Before I get into this week’s post dedicated to eradicating racism, I want to make note of the moving moment that took place yesterday when teams for both the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees all took a knee at the same time to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. After this truly awe-inspiring scene, which you can read about here, they all stood for the National Anthem, demonstrating that we can honor our country while still wanting to improve it.
As more and more institutions in the United States acknowledge the problem of racism, it is important for young people to understand how embedded prejudice is in the history of our country, and the strength it will take to root it out. TED Ed has a good animated video that explains systemic racism. Though a four minute video certainly cannot give the whole picture, it is a simple introduction for students who may have the misguided belief that racism ended when schools were integrated. If you want to have your class probe further, the “Dig Deeper” section includes a link to a Vox article that incorporates several charts portraying the racial divide that still exists in our country, including one showing the disparity among Native Americans/Blacks and people of other races who have been reported to have died from Covid-19.
This post is part of a weekly Black Lives Matter series that I have vowed to include on this blog. Here are the previous posts:
- Stamped Digital Readers Notebook
- Brainpop: Black Lives Matter Protests
- 21-Day Challenge
- When Your “President” Says “Kung Flu”
- Bias
- Texts for Talking About Race
- I Don’t See Color
Also, for more amazing anti-racism resources, check out the Live Binder curated by Joy Kirr.
