The 1st Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) Lesson Plan Competition

1st Place

“Teaching : Caribbean Compared to ”

by Reshma Ramkellawan [email protected] MS326 School New York, NY Teaching Genocide

Overview

Too often, within language arts and social studies based classrooms, teachers are not provided with the opportunity to explore events that are of relevance to themselves and the greater world. While the Holocaust is a significant moment in the world, and one that exemplifies the loss of humanity and core humanistic values, it is not the sole instance of its genre. Teachers too often ignore the of Rwanda, Darfur, Serbia, and the , just a few of the many. This lesson, a precursor to my students reading the Holocaust based graphic novel, Maus: My Father Bleed History, will connect to my students as it explores the genocide that existed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. My school services a population of which eighty percent of the students are Dominican, and the remaining twenty percent includes students of Haitian and African‐American descent. Contextualizing genocide, so as to remove the distance students feel between themselves and the concept, allows students a greater appreciation for humanity.

Objectives/Essential Questions:

The rationale for listing the objectives in the form of questions serves to ultimately and eventually verify whether or not students comprehend the information. Students were able to return to the essential questions and answer them based upon their understanding of the material.

1. What is the definition of genocide?

2. How do we decipher the different factors that contributed to the Haitian‐Dominican war and genocide?

3. In what ways is the genocide of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans similar to the genocide of the Jewish citizenry, during Hitler’s reign of terror?

4. Who is Trujillo?

5. Who is Papa Doc?

6. Why is it necessary for us as a new generation to reflect on the past?

New York State Standards:

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English:

Standard 1

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 2

Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self‐expression and artistic creation.

Standard 3

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

History

Standard 2

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Standard 5

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional

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democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Historical Context

Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic have experienced brutality at the hands of their respective dictators. More specifically, and in context of the document from DLOC, during October 1937, General Trujillo slaughtered thousands of Haitians that lived on the Dominican side of the island. Simultaneously, Papa Doc, the brutal dictator whose family reigned over Haiti for close to forty years, imposed harsh conditions on the already third world country. Dissidents and opposing party members were murdered, family members disappeared in the middle of the night and were not heard of again, and Haiti’s citizenry lived in fear of the dictator’s next merciless whim.

General Trujillo can be described in similar terms. Trujillo craved political and economic power, throwing his country into turmoil as he depleted the nation’s financial and cultural worth. Upon accessing the presidency, he required the citizenry to donate a percentage of their wealth to his national treasury. In addition, Trujillo sought to acquire the feminine capital of his country, often soliciting unmarried daughters from significant socio‐political families. One such example can be seen with the death of the Mirabal sisters. Minerva Mirabal was a strong opponent of the Trujillo regime and decided to become a lawyer in order to combat its growing sovereignty. Although Minerva attained her degree, she was unable to become a lawyer practitioner due to her initial rebuttal of Trujillo’s romantic advances. This refuting of his advances solicited Trujillo’s scrutiny on Minerva and her sisters Patria and Antonia’s political activities. The three Mirabal sisters were assassinated on November 25th, 1960, after constant campaigning for the removal of Trujillo from office. Ultimately, Trujillo himself was assassinated several months later.

During the month of March to April, students are taught the various elements of the Second World War, with an extra emphasis on Hitler and the Holocaust. Unfortunately, minimal attention has been paid to the other regions of the world and the conflicts experienced during that time. Chronologically speaking, Trujillo ordered the slaughter of Haitian citizens around the same year that Hitler began his pogrom against the Jews. Yet, the latter of the two is the sole focus of History and Language Arts classrooms. The impression given to students is that their culture is irrelevant comparatively speaking, which is why it is not discussed.

Regardless of the country, the theme remains the same. A ruthless dictator chooses to marginalize the importance of human beings in order to serve selfish and race centered agenda. As my students are of both Haitian and Dominican descent, introducing a lesson that reflects

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them is bound to spur student interest and opinion. I intend on using the historical context of this lesson to provide students with a more global view of literature and the concept of genocide.

Target Audience

My students often complain of not learning about contemporary events, simply focusing on the basic American history curriculum. By no means do I marginalize the importance of American history, yet students must become global learners who comprehend the variables that contribute to world and social conflicts. Too often, history and language arts teachers choose to teach the material in black and white checkable separations. History and literature, from the world outside of America must be taught to create well rounded students.

Required Materials

This lesson will utilize a newspaper article that contains a letter from General Trujillo to the President of Haiti. With this letter, Trujillo hopes to mend the relationship between Haitians and Dominicans, several months after the . The massacre, instigated as a result of Trujillo’s fear of Haitians, resulted in the loss of approximately eight thousand to fifteen thousand lives. Due to the extent of the massacre, the exact amount is unknown.

By providing students with an original document, they can tangibly ascertain and evaluate the emotions they may have in regards to the genocide of a people.

In addition to this primary document, students will read an excerpt from Edwidge Danticat’s Kirk? Krak! to supplement their understanding.

Teaching Assessments

Assessments are as follows:

1. Group Discussions (Classroom participation grade of 15 points. Students must participate at least 3 times to earn the full amount)

2. Completion of Reading and Writing Journal Prompts (Each prompt is worth approximately 10 points. Students must complete a full, one paragraph long entry for full credit.)

3. Note‐Taking and Classroom Participation (These assignments culminate in the final grade of 50 points, which contributes to their overall quarterly grade.)

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Due to the schedule of classes, this lesson may encompass two academic days. Each section should range anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, depending upon students’ comprehension of the subject matter. More time can be allotted where necessary.

Procedure

 Connect: o Teacher will ask the students to answer the following question in their writing journals: What do you know about the and the Dominican Republic? What are some stories your parents may have told you? If you are not of Dominican or Haitian descent, what are some facts you may recall about the two countries? o Before the teacher asks students to turn to their neighbors and share, students will be asked the following question: What is the Holocaust? What do you know about the Holocaust? o After students have shared their responses to both questions, the teacher will ask students to think about the following: What are some things the Holocaust and the island of have in common?  Introduce: o The teacher will then introduce the word genocide to students. o Responses to the definition will be solicited from the students and placed on chart paper, marking their thinking processes. o Students will then take notes using the Cornell note taking process on the following topics: Haitian History, Dominican History, , Papa Doc Francois Duvalier and the Parsley Massacre.  Connect: o Teacher will then ask the students to refer back to the original question: What are some things the Holocaust and the island of Hispaniola have in common? o Students will think pair share their responses to the question. o Teacher will then introduce the newspaper article from DLOC to students. Teacher will ask a student to read the letter from Trujillo to the class in native Spanish. Teacher will also solicit a Haitian student to read the French response. o The teacher will then read the English translation of both pieces. The articles were translated by close friends who can both read and write Spanish and French.  Guided Practice: o Students will be asked to discuss the following in small groups, writing their responses on chart paper to be presented to the class. Depending upon their number, students will have a different question. . 1. What are your reactions to the letter from Trujillo to the president of Haiti? . 2. What would be your reactions to the Massacre if you were living in the Dominican Republic during this time? Ramkellawan 5

. 3. What would be your reactions to the Massacre if you were living in Haiti at the time? . 4. How do you believe this massacre impacted the relationship between Haitians and Dominicans? o Students will then share their responses with the class, allowing for interjections and other conversational opinions.

 Independent Practice: o Students will then read “1937” from Krik? Krak!. o Teacher will moderate the reading, fluctuating between silent reading, teacher modeling and student volunteers. o Students will complete a response in their reading journals to one of the following questions: . What are your reactions to the death of Josephine’s mother? . What emotions did you experience at the death of a loved one? How did that death define you? Or change your life? . What are your reactions to the genocide of the Haitian people?  Classroom Practice o Write a literary response (letter, poem, etc.) to one of the following . Any of the themes discussed today . Rafael Trujillo . The Haitians affected by the genocide . Any topic of your choosing related to our class today.

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Measured Impact of the Lesson Plan

Initially, I began the lesson by not assuming an authoritative position. Considering that I have not explicitly studied the history of Hispaniola, I preferred to have my students do much of the direct speaking when describing the reign of Trujillo and Papa Doc. I served as a moderator for the majority of the mini‐group discussions and was quite thrilled with the increased amount of interest. If students made comments that did not cross‐check with actual historical references or documentation, I re‐directed in true moderator form and asked students to reconsider their ideologies. There were instances throughout the conversation when students began to exchange heated words and expressions. One student in particular, who is of Haitian descent, called one of his Dominican classmates a “plantano.” Thankfully I did not need to intervene in this exchange as a fellow Haitian student remarked, “we eat plantains just like the Dominicans. We come from the same place. So if they’re a plantano, then we are plantano’s too.”

Students were excited when asked to read the artifacts and in their native language at that. It was difficult to choose students as so many of my Dominican students, especially my male Dominican students were competing to read the piece. To provide a much more equitable experience, I divided the paragraphs among the volunteers and allowed them to read in their native tongue. Before presenting the students with the translation of the pieces, I asked the students to present their own translations of the text. Startlingly, they were quite close to the translations provided. The artifacts, I found, also supplemented the Cornell notes mini‐lesson on various historical figures further boosting the mini‐discussions as mentioned above.

As a final and culminating activity, students were asked to create a literary response to one of many options. I was initially hesitant when assigning the work, even though the classroom lesson was a success, as I was uncertain as to whether or not we covered enough of the material in class. However, my students once again surprised me by being creative and interpersonal with their responses. They truly understood the concept of genocide and were passionate about the injustice of their ancestors experiencing such atrocities. I was hesitant at times to continue with the lesson as I did not want to alienate students who were not of either Dominican or Haitian descent. However, as I contextualized the grand idea, students were able to relate to the notion of being prejudiced against simply because of an ethnic characteristic.

Retrospectively, I felt as though the lesson was quite successful. Due to time and unit constraints, I was unable to full expand upon the material as I would have hoped, being forced to omit instances that called for discussion and limiting student responses in the interest of time. Yet, overall the students enjoyed the lesson and were quite thrilled with the effort. Students were also equally moved by Edwidge Danticat’s “1937,” envisioning their own families Ramkellawan 7

at the crux of the story. I certainly hope that if other educators chose to use my lesson, they will find the same levels of success as I did.

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