The topic of equality in gender, race and religion are often brushed under the carpet. Each event and matter is always unique to experience for each individual. A lot of the things we learn about society, how we should act and react to a certain situation, we adapt from our surrounding environment and the people in it.
While it takes decades to bring real changes, what we must focus on is the root cause of these racial biases and how do people learn to see one another from a different perspective.
To heal, we must first recognize our wounds, be consciously aware of them and only then we will be able to stop the toxic loop.
As the recent event of a mass shooting in the USA, Atlanta has already opened up a massive portal that not only calls for worldwide discussion, but it now seeks active participation in bringing awareness too.
KU researchers have published a paper on using critical race media literacy; with this, an American teacher at a South Korean high school discusses racism and sexism in superhero movies in his English class. And they argued that successful implementation can provide a model for discussing social topics such as racism in classrooms in countries like the United States.
What is this critical race media literacy and how Educators can use it!
“Critical race media literacy refers to the ability to recognize negative stereotypical portrayals of historically oppressed groups in media, question media producers' intentions, and produce media content that does not perpetuate stereotypes.” – Darnel Degand, University of California
So, to speak of bringing awareness and to contribute towards actual shift, teachers can discuss these sensitive matters actively. Although the existing argument induces whether or not racism should be covered in school, to be fair, topics like bullying is now an active part of school discussion then why not racism or sexism! And above all, we should not wait till the last moment to create a difference. Especially matters like racial biasness has been seeking out attention for so long, we must pay our visit to the red flags.
What can you do as a teacher to create a safe space for your students!
- Knowing your children, their background, their communities, their perspective and experiences.
- Letting them know that they are safe to share their vulnerability
- Helping them build a trusting environment among peers
- Never ignore or encourage racism in the classroom
- Helping student speak up their mind even if that feels uncomfortable
Allowing students to explore topics such as racial discrimination will help them to be open up their minds on why these cultural biases exist and how much truth does these biases holds! You can emphasise the areas such as:
- Historical backgrounds of the bias
- Who created these biases and on what ground?
- Who are the people benefiting from these biases?
- Who are the people getting affected by these biases?
With the emergence of technology in the classroom, the internet is undoubtedly an amazing tool to be used in learning and teaching. Alongside teaching students about media literacy, emphasizing critical race media literacy provides an opportunity to bring a shift in the society that point towards collective unity. Until and unless we are aware of each other’s stories it is impossible to connect deeply especially on the matter of ‘EQUALITY’.
With more and more increase in diversity, people from multiple cultures are happening to be in the same space. The thing about racial bias is that it comes from a mindset. And if we are truly willing to bring about changes, we must start from the base and make AWARENESS the key ingredient to achieving some concrete revolution.
