Justice For All CURRICULUM - Solidarity Discussion
Solidarity Discussion
Overview: One of the most important things your GSA can do to combat racial profiling and prejudice is take action in solidarity with Muslim, Arab and Arab-American communities and individuals. By educating your membership and by showing organizational support for people in your school and communities who have been targeted with bias and discrimination in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, you can work to make your school environment safer for all students. The following discussion questions will help your GSA to better understand the issues and recognize the importance and meaning of solidarity. Time Needed: Total: 60-90 minutes. Parts I through IV only: 30-45 minutes. Parts V through VII only: 30-45 minutes. Materials Needed: HANDOUTS - Articles #1 and #2, Definitions; paper and pens (enough for each person). You might also want to use a chalk/dry erase board or easel paper to write up brainstorms and comments from the group. Activities/Questions: Write down three perceptions you have of the Arab-American community, or if you are Arab-American, three perceptions you feel that others have of the Arab-American community. Read the first section of Article #1,"Arab-Americans in predicament; Attacks heighten struggle with complex identity" and pass out definitions sheet (see handouts). Do any of these facts contradict the perceptions you had? How? How do you think people come up with these perceptions of the Arab-American community? Think about your own race, gender, class, or sexual orientation. List five stereotypes of that group that are perpetuated by media depictions that have created a negative and/or untrue popular perception of our communities. Read section two of the article. Highlight the passage, "'We're grieving. We're Americans, too. We're grieving like everybody else, and to be grieving and afraid at the same time, that's a very hard place to be.'" Do any Arab-Americans want to address their own feelings? Does anybody have similar conflicting emotions? Look at the passage "When word quickly came of another plane crashing into the second tower, his horror as an American was compounded by a 'feeling of guilt, like I did something.' He found himself relieved when he later learned that at least 100 Arabs died in the inferno, and then found himself wondering, 'Why do I have to feel like that?'" Why do you think this fear and guilt is displaced on and felt by Arab-Americans? Read the section three of the article. If the media portrays Arab-Americans as such an "other," how can there not be a box for Arab Americans to check on the census? What does that say about the U.S.'s concern for the interests of the Arab-American community? How does it affect a minority group to not be officially recognized? Read the article, "After the Attack; Shadow of Liberty..." Write about or share a time when you have had similar thoughts or experiences or been on the receiving end of similar suspicions because you are or are perceived to be Arab American. How would you feel if you got on an airplane and there were other passengers who you perceived to be Arab or Arab-American? How did you come to have these feelings? Look at the passage "'We live in a society where we tend to think of everything in ethnic terms unless the perpetrators are white,' Ibish said. 'Timothy McVeigh bombed Oklahoma City, but people didn't think of him as Irish. Or take [Theodore J.] Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Nobody thought of him as Polish. If you're not white, ethnicity is the sole and primary category in these circumstances.'" After the Oklahoma City bombing, did you have any fears of Irish people? Why or why not? How is ethnicity becoming the "sole and primary category" in this situation? Can you think of anything that contributes to this being viewed in ethnic terms? Read the final paragraph of the article. How can you work to pull your attention away from the ethnic aspect of the September 11th attacks? What can you do to help others do the same?
Justice For All Table of Contents

	Home	How to Use Justice For All	Media Analysis	Solidarity Discussion	Definitions
	Article #1	Article #2	Be an Effective Ally	Web Resources	Coalition Building

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