Oh, those pesky "isms": Using Technology to Teach Learners About Racism

Teaching about racism in the classroom can be a tough topic. Regardless of what type of district you end up teaching in, there will be lingering undertones of racism: in the hallways during conversations, the little jokes learners (and even faculty!) tell during lulls in the classroom, discussions about the newest television shows, commercials or memes on the internet. Thanks to the information age that we live in, implicit racism surrounds our learners everywhere they look. Although the conversations may be uncomfortable at first, the discussions about racism, sexism, and all the other "isms" that are present in society need to take place if change is going to happen. To chew on this subject further, here is an article about the reasoning behind why discussions of race and politics belong in the classroom, with some guidelines for doing so. Along with what we have been reading and discussing in class, I thought this would be helpful to share, especially with the current political climate that we currently exist in.

One concept that really stuck out to me in our readings is that of internalized racism - things that we see or do every day - things we take for granted - that have racist or sexual overtones that we don't even recognize as being damaging. Advertising is one powerful way to show how television ads can be used to show how prolific racism and sexism is in society. Even with the advent of amazing technology like the DVR, advertising still weasels it's way into our digital landscape. You should find advertisements that do not only show negative stereotypes - you need a good mix of both (you don't really want the whole lesson to be completely bleak). Some example ads I found on YouTube are linked below (also, I was totally disturbed by the amount of ads that come up when you type "racist commercials" into the search bar...just sayin!)

Tide Dad
Amazon Kindle Ad 
Fiat Ad 
Laundry Detergent Ad
Faygo Redpop Commercial
1960's Jell-o Commercial
Special K

The learners would be split into groups to watch the videos and they can work on a list of questions and take notes while they watch. Questions such as:

What kind of emotions did you have when you watched these commercials?
What kinds of stereotypes did you see in the ads?
What message does this advertisement send to the receiver? Positive? Negative? Cultural appropriation? (this is why you need a mix - some should have positive representation of a social group or race!)
Do you think the advertiser had the specific social group in mind when they scripted this commercial?
Does advertising of this nature have an affect of how people view marginalized social groups? Why or why not?

Once they do their group work, there can be a share out with the rest of the class and maybe a larger project can come out of this using the questions below:
Do you think the advertisers could get their message across in a different way?
How would you change this advertisement to be devoid of any racist/sexist or any other kind stereotype?