5 Positive Activities Against Racial Discrimination
There are many things you can do to make your
school or community more inclusive to people of all racial backgrounds.
Here are a few suggestions:
Activity 1:
Personal Actions
Take the pledge against discrimination on the website for the World Conference Against Racism. The pledge
reads as follows:
"As a young citizen of the world community, I
stand with the United Nations against racism, discrimination, and intolerance
of any kind. Throughout my life I will try to promote equality, justice and
dignity among all people in my home, in my community, and everywhere in the
world."
In addition to taking the
pledge, develop concrete actions you can take to carry out the pledge.
Suggestions:
· I can start examining my beliefs about other races. I can ask myself, "Is that
really true, or could it be just a stereotype?"
· I can learn more about
different racial groups by reading a book, seeing a movie, attending an event,
or making friends with people from different backgrounds.
· I can
invite someone from a different background to eat lunch with me.
· I can
join groups at school that welcome people of all backgrounds, and avoid groups
that exclude people.
· I can stop telling jokes or making fun of people
based on their race.
· I can speak up when I hear people making fun of
others based on their race. I can say "I feel hurt when you say ________ ." or
"Do you know another joke that doesn't put people
down?"
Activity 2:
Use Skits to practice Responding to Racist Remarks
Speaking out against acts of discrimination can be difficult. Using skits is one way you can
practice responding to racist remarks and other inappropriate comments.
Working in groups of 3 or 4, write a brief skit about an act of discrimination
you have witnessed or experienced. The skit could show someone making a
stereotypical remark, putting someone down, or telling an inappropriate joke.
· Make sure the skit shows positive ways to respond to the
situation. For example, you could have someone say, "That's just a
stereotype." or "Do you know any other jokes that don't put people
down?"
· Perform your skit for your classmates. Take suggestions from
the audience about other ways to respond to
discrimination.
Activity 3:
Learn About Community Efforts to Improve Race Relations
In communities across the world,
people are working to improve race relations through discussion groups,
cultural exchanges, education programs, and other activities. Use your library
or other community resource to find the names of groups that are working on
such projects in your community. Interview someone from the organization about
their work. Suggested questions:
· What are the goals of your work?
· What activities do you carry out to reach
these goals?
· Who is involved in your work?
· What kind of impact has
the group had?
· How can young people become
involved?
Activity 4:
Become Involved in a Global Network of Young People
The following websites provide ways to communicate and collaborate with students around the world:
· "On Being Myself" and "Voices of Youth: "On Being Myself" is a
UN project that uses interviews to tell the experiences of ten young people
living in Denmark as ethnic minorities.
After reading their stories you can
share your own experiences at Voices of Youth,
UNICEF's bulletin board for young people.
· For additional links,
activities, and resources on racism, visit this UN site.
· Intercultural E-mail Classroom Connections (IECC): IECC helps classrooms link with partners in other
cultures and countries for email pen-pal exchanges and other projects.
· International Education and Resource Network (iEARN): The
vision and purpose of iEARN is to enable young people to undertake
projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare
of the planet and its people. Schools must join the iEARN network to take part
in the projects, which are described on its website.
Activity 5:
Learn About Efforts to Create a Racism-Free Society at the International Level.
You will do this activity in three steps, labeled a., b., and c.
a. Review policies created
by the United Nations
The United Nations has developed several documents to address racial
discrimination, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination. This Convention was adopted by the
General Assembly 21 December 1965, and put into force 4 January 1969.
Read this excerpt from the Convention (Article 5, section d), which
outlines civil rights guaranteed to everyone regardless of race:
· The right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of the State;
· The right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to
one's country;
· The right to nationality;
· The right to marriage and
choice of spouse;
· The right to own property alone as well as in
association with others;
· The right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion;
· The right to freedom of opinion and expression;
· The right
to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
b. Illustrate one of these
rights
Choose one of the rights listed in the Convention and draw an
illustration of this right in action. For example, what would it look like if
people of all races were free to own property or to choose a spouse, regardless
of race?
After you are done, you can put everyone's pictures together
to create a gallery of a racism-free world.
If you developed drawings
about racism from a previous activity, you can expand your gallery to include
these pictures, too. One side of the gallery can show pictures of institutional
racism, while the other shows a racism-free world. In addition, you can add
text, writings, poems, and other works to your gallery.
c. Find out if your country
has ratified this Convention.
A United Nations Convention is similar to
a treaty: Member nations of the UN sign the treaty, but must bring it to their
home governments for ratification (formal approval). Once a country ratified
the Convention, it is bound to carry out the provisions in it.
Consult
the Status of Ratifications of the Principal International Human
Rights Treaties to find out if your country has ratified the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD). (Note: You will need a program called Adobe Acrobat
Reader to open this file. If this program has not been installed on your
computer you can download
it from the Internet. Check with your teacher first.)
This website gives
an overview of all UN human rights conventions and tells whether each member
nation of the UN has ratified them. The first page of the document lists all
the UN conventions and their abbreviations. Subsequent pages list countries
alphabetically, and show the ratification status of each treaty within each
country. The information is set up in an easy-to-read table format with the
abbreviations for the treaties at the top.
· If your country has ratified the treaty, when did this happen? What actions is your country taking to uphold it?
· If your country has not signed it, contact a member of your government to find out why.
Information Cortesy of UN
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/discrim/race_c.asp
school or community more inclusive to people of all racial backgrounds.
Here are a few suggestions:
Activity 1:
Personal Actions
Take the pledge against discrimination on the website for the World Conference Against Racism. The pledge
reads as follows:
"As a young citizen of the world community, I
stand with the United Nations against racism, discrimination, and intolerance
of any kind. Throughout my life I will try to promote equality, justice and
dignity among all people in my home, in my community, and everywhere in the
world."
In addition to taking the
pledge, develop concrete actions you can take to carry out the pledge.
Suggestions:
· I can start examining my beliefs about other races. I can ask myself, "Is that
really true, or could it be just a stereotype?"
· I can learn more about
different racial groups by reading a book, seeing a movie, attending an event,
or making friends with people from different backgrounds.
· I can
invite someone from a different background to eat lunch with me.
· I can
join groups at school that welcome people of all backgrounds, and avoid groups
that exclude people.
· I can stop telling jokes or making fun of people
based on their race.
· I can speak up when I hear people making fun of
others based on their race. I can say "I feel hurt when you say ________ ." or
"Do you know another joke that doesn't put people
down?"
Activity 2:
Use Skits to practice Responding to Racist Remarks
Speaking out against acts of discrimination can be difficult. Using skits is one way you can
practice responding to racist remarks and other inappropriate comments.
Working in groups of 3 or 4, write a brief skit about an act of discrimination
you have witnessed or experienced. The skit could show someone making a
stereotypical remark, putting someone down, or telling an inappropriate joke.
· Make sure the skit shows positive ways to respond to the
situation. For example, you could have someone say, "That's just a
stereotype." or "Do you know any other jokes that don't put people
down?"
· Perform your skit for your classmates. Take suggestions from
the audience about other ways to respond to
discrimination.
Activity 3:
Learn About Community Efforts to Improve Race Relations
In communities across the world,
people are working to improve race relations through discussion groups,
cultural exchanges, education programs, and other activities. Use your library
or other community resource to find the names of groups that are working on
such projects in your community. Interview someone from the organization about
their work. Suggested questions:
· What are the goals of your work?
· What activities do you carry out to reach
these goals?
· Who is involved in your work?
· What kind of impact has
the group had?
· How can young people become
involved?
Activity 4:
Become Involved in a Global Network of Young People
The following websites provide ways to communicate and collaborate with students around the world:
· "On Being Myself" and "Voices of Youth: "On Being Myself" is a
UN project that uses interviews to tell the experiences of ten young people
living in Denmark as ethnic minorities.
After reading their stories you can
share your own experiences at Voices of Youth,
UNICEF's bulletin board for young people.
· For additional links,
activities, and resources on racism, visit this UN site.
· Intercultural E-mail Classroom Connections (IECC): IECC helps classrooms link with partners in other
cultures and countries for email pen-pal exchanges and other projects.
· International Education and Resource Network (iEARN): The
vision and purpose of iEARN is to enable young people to undertake
projects designed to make a meaningful contribution to the health and welfare
of the planet and its people. Schools must join the iEARN network to take part
in the projects, which are described on its website.
Activity 5:
Learn About Efforts to Create a Racism-Free Society at the International Level.
You will do this activity in three steps, labeled a., b., and c.
a. Review policies created
by the United Nations
The United Nations has developed several documents to address racial
discrimination, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination. This Convention was adopted by the
General Assembly 21 December 1965, and put into force 4 January 1969.
Read this excerpt from the Convention (Article 5, section d), which
outlines civil rights guaranteed to everyone regardless of race:
· The right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of the State;
· The right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to
one's country;
· The right to nationality;
· The right to marriage and
choice of spouse;
· The right to own property alone as well as in
association with others;
· The right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion;
· The right to freedom of opinion and expression;
· The right
to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
b. Illustrate one of these
rights
Choose one of the rights listed in the Convention and draw an
illustration of this right in action. For example, what would it look like if
people of all races were free to own property or to choose a spouse, regardless
of race?
After you are done, you can put everyone's pictures together
to create a gallery of a racism-free world.
If you developed drawings
about racism from a previous activity, you can expand your gallery to include
these pictures, too. One side of the gallery can show pictures of institutional
racism, while the other shows a racism-free world. In addition, you can add
text, writings, poems, and other works to your gallery.
c. Find out if your country
has ratified this Convention.
A United Nations Convention is similar to
a treaty: Member nations of the UN sign the treaty, but must bring it to their
home governments for ratification (formal approval). Once a country ratified
the Convention, it is bound to carry out the provisions in it.
Consult
the Status of Ratifications of the Principal International Human
Rights Treaties to find out if your country has ratified the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD). (Note: You will need a program called Adobe Acrobat
Reader to open this file. If this program has not been installed on your
computer you can download
it from the Internet. Check with your teacher first.)
This website gives
an overview of all UN human rights conventions and tells whether each member
nation of the UN has ratified them. The first page of the document lists all
the UN conventions and their abbreviations. Subsequent pages list countries
alphabetically, and show the ratification status of each treaty within each
country. The information is set up in an easy-to-read table format with the
abbreviations for the treaties at the top.
· If your country has ratified the treaty, when did this happen? What actions is your country taking to uphold it?
· If your country has not signed it, contact a member of your government to find out why.
Information Cortesy of UN
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/discrim/race_c.asp