A Public Education Project

Race is a small but powerful word. Race shapes how one sees and is seen by others. Yet, many people poorly understand what race is and isn’t.

To help promote a broad understanding of race and human variation, the American Anthropological Association has undertaken the RACE Project. The RACE Project has produced to date an award-winning public education program entitled RACE Are We So Different? The program includes a traveling museum exhibit, an interactive website, and educational materials. The program is geared for middle school-aged children through adults.

RACE Are We So Different? looks at race in the United States through the eyes of history, science and lived experience.  The program explains how human variation differs from race, when and why the idea of race was invented, and how race and racism affects everyday life. The program conveys three overall messages:

• Race is a recent human invention
• Race is about culture, not biology
• Race and racism are embedded in institutions and everyday life.

The Ford Foundation and National Science Foundation have provided generous funding to develop and produce RACE Are We So Different?

An Interactive Website and Exhibit

Did you know over one million visitors have seen the RACE website and exhibit? Discover the project everyone is talking about. RACE will be on view at Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Mashantucket, CT until Sept 6, 2008.

Find out when RACE is coming to a city near you. See the exhibit tour schedule. Can't wait? Take a virtual tour.

To visit the RACE website, go to www.understandingRACE.org.

A Project of American Anthropological Association