“How does racism feel?”

1. “How does racism feel?” Learning objectives: -To be able to understand how racism feels from different perspectives. -To be able to understand how racism does not only affect the victim experiencing it.

2. “What is racism?” ‘Racial discrimination’, is treating someone less favourably because of their colour, nationality, ethnic or national background/origin. People from any backgroundcan be a victim of racism.

3. What do we mean by ethnic background? Description of “ethnic/racial background” • An “ethnic/racial background” is the way a person describes themselves in terms of the colour of their skin; the country they live in; the country they were born in; their parent’s nationality; and their religion. • A person may describe themselves using one, a few, or maybe even all of these descriptions.

4. Racism in Sandwell? Have you ever seen racism (e.g. at school, in the street, on TV)? Race Equality Sandwell and the University of Kent conducted research with 1370 young people in secondary schools in Sandwell. They wanted to find out what they think about racism and their experiences of it.

5. We asked young people in Sandwell…. Have you ever experienced racism in school? Have you ever witnessed racism in school? According to our survey, what percentage of pupils said they had experienced racism, and what percentage said they had witnessed racism in school? Use the pie charts to show your answers.

6. Now think about the questions below…. • Why did you think that percentage of young people from Sandwell have experienced racism in school? • Are you more likely to see certain forms of racism than others? • Do you think everyone is aware if racism happens around them? Now…do you want to change your pie charts or are you still happy with your answers? Use the second row of pie charts to change your answers if you want to.

7. What did young people say in the survey? Have you ever experienced racism in school?

8. What did young people say in the survey? Have you ever witnessed racism in school?

9. How did you get on? Think about… • Did you guess correctly? • Were you closer to the right guess with the first estimate they made, or the second one? • Are you surprised with the findings? • Do you think that the number should be higher or lower? • What about outside of school?

10. Main activity option 1 How do you think experiencing racism feels?

11. How do you think experiencing racism feels? Think about… • What is happening in the picture? • Who is the victim? • How do you think the victim is feeling? • How would you feel if this was you? Do you think you would feel the same, or different, to people in the picture? Pick an image and write something about it on your post it note. Stick it on the image.

12. Main activity option 2 Case Studies • In small groups, read one of the Case Studies. • Think about…. • Do you think the person in the quote has experienced racism? How much – a lot, or a little? • How are they feeling? • Why do you think they feel that way? • Do you think the person knows how to deal with their experience? • Do they feel like they have someone to help them? • Where do you think the racism is coming from? • How do you think experiencing racism has affected the way they live their life?

13. Extension task Key words… • Write down 10 key words that best describe the Case Study you have read. • OR choose 5 key words that describe the picture you discussed. • Be creative – design a poster illustrating these words.

14. Plenary/feedback • Does everyone who experiences racism react in the same way? • Were they surprised by how much racism was reported in the survey? • Who else can be affected by someone’s experience of racism? • Is there a right or wrong way to respond? You can find out more about tackling racism in schools, by visiting www.tackling-racism.co.uk