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ISSUES: Racial & Ethnic Discrimination
Assignments
Assignments
Brainstorming
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In small groups, discuss what you know about racism?
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What is the difference between racism and ethnic
discrimination?
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What is the Race Relations Act 1976?
Research
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The 2017 film
Hidden Figures
is based on the true story of a
group of African-American women who worked for NASA
to help with the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit.
Do some research and find out about other inspirational
black or African-American figures, choose someone you
think your class won’t know much about and create a
presentation that explores what this person did and how
it was influential/important.
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Conduct an anonymous questionnaire amongst your
friends, family and peers to find out whether they think
racism and religious hatred have increased since the Brexit
vote. Ask at least five different questions (remember you’re
not asking whether people themselves have been racist,
but whether they have witnessed it or noticed an increase
in the news/media). When you have gathered your results,
create some graphs and tables to demonstrate your
findings and share with your class as a presentation. Work
in pairs if you would like to.
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Who is Malala Yousafzai? Do some research about her
and create a presentation that could be used as a school
assembly. Perform this for your class.
Design
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Choose one of the articles from this book and create an
illustration that highlights the key themes of the piece.
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Imagine that you work for a charity that is campaigning
against post-Brexit racism. Create a poster that could be
displayed in public places such as bus-stops and tube
stations that will highlight your cause.
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Design a poster that summarises UK racism & ethnic
discrimination issues.
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Design a storyboard for a Youtube video which highlights
the issue of indirect racism. You could choose a setting
such as work or school in order to demonstrate your
message. If you’d like to take this further and have access
to video recording devices, work in small groups and with
your teacher to create your video.
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The article on page 37 says that “apps and other online
tools are challenging racist attacks”. In pairs, design an
app or website that will, somehow, help to tackle racism
in your community.
Oral
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Create a PowerPoint presentation that explores different
types of racism. Use the article on page one for help and try
to include some case studies or examples to illustrate your
explanations.
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Look at the graph
Proportion of ethnic minorities who
have been victims of racial discrimination…
on page
three. Which religious group has experienced racial
discrimination most frequently? In small groups, discuss
why you think this might be.
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Read the article
Muslim women and discrimination in
Britain
on page eight. Then, in small groups, write
a list of possible Tweets that you could have sent in
response to Matthew P Doyle’s tweet: “I confronted
a Muslim woman in Croydon yesterday. I asked her to
explain Brussels. She said ‘Nothing to do with me’. A
mealy mouthed reply.” Your tweets should be polite,
reasoned, and aimed at highlighting Doyle’s anti-
Muslim behaviour.
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As a class, debate the following motion: “Social media
should be banned because it encourages racism”.
Reading/writing
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Write a one-paragraph definition of the word ‘racism’
and then compare it with a classmate’s.
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Imagine you are an Agony Aunt/Uncle and have
received a letter from a young boy asking you ‘Why are
some people racist?’. Write a letter/email in response.
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Research (see graph on page four) suggests that people
view ‘politics’ as a career that is ‘closed off’ to ethnic
minorities. Write a blog post explaining why you think
it is important that ethnic minorities are encouraged to
enter this field in particular.
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Write a summary of the article
England’s most
disadvantaged groups: Gypsies, Travellers and Roma
on
page five. Your summary should be no more than three
paragraphs.
Ö
Read the Jodi Picoult novel
Small Great Things
and
write a book review exploring how the author (a white
American woman) has tackled the sensitive subject of
racism in America. Consider how the author portrayed
the white supremacists as well as the victims, and think
about how you felt towards the characters. Finally,
consider whether the novel highlighted anything in
particular about your own behaviour/attitude to racism.
