Teaching 'The New Jim Crow'
Supplementary Resources
Preparing to Teach The New Jim Crow
A Conversation with Michelle Alexander | June Cara Christian
In this interview, Michelle Alexander discusses The New Jim Crow and how teachers can address the difficult topic of mass incarceration in their classrooms.
Christian, June Cara. “A Conversation with Michelle Alexander.” Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2014. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-48-fall-2014/alexander.
Is My School Racist? | Brian Willoughby
This feature story offers strategies for identifying institutional racism in schools.
Willoughby, Brian. “Is My School Racist?” Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2013. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-45-fall-2013/is-my-school-raci….
Jim Crow Today | Jill E. Thomas
An English teacher shares how teaching about the Jim Crow South can be relevant to her students and can provide context for the literature they read.
Thomas, Jill E. “Jim Crow Today.” Teaching Tolerance (blog), January 12, 2011. http://www.tolerance.org/blog/jim-crow-today.
Who’s Jim Crow? | Lauren Winner
While teaching her students about segregation, a novice teacher confronts white privilege and the danger of forgetting history.
Winner, Lauren. “Who’s Jim Crow?” Teaching Tolerance, Fall 1999. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-16-fall-1999/feature/whos-jim-crow.
Lesson 1—Talking about Race and Racism
The Implicit Association Test | Project Implicit
Project Implicit is the product of a team of scientists whose research produced new ways of understanding attitudes, stereotypes and other hidden biases that influence perception, judgment and action. The Implicit Association Test measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report.
Project Implicit of Harvard University. “The Implicit Association Test.” Project Implicit. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/.
Online Companion to Race: The Power of an Illusion | California Newsreel
Race: The Power of an Illusion is a three-part documentary series about race in society, science and history from California Newsreel. This online companion to the series, offered by PBS, has background readings, a discussion guide and interactive resources to support educating around the film.
California Newsreel. “Online companion to Race: The Power of an Illusion.” PBS Distribution. http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm.
Test Yourself for Hidden Bias | Teaching Tolerance
This professional development resource explores the nature of implicit bias by explaining how stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination operate.
Teaching Tolerance Staff. “Test Yourself for Hidden Bias.” Teaching Tolerance. http://www.tolerance.org/Hidden-bias.
Lesson 2—Introducing The New Jim Crow
Teaching The New Jim Crow | Teaching Tolerance
A webinar with Michelle Alexander hosted by Teaching Tolerance. Alexander discusses the central argument of The New Jim Crow, and makes the case for why and how teachers should address the topic of mass incarceration in their classrooms.
Teaching Tolerance Staff. “Teaching The New Jim Crow.” Teaching Tolerance. http://www.tolerance.org/module/teaching-new-jim-crow
Lesson 3—Slavery as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War | American Experience
This film from American Experience tells the stories of everyday Americans—southern and northern, white and black—as they struggle to create lives for themselves after the Civil War. An accompanying teacher’s guide is available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/index.html.
American Experience. Reconstruction: The Second Civil War. DVD. Directed by Llewellyn M. Smith. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation, 2004.
Slavery By Another Name | PBS
Based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s book by the same name, this documentary tells the forgotten history of forced labor and brutality that continued after the Civil War and the end of chattel slavery. The entire documentary, as well as the accompanying educational materials and resources, are available online.
Pollard, Sam, Sheila Curran Bernard, Laurence Fishburne, Jason L. Pollard, Andrew Young, Michael Bacon, and Douglas A. Blackmon. Slavery by Another Name. DVD. Directed by Sam Pollard. Boston: PBS Distribution, 2012. http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/home/.
Tongue-Tied | Adrienne van der Valk and Michele Israel
Slavery is a tough subject. The strategies listed in this feature story will help you teach it well.
van der Valk, Adrienne and Michele Israel. “Tongue-Tied.” Teaching Tolerance, Spring 2014. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-46-spring-2014/feature/tongue-tied.
Lesson 4—Jim Crow as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Behind the Veil: Documenting African-American Life in the Jim Crow South | Duke University Libraries
A selection of 410 oral histories chronicling African-American life in the Jim Crow South.
Duke University and Duke University Libraries. “Behind the Veil: Documenting African-American Life in the Jim Crow South.” Digital Collections. 2010. http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/behindtheveil/.
Blackening-Up | Jim Crow Museum
A short video that shows a number of films that feature blackface characters.
Jim Crow Museum. “Blackening-Up.” YouTube video, 4:01. November 9, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SZRbrUKz0g&feature=youtu.be.
Expanding Voting Rights | Teaching Tolerance
A lesson series that follows the history of the vote—from a time when only land-owning white men had the right through the 20th century struggle to achieve universal suffrage.
Teaching Tolerance Staff. “Expanding Voting Rights.” Teaching Tolerance. /lesson/expanding-voting-rights.
Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985—A Study Guide to the Television Series | Facing History and Ourselves
Classroom companion to the acclaimed Eyes on the Prize film series.
Facing History and Ourselves. “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985—A Study Guide to the Television Series.” Boston: Blackside, 2006. https://www.facinghistory.org/sites/default/files/publications/Eyes_on_t....
Freedom’s Ring—King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech | The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University and Beacon Press’s King Legacy Series.
Freedom’s Ring is an interactive website that features Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Users can compare the written and spoken speech, explore multimedia and discover historical context.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University and Beacon Press’s King Legacy Series. “Freedom’s Ring—King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech.” http://freedoms-ring.org/?view=Speech.
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia | Ferris State University
An online collection of artifacts that span the era of segregation, from Reconstruction to the civil rights movement. The museum’s website has substantial information, films and resources, including a focus on discriminatory caricatures and stereotypes.
Ferris State University. Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/origins.htm.
Jump Jim Crow | Jim Crow Museum
A short video that shows images of Thomas Rice as “Jim Crow,” minstrel-inspired toys and clips from minstrel performances. Video features the “Jump Jim Crow” tune.
Jim Crow Museum. “Jump Jim Crow.” YouTube video, 1:19. September 12, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FpKAxQNKU&feature=plcp.
Remembering Jim Crow | Stephen Smither, Kate Ellis and Sasha Aslanian
American RadioWorks is a national documentary unit of American Public Media that provides documentaries and projects for public radio. Their website is home to a compilation of documentary sections, including a book and audio set that detail African-American life during Jim Crow.
Smith, Stephen, Kate Ellis and Sasha Aslanian. Remembering Jim Crow. American RadioWorks, 2001. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/remembering/.
Slavery by Another Name | PBS
Based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s book by the same name, this documentary spans eight decades from 1865 to 1945, revealing the forces in the South and the North that enabled “neoslavery” to emerge and persist.
Pollard, Sam, Sheila Curran Bernard, Laurence Fishburne, Jason L. Pollard, Andrew Young, Michael Bacon, and Douglas A. Blackmon. Slavery by Another Name. DVD. Directed by Sam Pollard. Boston: PBS Distribution, 2012. http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/home/.
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow | California Newsreel
A four-part series that explores segregation from the end of the Civil War to the dawn of the civil rights movement.
Grant, William, Richard Wormser, Sam Pollard, Bill Jersey, and Richard Roundtree. The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. DVD. Directed by Bill Jersey and Richard Wormser. San Francisco: California Newsreel, 2002. PBS Distribution. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/.
Video Index—Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985 | PBS
Nearly two hours of historic video footage from the award-winning film series Eyes on the Prize, organized by event and date.
American Experience. “Video Index—Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985.” PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/resources/res_video.html.
Lesson 5—Mass Incarceration as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Dog Whistle Politics: Ian Haney López at TEDxUOregon
A discussion of how racial politics have evolved since the civil rights era and how the use of coded racial appeals manifests in U.S. politics today.
TEDx Talks. “Dog Whistle Politics: Ian Haney López at TEDxUOregon.” YouTube video, 18:14. March 8, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SZRbrUKz0g&feature=youtu.be.
The Knotted Line | Radical Imagination
The Knotted Line is an interactive, tactile laboratory for exploring the historical relationship between freedom and confinement in the United States. With miniature paintings of over 50 historical moments from 1495-2025, The Knotted Line asks: How is freedom measured?
Radical Imagination. The Knotted Line. http://www.knottedline.com/.
Lesson 6—The War on Drugs—Mechanisms and Effects
California DWB Report: A Report From the Highways, Trenches and Halls of Power in California | Michelle Alexander and Frances M. Beal
This report tells the story of racial profiling in California, explaining the problem and describing efforts to end it.
Alexander, Michelle, and Frances M. Beal. “The California DWB Report: A Report from the Highways, Trenches, and Halls of Power in California.” San Francisco: American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, 2002. https://www.aclunc.org/publications/california-dwb-report-report-highway....
Stop-and-Frisk: The High School Senior | Communities United for Police Reform
Part of Where Am I Going’s video series, this short video looks at the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy through the stories of those it affects. Brooklyn high school senior, Kasiem Walters, talks about his numerous encounters with the police.
Communities United for Police Reform. Stop-and-Frisk: The High School Senior. Where I am Going. http://www.whereiamgoing.org/#01rsXYIXOrU.
Study Says 'Crack Baby' Epidemic of the '80s Was Overblown | Newsy Science
Contrary to the "crack babies" scare of the 1980s, a 2013 study shows no major long-term ill effects from prenatal cocaine exposure. This clip discusses the current findings and the sensationalized media coverage of crack in the 1980s.
Newsy Science. “Study Says ‘Crack Baby’ Epidemic of the ‘80s Was Overblown.” YouTube video, 2:43. May 27, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndof78UZqYc.
Vintage Ads PSAs 1980’s Drugs | IxAMxABU
Ten commercials from the 1980’s War on Drugs.
IxAMxABU. “Vintage Ads PSAs 1980’s Drugs.” YouTube video, 7:02. November 14, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC4N8m1oVZk.
Willie Horton (National Security PAC, 1988). | Larry McCarthy
A now infamous campaign ad, commonly known as the Willie Horton ad, from the 1988 Bush vs. Dukakis presidential election. George H.W. Bush conjures up racialized tough-on-crime rhetoric and imagery to bash his opponent, Michael Dukakis.
McCarthy, Larry. “Willie Horton (National Security PAC, 1988).” From The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2012. Museum of the Moving Image. http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988/willie-horton.
Lesson 7—Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System
A Teacher’s Guide to Rerouting the Pipeline | Emily Chiariello
This infographic suggests five shifts teachers can make in their own practice in order to be more responsive and less punitive in the way they work with students and handle misbehavior.
Chiariello, Emily. “A Teacher’s Guide to Rerouting the Pipeline.” Teaching Tolerance, Spring 2013. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-43-spring-2013/feature/teachers....
Artifacts from the End of the Prison Industrial Complex | Evan Bissel
Classroom activities that help students gain an understanding of the prison industrial complex and its historical roots.
Bissel, Evan. “Artifacts from the End of the Prison Industrial Complex.” The Knotted Line. http://scalar.usc.edu/anvc/the-knotted-line/artifacts-from-the-end-of-t….
The School-to-Prison Pipeline | Marilyn Elias
Introduces the problem of the school-to-prison pipeline and the practices that favor incarceration over education.
Elias, Marilyn. “The School-to-Prison Pipeline. Teaching Tolerance, Spring 2013. http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-43-spring-2013/school-to-prison.
Lesson 8—Understanding the Prison Label
All of Us or None
A national organizing initiative started by formerly-incarcerated people to fight against discrimination faced after release and to fight for the human rights of prisoners.
All of Us or None Initiative. “About Us.”All of Us or None. http://www.allofusornone.org/newsite/about_us.
Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted Peoples Movement
Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted Peoples Movement advocates for the rights of people who have been charged, convicted and branded with an arrest and conviction history.
Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted Peoples Movement. http://ficpmovement.wordpress.com/.
Daryl Atkinson Receives White House Champion of Change Award | Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Daryl Atkinson, an attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, received the White House Champion of Change Award for his efforts to facilitate employment opportunities for adults and juveniles returning home from incarceration.
Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “Daryl Atkinson Receives White House Champion of Change Award.” YouTube video, 6:12. July 4, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFW5T-2J9fl.
Lesson 9—Parallels Between Mass Incarceration and Jim Crow
Pauli Murray: Fighting Jane and Jim Crow | Teaching Tolerance
In this grade 9-12 lesson, students learn to identify Pauli Murray and her political activism and to distinguish between “Jane” and “Jim” Crow.
Teaching Tolerance Staff. “Paul Murray: Fighting Jane and Jim Crow.” Teaching Tolerance. http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/pauli-murray-fighting-jane-and-jim-crow.
Lesson 10—Dismantling Racial Caste
A Letter to My Nephew | James Baldwin
This essay appeared originally, exactly in this form, in The Progressive magazine in December 1962.
Baldwin, James. “A Letter to My Nephew.” The Progressive, August 4, 2014. http://www.progressive.org/archive/1962/december/letter.
Campaign for Nonviolent Schools
A youth-led citywide coalition in Philadelphia that aims to end all forms of school violence without pushing students into the criminal justice system.
Campaign for Nonviolent Schools. http://www.campaignfornonviolentschools.org.
Homegrown School Reform | Wendy Lesko and Sara Cohan
The school community, with its network of supportive teachers and their fellow classmates, is in many ways an ideal setting for students to cut their teeth as activists. This is a list of strategies to help teachers nurture young advocates.
Lesko, Wendy and Sara Cohan. “Homegrown School Reform.” Teaching Tolerance. http://www.tolerance.org/toolkit/homegrown-school-reform.
Just and Fair Schools Fund | NEO Philanthropy
The Just and Fair Schools Fund supports grassroots organizing initiatives that uphold the right to education for all youth and work to eliminate harsh school discipline policies and practices.
NEO Philanthropy. “Just and Fair Schools Fund.” The NEO Difference. http://www.theneodifference.org/donors/jfsf.
School-to-Prison Pipeline Infographic | Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
This infographic illustrates many of the causes and triggers of the school-to-prison pipeline and provides statistics and facts to show the harmful impact on particular student groups.
Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track. “School-to-Prison Pipeline Infographic.” Advancement Project. http://safequalityschools.org/resources/entry/school-to-prison-pipeline-....
Telling It Like It Is: Youth Speak Out on the School-to-Prison Pipeline | Advancement Project
A comic-book style booklet designed to capture youths’ perspective on harsh school disciplinary practices.
Advancement Project Staff. “Telling It Like It Is: Youth Speak Out on the School-to-Prison Pipeline.” Advancement Project. http://www.advancementproject.org/resources/entry/telling-it-like-it-is-....
