Diversity Video Library

A Class Apart

Publisher: American Experience
Format: DVD
Runtime: 60 minutes
Captions: Yes

In the small town of Edna, Texas in 1951, a field hand names Pete Hernandez killed a tenant farmer after exchanging words in a gritty cantina. From this seemingly unremarkable murder emerged a landmark civil rights case that would forever change the lives of and legal standing of tens of millions of Americans.

In this case, lawyers forged a daring legal strategy, arguing that Mexican Americans were "a class apart" and did not neatly fit into a legal structure that recognized only blacks and whites. As legal skirmishes unfolded, the lawyers emerged as brilliant, dedicated, humorous, and at times terribly flawed men. This film dramatically interweaves the story of its central characters- activists, and lawyers, returning veterans and ordinary citizens, murder, and victim- within the broader history of Latinos in America during a time of extraordinary change. The DVD includes materials for educators as well as Spanish language audio and subtitles.

Affirmative Action Debate: WWU

Publisher: WWU, Viking Union
Format: VHS
Runtime:
Captions: No

A debate surrounding Affirmative Action and Initiative 200.

Equal Opportunity: The American Dilemma; A debate on Affirmative Action with Dinesh D'Souza and Tim Wise

Publisher: Evergreen, Office for Equal Opportunity
Format: VHS
Runtime: 1 hr 11 mins
Captions: No

Tim Wise and Dinesh D'Sousa debate the merits of Affirmative Action at The Evergreen State College. Includes statements and questions from the community audience of approximately 1200. D'Sousa, a political conservative, describes himself as antiracist and sympathetic to minorities. A first generation immigrant from India, he authored the highly controversial book Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1991) and The End of Racism (1995). Tim Wise is an expert on racism and the political movements of the far right. He is the director of the youth Anti- Prejudice Project and speaks extensively around the country about racial tolerance and understanding. As assistant director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, he was instrumental in the political demise of neo-Nazi David Duke. He is the author of Little White Lies: The Truth About Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination.

Frontline: Secrets of the SAT

Publisher: PBS
Format: VHS
Runtime: 60 mins
Captions: No

With legal challenges to affirmative action spreading across this country, Frontline investigated the impact of standardized tests on racial diversity on college campuses.

Initiative 200 Debate, Tim Wise and Tim Eyman

Publisher: TVW, Tim Wise and Tim Eyman
Format: VHS
Runtime: 1 hr 34 min
Captions: No

Tim Eyman and Tim Wise debate the merits of anti-affirmative action Initiative 200 at the University of Washington. Includes statements and questions from the community. The initiative was passed by vote of the citizens of Washington State in November 1998. Tim Eyman was co-chairman of the campaign for Washington State Initiative 200 attacking affirmative action for women and people of color in public employment, education and contracting. Tim Wise is an expert on racism and political movements of the far right. He is the director of the youth Anti-Prejudice Project and speaks extensively around the country about racial tolerance and understanding. As assistant director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, he was instrumental in the political demise of neo-Nazi David Duke. He is the author of Little White Lies: The Truth About Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination.

Lourdes Arguelles

Publisher: Evergreen, Lourdes Arguelles
Format: VHS
Runtime:
Captions: No

Lourdes Arguelles received her Ph.D. at New York University from the Division of Behavioral Sciences, Center for Human Relations and Community Studies of the School of Education. Her concentrations were in Psychology and Sociology. She did post-doctoral work in law and psychiatry at Osgood Hall Law School at York University in Canada and in ethnic studies at the Chicano Studies Research Center at UCLA. Dr. Arguelles is a licensed marriage, child, and family therapist in the state of California. Her theoretical interests in the political economy and the spirituality of everyday life and her commitment to social and ecological justice and non-human animal welfare were shaped by the experience of the Cuban socialist revolution, by her studies with Buddhist teachers in India, Japan, Thailand, and Burma, and with a Chinese Qi-Qong master in the U.S. They were also greatly influenced by living and working with refugees and indigenous peoples throughout the world. Community, labor, and environmental organizing work in the inner cities of Montreal, New York, Miami, Florida, and in US-Mexico border cities and clinical practice with people living with HIV/AIDS, survivors of political and family torture, and with women of color and sexual minorities, have led her to an interest in the development of critical psychological modalities of care and ecologically-based educational practices, as well as to an interest in the field of gender and feminist studies. Dr. Arguelles' experience of growing up in an extended family system in the Caribbean and her life experiences in non-advanced industrial parts of the world have greatly contributed to her work in narrative research and storytelling pedagogy.

The Philosopher Kings

Publisher: Transcendental Media

Format: DVD

Runtime: 70 Minutes

Captions: No

In search of wisdom found in unlikely places, The Philosopher Kings takes us on a journey through the halls of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the custodians. This thought-provoking, feature-length documentary interweaves the untold stories of triumph and tragedy from the members of society who are often disregarded and ignored, and seeks out the kind of wisdom that gets you through the day and the lessons one learns from surviving hard times, lost loves, and shattered dreams.

From the producers of the multiple-award winning Flight from Death, The Philosopher Kings gives us the opportunity to learn from eight incredible individuals whom we would never have otherwise taken a moment out of our day to acknowledge.

"A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study."  ~ Chinese Proverb

Rabbit in the Moon

Publisher: Emiko Omori, Sundance Film Award Winner
Format: VHS
Runtime: 85 mins
Captions: No

A documentary/memoir about the lingering effects of the World War II interment of the Japanese American community. Interwoven is the story of two sisters, both former internees, filmmaker Emiko Omori and writer Chizuko Omori, who questioned the absence of this vital history in their lives while searching for the memory of their mother. Includes historical footage and accounts from Japanese American who experienced interment and fought against it."

Southern Poverty Law Center

Publisher: SPLC
Format: VHS
Runtime: 22 mins
Captions: No

A video presentation about The Southern Poverty Law Center, their work and their offices.

The Way Home

Publisher: Shakti Butler
Format: VHS
Runtime: 92 mins
Captions: No

A documentary film about race, gender and class in the United States. Over the course of eight months, sixty-four women, representing a cross-section of cultures in the U.S., met in councils separated by ethnicity - African-American, Arab, Asian, European-American, Indigenous, Jewish, Latina, and Multi-Racial. With uncommon courage, the women shared their minds and hearts and told their stories about resistance, love, assimilation, standards of beauty, power, school experiences and more. Their candid conversations offer rare access into multi-dimensional cultural worlds invisible to outsiders.

When We Were Kids, We Went to War

Publisher: Bristol Production
Format: VHS
Runtime: 2 hrs
Captions: No

When We Were Kids...We Went to War is a powerful video for the classroom that shows the personal side of war as presented by WWII Veterans and civilians in their own words and from their unique viewpoint. History books tell us the names dates and places, while these people tell us about their feelings, thoughts, and everyday lives during the war. This documentary connects today's student with the fact that history is real, and the men and women who fought the war were real people about their age when they were called into service. --from http://wwiihistoryclass.com