Our Unfinished Work

Objectives

• Students will analyze news coverage of current events and create an assessment of some of the obstacles that need to be overcome to achieve a "post-racial" society.
• Students will select one form of race-based injustice and come up with a plan to work collectively to solve it.

Framework
In the wake of Barack Obama's election, two distinct images of America came to the fore. One was the America that bucked its own long history of slavery, segregation and discrimination to propel an African American to the White House. The other was a reactionary America that responded to the election of the first black president with racist slogans, nooses, hangings in effigy and other images that recalled our country's most shameful and painful memories.

Of course, much of day-to-day life is lived somewhere between these poles of hope and fear. In 21st Century America, most people shun open racism when they recognize it. Yet our daily lives are still far from post-racial: the legacies of segregation and bias live on in many forms, and institutional racism affects everything from where we go to school to who gets health care.

The lesson plan below is designed to help students uncover the ways in which race is still a part of their daily lives – and to unite them in working together to end intolerance and racial injustice.

Materials

• Copies of several different news publications, including local newspapers or magazines such as Time or Newsweek.
• Highlighters

Procedures

If you've already completed our companion lesson plan [1] in which students define the term "post-racial," ask students to read back some of the definitions from their notes. Otherwise, open the class with a brief brainstorming session in which students offer their own definitions of the term.

Divide the class into small groups and give each group a copy of a recent news publication. (Ideally the publications should be from "mainstream" media sources, such as the local newspaper, USA Today or Time – not from magazines devoted solely to social justice issues.) Ask students to read each publication and find at least three mentions of areas in which work still needs to be done to achieve a "post-racial" society. Students may list more than three obstacles to a post-racial society, and they may add their own personal observations about the work that needs to be done. When they complete their list, each group should share with the class.

For instance, a class reading the Dec. 1, 2008 issues of Time, U.S. News and World Report and Newsweek might produce the following list of obstacles to a post racial-society:

• Kids who survived Hurricane Katrina (most of them African American) are the sickest … ever seen" by government doctors. (Newsweek)
• As first lady, Michelle Obama must confront a culture in which "beauty is often defined… as fair or white skin, long straight hair and keen features." (Newsweek)
• African Americans are underrepresented in the medical profession – and rural black communities often do not have enough doctors. (U.S. News)
• TV networks recently announced their fall lineups, and there is not a single prime-time show with an African-American lead character. (Time)
• Latino and black women are more likely than white women to suffer the loss of a baby, due to disparities in pre- and post-natal health care. (Time)
• The life expectancy of the average African American is 5.2 years shorter than the life expectancy of the average white person – again, due to health care disparities. (Time)

Individual students might include their own observations, such as:

• Latino/Latinas in our community seem to be "profiled" by police, who suspect us all of being illegal immigrants.
• There has not been a Native American lead character on a prime time television show in more than a decade, and the news media doesn't even see this as a topic worth writing about!

Once students have compiled a list of obstacles to achieving a post-racial society, ask students, working as a whole class, to select one obstacle they'd like to do something about. Then collectively work on a plan for ways to combat one of the problems they've listed.

Extension Activity
If students show enthusiasm about their plan, help grow it into a full-fledged, project-based assessment. Students can take on a larger advocacy role for their cause, compiling research to support their positions and presenting their findings to a community group or to local leaders.