This activity is called webbing.

Time:
Three to five periods

Grade:
9th

Learning Style:
Lecture, Survey, Observation, Interview

Outcomes:
In this lesson, the students will learn about the inequalities that exist in our society whether it is planned or unintentional. This lesson is written principally for the secondary level student but could easily be modified for any grade. This study considers only one area of discrimination and can be extended to include discrimination among gender, regional or racial groups other than the black race.

Objectives

Students will be able to

1. Analyze the employment patterns of blacks in relation to where they live and draw conclusions.
2. Construct and conduct interviews of at least five white and black employees.
3. Using a representative legend, label each business giving the percentages of minority employees in the business in black to white.
4. Compare the difference between white and black students, and how well they are accepted into society at their educational level. (p. 43; Table 5.10)
5. Compare the differences between whites and blacks by Metropolitan residence in employment in l980.
6. Interpret journal articles provided:
   Corporate America's black eye: the latest rash of corporate misconduct has triggered new battles over the corrosive effects of bias in the American workplace.
   1. Becoming "race savvy": the end of affirmative action brings unexpectedly drastic results
   2. Why aren't blacks getting jobs?
   3. Racism and other workplace dramas.
   4. The Golden State War: Californians have pushed their divisive affirmative action debate onto the national agenda. Bibliography

      Bakke, Weber, and Affirmative Action. Rockefeller Foundation Conference, Dec. l979.

      de Blij, H. J. Human Geography. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Blumrosen, Alfred W. Black Employment and The Law. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

      Four Statements on the Race Question, UNESCO, l969.

      McCann, Michael W. Rights At Work. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago,1994.

      Minority Group Employment in the Federal Government. Nov. l972.

      Rosenfeld, Michel. Affirmative Action and Justice. Yale University Press: New Haven. 1991.

      Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald. 1993. Gender & Racial Inequality at Work: The Sources & Consequences of Job Segregation. Cornell Studies in Industrial and Labor Relations 27. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

      UNESCO. Unemployment and Underemployment Among Blacks, Hispanics, and Women. Nov. l982.

      Materials

      1. Journal articles:
         1. Black Enterprise. Corporate America's black eye: The latest rash of corporate misconduct has triggered new battles over the corrosive effects of bias in the American workplace. (April l997).
         2. Black Enterprise. The Golden State War: Californians have pushed their divisive affirmative action debate onto the national agenda. (November) Essence 1996. Racism and other workplace dramas. (June l995).
         3. National Review. Affirmative discrimination: a colorblind society was the goal of the great civil rights leaders of the Fifties and Sixties. (July 5, l993).
         4. Tikkun. Why aren't blacks getting jobs? (January-February l997).
         5. U.S. News & World Report. Becoming "race savvy": The end of affirmative action brings unexpectedly drastic results. (June 2, l997).
      2. City map: go to the city chamber of commerce.
      3. Pins
      4. File folder labels: write the percentage findings of employment as blacks to white on-site business.
      5. Appendix table 2.1 Unemployment and Underemployment by Race and Ethnic Group and Sex, March, l980.
      6. Appendix table 4.l Unemployment and Underemployment by Race and Ethnic Group and Sex, and by Metropolitan Residence, March l980.
      7. Appendix table 5.1 Unemployment and Underemployment, by Race and Ethnic Group and Sex, and by Education, March l980.
      8. Unemployment and Underemployment Among Blacks, Hispanics, and Women. United States Commission on Civil Rights, Clearinghouse Publication 74. November l982.
      9. Four Statements on the race question, UNESCO.
      10. Ethnicity and the Work Force
      11. Gender & Racial Inequality at Work, Donald Tomaskovic-Devey
      12. Bakke, Weber, and Affirmative Action, December, l979
      Terms:
      affirmative action, Booker T. Washington, civil rights, colorblind society, employment discrimination, ethnicity, Gandhi, geographical races, inequitable pay, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, multi-regional evolution theory, racial "preference," racism, racist, skin color, support network, W.E.B. Du Bois

      Preparation
      
      I selected this topic because I think it is imperative that each person has the time to explore, read, and process his or her feelings about racism. According to the Statement of l950 on Race, it is asserted with the utmost emphasis that equality as an ethical principle in no way depends upon the assertion that human beings are in fact equal in endowment. Obviously, individuals in all ethnic groups vary greatly among themselves in endowment. Nevertheless, the characteristics in which human groups differ from one another are often exaggerated and used as a basis for questioning the validity of equality in the ethical sense. The following are the conclusions of this study:

      1. In matters of race, the only characteristics, which anthropologists can effectively use as a basis for classification, are physical and physiological.
      2. According to present knowledge, there is no proof that the groups of mankind differ in their innate mental characteristics, whether in intelligence or temperament. The scientific evidence indicates that the range of mental capacities in all ethnic groups is much the same.
      3. Historical and sociological studies support the view that genetic differences are not of importance in determining the social and cultural differences between different groups of Homo sapiens, and that the social and cultural changes in different groups have, in the main, been independent of change in inborn constitution. Vast social changes have occurred which were not in any way connected with changes in racial type.
      4. There is no evidence that race mixture as such produces bad results from the biological point of view. The social results of race mixture whether for good or ill are to be traced to social factors.
      5. All normal human beings are capable of learning to share in a common life, to understand the nature of mutual service and reciprocity, and to respect social obligations and contracts. Such biological differences as exist between members of different ethnic groups have no relevance to social and political organization, moral life, and communication between human beings.
      6. Biological studies lend support to the ethic of universal brotherhood; for man is born with drives toward cooperation, and unless these drives are satisfied, men and nations alike fall ill. Man is born a social being who can reach his fullest development only through interaction with his fellows. The denial at any point of this social bond between men brings with it disintegration. In this sense, every man is his brother's keeper. For every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main, because he is involved in mankind.
      Activities

      After having read the assigned text material or assigned article, the students respond to the following:

      The teacher writes the word RACE in the center of the marker board. Allow each student time to select and write a word that relates to the main word. At the end of the opening activity the students would have constructed a webbing of words that will and can be discussed in relation to RACE or ETHNICITY.

      After discussing the terms listed in the lesson plan, give optional assignments that follow:

      1. One group of students will construct interview questions in which they will interview employers in a given area or entire town (whatever is appropriate for the teacher to deal with). Teacher might want to call or write a letter to the businesses in advance to explain the purpose of the interview.
      2. Group two will construct interview questions for the employees including house address.
      3. After conducting their interview each group will meet to see if they can recognize any pattern such as: (a) types of jobs of white and black (b) location of percentage of white to black.
      4. After constructing a map of the city, plot the percentage of black to white workers in each business surveyed.
      5. Plot home addresses of workers interviewed in relation to where they work.
      6. After each group has plotted their findings, draw conclusions in relation to black, white housing and employment patterns.
      7. Using Table 5.1: compare the differences between the white and black students as to how each are accepted into society at their educational level. Write two concluding statements.
      8. Using Table 4.1: compare the differences between whites and blacks by Metropolitan residence. Write two concluding statements.
      9. Using city map, locate businesses and write percentages of blacks to whites.
      10. Construct spreadsheet listing cities and number of black and white employees; Extension: Students can log on to The Oyez Project (go to "See Also" below) at Northwestern University to read the latest Supreme Court decisions under subject: gender; racial discrimination; employment.
      11. Read WORKING PAPERS; The Rockefeller Foundation. Bakke, Weber, and Affirmative Action.
      12. Students could include gender and other racial groups in the study of discrimination.
      Evaluation
      1. All of the following were instrumental in the Civil Rights movement and used no violent methods for implementing equality for the minorities except:
         1. Malcolm X
         2. John F. Kennedy
         3. Martin Luther King
         4. Mahatma Gandhi
         5. W.E.B. Du Bois
      2. ________________: The cloak we all wear is the most pervasive of biological physical traits, and our differentiation by color has bedeviled human relationships for uncounted centuries. (skin color)
      3. Given the educational level on Table 5.1 and percentage of black and white employment, how long would it take for minority employment to equate with non-white. Discuss the process of formulating the findings.
      4. _______________: A Supreme Court decision that helped begin to establish equality among gender and race. (Affirmative Action)
      5. According to de Blij there are four concentrations of human stock which one of the following is not:
         1. Asian
         2. Negroid
         3. Australoid
         4. Mongoloid
         5. Caucasoid
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      See also...

      • The Oyez Project
      • Lessons for Chapter III