Blog / Diversity Activities

This is a quick little Ted Talk on unconscious bias--I love Helen's examples! The whole thing made me think about the blue and black (or white and gold) dress. Of which, I still don't know how to process... Enjoy!

Buzzfeed created a quiz so you can check your privilege. This will make you think. If it doesn't, it should. Take the quiz (and read the comments if you're brave)

 

I love how Greenwich Academy incorporated Diversity Beans into their Unity Week! Makes my heart full to see them in action!!

Multiracial Oath of Social Responsibility I want to make a difference in this world. Therefore: I strive to improve race relations.

• I know that race and ethnicity are not solely defined by one’s genetic heritage;
• I refuse to confine my choices in love or loyalty to a single race;
• I make efforts to increase my knowledge of U.S. racial history;
• I know that race and ethnicity can be used as political, economic, and social tools of oppression.

I recognize the people who have made it possible for me to affirm my multiracial identity. 

• They are my relatives, friends, and mentors;
• They are people who have crossed color lines to fight discrimination;
• They are people who identified as multiracial before this choice was recognized;
• They are people who have exposed and explained the suppression of multiraciality.

I must fight all forms of oppression as the oppression of one is the oppression of all.

• I recognize that oppression thrives on fear and ignorance;
• I seek to recognize my prejudices and change them;
• I know that it is neither helpful nor productive to argue over who is more oppressed;
• I recognize that my life interconnects with all other lives.

I will make a difference!

Copyright 2004, Maria P. P. Root

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjwzeiAJhn4] I LOVE this! USA Network created an award-winning public service program called Characters Unite, created to address the social injustices and cultural divides still prevalent in our society. Check out their Storytelling tours: Mainstage and Student Stories They offer some great FREE resources for educators too: The Power of Storytelling Activity Guide and Characters Unite Game Cards - The cards can be used for discussion, writing assignments or game play, including two fun options for 4-6 players, to open minds and embrace differences. The deck is geared for high school teachers and their students, but also can be used by other educators, employers, community leaders and parents.

Another great free resource from Tolerance.org. Download it here for free.

Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage

I have the right:

-not to justify my existence in this world -not to keep the races separate within me -not to be responsible for people's discomfort with my physical ambiguity -not to justify my ethnic legitimacy I have the right: -to identify myself differently than strangers expect me to identify -to identify myself differently than how my parents identify me -to identify myself differently than my brothers and sisters -to identify myself different in different situations I have the right: -to create a vocabulary to communicate about being multiracial -to change my identity over my lifetime - and more than once -to have loyalties and identify with more than one group of people -to freely choose whom I befriend and love © Maria P. P. Root, PhD, 1993, 1994 (also see "A Transracially-Adopted Child's Bill of Rights")

Another great resource created by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Download your free copy here. This is an image that's in the book that breaks my heart but reminds me of the quote by Nelson Mandela, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” (we have the colorsheet)

Take a few minutes to visit our friends over at EdChange.org to take their Equity and Diversity Quiz. I promise, you will be surprised at some of the answers! Here are just a few of the questions: According to the National Center for Education Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff? According to a study by the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights, what percentage of physicians report witnessing a colleague giving reduced care or refusing care to lesbian, gay, or bisexual patients? According to a 2006 report from the American Civil Liberties Union, African Americans comprise more than 37% of people arrested for drug use, 59% of those convicted for drug use, and 74% of those sentenced to prison for drug use. African Americans comprise what percentage of U.S. drug users?