UNT Offers Anti-Racism Syllabus for At-Home Learning

You don't have to register or pay tuition to learn from the latest course offered by the University of North Texas.

It's called 'Decriminalizing Blackness'. The conceptual syllabus was put together by UNT's History Department in response to the killing of George Floyd and the protests that have followed.

"You will not get a grade for this class," UNT History Lecturer Kerry Goldmann said. "That's why it's for everyone."

"What we are hoping to see is that this is not a moment, but a movement," Goldmann said. "More than ever, we're seeing Black voices uplifted, especially in the protests, and whites listening."

The course highlights Black voices to help learners study racism, from history to the present day.

"Because that's the problem, right, with a lot of education today in Texas and the United States is that Blackness is muted in history," Goldmann said. "So we have Black voices to amplify and say to the white population; this is what's going on, this is what's always gone on, how it's continued, and here is how you can help."

UNT wanted to make the syllabus available, not just to students, but to anyone who wanted to learn and do the work.

"Not just not being racist, but actually anti-racist," Goldmann said. "Taking that active stand, I think, is one of the most important things we can do right now."

Golmann said that is through mobilization, education, and conversation.

"It's an uncomfortable conversation to have so you don't want to have the conversation, let alone get to the root of what's going on," Goldmann said. "We're seeing a lean into the discomfort."

"We may actually be able to create long-lasting change," Goldmann said.

UNT has a new incoming full-time professor of African American History, J. Anthony Guillory. You can access the 'Decriminalizing Blackness' syllabus here.