© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

PBS Documentary On Race To Screen In Wichita

youtube.com

A film and discussion about race will take place Monday evening at Wichita’s Rockwell Branch Library. Participants will explore where the idea of race comes from.

Part one of the acclaimed PBS documentary series “Race: The Power of an Illusion” will give participants a chance to learn about the ways we consider race.

Cultural anthropologist and facilitator Lisa Chitelji has worked at the university level exploring comparative race and ethnicity construction. She says that the discussion will look at the traits used throughout history to divide people into certain race groups, as well as how they are not valid.

“The criteria we were using, which were physical ones like skin color, are optical illusions to make us think there’s a lot of difference, but that indeed there’s very little difference across all human groups," Chitelji says.

Chitelji says there’s more difference among members within a group than there are between separate groups.

The film, followed by discussion, will be at the Rockwell Branch Library from 6-7:30 p.m. Monday. Part two and three of the documentary series will be screened in July and August. 

--

Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.