EDUC 2120 Lesson 8

In lesson 8 I learned about race and what it means to me. In this lesson we also disscussed discrimination and how it can affect people. I was asked about my opinions of things and if I was able to trade races would I. I felt like that was an interesting question to consider. I had never really thought about it before. I really enjoyed this lesson overall.

How would you define race? What does “race” mean to you?
- I would define race as being a person’s ethnicity. Skin color doesn’t make an accurate judgment about race. I also believe race is an actual fact of where someone is from and not simply just how tan they are. I like that the second video says that race is just something that people have made up over time. No one should be inferior to anyone else based on their skin color. The last video also stated that even though people are different on the outside, they are all the same internally.

How many races do you think there are? What are they? How do you decide which race someone belongs to?
- I feel like there are so many different races we could not possibly keep count. I could not really tell you what different races we have today. They are countless. People usually decide what race others go into based on the way they look or where they are from. Usually skin color has a lot to do with the way people decide what race someone is. I personally decide what someone’s race is based on where they’re from and not how much tan they possess.

Would you trade your skin color? How do you think your life would be different if you looked like someone of a different race?
- I personally would not want to change my skin color. If I did I am not real sure of how different my life would be. I think that would depend on what race I would choose. I do think that it would not change anything that greatly. I think for the most part people in society have gotten more adaptive and now know that there will be people of different races around them each day so why would they need to treat them differently based on their skin color.

What stereotypes have you heard or seen about different racial groups?
- There are numerous different stereotypes about different racial groups. There are some about all races and racial groups. Some people think that if you are Chinese or Japanese that you will have slanted eyes. People think that white people may think they are superior. I feel like stereotypes are so unnecessary. None of these things may be true but society likes to find downfalls of people I think it’s just to make themselves feel better.

Do you think people today should be held accountable for past discrimination? Why or why not?
- I personally do not see the point of pointing fingers at any race for things that happened in the past. The people that are here now really had nothing to do with things that happened so long ago and have no reason for handouts because of the way their ancestors were treated. I feel like a lot of times people place blame on others when really it had nothing to do with them at all. So I do not think that people should be held accountable for past discrimination.

Forty years ago, the Civil Rights Act declared that forced racial segregation was illegal. In light of this, why do you think some neighborhoods, schools and workplaces are still segregated?
- I just feel like some people get comfortable with the way that things have always been and don’t want to change. I did not know that some schools are still segregated, that seems absolutely crazy. Which all of these seem crazy. For people to still be segregated and to segregate themselves seems so old fashioned. People should not be stuck in their ways like that. I feel like nothing should be segregated anymore, everyone is equal.

There are six (6) activities (listed below) you will need to do in the web resource. Answer these questions concerning the activities:

Activity 1 - Is Race for Real? - This activity requires you to explore 10 different factoids associated with race. And, you have the option of “going deeper” as well.

Describe what you learned by completing this activity?
- The first activity list many facts about race and what race is generally. I learned a few things from this activity. One of the things it said was that race is only skin deep. It only in skin color, it does not affect anything else about a person. It also stated that race is a modern idea. Ancient people sorted people back then based on class, status and religion not only on their physical appearance. The last thing that it said I really liked. It said that colorblindness will not stop racism. If you act like it isn’t there it will still be there. Turning you head and acting like something does not exist does not make it go away.

Activity 2 - Sorting People - How easy is it to group people into “races” based on appearance? What about using individual traits? There are two parts to this activity.

Describe your results when you tried to sort people based on their appearance?
- I failed miserably when trying to sort the people. I was only looking at the way they looked. I only got one right in each category the rest of them was very wrong. So I messed up really bad.
Describe your results when you tried to sort people based on physical traits?
- People’s physical traits varied over all races. There were some in each race who had medium skin, some had light and some had dark. The fingerprints were the same way. There were some in each different race that were different.

Activity 3 - The Race Timeline - Learn more about the history and evolution of the race concept.

Describe what you learned by exploring this timeline?
- The timeline had so much information. It went back to 400 B.C. was the first thing. It had facts about all different races from Indians to whites to blacks and more. It told the date that the “Caucasian” was born. Facts included when the Jim Crow laws started and when the Indians were classified based on their blood. It had many interesting facts.

Activity 4 - Human Diversity - Take the diversity quiz or explore the ways we're similar to one another. Learn about ancestry, the geographic distribution of traits, and the history of human migration.

How did you do on the quiz? Describe the results.
- I did really horrible on this quiz. I think I missed every question except for one. The one I got right asked about based on skin color which is true and I answered that none of the things were true strictly based on skin color. Other than that I really did not know any of the answers and I thought for sure North America would have the most different races.

Regarding the “exploring diversity” activity, describe what you learned.
- In this activity it showed a map of where certain traits are located in the world. It had skin color, nose, and head size. Skin color was the most diverse in Africa. It included every type of skin color there is. It stated that skin color does not really correlate with race but with sunlight and latitude. Nose shape and head size vary all over as well.

Activity 5 - Me, My Race, and I - View four slideshows examining different perspectives on race.

Describe what you learned after viewing the four slideshows?
- These slideshows had so much information. In the one about being blind it states that people are still very unequal. It states that we have a history of employee denial, and a lot of other denial based on race and skin color. In another slideshow it talks about “the elephant in the room”, it is about slavery. The slideshow shows that a Supreme Court justice says that this is a “white” country. White people don’t really know what it’s like to be discriminated against based on their skin color because they have had certain privileges that some have not. In all the slideshows they talk about racism and how it has affected everyone over the years.

Activity 6 - Where Race Lives - No measure of racial inequality in the U.S. is more striking than a comparison of housing and wealth. See how this happened, compare the story of two families, and understand why inequality persists 40 years after the civil rights movement. View the “Tail of Two Families”.

Explain what happened to Max and Byron?
- It seemed to be easier for Max and his family. This happened because they were white. He seemed to be given everything and never had to worry about anything whereas Byron did. At the end it is talking about them as adults and it says that Max is worry free and a lot of that is because of his parents for helping him pay for everything. Byron on the other hand says he has to be ready to help his parents with financial struggles whenever they come up.

After completing all of these activities, do you believe the information on this web site is factual? Explain.
- I do think that this information given on the website is true. For the most part there was a lot of things on the website that I had heard in the past which lead me to believe that the information is true. The information does make a lot of sense too when you think about it so yes I do believe that this is a good source to look at and has some good facts and activities with it.

Summary:

This lesson was all about race. What is race? How do we see race? Many questions were brought about in this lesson. Race is something that has been around for a long time and will be around forever. We were given videos, articles and activities in this lesson to help us better understand race and the issues that come with it. I really enjoyed this lesson I feel like it was very factual and I learned a lot from it.

Research Question: How would you teach students about race and tolerance?

Reference: http://www.tolerance.org/article/dos-and-donts-teaching-black-history

Research Analysis:

I really wanted to know how you would teach younger children about race and tolerance. I feel like it is a very important thing for students to be aware because sometimes the way people are raised at home is not always what is right. I found a website that talks about how to teach black history month and since it was just black history month I thought that this would be a good example of a lesson you could teach. The website was called teaching tolerance and the title of the page I looked at was called “Dos and don’ts of teaching black history month.

The do tips included, do not stop your usual curriculum. Make it part of your lesson. Another thing that it mentioned was to make the lesson important to everyone and not just the African American students because it isn’t just black history but American history. I feel like these two tips were the best ones out of the Dos. Some of the don’ts were to make sure you are teaching with factual and important information. I feel like that was very important because you should always make sure that you are informing your students correctly. One more thing was to shy away from very controversial subjects. Some people may feel very strongly about some things and you as the teacher may not want to discuss some of those things.

Research Summary:

For my research I chose to research how to teach race. I found an article on a website called teaching tolerance. It was on how to teach black history month. The article talked about the Dos and Don’ts of teaching black history month. It offered some very good things you should teach and things that you as a teacher that you should stay away from. I really think that I could use these tips some day in a class of my own