Through this group of lessons, students will examine the historical oppression and survival of African American communities and individuals through an investigation of the racial wealth gap, disparities in police violence for people of color, and the use of the criminal justice system as a mechanism for racialized control.
Essential Question: Is the Justice System Fair?
Lesson 1 - Introduction to the Prison System
Summary: This lesson will familiarize students with the intersection of prisons with social and
economic institutions, especially in impoverished communities.
Lesson 2 - The Justice System and Race
Summary: This lesson will develop student understanding of the connections between the War
on Drugs, mass incarceration, and racism.
Lesson 3 - Examining Questions of Justice
Summary: This lesson gives students the opportunity to take part in a discussion that aims to deepen their understanding of the justice system and its connection to race through discourse.
Lesson 4 - Examining Questions of Justice
Summary: This lesson gives students the opportunity to view models of letters to Congress and to produce their own letters advocating for the changes they would like to see in the justice system.
Essential Question: When can the police use force? What rules govern them?
Lesson 1 - Policing in your community
In this lesson students will examine how police departments interact with communities, research data on police violence in their states and communities, and will describe their own interactions with the police. Students will analyze trends in police violence towards African-Americans.
In this lesson students will explore their own “implicit biases” and will determine if police officers can have an “objective reasonableness.” Then students will analyze how the Graham v. Connor case affects police officer decisions when they use deadly force.
Lesson 3 - Police Violence Mock Trial Prep
In this lesson students will prepare questions, statements, and study case materials in preparation for a police use of deadly force mock trial.
Lesson 4 - Police Violence Mock Trial
In this lesson students will demonstrate the basic functions of a criminal courtroom while roleplaying a police violence case. Students will then analyze how implicit biases and objective reasonableness did or did not contribute to their decision in the mock trial.
Essential Question: Surviving to Thriving: Examining the Racial Wealth Gap.
A monopoly-like simulation game that represents the racial wealth gap using median household incomes by demographic.
Lesson 2: Why is there a racial wealth gap?
Students examine the major contributing causes of the racial gap by examining the difference between income and wealth and other historical disparities between Blacks and Whites.
Lesson 3: What is the racial gap in Oregon? What can be done to remedy it?
Students examine the racial wealth gap and its contributing causes in the state of Oregon. Students use online resources to investigate proposed solutions to remedy the gap.
Students investigate one proposed solution to the racial wealth gap. In this lesson, students will create a poster/infographic or letter to a Congressperson outlining a proposed solution to the racial wealth gap.