Black History Resources

Choose – you own a bomb shelter that is equipped with enough food and water, etc. to last you and six others for one year (post nuclear fallout period). You must select the six individuals that will join you in the shelter for one year from the following list of 12 people; (It is essential that you do not provide any further details for any of the "professionals" and do not assist the students with their decisions. After all writing and explanations are complete, a tally of the class choices will be undertaken followed by a debriefing session.) Doctor, Judge, Police Officer, Politician, Nurse, Secretary, Fire Fighter, Construction Worker, Teacher, Scientist, 18 yr. old pregnant girl, 76 year old man. (Other professions will work as well. I have used electrician, plumber, lawyer, etc.) The plumber typically engages students to think about water purification, etc. Each student MUST explain their rationale for selecting each person AND also explain why they did not choose each of the others.

In this activity students are asked to close their eyes and follow your instructions until the end of the exercise (about 5 minutes). You describe the student surroundings to them as sitting in the centre seat of a dark, empty auditorium facing a stage. You then describe the fact that they are alone in the auditorium by asking them to look around the room and notice that it is empty. Next you describe someone walking down the aisle toward the stage, up the steps to the stage and then stepping onto the stage – this is the first person on the list above (doctor). Just then a bright spotlight shines on them and they just stand there for a moment while the student observes them through their minds eye trying to note as many details as possible about the person. Students should know that the person on stage cannot see them. (Caution – be sure NOT to assign a gender to the professionals as you describe them to the students. This is very difficult but should be avoided.) Next repeat the same steps and description for every person on the list. As you move through the list be sure to review exactly who is on the stage (at about every 4^th person). For example, you now see the doctor, lawyer, judge and politician on stage. Once you have completed your list, ask students to get a good close look at everyone on the stage – take your time and try to see each person clearly. Once you have given them enough time, tell the students you have one question for them, then pause and ask “how many people on stage are non-white?” Then ask them to open their eyes. Do not allow them to share their responses, that information should be used to help them identify their own stereotypical/racist tendencies. From here, ask students how many were women? How many were NOT between the ages of 30-45? Now you have a description and understanding of societal or socially acceptable bias, discrimination, stereotypes, ageism and sexism. Your next task is to debrief the students on the language involved in this scenario.

Do you think we judge people? How is this done? Everyday we judge people based on external appearance (clothes, dress, size, shape) coupled with our prior history and knowledge. Think of your friends – you like them because they are like you – how does this broaden your perspective? How does this allow you to grow as a person? This speaks specifically to perspective and tolerance. Who you have befriended and why – think about it.

"Big Black Guy" – is this a description or a stereotypical statement? When you are describing an individual who you have seen around the neighbourhood, you describe him as a big black guy. Students will respond according to what they believe. The issue here is that they will typically not ask for more distinguishing features like hair and eye colour, height, clothing, etc.

Once students have a vocabulary for expressing and framing their thoughts and ideas, other directions and topics may be explored. Bullying, misogyny and homosexuality in popular culture are often raised by students. The Holocaust is also a topic of interest that can be explored through the discussions around learned behaviours and hate.

Extensions to this exercise can be achieved in a number of ways. The Math extension consists of having students create a tally of the class choices for the bomb shelter activity and then represent the data in a bar chart. By graphing this piece, they can touch on number sense and data management strands. The Language extension involves creating and maintaining a reflective journal on the activities. While there are many extensions possible, each teacher will choose the best for their students.