Mini-Unit
Current Event
Policing and the Legacy of Racial Injustice
This series of mini-lessons is designed to help students think critically about the long and troubling history between law enforcement and Black Americans.
Resources
4Subject
- History
- Social Studies
Grade
6–12Language
English — USPublished
Updated
About This Mini-Unit
This series of mini-lessons is designed to help students think critically about the long and troubling history between law enforcement and Black Americans. Use these mini-lessons to help your students bring a historical lens to these complex issues, engage with nuanced sources that reflect a range of experiences with policing, and consider ways to build a society that ensures the safety of all people.
Essential Questions
Use these Mini-Lessons to help students grapple with the legacies of racial injustice and to explore fundamental questions about the nature of safety, justice, power, and human behavior, such as:
- How do we hold a classroom conversation on policing that values students’ identities and experiences?
- How do we avoid over-simplifying the issues or relying on stereotypes about the behavior and intentions of different groups of people, including both those impacted by biased policing and law enforcement officers themselves?
- How do we hold individuals responsible for their actions, while also holding the systems that create bias accountable?
- How can we ensure the safety of all people in our society?
Teaching Note
Before you teach this lesson, please review the following guidance to tailor this lesson to your students’ contexts and needs.
Preparing for a Conversation about Policing and Racial Injustice
This mini-lesson prepares students to engage in conversations about policing and racial injustice by inviting them to co-create class norms and reflect on the emotions and experiences they and their classmates bring.
The History of Slave Patrols, Black Codes, and Vagrancy Laws
This mini-lesson provides a brief overview of the history of policing in the early United States and then examines how laws, and biased enforcement of those laws, were used to control the lives of Black Americans in the South following the Civil War.
Exploring Contemporary Experiences of Policing and Racial Injustice
In this mini-lesson, students use their head, heart, and conscience to engage with six sources that reflect a range of experiences with policing.
Get this mini-unit in Google Drive!
Log in to your Facing History account to access all mini-unit content & materials. If you don't have an account, Sign up today (it's fast, easy, and free!).
A Free Account allows you to:
- Access and save all content, such as lesson plans and activities, within Google Drive.
- Create custom, personalized collections to share with teachers and students.
- Instant access to over 200+ on-demand and in-person professional development events and workshops
You might also be interested in…
10 Questions for the Past: The 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott
Students explore the strategies, risks, and historical significance of the 1963 Chicago school boycott, while also considering bigger-picture questions about social progress.
The Power of Images
Students examine how identity and biases can impact how individuals interpret images and experience the challenge of selecting images to represent news events, particularly connected to sensitive issues.
Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations
Students establish a safe space for holding sensitive conversations, before introducing the events surrounding Ferguson, by acknowledging people's complicated feelings about race and creating a classroom contract.
Social Media and Ferguson
Students explore the role of social media in Ferguson, apply information verification strategies to social media posts, and develop strategies for becoming critical consumers and sharers of social media.
Verifying Breaking News
Students evaluate the differences among news accounts about Ferguson, develop strategies for verifying news and information, and understand the challenges facing journalists as they cover complex, fast-moving events.
Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age
Help students become informed and effective civic participants in today's digital landscape. This unit is designed to develop students' critical thinking, news literacy, civic engagement, and social-emotional skills and competencies.
The 1968 East LA School Walkouts
Students learn about education, identity, and activism through an exploration of the East Los Angeles school walkouts, when thousands of students protested unequal educational opportunities for Mexican American students.
The Importance of a Free Press
Students review the First Amendment, understand the importance of a free press, and consider how that freedom can conflict with other societal needs through journalists’ experiences in Ferguson.
Citizen Watchdogs and the News
Students identify the responsibilities of citizen watchdogs, summarize strategies for combatting confirmation bias and responsibly consuming and sharing news and information, and complete a culminating essay.
Confirmation and Other Biases
Students define explicit, implicit, and confirmation bias, and examine why people sometimes maintain their beliefs in the face of contradictory information.
Hands Up, Don't Shoot!
Students review the US Department of Justice report, revisit how confirmation bias impacts our understanding of events, and consider how to bridge the gap in understanding that often surrounds events like Ferguson.
Unlimited Access to Learning. More Added Every Month.
Facing History & Ourselves is designed for educators who want to help students explore identity, think critically, grow emotionally, act ethically, and participate in civic life. It’s hard work, so we’ve developed some go-to professional learning opportunities to help you along the way.
Exploring ELA Text Selection with Julia Torres
On-Demand
Virtual
Listen to #DisruptTexts founder Julia Torres about taking a critical lens to text selection in ELA classrooms.
Working for Justice, Equity and Civic Agency in Our Schools: A Conversation with Clint Smith
On-Demand
Virtual
Listen to writer and educator Dr. Clint Smith as he shares his poetry and reflections on working for justice, equity, and civic agency in our schools.
Centering Student Voices to Build Community and Agency
On-Demand
Virtual
Explore approaches to centering student voice, building authentic relationships and cultivating community with Molly Josephs, the creator of This Teenage Life, a youth-driven, story-sharing podcast that started as a school club.
Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.
—
Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY
