Springboards for Discussing Old-Style Racism

SPRINGBOARDS FOR DISCUSSING OLD-STYLE RACISM

Student Instructions: This page contains springboards for you to dive into a discussion of racism. Feel free to discuss the questions in any order or create springboards of your own. The key thing is not to answer all the questions, but to have a good discussion in which everyone participates fully.

1. The "one-drop rule," which defines anyone with one drop of African blood as Black, is unique to the United States. Why was this rule originally developed -- what purpose did it serve?

2. Would Black Americans be better off with a different definition than the one-drop rule?

3. Would you like to see racial classifications abandoned altogether? (Note: If so, society would have to eliminate race-based affirmative action programs as well as certain medical practices that use racial information for diagnostic and treatment purposes)

4. If there is no precise dividing line between races, what does this tell us about the psychology of racism?

5. What role did science play in the historical development of racial prejudice, and what role does it play today?

6. What role, if any, has society's behavior toward animals played in setting the psychological stage for its treatment of racial minorities?

7. Do you think the term "concentration camp" accurately describes the kind of facility in which the U.S. government confined Japanese Americans during World War II?

8. Has the U.S. government used euphemistic language to cover up its internment of Japanese Americans? If so, what is the reason for using euphemisms? If not, why not?

9. Why do American history textbooks rarely mention "Operation Wetback"? (Note: "Operation Wetback" was a 1950s anti-immigrant campaign in which the U.S. government deported Mexican-American citizens without allowing them a chance to assert their constitutional rights.)

10. Do you support the idea of U.S. government compensation, or "reparations," for the enslavement of African Americans? If so, how should such reparations be made? If not, why not?

11. If you had been an American college student in the 1960s, how involved would you have been in the civil rights movement? Would you have participated in lunch counter sit-ins? Freedom rides in the Deep South?

12. Are college students today as committed to social justice as students were in the 1960s? Why or why not? [From UnderstandingPrejudice.org] Teacher Plan

Ask students to count off by 4 to form groups of 4-5 students each (counting off prevents students from simply forming groups with their friends).

Distribute a sheet with discussion questions.

The springboards are just to get things going -- it doesn't matter how many are answered. * Students can discuss them in any order they prefer or even invent their own springboards. * The point is to have a good dialogue in which every member of the group participates.

Give students a fixed time period (e.g., 30 minutes) to discuss the springboards, with a request that they return to the classroom punctually if their group leaves the room (e.g., to talk in a nearby lounge).

Float from group to group during the discussions, making sure that the groups remain focussed and that all members are participating.

Reconvene for a 10-15 plenary in which students share anything interesting that emerged in their group's discussion.