What is it like to feel prejudice? Prejudice is a subtle form of man's inhumanity to man. It's not the overt slavery of Harriet Tubman's youth, but it has many of the same roots--the feeling that one group of individuals is different from another group and should be excluded from this and relegated to that. Exercises included here let students experience prejudice in a learning environment, so that when they leave the classroom there will be more understanding and more tolerance.
- The blue tag-red tag game--As students come into a classroom, give them either a red tag or blue tag. The tags can simply be pieces of paper that they hold in their hands. Have the red-tag people sit toward the back or along the side of the room, and the blue-tag people at a prominent place at the front center of the room. Do not tell them why you are making the distinction. Then proceed with your planned class lesson. The lesson can be totally unrelated to the topics of prejudice or slavery--do it with a math class or another history session. Ignore questions and participation from the red-tags and encourage questions from the blue-tags, praising them for their answers.
At some point you will have to reveal to the class what is happening (or they may figure it out on their own). Have individual students share feelings about what they experienced. Include observations from both groups. Have them write a short essay about what was done and their personal experiences during the exercise. Many can express in writing to a teacher things they would be embarrassed to say before their peers.
Do not separate students on the basis of any personal characteristics such as hair color, clothing types, and height; and it is certainly important to stay away from race, gender, religion, etc., since these are areas of real-life discrimination.
- The wall--Place a divider down the center of the classroom and talk to the students about walls. This is a good exercise to teach about the former "Iron Curtain" in Europe or the so-called "Bamboo Curtain" in the orient.
The divider can be considered a little "Berlin wall," with one side of the room having the enslaved people of Eastern Europe (prior to the fall of the wall and the opening of the East), and the other side the democracies of the West. Give all the students a worksheet with 3 to 5 questions which ask for opinions about freedom and personal liberty. The students on the "West" side of the classroom can write anything they want on the worksheets, freely expressing their opinions. For the students on the "East" side, however, attach an answer guide to the worksheets with specific answers the students have to copy word-by-word on their papers.
After the exercise discuss experiences. The results may be contrary to expectations. Some of the students on the "West" side may have been uncomfortable defining their own answers, while students on the "East" side may have liked having answers given to them. It is often difficult to express personal opinions, but it is more in the spirit of the responsibility of freedom. Stress to the students that freedom involves personal responsibility--having opinions about things that matter. Freedom means working for what one believes. Relate all of this to the control of people by totalitarian powers that live behind walls. The nations of Eastern Europe lived in a system in which answers were provided, and individual creativity was suppressed.
For a literature emphasis on walls, include Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall." Why do we have walls? Can walls be good? Name examples of walls--what do they wall in and wall out? Do good fences make good neighbors?
- Man in the Middle--"Man in the Middle" is a debating game best used in gifted and talented situations where students are willing to explore ideas. Select a single student to be the "Man (or Woman) in the Middle." This first student should have self-confidence and leadership potential, in addition to being a good debater, to set the example for subsequent participants. Give this student a position to defend--that is, ask the student to take a certain point of view and defend the correctness of that point of view, regardless of how he or she personally feels about the topic. Typically this is a controversial position which goes contrary to established norms. The other students in the class may challenge the Man in the Middle with any questions, and he or she must defend the position against all comers. The debate should be free-form (that is, it need not follow traditional rules of formal debate), but the teacher will need to set some guidelines to maintain order. Questions and answers should be limited only by the creativity of the students.
For example, the student may be asked to take the role of a slave owner and defend why he or she would want to keep slaves. Why would a person want to own slaves? Why does one group of people subject another to inhumanity and injustice? Those who would partake in such practices often defend their positions using spurious arguments and half-truths. The objective of the exercise is to have the students learn to separate the true from the false.
There are many possible contrary positions for the Man in the Middle. Was the underground railroad a good thing? It was against the law, but could bad laws be broken? Was it right for slaves to escape? Was it right for this country to fight a war in which slavery was a critical issue (note that historians argue to our present day over whether the War Between the States was about slavery or states rights)?
Some advice to the teacher is as follows:
- A typical Man-in-the-Middle session will last for a few minutes until the debate has run its course. At the end, spread compliments and encouragement to sooth egos, and then use the time to summarize the ideas presented. A good way to summarize is to have the students write lists of the key arguments.
- The students must be reminded that this is only a game. In the first place there is always the danger that some students may take the exercise personally. Keep the more sensitive out of the middle, because there is intimidation pressure on the person making the defense.
- Do not score points. Let the fact that the student met the challenge of the debate be the reward. For many students, simply accepting the challenge is a victory, and compliments should be given in this regard.
- The outcast--Select one student who has a strong self image and is a good actor. Tell the student ahead of time that you plan to have the class ostracize him or her as part of a lesson about prejudice and have the student agree to participate. Remove the student from the classroom on some pretense, and then instruct the class to exclude the student when he or she returns. The class doesn't know that the student knows and the student has to act his or her part, using creative drama. After the exercise, have the students explore their feelings about what was done. Again, it is good to have students write their responses.
- News notebook--Have the students keep a notebook of items related to slavery, prejudice, and the violation of civil rights in magazines and newspapers. Many nations these days are experiencing freedom from dictators and repressive politics. Have them keep a notebook about changes in eastern Europe or in third-world countries. There is news related to minorities in the United States and other nations.
- Handicap awareness--There is definitely a need for students to have an positive awareness of persons with physical, emotional or mental limitations. Have individuals with handicaps visit the class and discuss openly their lives and livelihoods. Have members of the class volunteer for such activities as special olympics. The objective in this is to teach students that we all have potential for success, regardless of our limitations.
- Slavery in ancient times--Have the students do a research topic on slavery in ancient times. They will find that both whites and blacks were slaves, and that slavery crossed racial lines. The ancient Romans and Greeks held slaves from nations they had conquered. The Vikings had slaves captured from their raids on the people of northern Europe.
- Finding the Good in all of us--Have class discussions that help the students learn that differences between individuals are good. If we were all the same, life would be very boring. Discuss the differences and similarities between men and women, and why those differences and similarities are good. Discuss the positive things that individuals from different racial groups have contributed to our society. Challenge your students to be positive, and eliminate the negative. It is so easy to complain, and so many people think of complaints before they think of praise. Use your classroom to change attitudes to the good.