Fight Racism and White Supremacy in Florida

Black people face institutional, state-sponsored terror in this country every day. The list of Black people who have been murdered by police is too long for people to ignore the institutionalized racism in our country, and it must end. 

Fatal encounters with police are not the only thing brutalizing Black and Brown communities. Over-policing, voter suppression, minimum mandatory sentencing laws, housing discrimination, criminalization of marijuana and non-violent drug abuse, for-profit policing, and lack of implicit bias training are equally marginalizing Black and Brown communities across America.

We must dismantle anti-Blackness and white supremacist institutions and it will take all of us to do that with intention and work.

Racism and anti-Blackness harm people of color every day. We see racism’s impact through clear acts of hate and violence. We see it underlying policies and practices throughout public life. We must dismantle anti-Blackness and white supremacist institutions and it will take all of us to do that with intention and work.

The ACLU is urgently committing to this broader, more profound fight – which groups like Movement for Black Lives have been leading – and we need grassroots supporters like you to help achieve its critical goals.

With our partners across Florida, the ACLU of Florida is dedicated to dismantling and eradicating white supremacy and racism in all of its forms. We have developed a list of actions you can commit to right now to make a difference.

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BLM Protests around the world

Support Organizations That Are Led by People of Color

Frontline local advocacy groups leading on racial justice issues in Florida - especially those led by People of Color - need your time, talent and treasure. Follow them on social media, center and lift them up at every opportunity, volunteer your talents to advance their mission, and donate.

 

FL Black Trans Lives Matter

Vote Your Values

Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. Everyone should have the right to exercise their voices at the ballot box. Yet, voter suppression among communities of color, students, disabled people, and the elderly, persists throughout Florida’s history.

Our democracy works best when more people participate, but make no mistake, dating back to Jim Crow and extending forward, voter suppression is real and it impacts voters of color the most. If political candidates and sitting politicians refuse to lead on racial justice, they should not be a leader.

Register to Vote and Update Your Voter Registration

You have the power to select, endorse, and vote for a candidate that speaks to you and your community’s values.

Resources

Know Your Rights and Tips for Voting

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Speak Out 

This is a moment when we need to hear most from Black people and people of color, but that doesn’t mean the burden of communication should fall on them either. White people can use their privilege to raise awareness of the state of racial justice in Florida and all of the opportunities to do better mentioned on this page. A simple but effective way to reach others is by writing a letter to the editor to your local newspaper and contacing your local legislators. Find contact information and tips on our website.

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Commit to Learning

There have never been more ways to explore how racism impacts us today and how our history led us here. It is on white people to do their homework. It is not enough to be not racist, each of us must be actively anti-racist. These are recommendations from the ACLU of Florida team, as well 

Submit your own recommendations for inclusion by emailing us at acluflonline@aclufl.org

BOOKS

  • “The Color of Law,” by Richard Rothstein 
  • “The History of White People,” by Nell Irvin Painter
  • “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In the Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander 
  • “Teaching to Transgress: Education As the Practice of Freedom,” by Bell Hooks
  • “Between the World and Me" and "We Were Eight Years in Power," by Ta-Nehisi Coates 
  • “Citizen: An American Lyric,” by Claudia Rankine 
  • “Stamped from the Beginning,” by Ibram X. Kendi 
  • "Tears We Cannot Stop,” by Michael Eric Dyson 
  • “The Fire Next Time” and "Go Tell It on the Mountain," by James Baldwin 
  • “Why are All the Back Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum
  • “Women Race and Class” and "Angela Davis: An Autobiography," by Angela Davis 
  • "Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower," by Brittany Cooper
  • "This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America," by Morgan Jerkins

  • "One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy," by Carol Anderson

  • "Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty," by Dorothy Roberts

  • "Sister Citizen," by Melissa Harris-Perry

  • "Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools," by Monique Morris

  • “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson

  • "This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color," Cherrie Moraga (Editor), Gloria Anzaldua  (Editor), Toni Cade Bambara (Foreword)

  • "The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison

  • "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Barracoon," by Zora Neale Hurston

  • "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents," by Octavia Butler

  • "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison

  • "The Souls of Black Folk," by W.E.B. DuBois

  • The Sum of Us," by Heather McGhee

  • The Hate U Give," by Angie Thomas

  • "The 1619 Project," by Nikole Hannah-Jones

  • "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water," by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson

  • "Caste: The Origins of our Discontents," by Isabel Wilkerson

  • "Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm," by Robin DiAngelo

  • “How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America,” by Clint Smith

MOVIES & DOCUMENTARIES 

  • "13th" 
  • "When they see us" 
  • "The Innocence Files"
  • "Just Mercy"
  • "The Hate U Give"
  • "American Son"
  • "I am not your Negro"
  • "Fruitvale Station"
  • "Do the Right Thing"
  • "Get Out"
  • "Pariah"
  • "Malcolm X"
  • "Rosewood"
  • "Freedom Riders"
  • "Eyes on the Prize"
  • "Glory"
  • "Selma"
  • "Harriet"
  • "Marshall"
  • "Women of the Movement"

PODCASTS & PODCAST EPISODES

  • "The 1619 Project"
  • "Code Switch"
  • "Pod Save the People"
  • "Mixed Company"
  • "In the Dark" season 2, Curtis Flowers
  • "Who We Are"
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