Racism+in+America

toc Essential Question: How has racism changed over the past 50 years in America?

Challenges: Increase student awareness and decrease racism in schools

Guiding Questions: 1. How big of a problem was racism in the 1960's compared to racism today? 2. Has racism shifted focus from one group to another over time? 3. What conditions were racism formed under for certain groups at certain times? (EX: Illegal immigrants are frowned upon for working for less than an American Citizen) 4. Can racism go both ways?(EX: black panthers and the KKK

Guiding Activities: 1. Interview a History teacher 1) Do you believe that racism has shifted from one group to another over the past 50 yrs and why?


 * I think it didn’t shift, but i believe it has grown (to include more groups) because of fear.

2) Do you think that reverse racism is possible?


 * Yes, because its just racism.

3) Do you think that racism has increased or decreased over the past 50 yrs and why?


 * It has changed; I believe it shows itself in different ways. When push comes to shove, and we still see the rear of the ugly head. Many people promote racism. Its also based on the situation that the person is in, if the person feels threatened, there going to be racist.

4) What’s your view on racism, and do you believe it is a problem in schools?


 * Yes

5) Would segregation help or worsen racism in schools if the conditions were the same in every school?
 * No it wouldn’t help.

2. Survey Questions: Do you think racism has changed over the past 50 years? - 9 people said yes Does racism go both ways? For example: Black people being racist to white people – 126 people said yes Have you ever done or thought anything racist? - 90 people said yes How many people have heard something racist in the hallways? - 87 people said yes How many people have heard stories of their grandparents or parents being victims of racism? - 36 people said yes

3. websites

Guiding Resources: 1. How big of a problem was racism in the 1960's compared to racism today? Racism in our world today is nothing compared to racism in the 1960’s. Even though slavery did not exist in the 1960’s, African Americans did not have legal equality. They were segregated from the white Americans. Segregation was created when the white Americans wanted to prove that they were superior to black people. African Americans had separate schools, transportation, and public facilities. Also, they were not allowed to vote and were considered second-class citizens. Racism still exists today but it does not happen regularly in our society. In addition, all African Americans are citizens and have legal equality. One example of legal equality could be the election of 2008. In this election, President Obama, the first African American president, was elected. Racism was a huge problem in the 1960’s, but racism has reduced significantly in the United States today. [] http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/267053 http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/Civil+Rights+Context+in+the+Early+1960s.htm

2. Has racism shifted focus from one group to another over time?

In our interview with Mr. Sarajian, he told us that he believes that racism didn’t shift from one group to another, but he told us that he believes it has grown to include more groups instead of changing to one certain group. We agree with this statement and we also think that it depends on the situation that you are in. For example if you get into a fight with an asian, the group your will be racist to that group. In the 1950’s, racism was mainly focused on the African Americans because of slavery, now with many of the problems with Al-Queda, we are being racist to the muslims.

3. What conditions were racism formed under for certain groups at certain times? (EX: Illegal immigrants are frowned upon for working for less than an American Citizen)

After 9/11, most Muslims were looked at differently then they were prior to 9/11. they were also hated now, though the majority of Muslims were not terrorists, they were all treated like they were terrorists. people always associated Muslims with terrorists after 9/11. police officers, and mostly security at the airport, profiled Muslims more and gave them a hard time. security guards at the airport would take a lot of them aside for "random" security checks. because of Osama Bin Laden, now all of the Muslim people face racism that they never have before.

4. Can racism go both ways?(EX: black panthers and the KKK

It is interesting to note, that the term "Reverse Racism" has two sides to it. Some people, such as the quote and source given below, believe that African Americans cannot discriminate against Caucasians simply because Africans have far less opportunity to discriminate, and that black people lack a system of institutionalized support. This is, yes, a viable viewpoint for this situation, however, the term "racism" is defined as " a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race", which can definitely be applied to the situation of reverse racism. Just because black people cannot discriminate in mass quantities and do not have protected support such as whites, does not mean that racism does not exist at all. The Black Panthers, for example, are a black supremacist group, who have done considerably violent things in protest to having insufficient civil rights. Our survey seems to coincide with this idea of reverse racism, since most of the people who we asked the question to have said that there is indeed a presence of reciprocal racism.


 * Now to "**Reverse Racism**." It's crucial to maintain the distinction between the above three terms, because otherwise white people tend to redefine "Discrimination" as "Racism". Their main argument is that because both blacks and white can discriminate against each other, that "Reverse Racism" is possible. But the truth of the matter is that black people: 1) have far less opportunity to discriminate against whites than whites have to discriminate against blacks, overall; and 2) black people lack a system of institutionalized support that protect them when they discriminate against whites.
 * Source : http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/15/884649/-Why-theres-no-such-thing-as-Reverse-Racism, 14th paragraph
 * http://www.blackpanther.org/
 * []
 * http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/07/pastor-says-church-deterred-petraeus-warning-koran-burning/
 * []
 * http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/07/pastor-says-church-deterred-petraeus-warning-koran-burning/

Solution/Action