Black Lives Matter - Thoughts on racism - Understanding Other Cultures and Outlooks in the IGCA

[Boyd Roberts]

The issues relating to Black Lives Matter which have come to prominence recently are very relevant to the IGCA. The section Understanding other outlooks and cultures calls for IGCA participants to find out more about how people view the world differently. There are many books and articles on racism, and many IGCA participants may wish to explore some of these resources. But Understanding other outlooks and cultures involves participants having direct experience of hearing how others experience and view the world differently. While young people can learn from adults, it seems more impactful and direct for young people to hear about racism from other young people who have experienced racism themselves.

 

Here are some resources I have found that may be useful. They include some short videos in which children and young people of different skin colours talk about their experiences of racism and being treated according to their physical appearance. (Interestingly there are many, many videos about how parents and teachers can talk to young people about racism. Finding videos of young people talking about their own experience of racism is much more difficult! There seem to be far fewer. Why?)

 

 

Kids talk about racism and Black Lives Matter

Segment from US NBC news

6 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSiRKReSNDE

 

"Because I’m Latino, I can’t have money?" Kids on Race

Straight talk from middle-schoolers about race and what it's like to grow up in a racially charged USA.

4 minutes

WNYC – New York public radio station

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6xSyRJqIe8

 

A Conversation About Growing Up Black

Black boys and young men explain the particular challenges they face growing up in America.

New York Times documentary.

5 minutes

https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003670178/a-conversatio...

 

 

Racism is learned early in human life.

 

Racism in children

A 1 minute video from TRT World (a Turkish public broadcaster) showing two instances of young children showing racial discrimination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP7Yi6vOTo

 

Black doll White doll

A 2007 video repeating the “doll test” (children choosing between a black doll and a white doll) showing that black children develop low opinions of black people when young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTKv8AhH1Xc&feature=emb_rel_end

 

 

Children growing up with racial inferiority

A short video of non-white Italian children’s response to a “doll test” and showing racial stereotypes – and poor self-esteem.

3 minutes

From fanpage.it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZPw-9sJtQ

 

 

Anti-Racism Educator Jane Elliott: ‘There’s Only One Race. The Human Race'

A short video (less than 4 minutes) in which Jane Elliott describes her work to combat racism. In 1968 she did an exercise with her third grade white students in which she told them that brown eyed children were superior to those with blue eyes. In 15 minutes they conformed to the stereotyped expectation. She has repeated this exercise with audiences large and small and of all ages for 50 years. She argues that ideas of superiority or inferiority according to skin colour develop early because of simple, repeated conditioning. She sets out her views clearly and succinctly and gives a clear and simple challenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFQkLp5u-No

 

 

There are many videos and resources for adults giving tips and ideas of how to talk about racism to children.

Talking to your kids about race and racism in wake of George Floyd

is a one minute video produced by National Geographic that gives many useful tips in a very short time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdoq5wpJAAU