Imagine that you are an African American living in Macon County, Alabama during the Depression…

Read pg. 251 (soft cover) or pg. 323 (hard cover). Why were these men targeted?

Where did the idea of race come from?

Where did the idea of race come from?

Where did the idea of race come from?

Human Diversity

Human Diversity

Human Diversity

Human Diversity

Exploring Ethnic IdentityWe All Have One

What is “identity”?

Identity is…“the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing or person is definitively recognized or known”

“the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group”

Social characteristics like race or gender

Where we live

Conditions in which we live

Religious beliefs

Political or social leanings

We construct our own identities

Society also can impose them onto us

What shapes our identities?

Our Ethnic Identities

Write a biography of your ethnic identity.

When and how did you become aware of your ethnic identity(ies?)

Our Ethnic Identities

When and how did you become aware of your ethnic identity(ies?)

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for you.

Our Ethnic Identities

Write a biography of your ethnic identity.

When and how did you become aware of your ethnic identity(ies?)

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for you.

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for others.

Our Ethnic Identities

Write a biography of your ethnic identity.

When and how did you become aware of your ethnic identity(ies?)

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for you.

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for others.

How do you benefit from your ethnic identity(ies)?

Our Ethnic Identities

Write a biography of your ethnic identity.

When and how did you become aware of your ethnic identity(ies?)

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for you.

Describe a moment when your ethnic identity(ies) were important to, or took on particular meaning, for others.

How do you benefit from your ethnic identity(ies)?

How do you suffer from or “miss out” because of your ethnic identity(ies)?

Our Ethnic Identities

Write a biography of your ethnic identity.

Were some of the questions easier, or more difficult, for you to answer than others? Why might this be?

Group Discussion PromptsOur Ethnic Identities

Were some of the questions easier, or more difficult, for you to answer than others? Why might this be?

Did members of the group have similar or different experiences with the questions? Why might this be?

Our Ethnic Identities

Group Discussion Prompts

Were some of the questions easier, or more difficult, for you to answer than others? Why might this be?

Has ethnic identity affected your lives to the same degree? Why?

Did members of the group have similar or different experiences with the questions? Why might this be?

Our Ethnic Identities

Group Discussion Prompts

In Summary

Our ethnic identities affect the way the world interacts with us.

Although we construct our ethnic identities to some extent, society does, too.

In the U.S., we all have an ethnic identity.

Our ethnic identities affect the way we interact with the world.

Prejudice and Discrimination