Racial Discrimination within
“Brown Girl Dreaming”
I.S.
126
Marina
Pantelidis
INTRODUCTION:
Race and racism
are topics that regularly populate our news feeds and affect a wide variety of
people in profound ways. Discussions about these topics can be difficult and
provoke strong emotions, especially within the classroom. Using the memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, based on Jacqueline Woodson’s life growing up
between the North and the South during a time of racial segregation and the
Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, we will investigate the social problem of
racial discrimination as it exists within the context of the memoir as well as
in our current society.
● Woodson begins her memoir with the day she was born
and takes the reader through the trials and tribulations that she endured as an
African American child.
TASK:
Based on the memoir, ‘Brown Girl Dreaming’, you will choose 5-6 poems that focus on the problem of racial discrimination. After choosing these poems, you will be writing a 3-page research paper focusing on the problem of racial discrimination that Woodson writes about, as well as researching policies or solutions for this issue.
PROCESS:
Students will watch the following video
entitled “Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Racism”: https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004818663/peanut-butter-jelly-and-racism.html?playlistId=100000004821064
In groups of 4-5, students will answer the
following questions in a discussion:
●
How is implicit bias different from racism?
●
How does implicit bias lead to
discrimination like racism?
You will be working with the same
group that you held a discussion with based on implicit bias.
Guidelines for your research paper:
- Sources should include your primary source and 3 online sources
- Citing Sources – Students
will create a Works Cited page following the MLA standards for citing
sources. You can find how-to help for all research paper sections at
mlaformat.org
- Formatting – All papers must be typed in 12 font, black ink, Times
New Roman, and must be double spaced.
- Total Page Requirements: 3
typed pages, plus a cover page and the Works Cited page.
You will use the following outline:
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Define and describe the problem. (Our problem is racial discrimination) |
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Gather evidence for the problem. |
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Identify causes for this problem. |
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Describe and evaluate policies (specifically during the time of Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir). |
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Develop solutions/ policies for the problem. |
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Select the best policy. |
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Identify benefits for chosen policy. |
RESOURCES:
Your
primary source should be “Brown Girl Dreaming”, but feel free to use the
following sources in order to better develop your research paper (specifically
in regards to the PPA steps).
- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/upshot/were-all-a-little-biased-even-if-we-dont-know-it.html
- Stories of students
experiencing racial discrimination: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/us/first-encounters-with-racism.html?_r=0
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/opinion/sunday/finding-growth-at-my-historically-black-college.html
- Social Media can also be a platform to
use through research, using the following hashtags: #RaceEquality or
#FightRacism
- https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/08/15/social-media-conversations-about-race/
- https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
- https://kinder.rice.edu/2015/07/21/what-the-1960s-can-teach-us-about-how-segregation-affects-aspirations
- Jacqueline
Woodson Interview: https://www.npr.org/2015/06/19/415747871/jacqueline-woodson-on-growing-up-coming-out-and-saying-hi-to-strangers
EVALUATION
CONCLUSION:
By completing the research
paper with your group, you have broken down and understood the problem of
racial discrimination as it exists today and during Jacqueline Woodson’s time
(1960’s). You have also been able to analyze existing policies and develop your
own solutions that may help this important issue that society is faced with
today.
STANDARDS
ELA 8R1: Cite
textual evidence to strongly support an analysis of what the text says
explicitly/implicitly and make logical inferences.
ELA 8W1b: Support
claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using credible sources
while demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text
SS RH7: Integrate
and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and
media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address
a question or solve a problem.
SS RH8: Evaluate
an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them
with other information.