The 15-minute DVD What Makes Me White? is actually the first segment of a planned five-part series and independent documentary special, both of which will be offered to PBS. Director A.M. Sands developed the idea for the film while working on PBS’ Africans in America, the Peabody Award-winning documentary series on the history of slavery in the United States.

A multi-racial Advisory Board guides the film’s planning and production. Members include:

Bevery Daniel Tatum, President, Spelman College
Author, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria

Peggy McIntosh, Associate Director, Wellesley College Centers for Research on Women
Author, Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Professor john a. powell, Ohio State University
Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity

Professor David Roediger, University of Illinois
Author, The Wages of Whiteness

Major funders to date are the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Foley Hoag Foundation, The Episcopal Church Social Justice Ministries, and the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Over 150 private donors have also supported the film’s production.

The 15-minute DVD is in classroom use at over 70 colleges and universities in 27 states in the U.S. and Canada, including Yale, M.I.T., the University of Michigan, and Dartmouth. A number of churches, private schools, and community groups have also ordered the film.

All contributions to the continuing production of What Makes Me White? are tax deductible through our fiscal sponsor, The Center for Independent Documentary. Please contact us for more information and a full proposal, if you are interested in supporting the film.