American Minorities Internet Writing Assignment
Students will complete five (5) of the following internet exercises. Each exercise will be worth 100. Reports will be typewritten (double-spaced) and will be due May 7, 2012. Each report should include the student’s name, date, and a full citation of the website. Refer to your book for extra information in answering the questions. If you are having difficulties opening a site then choose a difference assignment (sometimes sites are temporarily under construction). There are plenty to choose from.
1. “Race: The Power of an Illusion” – http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm How easy is it to group people into “races” based on appearance? What about using individual traits? Does everybody classify the same way? Can you tell somebody’s race by looking at them? Visit this PBS website and try your hand at “sorting” individuals by completing the “Sorting People” exercise. Explain what you learned about the concept of race and what you learned about yourself by completing this exercise. (If you decide to not choose this assignment then I highly recommend you just try the “Sorting People” exercise. It is very interesting. The first time I tried this exercise I scored low).
2. “Hate Crimes” – http://www.infoplease.com/spot/hatecrimes.html
What are hate crimes? What are the goals of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999? How does this act change existing hate crime legislation? What are some of the key arguments made by those who oppose hate crime legislation? What are some of the key arguments offered by those who support such laws? Where do you stand on the issue, and why? How are hate groups using the Internet?
3. “Teaching Tolerance” – www.tolerance.org
Discuss the importance of early childhood socialization in the development of children’s attitudes toward people who are different from themselves. What role does the family, religion, education, peer group, the media,