STEP 1: DEFINING RACISM
What Is Race?
Read Racism for a standard definition of racism and consider whether you would change or add anything
to this definition.
Watch the following video on experiences of racism in the US. Take careful notes. Type up your thoughts,
based on the video, on how racism represents a challenge to diversity.
Watch
Play Video
— why silence isn’t the answer | James A. White Sr. | TEDxColumbus
STEP 2: HISTORIES OF RACE AND RACISM
Explore the following PBS resource on Race: The Power of an Illusion. Click “Learn More” to enter the
site, and then focus on the following sections, reviewing them carefully:
“What Is Race?”
“Race Timeline”
“Where Race Lives”
Take careful notes on where the concept of race comes from, whether it is primarily cultural or biological,
and how it has material impacts on people’s lives.
Explore this source on the Paradox of Liberty. Focus on the following sections, reviewing them carefully:
“Thomas Jefferson: Liberty and Slavery”
“Enslaved Families of Monticello”
“After Monticello”
Take careful notes on how racism represents a fundamental contradiction in American history and the
foundation of the US as a country.
STEP 3: ARCHIVE WHAT YOU LEARNED
For your assignment this week, you will write a 2-3 page (double-spaced) paper supported with evidence
from your own experiences, as well as the sources provided in Lesson 6. Follow the below pre-writing
steps before writing your essay.
You need to cite 1-2 sources from Lesson 6 in APA format for this assignment. You DO NOT need
additional sources.
After working through the materials in Lesson 6, review your notes and consider how the concepts from
those sources might help provide context for your own experiences and/or observations of discrimination.
Explore this site, More Than Meets the Eye. The site archives experiences of racism around the world.
Read a few of the essays and use them as examples for your own essay below. No need to cite these,
but if you do be sure to do so properly in APA format.
Write a 2-3 page (double-spaced) essay on your experience of discrimination. Choose a specific incident
or incidents when you felt discriminated against, either because of racial prejudice or because of
prejudice based on another characteristic (religion, national origin, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic
situation). Alternatively, choose an incident or incidents when you observed discrimination against
another person and/or group. Draw from the resources provided in Lesson 6 to support your claims.
Structure your paper using the below guideline:
INTRODUCTION (1 paragraph): Include a thesis statement where you explain the overall
point you are making about how you have experienced or observed discrimination and what
that tells us about challenges to diversity.
BODY (3 paragraphs): Include a paragraph describing the incident or incidents in detail, a
paragraph discussing your response and the incident’s effect on you, and a paragraph where
you use 1-2 sources from Lesson 6 to provide context for the incident and explain what it tells
us about challenges to diversity. Place the paragraphs in an order that makes logical sense.
CONCLUSION (1 paragraph): Restate your thesis. Explain why discussing discrimination
and/or racism helps us better understand diversity and how to function in a diverse world.
Answer preview what Is Race?
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