The Best Race & Racism Documentaries

Society & Culture - 51 free documentaries about race & racism.

Start with Covering Up Racist Tattoos: Erasing the Hate (18 min, VICE), then Being a White Student at a Historically Black College (25 min, VICE). All 51 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on race & racism is Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.

• Covering Up Racist Tattoos: Erasing the Hate (18 min, VICE)
• Being a White Student at a Historically Black College (25 min, VICE)
• Asian Americans Debate Model Minority & Asian Hate (44 min, VICE)
• Minorities Debate Colorism, Skin Bleaching and Appropriation (43 min, VICE)
• Charlottesville: Race and Terror – VICE News Tonight on HBO (22 min, VICE)
• American Coup: Wilmington 1898 (113 min, American Experience)
• Ku Klux Klan - An American History: Part 1 (55 min, Free Documentary - History)
• What Was it Like Being Black in America 250 Years Ago? (56 min, PBS)
• The Hidden Black Towns Built Right After Slavery (52 min, PBS)
• The Ku Klux Klan: Hatred Made in the US (52 min, ENDEVR)
• My Stolen Chinese Father: Victims Of UK's Racist Past | The Exiles (54 min, CNA Insider)
• Ku Klux Klan - An American History: Part 2 (57 min, Free Documentary - History)
• Pushcart Men: Jamaica's Most Extraordinary Race (51 min, Real Stories)
• Racism in medicine (42 min, DW Documentary)
• The New Face of White Supremacy | Inside the Far Right (52 min, ENDEVR)
• Hate Crime Left Me Paralyzed From Waist Down (77 min, Real Stories)
• Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves: Confronting Racial Prejudice (49 min, Real Stories)
• Why Dubai's New Giant Faces a Race Against Time (17 min, The B1M)
• The Rise of Black Lives Matter | VPRO documentary | 2016 (48 min, VPRO Documentary)
• The Cruise Industry's Arms Race (18 min, Wendover Productions)
• The Great Desert Race | Race of Life | Episode 3 (26 min, Free Documentary - Nature)
• A Desperate Place | Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (44 min, National Geographic)
• The Race to Save New York's Crumbling Infrastructure (54 min, The B1M)
• The Race Underfoot | Race of Life | Episode 12 (27 min, Free Documentary - Nature)
• Reggie Yates’ Extreme - USA Race Riots: Outrage & Activism (55 min, Free Documentary)
• Mega Shippers: Fertiliser, Volvo Ocean Race, Classic Cars (48 min, Free Documentary)
• Inside The Most Extreme Race on Earth (95 min, Real Stories)
• How Is White Supremacy Connected to This Murder? (101 min, Real Stories)
• The New Space Race & Closing Gitmo (VICE on HBO: Season 4, Episode 18) (31 min, VICE)
• 135 Miles: Is This The Toughest Endurance Race in The World? (97 min, Wonder)
• Inside the 7-Day Race to Build a $10 Million Swimming Arena (48 min, Spark)
• The First Men To Fly Across The Globe | The Greatest Air Race (53 min, Spark)
• Building Red Bull Air Race's Floating Race Track (45 min, Spark)
• The Fatal Consequences of Racial Profiling (47 min, ENDEVR)
• Freak Accident Or Racially Motivated Murder? The Heartbreaking Case Of Colten Boushie (99 min, Real Stories)
• 1919 Air Race: Flying Around The World In A Canvas Plane (54 min, Spark)
• Race for the Skies: Chicago vs. New York (12 min, The B1M)
• What Defines Our National Identity: How Class & Race Shapes Belonging | Being Singaporean - Part 1/2 (46 min, CNA Insider)
• USA Extreme: Race Riots & Police Brutality (106 min, ENDEVR)
• How Black Students Dealt With School Racism In The 1970s (25 min, Our History)
• "Ali, Race and Religion" Presented by PBS and The Undefeated, Featuring Ken Burns (66 min, PBS)
• The race to space - VPRO documentary - 2015 (48 min, VPRO Documentary)
• Space race, space law and future life in space - Docu (48 min, VPRO Documentary)
• Malaysia Lowers Voting Age To 18: Will Youth Reshape Race-Based Politics? | Insight (48 min, CNA Insider)
• The Race To Build A 3000-Ton Snow Sculpture Before It Melts (48 min, Spark)
• The Yak Attack: Cycling The Worlds Hardest & Deadliest Track | Race to the Pole S1 E1 (46 min, Wonder)
• How Do Police Deal With Hate Crimes? (49 min, Real Stories)
• Race in America, Hope Hicks gets a promotion (21 min, PBS)
• What You Need To Know About The US Midterm Race (22 min, CNA Insider)
• Race Against the Clock Challenge in DIY Drift Trikes | Indestructibles (67 min, Wonder)
• Global Green Action: The Race To Cut Emissions, Protect Biodiversity As Environmental Crises Loom (22 min, CNA Insider)

Top-Rated Books About Race & Racism

1. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (4.6/5) - View on Amazon
2. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
3. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
4. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (4.5/5) - View on Amazon
5. So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo (4.4/5) - View on Amazon
6. Mujeres, Raza Y Clase (Cuestiones De Antagonismo) by Angela Y. Davis (4.9/5) - View on Amazon
7. White Fragility by Robin J. DiAngelo (4.4/5) - View on Amazon
8. Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (4.6/5) - View on Amazon
9. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (4.6/5) - View on Amazon
10. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge (3.8/5) - View on Amazon
11. Black looks by bell hooks - View on Amazon
12. Sum of Us by Heather McGhee - View on Amazon
13. Without sanctuary by James Allen - View on Amazon
14. killing rage by Bell Hooks - View on Amazon
15. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States by Paula S. Rothenberg - View on Amazon
16. How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith III - View on Amazon
17. Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva - View on Amazon