Maurice Berger–cultural historian, and columnist for the New York Times’ Race Stories–has spent his career studying and teaching racial literacy through visual literacy.

His intimate understanding of how visual culture impacts our notions of race has led him to create Race Stories, a monthly column for the New York Times that explores the ways that photography reflects the racial attitudes of our time. In his work, he hopes to provoke his readers to consider their own assumptions and prejudices, and to celebrate the contributions of photographers of color to our culture.

In this film, we explore how Maurice’s personal journey growing up as a white kid in a predominantly black and Latino neighborhood brought him to a unique understanding of the “value of white skin”; and how that in turn led him to become an ally and champion to some of the greatest black photographers of our time.