Once you’ve looked over each of these websites, respond to the following questions as your reading/video response: What most interested, surprised, illuminated, or irritated you from the websites above? Why?

Description

Session 6: Independent Online Activities on Race, Identity and Culture

[This set of activities is intended to replace the face-to-face virtual meeting for Session 6.]

For this week’s online session, we will be investigating activities relating to race, identity and culture. The below activities are intended to take the place of five hours of face-to-face class time. After exploring the websites below, you will need to post your reading responses to the rest of the class (the instructor will provide additional guidance on how and when).

Topic and Activities: Race, Identity and Culture

First, take a look at the PBS Race Website: “RACE—The Power of an Illusion”

http://www.pbs.org/race

This website has some very interesting activities and information about the concept of race, its history, and its implications. It also deals with and illustrates racism, as with a comparison of how historical inequalities can translate into current inequity (e.g. housing). While we encourage you to go through the entire website, be sure to explore, at a minimum:

http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm What is Race? http://www.pbs.org/race/005_MeMyRaceAndI/005_00-home.htm Me, My Race & I http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm The “Sorting People” exercise http://www.pbs.org/race/006_WhereRaceLives/006_00-home.htm Where Race Lives

Note: If you are having difficulty accessing the activities on the site due to Adobe Flash Player, explore the website. It is full of content. https://www.racepowerofanillusion.org/

Next, read the article, A Long History of Affirmative Action—For Whites

http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1107:affirm22-1&catid=42&Itemid=171

Once you’ve looked over each of these websites, respond to the following questions as your reading/video response:

1. What most interested, surprised, illuminated, or irritated you from the websites above? Why?

2. Various researchers have proposed assumptions and actions that dominant culture members can take for granted. What elements of so-called “white privilege” do you notice? Think of other privileged identity aspects (e.g., male, heterosexual, etc.)–what similar statements might be made from that standpoint?

3. When were you first aware of your racial identity? How was ethnicity, and your ethnicity, in particular, discussed by your friends and family when you were growing up? How do the websites you looked at for this activity relate to your experiences in this regard?