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Research Guides@Tufts

Anti-Racism Resource Guide

Disclaimer: This is intended for use as a resource guide. Departments and Libraries throughout Tufts University have made or are planning to make respective statements separate from this guide.

Why Co-Conspirators?

Image of one white person and one person of color climbing a hill with two signs. One sign at the bottom of the hill next to the white person reads "recognizing racism in America". The second sign next the the person of color pointing upward reads "doing something about it".

Victor Varnado, Daily Cartoon: Thursday, June 4th, 2020, The New Yorker, accessed June 10, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/thursday-june-4th-just-getting-started.


Alicia Garza, activist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, described that "co-conspirators are people who are actively fighting against the system of white supremacy and in particular the benefits they receive from it." This provides a better framework for understanding what is traditionally known as allyship, which is a term that does not encompass the action of rejecting the benefits one receives from white supremacy. In indigenous activist culture, the term "accomplice" is also used. You can listen to Alicia Garza explain the term co-conspirator in episode #57 of the podcast Politically Re-active with W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu.

To be co-conspirators, you can begin by thoughtfully engaging with some of the resources linked below. Note that this is the first step; the next step is to take action based on what you have learned.

Articles & Other Resources

Content Advisory

This note is to advise readers that the content throughout this research guide addresses race-based harm and/or violence towards Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. 


This guide is not exhaustive. We intentionally include only resources available for free or that are accessible online to the Tufts community. 

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