Module 5: Introduction
Advocacy and Activism

Objectives:

• Investigate your institution's response plans and policies that deal with hate
• Respond to a hypothetical scenario with creative solutions.
• Report on student activism at your school
• Begin planning for your course final project
• Continue to write in the Reflective Journal.

"People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out; but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within." ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Introduction:

Bad things can happen in good institutions. Acts of hatred or prejudice can tear at the moral fabric of any school. The actions you and your school take in the face of intolerance will teach the most profound lessons. Denial, cover-up, and inaction will teach students that they are powerless and give license to those who hate. A well-planned, vigorous and reasoned response to hateful acts will empower everyone and establish a healthy and rational learning culture.

Schools plan for emergencies so they can respond quickly in the face of a threat. Remembering that bad things can happen in good institutions, how would your school react to these real incidents^*?

In a central Illinois high school cafeteria, a group of students make fun of special education students by imitating the way they eat.

A Yucaipa, California teacher finds geography textbooks defaced with swastikas and hate messages.

The Web site of an independent Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, declares "God Hates Fags" and celebrates the murder of gay Wyoming Student Matthew Shepard.

A White 16-year-old in Clifton Park, N.Y., sends a racist E-mail message, signed "KKK," to an African American Man.

To chastise an Arab American student for littering, a Dallas teachers says, "Pick up that trash or I'll burn your tent and kill your camel."

A Sikh youth in Union City, California, is taunted on a school bus and later beaten by several schoolmates, one of whom is Samoan and another, Black.

School officials in Wytheville, Va., suspend 10 students for fashioning their jacket drawstrings into nooses. Parents of four challenge the suspensions, insisting that a noose is not a racist symbol.

In this module we will investigate how an institution can prepare for instances of hate with proactive and effective polices. We will also look at ways students and staff can actively deal with conflict resolution while building an atmosphere of respect for diversity.

*Always feel free to e-mail me at mc@wiredinstructor.net with questions or comments.

Dennis O'Connor
Instructor

*Incidents were taken from Responding to Hate at School, A Guide for Teachers, Counselors and Administrators.