This study explored the degree of change, if any, in student perceptions of race and the American criminal justice system from completing an undergraduate or foundation year graduate social welfare policy class that incorporated Alexander's understanding of the new racial caste system that has evolved as a product of mass incarceration since 1980.…

One of the most common obstacles the author finds when teaching media literacy courses is student insensitivity. Although this can exist for many different reasons, the media critiques that students submit in this type of class indicate that they've become indifferent to misogynistic, classist, and racist stereotypes. On the collegiate level, this…

In this article, the author relates how she integrated poetry and African-American history in her lessons. She also relates how she uses the story of Emitt Tills to impart to her students the reality of racism and injustice. Emitt Tills was a black 14-year-old boy from Chicago who lived during 1950s. He was killed with a bullet wound and was…

Addressing sensitive issues of race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender can be daunting for any instructor, and add to this teaching at an institution in the Deep South with a long history of racial tension beginning with the integration of the University and the not so popular emblems it has been known for. The author was apprehensive…

There are a variety of methods by which the themes of White privilege and racism can be presented to White students. By using the concept of racial identity a continuum of racism can be considered. Furthermore, addressing White privilege and racism in the context of a multicultural psychology course allows White students to have a greater…

In this article, the author discusses her research on children's perspectives of interracial and interethnic friendships in a multiethnic school and highlights children's voices on these intergroup friendships. Schools are important spaces in which social and cultural competencies necessary to the formation of intergroup friendships may be…

The importance of multiculturalism in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina can be illustrated through a comparative view of the 1967 controversial, seminal, and Academy Award winning film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". In the film, a multicultural cast starred in a groundbreaking tale of interracial marriage--then still illegal in some United…

The trend of higher enrollment patterns among Black females when compared to their Black male counterparts is pronounced. For example, females comprise 65% of the Black student population on college and university campuses across the country (NCES, 2005). The grave imbalance between Black women and Black men in college raises several issues that…

Discusses the importance of including interracial storybooks in today's diverse classrooms, explaining the benefits of using such literature (e.g., building a sound personal identity for children with mixed ancestors, promoting knowledge and skills for a global society, and developing an appreciation for diversity). Reviews eight books with…

One New Jersey school district responded to racism and educational bias by implementing prejudice reduction initiatives. The community had been all white until the mid-1990s, when it became one-third minority. This changed school and community social dynamics and resulted in incidents of violence with racial overtones. Minority parents perceive…

Proposes a critical-sociological approach to analyzing immigrant literature, noting that for many students, their only contact with immigrants may be through representations in children's literature. Examines how Chinese immigrants to the United States are represented in Laurence Yep's (1992) "The Star Fisher," discussing how the issues of race,…

Explains how the 19th- and 20th-century use of the word "race"--in the media, culture, and in classrooms--is one core element of the problem of racism that remains today. Further, it argues that teachers must critically analyze the words used in the classroom because they are primary active agents in formulating the subsequent actions…

Examines the movie "White Man's Burden" and, by its reversing of social ideologies and stereotypes, the questions arising from it about race relations in America. The author addresses the movie's shortcomings in dealing with race relations in part because it leaves intact ideologies and moralities based on class without defining…

The author discerns two trends ruling with many of the teachers, intellectuals, and citizens of the United States. One is the color-blind-myth that Williams (1997) cites in her essay, "The Emperor's New Clothes": "I don't think about color, therefore your problems don't exist," is the phrase that she attributes to this "school of idealism". The…

Examines mass media's power and techniques as an influential teacher of multicultural issues, and explores how schools can build on the media-based construction of multicultural education. It is argued that when schools increase student involvement in analyzing the media's message system dealing with diversity, they play a greater role in…