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PBIS: Acceptance/Tolerance of Race 183 Views


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Description:

Unfortunately racism is still a thing, and so is daylight saving time—but we can all agree it’s better to lose one hour of sleep than to treat whole groups of people as inferior. Check out this video to learn a thing or two about racial issues, all without needing to reset your clock.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Acceptance of Race... a la Shmoop.

00:06

Meet Dave and Dan. [Dave and Dan by a school bus]

00:08

Two teenage boys who sleep too much, eat too much,

00:10

aaaand smell slightly worse than their female counterparts.

00:14

Nothing too out of the ordinary. Right?

00:15

Well…except that there's something at play here that has caused bloodshed, misery and

00:19

human suffering for centuries.

00:23

And no, it isn’t Dan’s insistence on wearing jean shorts. [Dan wearing jean shorts with Dave on a sidewalk]

00:26

You noticed it right away, didn’t you? Yup. It's the color of their skin.

00:29

Racial prejudice has been the cause of some of the most awful atrocities ever committed.

00:34

Again…that doesn’t include jean shorts. So when you look at these two stinky goofballs, [Hitler giving a speech]

00:38

you might see a lot of differences...

00:40

…different shoes, different hair, different clothes, different eyes, different heights.

00:43

…but for some reason, the color of their skin tends to stand out.

00:47

Now you might be thinking, [Dan speaking on stage]

00:48

“Hey, I can make a light-hearted racist joke now because racism doesn't exist anymore.”

00:52

Well, you’d be wrong. Really wrong. Like... thinking the Earth is flat. [A squashed Earth]

00:56

Or that the universe revolves around Neptune wrong.

00:59

Slavery might be over in this country, but systematic racism is still a serious issue. [Riot police preparing for protest]

01:04

Big time. Life in these United States is flat-out tougher for people of color than it is for

01:09

white people. Period.

01:10

Turn on the TV, read a newspaper…if you can find one…log onto Facebook… [Girl reading a newspaper]

01:16

chances are, you'll encounter racism in some form.

01:19

Does it suck that that's still a thing happening in the 21st century? [Dave driving a car and is stopped by a police man]

01:23

Uh…yeah. It sucks.

01:24

Do we think we can change it overnight?

01:26

Not unless the Blue Fairy grants us a wish.

01:28

But we do know that, by at least acknowledging it's still an issue and hopefully increasing

01:33

understanding over time…we'll be better equipped to put an end to it in the future.

01:36

People are different in a million ways... what sports they like, their favorite movies are, [People playing basketball and a selection of DVD's]

01:41

whether or not they can cook, who inspires them, their preferred method of slaying vampires, etc... [Blade in the woods looking at a vampire]

01:46

If you're too busy focusing on the color of their skin,

01:48

you might overlook all that way-more-important, on-the-inside stuff. [Martin Luther King Jr giving a speech]

01:52

And by that we mean their personality, not their, um…pancreas. [Dave having his pancreas removed in surgery]

01:55

So…thinking before you speak is an awesome idea. Even when you intend

01:59

to be complimentary – that’s based on a person’s skin tone…probably not a good idea.

02:04

Think of all the clichés that you can give to people of darker skin or whiter skin and just don't say them… [Dan and Dave in a house eating chicken]

02:10

Doesn't work. It's not a good idea. Right?

02:12

It’s not about going overboard and being uber-PC about everything….

02:15

…it’s just the idea of recognizing a struggle other people may have gone through that

02:18

you…may not be able to relate to.

02:20

And who are you to be the authority on what skin color makes you good or bad at? [Man giving a speech]

02:24

So…the next time you feel like your tongue is about to trip you up… just stop.

02:28

That's it. Just stop. Don't ask.

02:31

Ask yourself if you really need to make some comment that might remind someone else

02:34

of hundreds years of oppression, systematic racism, violence and murder. [Dan telling jokes on stage]

02:39

Yeah…probably not a good idea.

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