ENGL 120 San Diego State University Racism and Being Anti Racist Discussion

I have an English assignment due tonight at 11:59. Here are the instructions. I’ll provide my credentials for canvas and you can do it and submit through there

As we continue with this course, we will have some possibly uncomfortable conversations about race. It can be hard to have these conversations, but looking at what is going on in our society currently, I think it is important that we do, and that we work to understand as best as we can the significance of the Black Lives Matter movement and how we can best participate.

I want us to begin by watching the video below. The speaker talks about the idea that often racism is not openly talked about, but also why it needs to be (and specifically how structural racism works), and how we can engage in a conversation, reflect on our own ideas, and work to be actively anti-racist.

And what I particularly appreciate is that he points out the importance of young people and their participation in this. We can see some young powerful voices, and I hope you find them inspiring.

Let’s start by watching the video:

Once you have carefully watched the video (maybe more than once), write on the following questions. There is no minimum word count here, but I want you to really think as you respond!

1. According to the speaker, what is structural racism and how does it work within our society? In our schools?
2. In the video, the speaker says he wants to tackle what anti-racism means and how to be anti-racist. What did you learn about the meaning of the term “anti- racist”?
3. The first step the speaker lists when it comes to being anti-racist is to “challenge your own biases and prejudices.” I would also like us to start there! What do you think he means by that? What are some ways that you might do that?