The Racism Untaught Element Card Deck

The Racism Untaught Element Card Deck (The Elements) is the first set of cards within the Racism Untaught Toolkit used for the first step of the framework, Context. With The Elements, people focus on contextualizing the racialized/oppressive design prompt (in the form of an artifact, system, or experience) they are given with these cards which define elements of racism, sexism, ableism, and capitalism. The Elements help people effectively discuss how racism/oppression shows up in the world around us. The Racism Untaught team continues to expand the cards in this deck to reflect other forms of oppression in order to guide discussions on intersectionality.

When using The Elements, we ask people to discuss each card—which includes a term on the front and the definition on the back—and determine why the element of racism (or other form of oppression) applies to their design prompt or why it does not. If people do not have the full toolkit, they can use the cards by placing them directly in front of them on a table or pinning/attaching them to a board to host a discussion. We also encourage participants to use The Elements to help them validate their own experiences of oppression by themselves or with family, friends, colleagues, and/or community members.

For formal group sessions in which you want to encourage group collaboration, divide cards within the group and have each group member do more research on each element of racism/oppression. At the next group session, have each group member share what they’ve learned. Encourage everyone to provide specific examples of a racialized artifact, system, or experience for each element. Everyone should be able to determine why the different elements of racism/oppression do or do not apply.

198 cards total | 83 elements of racism cards | 40 elements of sexism cards | 28 elements of ableism cards | 58 elements of capitalism cards