Summary:

The information that was divulged in this unit of work I will admit was not easy to here being a White male and hearing that somehow you have it better off than others around you because of who you are. I think for me the the overall AHA moment that altered my heart and mind that I did have privilege, and especially being a White male was the article on the man living in poverty and how could he actually have any privilege over any other person in the world being broke. How could there be any advantage in this. Well, the point of the article in which was learned was that privilege wasn’t exactly about having more, or getting more opportunities, although that does happen because of privilege. The main concept and takeaway is that as a white man, I or any other for that matter can walk down the street without being profiled immediately or look down because of the color of their skin or their sex. I don’t have to worry about being hurt or acts of racism committed against me on a daily basis, whether they are conscious or subconscious. The history of the acts committed against the African American race especially, still speak to the society we live in even if the overall picture still has gotten better, it still isn’t the same on all colors of skin and the sexes. They put thoughts in our minds that have been portrayed in the movies, television, passed down by our parents and relatives. They do live deep within our hearts and especially the African American hearts and we need recognize that these have put the minorities at a disadvantage because of the way these thoughts hold all at bay. We need to change these thoughts on racial subjugation to bring about true equality. This, what the AA and A’s deal with is why I have true privilege. I don’t have to even have a second thought about what I’m doing, or if someone else is thinking that I might be doing something wrong because of how I look. There are no thoughts about my skin color that people will judge me on commonalities of everyday life. Sure I have to wonder if AA and women may look at me and judge me for being who I am as a man, and this is where it is my opportunity to change the dynamic for the good in every area that I have talked about. I can only do my part to show that I care and to show that I do get it. It is from the abundance of the heart that mouth speaks (Proverbs) and it out of what you believe is how you act.  Our thoughts and our voice do reflect how we feel on the inside about things. As a white man I do have the total privilege of living a pretty normal life without the wonderings of whether I might be under the microscope so to speak in what others might be trying to do me. Or even just wondering if I might be neglected for certain opportunities in this life that might not be afforded me because of the color of my skin or my sex being that of not male. I have privilege because of the fact that I can have peace without much wondering on whether I will have to show that I’m not a bad guy because I’m Black, or if I might not get a job because I’m Black. I can relax and be able to live a decent life without issue because I’m white and a man. That is my privilege.

Lesson:

• What is Privilege? Who gets to have it? Should skin color or being male or female matter?

Grade: 5th

Objectives:

• Students will be able to define Privilege.

• Students will be able to understand what Privilege will do for you.

• Students will be able to implement a strategy to help make sure that all have a fair chance in the classroom, which translates to thoughts on life.

Snappy Launch:

• I will ask the students if they have ever had someone get picked to be able to something that they were wanting to do. So when they got picked you  got overlooked and the other person was picked to do that certain something you wanted to do, maybe something in class perhaps. That person, at that moment was privilege of being picked to do that certain something.  This would be a normal happening, people sometimes get picked over others. But what if people got picked because of something and not just at random. What if you did or didn’t get picked for things because of the color of you skin or because you were a girl or because you were a boy. This would change things wouldn’t. That is what we will talk about today, as well as how we can have things for the better concerning getting all equal opportunities.

Activity:

• The teacher will group students by the color of their shirts, or shoes or something on their person that can divide up the room into a couple equal parts. (Blue, Green, Brown and Black shirts in one group and all others colors in the other colors shirt groups)

• The teacher would then have the students get into their groups and wait for further instruction.

• The teacher would have some sort of activity that the students would have to work for and the group that worked the hardest would win the activity. Let’s just say some ipad time or chromebooks time for the winning group.

• To earn the the time the students would have to do activities as a group. These activities can be but are not limited to things like physical education activities, writing activities, drawing, read alouds, etc…..groups have to have participants do every different activity that is available, but not everyone has to do every activity. Students can do what they prefer, just every activity needs to be don.

• The teacher will assign points to every activity and will have the ability to give points or take points away on effort and actual performance of different activities. The teacher will make it so they can supervise each event. Maybe have 5 events, worth 10 points for a total of 50 points possible for the group. The teacher can also assign bonus points for good behavior and should let the groups know prior to beginning the challenges.

• Once the groups of students are finished the teacher will tally the points and say that one group scored higher than the other, worked harder and had better behavior while they worked. Then the teacher will say that none of that is going to matter because I’m picking the Blues, Blacks, Browns and Greens because I like how those colors make me feel, so they are the winners because of that and they get the Ipad/Chromebook time while the rest of you other shirts  will be doing clean up to help the Janitors from the mess of the day. The teacher will state that this is how it is and you’ll have to live with it.

• This should cause no small stir and be a great time to push the limits of the students and what privilege and inequality is as far as understanding the concept by having them live it for a short time.

• Once the uprising is in full swing the teacher will break in and stop everything and ask the student groups how this made them feel? Was this okay? Should someone be able to get something better than another because they were wearing different colored clothing. This would lead into talk about getting things and living a simpler, easier life because of the color of one’s skin or who they are.

• The teacher would then bring in the definition of Privilege: a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.

• The teacher would write out the definition on the whiteboard and then ask if the definition sounds familiar. The class would discuss different aspects of the definition within what had happened in the room. The teacher would guide the discussion over from the shirts and their colors to how this is really what can and has happened to African American and Women in this country and is still happening in some ways today. The teacher will say that white people and white men do have advantages similar to those in class today, and can gain from this by just being white. That is a special advantage by definition, and would be called privilege. This would touch on the beginnings of White and White Male Privilege.

Assessments:

• The students would have to write their own definitions of what Privilege is and then share them with their groups. The groups would then compile their definitions into one final one to share with the class as a mini-presentation. 15 points

• The class will discuss what having the right color of shirt did for them and how it gave them an advantage over then other shirts. The students will then write a two paragraph mini-essay on what having the right color of shirt did and how it was a true advantage as well as what would be a fair way to have judged the work and why? 35 points

Grading:

• 15 points for writing their own group definition of Privilege as well as showing connection to actual definition.

• 35 points for showing connections to discussion topics on privilege and how it affords advantages in the case of the classroom.

50 points total