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All we need do is remain unaware for the promise 
of equality and the blessings of harmony to stay a 
distant dream. Today's "isms" are not so much 
a result of what we do to each other, 
but what we don't do for each other.

~ Susan O'Halloran
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RESOURCES

Junior and Senior High

Curricula:

• Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of Learning Activities to Promote Race, Sex, Class and Age Equity by Nancy Schneider and Ellen Davidson published by Allyn and Bacon. Order from www.teachingforchange.org
  
• Experiential Activities for Intercultural Learning by H.Ned Seelye published by Intercultural Press, Inc. P.O. Box 700 Yarmouth, Maine 04096
  
• Kaleidoscope: Valuing Differences and Creating Inclusion with Discussion Videos by Susan O'Halloran. 

Videos:

• A Place at the Table: Struggles for Equality in America

Video and teacher's guide. Teaching Tolerance also has several video/guidebooks on Rosa Parks, history of intolerance and so on. Teaching Tolerance Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center www.teachingtolerance.org

• Ethnic Notions (60 minutes)

This video is a devastating indictment of white supremacy and how it has used media stereotypes throughout history to subjugate black people. You may want to show only part of the video or break the video into two class times. The students will need plenty of time to debrief. Make sure you expose students to examples that balance these horrors with stories of resistance, community and accomplishment within the African-American culture during slavery and beyond. (Order from California Newsreel, 149 Ninth Street Suite 20, San Francisco, California 94103 Phone: 415-621-6196 www.newsreel.org)

• A Class Divided (50 minutes)

Jane Elliot's exercise with grade school students where they are instructed to discriminate against each other based on eye color. Shows how even young children immediately know how to take on superior and inferior roles. Also available from California Newsreel, see above.

• Tribes & Bridges at the Steppenwolf Theatre (2 hours - can be broken into 25 minutes segments)

African, Cuban and Irish American storytellers telling their personal experiences around race. Comes with a discussion guide and extensive resource list. 

Books:

• Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel published by New Society Publishers
  
• Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen published by Touchstone
  
• A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn published by Harper Perennial
  
• Institutional Racism in America edited by Louis L. Knowles & Kenneth Prewitt published by Prentice-Hall
  
• Dismantling Racism by Joseph Barndt published by Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, MN

Events:

• Mix It Up At Lunch Day Southern Poverty Law Center www.mixitup.org
  
• Catholic Schools Opposing Racism (COR) www.racebridges.net
  

Elementary

Curriculums:

• Different and the Same: Helping Children Identify and Prevent Prejudice produced by Family Communications Inc. 1-800-228-4630
  
• Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children by Louise Derman-Sparks and the A.B.C. Task Force published by the National Association of Education for Young Children
  
• Starting Small: Teaching Tolerance in Preschool and the Early Grades by the Teaching Tolerance Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (Video and teacher's guide)
  
• Conflict Resolution in the Middle School by William J. Kreidler published by Educator's for Social Responsibility 1-617-492-1764
  
• Creative Conflict Resolution: More than 200 Activities for Keeping Peace in the Classroom K-6 by William J. Kreidler published by Good Year Books Department GYB 1900 East Lake Avenue Glenview, Illinois 60025
•  

K-12

• Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development by Enid Lee, Deborah Menkart and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Order from www.teachingforchange.org
  
• Putting the "Peaces" Together Resource Center of the Americas 1-800-452-8382
  
• Teaching for Change www.teachingforchange.org or 1-800-763-9131
  
• Cultural Diversity at Work www.diversityhotwire.com
  
• Teachers for Justice www.teachersforjustice.org
  
• Teaching Tolerance www.teachingtolerance.org

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The following resources on the Internet are especially helpful for teachers who would like to incorporate discussion of tolerance into their lessons: 

"Who Are the Arab-Americans?" This article from the Southern Poverty Law Center's Web site provides activity ideas to challenge students' misperceptions about people of Arab descent. http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activity.jsp?cid=155

You may also want to use the center's special fact sheets about Arab-Americans http://www.tolerance.org/newsarticle_tol.jsp?id=274
and Islam http://www.tolerance.org/newsarticle_tol.jsp?id=273
.
"Small Steps: A Tolerance Program" helps students examine how racial slurs and stereotypes advance bigotry http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activity.jsp?cid=158 and lead to violence, or even genocide.

Talking With Kids About War and Violence from Librarians Index to the Internet (Copyright 2003 by Librarians' Index to the Internet), lii.org. This "guide can help you develop effective ways to communicate with your children, monitor their exposure to news, and soothe their fears." Particularly nice Age by Age section, with "tips on limiting media exposure, recognizing signs of stress, and how each age interprets war and violence." 

• From the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).  http://www.pbs.org/parents/issuesadvice/war/
  subjects: Parenting http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/mag/features.jsp?p=0&is=21&ar=237
  
• In "Arab-American Students in Public Schools," Wendy Schwartz of Columbia University provides a useful summary of techniques that educators can use to create a welcoming environment for Arab students. http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/digests/dig142.html
  
• The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University is a valuable resource for cultural information about the Arab World. "Who are the Arabs?" by Steve Tamari is a helpful primer on the diversity of contemporary Arab society. Activities and additional resources are included. http://www.ccasonline.org/publications/teachmodule_whoarabs.htm
  
• "World Issues: Whose Side Are We/They On?" helps students understand how stereotypes and misperceptions foster division between different cultures. http://www.globaled.org/curriculum/sides.html
  
• Discovery.com's "Understanding Stereotypes" includes classroom activities to help students understand how assumptions about different cultures create stereotypes and unfair judgments, and how these biases affect our lives. http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/stereotypes/

FURTHER RESOURCES

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
4201 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20008
202/244-2990
Email: adc@adc.org
http://www.adc.org

Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
823 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
212/490-2525
http://www.adl.org

Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
334/956-8200
http://www.splcenter.com

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
This government agency has established a hotline to report incidents of
harassment or violence against Arabs or Muslims in the United States:
800/552-6843
http://www.usccr.gov

Children's Peace Bibliography
Copyright 2003 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, lii.org.
This list of children's books about global and personal peace, war, interpersonal relationships, and friendship  includes fiction and non-fiction. Each title has a short description, and its recommended age range is noted. It includes books for pre-school through junior high school. From the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse.
http://www.mincava.umn.edu/reports/Book/CPB.asp

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Today's "isms" do not need blatant discriminatory 
laws. They churn along of their own momentum, 
put into motion by hundreds of years of inequities 
and now so deeply embedded in our political, 
economic and social systems that they are largely 
invisible until someone tells the story that reveals 
the setup, makes sense of the conflict and tempts us 
with a delicious vision of how it could be.

~ Susan O'Halloran
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