Lesson Plan: Future on Ice 2
Subject/Course: Race
Topic: Race as a Social Construct
Grade Level: 9-12
Common Core Standards:
Reading standards for literacy in historical/social studies (grades 9-10 and 11-12): 1-4, 6-9 met.
Writing standards for literacy in historical/social studies (grades 9-10 and 11-12): 1, 4, 7, 8 met.
Episode: “Future on Ice” (Season 3) Full audio | Transcript
Lesson Length/Time Needed: About 60 minutes
Lesson Created by: G. Furst
Lesson Objectives
Describe the history and development of the categories the US Census uses to count and racially categorize people.
Introduce the idea of race as a social construct.
Materials Needed
Audio
Listening device
Internet access to conduct research
Paper/pen or writing app
Activities
Intro (10 min):
Race is a social construct, which means we created it and defined its categories. The concept of race was developed to differentiate people based on their physical characteristics. How we define various racial categories has changed over time. A person could be categorized as one race at one point in time and as another race at another time.
Even though scientists regard race as an unreliable concept because its measurement changes over time, race has real consequences. David Jassy experienced the consequences of race when he was first identified as Black.
Class activity (20 min):
Ask students to use the internet to research how the racial categories used by the US Census changed over time.
Listening (10 min):
While students listen to the Ear Hustle episode, have them take notes on what David Jassy experienced when he first entered the system and while at Solano State Prison.
Class discussion (20 min):
Create a timeline of how the Census racial categories have changed over time. Project it or put it on the board.
Contrast how students would have been categorized over time. Would anyone’s category have changed? What do they think about racial categories now?
Optional:
Could also use this episode to discuss the difference between race and ethnicity. David Jassy’s Swedish ethnicity (demonstrated by the language he spoke while on the phone) made him different from other Black men at San Quentin.
Additional Resources
Racial categories also differed between states (such as those that used the one-drop rule to categorize a person as Black).
Interactive visualization of the changing categories from the US Census Bureau
Race – The Power of an Illusion from PBS has a significant library of resources including videos, background readings, and common questions answered by experts.
How the racial categories used by the US Census changed over time:
Pew Research Center “What Census Calls Us”
Content Warnings
David Jassy: [00:11:02] And a lot of times I'd be on the phone talking like that and, "Man! You really speak that s - - -, huh!"
Earlonne Woods: [00:17:42] Whew! [Nigel and Earlonne laugh]. That s - - - used to suck.
Earlonne Woods: [00:17:52] It might have been, but I'll tell you it sucked because you'd be sitting there like, "F - - - ..." seeing everybody else walking by.