Introducing Our Shared Future - Reckoning and Reconciliation
Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past explores how race has informed each of our lives, regardless of our individual race or ethnicity. Join us for this journey.
Reckoning With Our Racial Past
Smithsonian Institution
Protestors at the Alabama State Capitol (1965) by James H. KaralesOriginal Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection Search
Drawing on the breadth of the Smithsonian's research, exhibitions, and collections, we explore the complicated history and legacy of race and racism in our communities and institutions. The work of Reckoning with Our Racial Past supports a collective shift toward equity.
Protestors and Counter-protesters at the Robert E. Lee Statue in Richmond, VA (2017-09-16) by Mobilus In MobiliReckoning With Our Racial Past
Confronting race and racism is difficult but necessary work. The Smithsonian strives to create collaborative, impactful spaces, and amplify multiple perspectives in service of a more equitable shared future for all.
A Welcome Message from Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Our Purpose
The increase and diffusion of knowledge about the history and legacy of race and racism while building pathways towards a more equitable shared future.
Our Mission
Our mission is to explore the history and legacy of race and racism in the United States and globally. We seek to spark positive social change and build a more equitable shared future through interdisciplinary scholarship, creative partnerships, dialogue, and engagement.
Our Vision
Our vision is to create a hopeful future for all people using history and reconciliation to contextualize and transform our understandings and responses to race and racism.
An Initiative for Social Change
Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past emerges from both centuries of systemic racism and its urgent, present-day reality. With this new initiative, we seek to spark positive social change and build a more equitable future through interdisciplinary scholarship, creative partnerships, dialogue, and engagement.
Through 'Race and Our Shared Future,' we hope to grow engaged, intergenerational communities of learners and doers.
