🌿 Interactive Equity Simulation

Rooted & Rising

Explore how historical policies shaped lives across generations — then build the skills to speak up when you witness discrimination today.

Module 1
Roots of Inequity
Step into the life of a historical character navigating housing, education, public services, and health access from the 1930s–1980s.
Module 2
The Courage to Speak Up
Practice responding to discrimination in the workplace, school, community, and home — guided by the SPLC’s Six Steps framework.
About This Simulation

Why Rooted & Rising?

This simulation was designed to make the invisible visible — to show how structural policies, not individual choices, determined the life outcomes of millions of Americans across the 20th century.

Module 1: Roots of Inequity

Choose from 12 historical characters spanning different races, regions, and eras (1930s–1985). Each navigates four life domains with choices constrained by the real policies of their time.

The simulation tracks five resources: Housing Stability, Educational Access, Health Access, Public Services Access, and Civic Power.

Module 2: The Courage to Speak Up

Grounded in the SPLC’s Speak Up! framework, this module presents branching scenarios in four contexts: Workplace, School/University, Community, and Home.

Sources & Grounding

  • SPLC Teaching Tolerance: Speak Up! Responding to Everyday Bigotry (2015)
  • Rothstein, R. (2017). The Color of Law. Liveright Publishing.
  • Katznelson, I. (2005). When Affirmative Action Was White. W.W. Norton.
  • Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow. The New Press.
  • Koen, A. (2023). Mindfulness for Racial Equity. 5-Week Program.
Module 1 · Step 1 of 4

Choose Your Character

Select a historical character to inhabit. Your starting resources are determined by their historical context — not by your choices. This is the point.

Your Resources
Module 1 Complete

Your Journey’s End

Here is where your character ended up — shaped not by their choices, but by the structural forces of their time.

Reflection

What surprised you most about your character’s journey?

🌿

Take a Breath

Before we continue

You’ve just experienced — through the lens of a historical character — how structural policies shaped lives in ways that had nothing to do with individual effort or character. That can be heavy to sit with.

Module 2 · The Courage to Speak Up

Choose a Context

Select where you want to practice your advocacy skills. Each context presents real scenarios with multiple perspectives and choices grounded in the SPLC’s Six Steps framework.

The SPLC Six Steps to Speaking Up
Workplace Scenarios

Choose a Scenario

Final Step

Your Personal Pledge

Complete your pledge card. This is your personal commitment to carry what you’ve learned into your everyday life.

Final Reflection

What is one specific action you will take in the next 30 days to speak up against discrimination or inequity?