BLACK LIVES MATTER PROJECT

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

project 

objectives

With the lessons about Black lives Matters we want you

• To gain background information about this topic which may be a subject in your exam  
• To learn how to express your opinion about a topical subject in English  
• To learn to listen to an English documentary and listen for specific information  
• To be able to understand written texts about a topical subject  
• To write a report about what you have learnt about a topic  
• to learn to form an opinion based on more than one source

What is racism?

introduction

In the course of 2020 we have seen many demonstrations against institutionalised racism. This started after George Floyd was killed when a policeman placed his knee on George's neck. In the US many black people have been killed by police officers. It is claimed that this happens because of racism. 

It is not only black people that face racism. Racism can also be found against Asians, Latin Americans, Native Americans a.s.o.

Definition of racism  

1  : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race 

2  a  : a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles 

    b  : a political or social system founded on racism 

3  : racial prejudice or discrimination

from: Merriam Webster (American source)

Betekenis 'racisme'

   ra·cis·me (het; o)  

1  opvatting dat mensen met een bepaalde huidskleur beter zouden zijn dan mensen met een andere kleur, gebruikt als rechtvaardiging om mensen met een andere kleur slecht te behandelen 

2  discriminatie op grond van huidskleur; = rassendiscriminatie

Van Dale woordenboek ( Dutch source)

assignment 1 : What difference is there between the American and the Dutch definition?

How about Trump?  he has claimed to be 'the least racist person".

assignment 2: List all the examples of racism that can be attributed to Donald Trump according to the article below

https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-racism-history

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Barack Obama

Obama was the first black president in America. You would expect that racism against black Americans would diminish or perhaps even stop but 

did racism really diminish during his presidency?

assignment 3: write a short paragraph  in which you answer this question using examples from the text below.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/obama-legacy/racism-during-presidency.html

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civil rights movement

The Black Lives Matter movement is a civil rights movement. Civil rights movements have a.o. contributed to equal rights for women and the right to vote for all. 

Listen to the interview below.

assignment 4: How/why did BLM start and what does Alicia hope it will bring about?

racism in The Netherlands

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53261944

https://theundefeated.com/features/netherlands-might-be-tolerant-but-racism-exists-for-people-of-color/

assignment 5 : Read the articles and write a paragraph ( 200 words) in which you explain what racism in the Netherlands is like.

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famous civil rights activists

assignment 6: Find the names of 5 famous civil rights activists and state what they were campaigning for.

extra background information

Listen to this father who has to explain to his children that some people will hate them because of the colour of their skin.

assignment 7

Watch the video above and answer the questions. The host is John Oliver. His show resembles that of Arjen Lubach.  Breaking news, on a weekly basis, Comedian John Oliver satirically covers the week in news, politics and current events in this Emmy-winning variety series. 

01. When protesters were outside the White House 

A. Trump was in the bunker under the White House 

B. Trump was not at home at the time 

C. Trump went outside to talk to the protesters 

D. Trump wrote a tweet complaining about the noise the protesters made    

02. After the demonstration Trump 

A. Went to bed 

B. Went to a foto shoot at a church where he held a bible 

C. Was sending out angry tweets all night 

D. Demanded the army would be called to sweep Pennsylvania Ave.    

03. Hollywood helps to portray cops who use excessive violence as heroes. They are called 

A. Dirty cops 

B. Renegade cops 

C. Glorious cops 

D. Killer cops

04. How did we get where we are today with regards to police brutality against black people? 

A. Because slaves had to be policed 

B. On purpose 

C. Because of the laws of the Land 

D. By accident   

05. Which president is not named as facilitating police brutality? 

A. Obama 

B. Clinton 

C. Nixon 

D. Reagan    

06. Clinton 

A. Wanted to put 100.000 extra police officers on the street 

B. Allowed police officers “to stop and frisk” at random 

C. Give more money to social services to help the police reduce their tasks 

D. Was a member of a white supremacy group     

07. At training told cops they were 

A. Machine guns 

B. Predators 

C. To shoot in the knee not the heart 

D. To wear a body camera    

08. An obstacle to holding the police accountable is 

A. Police unions 

B. Public opinion 

C. The killology theory of Grossman 

D. The difficulty of suing the police.   

09. Police reform can be achieved through 

A. An uprising 

B. Arming the police to the teeth 

C. Consent decrees 

D. Qualified immunity   

10. What did John Biden  say? 

A. “Shoot the leg not the heart” 

B. “please, don’t be too nice” 

C. “we need to rethink the police from the ground up” 

D. “let’s defund the police”      

assignment 8 writing

Watch this video above (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebPoSMULI5U).

Make notes and then write a report on the racism exercise. 

Your teacher has asked you to write a report on an exercise about racism. You should briefly describe how the exercise works and then go on to describe the reactions to being discriminated against. Suggest how this exercise could be used in schools. Write your report. Have a look at p. 44 and 146 in Objective First for more information on writing reports. Your report should be 150-175 words.

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asignment 9 reading

https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=ac_symposium 

Read this article about the influence of whitewashing on black children.  Write down the arguments that are used to condemn whitewashing. 

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/09/christian-bale-defends-ridley-scott-exodus-whitewashing 

Read this article in which Christian Bale defends whitewashing. Write down the arguments that are used to defend whitewashing.  

assignment 10 speaking

Make groups of 4.  

Two people are against whitewashing and two people have no problem with whitewashing.

Have a discussion about whitewashing using the arguments from the texts and your own.  

Film the discussion and upload the film in Magister Opdrachten.

Hand all the assignments in on Magister Opdrachten

Want to know more?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URxwe6LPvkM    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG8GjlLbbvs