An introduction to Rights and Protest

Before starting study for the IB Sourcework Paper "Rights and Protest" I like to get students thinking about the concept of racism and its expression in the 21st century. By doing this, I hope to challenge them out of the complacent view that modern Western society doesn't really have a 'race problem' any more and - still more provocatively - that they and their families are 'above' such prejudices.

Racism - A (provocative!) introduction to "Rights and Protest"

This series of activities breaks down into three clear parts:

a. Classroom discussion - racism unpacked

Main activity: discussing the issues

In this activity, students are first provided with eight statements to provoke discussion (e.g. "Politicians should not be allowed to address concerns about immigration as a way of attracting votes. Such issues should be off-limits as they will pander to racist prejudice", "The adoption of black culture and fashions by white people should be condemned as 'cultural appropriation'").

Each students chooses one they broadly agree with and one which they do not; based on these results the teacher chooses those most likely to generate debate, and talks them through with the class on this basis.

Extension / Alternative approach: The De Bono "6 hat debating technique"

This activity involves students taking on different "thinking roles" to debate the issues through. The De Bono approach is discussed here in more detail on my blog Tarr's Toolbox.

b. Individual Assignments

The next two assignments should be split evenly between the class, and completed as homework or extension activities. The results should then be discussed in a subsequent lesson:

Task 1: Issues arising from the podcast "Offence, Power and Progress" (available here).

Students listen the podcast, and use it to answer a series of questions not just about what issues are covered (e.g. Should statues of people now regarded as racists be removed from public display?
Society: Should white social workers be kept away from black communities to avoid being seen as patronising?) and what the podcast says about them, but also about their own viewpoint on these issues.

Task 2: "Poverty-porn white-saviour charity tourists"?

Particularly provocative for any students who are planning to do charity work in developing countries in a gap year or similar. This task involves reading a series of articles which claim that many charity ventures reinforce the exact racism and prejudice they seek to tackle. What are the most compelling arguments in each of these articles? How would you address, or respond to each of these criticisms?

After completing these tasks, students are ready to start investigating the historical dimension with in-depth studies of:

Case Study 1: Civil rights movement in the United States (1954-1965)

Case Study 2: Apartheid South Africa (1948-1964)

Click here to view a wide range of sample sourcework exercises and model answers for "Rights and Protest"

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