Human Rights Graduate Program Institute for Humane Education

8 Resources for Teaching About Unconscious Bias

by Marsha Rakestraw We all have biases. We’ve heard many times that those biases are an evolutionary adaptation that helped us survive, but even after these thousands of years, we haven’t yet learned to recognize and overcome many of our unconscious (and conscious) biases related to race, gender, disability, age, geography, and even species. Research…

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tree hugger

Becoming Humane Beings (lesson plans)

by Marsha Rakestraw Right at the start of the school year is a great time to encourage students to think about the world they live in, the choices they make, what a humane world looks like, and the power they have to help bring such a world to reality. What does it mean to become…

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4 Video Resources for Exploring Race, Racism, Stereotypes, and Microaggressions

by Marsha Rakestraw Talking about race, racism, and institutional oppression can be challenging, especially when many white people are feeling defensive, uncomfortable, and confused. Videos, including those using humor, can be a great tool for introducing tough-to-talk-about conversations, and a meaningful catalyst for exploring what can be subtle, complex issues. Here are four resources that…

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books

9 Resources for Finding Multicultural Books for Children

by Marsha Rakestraw According to the latest figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, “black, Latino, Asian, and Native American students will together make up a narrow majority of the nation’s public school students,” yet the number of children’s books that feature characters of color are shamefully sparse. Studies show that having multicultural literature…

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Children wearing handprint t-shirts and raising their arms high

14 Children’s Picture Books Exploring Race and Racism

by Marsha Rakestraw Studies show that children can learn racially-biased behaviors as young as three and learn to categorize people by race (non-verbally) at as young as six months. Yet we’re often reluctant to talk about race, or we pretend that being “color blind” is the least harmful choice. It’s vital that we as parents…

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privilege

13 Resources for Teaching About White Privilege

by Marsha Rakestraw “…the single greatest advantage of white privilege is that a white person may be completely unaware of its existence.” ~ Michael Spangenberger, educator Many of us can go into a store and browse without worry that we’ll be monitored or accosted. We see people who look like us in the media. We…

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factory pollution

Teaching About Environmental Racism: Four Activities

by Marsha Rakestraw We enjoy our cars, our homes, our stuff, and the wastes and the toxic chemicals and pollutants used to create — or which are a result of — our shiny stuff go “away” somewhere that we don’t really have to think about. But there is no “away.” The waste processing plants, the…

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