Using Technology to Teach About Race/Racism

I feel like I owe technology a thank you for exposing me to both the good and the bad around the world. Without, I don’t think I would have heard half as much about the Black Lives Matter movement, the police brutality still evident in the world, maybe I would even believe that racism was a distant memory in our country’s past. All very scary and very real possibilities. But due to my social media presence, my thirst for finding as many facts about the story, and some pretty awesome teachers, I find myself constantly questioning and analyzing the media I consume. So, the question then becomes: how do I put my love and appreciation of technology into teaching about race and racism.

I think it’s really important to use the past to amplify the present. And race and racism are hard topics to talk about. So, the backdrop of the past may be just what i needs to come to light. I believe that using historical photos from the Civil Rights movement and having students, in groups, reflect on what the photos show, represent, how they feel seeing them, what emotions/feelings these pictures bring up. Each group would get one photo and would be asked to use a graphic organizer in order to organize their thoughts on a Google Doc.

Then, I would bring up these photos of the current events from the Black Lives Matter movement (or any current photos from the latest events happening). Again, each group would get their own photo that I would have them fill out the same graphic organizer. I think at that point I would also want to ask them about how the two pictures, fifty years apart feel similar or different to them. I think it would also be a great way to see how their mindsets are when they first begin to talk about race or racism and you can adjust any other future lessons accordingly.

Lastly, I would have them share out their graphic organizers to the class, showing their comparisons and the differences. Plus, they would display to the class their thoughts on how they believe that society has changed or where it hasn’t over the past fifty years. And perhaps they could also share some theories as to why they believe that society has or hasn’t changed. I just think it would be an interesting, low-stakes way to get students to start to think about race and racism, but also for a teacher to see where their class is at in their thought processes.