justice and race issues
We don't have all the answers, but we do have a lot of local resources to help you navigate this difficult time in our communities regarding race and equality. For people looking for resources, we have provided a list of them below to help you be an ally and navigate this time.
ACLU and other justice resources
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
South Central Wake County NAACP
NAACP Wendell-Wake County Branch
NAACP Chapel Hill/Carrboro Branch
NAACP Northern Orange County Branch
Tips on how to talk about race and other issues:
10 Tips for teaching and talking to kids about race from MomsRising:
1. Start Early
By 6 months of age babies are noticing racial differences; by age 4, children have begun to show signs of racial bias. Let your child know that it's perfectly okay to notice skin color and talk about race. Start talking about what racial differences mean and don't mean.
2. Encourage Your Child
Expose your child to different cultural opportunities - photographs, films, books, or cultural events, for example - and discuss the experience afterwards. You don't have to be an expert on race to talk with our child. Be honest about what you don't know and work with your child to find accurate information. Encourage your child to ask questions, share observations and experiences, and be respectfully curious about race.
3. Be Mindful
You are a role model to your child. What you say is important, but what you do - the diversity of your friendship circle, for example - is likely to have a bigger impact. If your child doesn't attend a diverse school, consider enrolling her in after school or weekend activities such as sports leagues that are diverse if you're able. Choose books and toys that include persons of different races and ethnicities. Visit museums with exhibits about a range of cultures and religions. What kids hear from us is less important than what they see us do.
4. Face Your Own Bias
We're less likely to pass on the biases we identify and work to overcome. Give your child an example of a bias, racial or otherwise, that you hold or have held. Share with your child things you do to confront and overcome that bias. Let your child see you acknowledge and face your own biases.
5. Know and Love Who You Are
Talk about the histories and experiences of the racial, ethnic, and cultural groups you and your family identify with. Talk about their contributions and acknowledge the less flattering parts of those histories as well. Tell stories about the challenges your family (your child's parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grandparents, others) has faced and overcome.
6. Racial Cultural Literacy
Develop racial cultural literacy by learning about and respecting others.
- Study and talk about the histories and experiences of groups we call African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and whites, among others.
- Be sure your child understands that every racial and ethnic group includes people who believe different things and behave in different ways. There is as much diversity within racial groups as across them.
7. Be Honest
Be honest with your child, in age-appropriate ways, about bigotry and oppression.
- Children are amazing at noticing patterns, including racial patterns (who lives in their neighborhood versus their friends' neighborhoods, for example). Help them make sense of those patterns, and recognize that bigotry and oppression are sometimes a big part of those explanations.
- Be sure your child knows that the struggle for racial fairness is still happening and that your family can take part in that struggle.
8. Tell Stories
"Lift up the freedom fighters": Tell stories of resistance and resilience.
- Every big story of racial oppression is also a story about people fighting back and "speaking truth to power." Teach your child those parts of the story too.
- Include women, children and young adults among the "freedom fighters" in the stories you tell. A story about racial struggle in which all the heroes are men wrongly leaves many people out.
9. Be Active
Be active - don't be a "bystander" on race.
- Help your child understand what it means to be, and how to be, a change agent.
- Whenever possible, connect the conversations you're having to the change you and your child want to see, and to ways to bring about that change.
10 Plan for a Marathon, Not a Sprint
- It's okay to say, "I'm not sure" or "Let's come back to that later, okay?" But then do come back to it.
- Make race talks with your child routine. Race is a topic you should plan to revisit again and again
Racial Justice: A Juneteenth Conversation with Community Leaders
ABC News 3-day special report: Pandemic: A Nation Divided
Human Rights Resource Links and Phone Numbers
The American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU of North Carolina is an enduring guardian of justice, fairness, equality, and freedom, working to protect and advance civil liberties for all.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
ICE is the agency that enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety.
National Immigration Law Center (NILC) - KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
One of the leading organizations in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income.
www.nilc.org/get-involved/community-education-resources/know-your-rights
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
They are committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income, immigrant, and underserved APIs.
Local Rapid Response Hotlines and Organizations
Hotline numbers meant for EMERGENCIES ONLY to report ICE activity and enforcement actions.
ICE Activity Hotline (Raleigh, NC) - 800-559-8714
United We Dream
ICE Activity Hotline (US) - 1-844-363-1423 or text 877877
Additional Organizations Offering Help
Southern Coalition for Social Justice: Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the South to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organization, and communication.
NC Justice Center: Striving to eliminate poverty in North Carolina by ensuring that every household in the state has access to the resources, services, and fair treatment it needs to achieve economic security.
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival: Building a movement to overcome systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the war economy. Everybody's got a right to live.
Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People: Promotes the welfare of the citizenry in civic, cultural, economic, educational, health, housing, political, youth, and religious and human affairs.
Friends of Durham: Working to make the local governments which impact Durham citizens more representative of all its citizens and more responsive to the welfare of all its people.
The Racial Equity Institute: Helping individuals and organizations develop tools to challenge patterns of power and grow equity.
Chatham Organizing for Racial Equity: Standing as allies to minority, marginalized, and oppressed populations while working to build awareness of personal, cultural, and systemic racism.
Organizing Against Racism (OAR): Hosting training and events to advance racial equity in or around the Triangle.
El Pueblo, Inc.: Specializing in leadership development for both youth and adults among Wake County's growing Latinx community and envisioning a just society that values equity, dignity, and respect of all people.
El Centro Hispano: Strengthening the community, building bridges and advocating for equity and inclusion for Hispanics/Latinos in the Triangle area.
NC Asian Americans Together: Supporting equity and justice for all by fostering community among AAPIs and allies in North Carolina through civic engagement, leadership development, grassroots mobilization and political participation.
National Center for Lesbian Rights: Working toward advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy & public education.
