Curated OER
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Learners investigate the pass laws that resulted in the Sharpeville Massacre. In this racism instructional activity, students find information about the massacre and attempt to find similarities to their own lives. They determine how...
Anti-Defamation League
When Perception and Reality Collide: Implicit Bias and Race
The big idea in this lesson is that implicit bias often clouds perceptions. High schoolers watch a short video, read research articles, and engage in discussions about implicit bias and how these biases lead to stereotyping. They craft...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Impact of Identity
How does identity influence the way people respond to events? That is the central question class members grapple with as they examine a political cartoon, read a vignette by Sandra Cisneros, watch of video of police officers discussing...
Curated OER
We all have a Race: Addressing Race and Racism
Ninth graders examine race and racism in the lives of students today. In this current events lesson, 9th graders develop a definition of race and racism. Students explore various techniques to be anti-racist.
Curated OER
Institutional Racism
Students define institutional racism and consider its effects on various groups in society. They discuss what other groups besides Indigenous Australians have experienced institutional racism in Australia? Students research...
Curated OER
A South African Storm
Students read "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard and participate in a class discussion that examines Howard's letter for both content and writing form. They write a letter using some of the techniques they identified in Howard's.
Curated OER
A Look at Race in America Using Statistics
Eleventh graders explore the issue of racism in America. In this American History lesson plan, 11th graders analyze charts and graphs on blacks and whites in America.
Curated OER
The End of the Civil Rights Movement
Students examine the relationships between blacks and whites in their community. In this racial discrimination lesson, students make race relations observations within their community and then write letters that reveal their observations...
Curated OER
Kaffir Boy
Students explore the concepts of intolerance and racism in the autobiography Kaffir Boy written by Mark Mathabane. The activity reveals the story's depiction of the terrible toll of apartheid on the lives of individuals.
Curated OER
The Hurricane
Students analyze three different ways a story is told, determine truth and fiction in each story, and discover and apply techniques to narrate a good story.
Students listen to Bob Dylan's "The Hurricane" and watch the "R" rated movie,...
Curated OER
Race & White Privilege
Students read and analyze the Tomas Rivera novel "...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him." In small groups they select three paragraphs from the text that are relevant to the issues of racism or white privelege, conduct Internet research,...
Museum of Tolerance
Why is This True?
Are wages based on race? On gender? Class members research wages for workers according to race and gender, create graphs and charts of their data, and compute differences by percentages. They then share their findings with adults and...
Media Smarts
The Citizen Reporter
Ripped from the headlines! Discuss topical social issues like racism, discrimination, and diversity while exploring the concept of citizen journalism. Begin with a professional-looking presentation on the history of citizen journalism....
Curated OER
Breaking the Color Barrier: Jackie Robinson's Combat Against Racism
Students explore Jackie Robinson's career. In this 20th century American history lesson, students complete the provided analysis questions based on the provided primary documents about Jackie Robinson. Students discuss Jackie' Robinson's...
Curated OER
Racial Discrimination and the Death Penalty
Available on RTF file. Students study race and its relationship to the death penalty. Students also review court cases and constitutional amendments related to racial discrimination.
Curated OER
"Black ans White": Nineteenth Century Racism
Students examine Thomas Nast's illustration, "Black and White," looking for examples of racism. Contemporary stereotypes utilized to demonstrate the attitudes of people in the North and South in the 1800's are explored.
Curated OER
Senate Debate on Scientific Racism
Students analyze the arguments around scientific racism. They collect data on the views of eugenicists and its opponents.
Teaching Tolerance
Introducing 'The New Jim Crow'
When Jim Crow Laws ended, the intent behind them did not. Academics read "The New Jim Crow Laws" and an interview from the author to understand how racism has not ended, but rather changed over time. The lesson explains how prejudices in...
Teaching Tolerance
Mass Incarceration as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Mass incarceration: A result of a tough stance on crime or racial discrimination, you decide. Academics explore the history and reasons behind mass incarcerations in the United States and its impact on ethnic communities. The...
Teaching Tolerance
Dismantling Racial Caste
It's time to end racism. The final installment of the series encourages scholars to consider what is needed to ended the racial caste system in the U.S. Young historians complete group discussion, written prompt, and a hands-on-activity...
Library of Virginia
Antebellum Freedom
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
PBS
Ken Burns: Jackie Robinson Integration or Separation?
What happens when change you imagined, the change you were promised, is slow in coming or doesn't happen at all? What do you do with the frustration and disenchantment? Class members watch two clips from the Ken Burns: Jackie Robinson...
National WWII Museum
More Than Words Can Say: Analyzing Visual Materials as Primary Sources
The propaganda of World War II was a key factor in galvanizing the home front. Class members examine images—without their text—to consider their messages, including those around race and gender. Using pictures and discussion questions,...
K20 Learn
American Exclusivity: The Chinese Exclusion Act
New ReviewThe Chinese Exclusion Act—the first race-based immigration restriction—is echoed in today's debates on the topic. Using graphic organizers and structured discussions, historians consider the reasons behind the act and compare the...