For this exercise, participants are asked to find definitions for prejudice, discrimination, racism, sexism, and homophobia. Definitions for each word should come from two sources: the person's opinion and a scholarly source. We often do this exercise in the third session, to begin the discussion of these issues in a bit of a controlled setting. These conversations set the stage for the rest of the activities and the discussion of multicultural issues.
Objectives:
The facilitators should divide the participants into groups of 6-10 to ensure that everyone will have ample chance to speak. Each group's facilitator will begin his/her session by having each person give her/his definitions for "prejudice". The group will then proceed with the rest of the definitions, attempting, if possible to agree on one definition for each word. (Rarely will the group agree on one definition.) All definitions should be discussed. When small groups are done, bring everyone back together for a final discussion.
Facilitator Notes:
(1) Definitions
(3) According to the definitions above, anyone can be racist or sexist. It is vital to bring the issue of power into the discussion. For example, a definition of racism might be "prejudice or discrimination based on race, plus the power to enforce it." In that case, in America, only men can be sexist, and only white people can be racist. This perspective has a major impact on people and some respond by insisting that the "other" group can be just as racist as her or his group. Remember you are talking about definitions, and their opinion is based on their definition, which may be based on a lot of other factors. This discussion opens up the channels for discussing those other factors later.
(4) The reason for including "homophobia" instead of "heterosexism" is because it is used more frequently and often as a parallel term to racism and sexism. Obviously, it is not a parallel term, and this needs to be made clear. It is important to note that homophobia rarely appears in dictionaries. (Many dictionaries fail to include "sexism" as well.) This can lead to other strands of discussion, such as who has power over language, the evolution of language, etc.
(5) Spend a lot of time on power. Many participants will have a hard time understanding it. Talk about individual acts of racism, which may done by anyone, as opposed to institutional acts of racism, which involves economic, class, and social factors which all add up to power. Some groups in America do not have the political, economic, or social power to be racist on an institutional level. It is important to acknowledge that we all have personal power and how we exercise it is very important. Do we stand up for the right things? Who gets to make the rules and who do those rules benefit (this is a question of institutional power)?
(6) The major point of this activity is to get people talking about these terms and realizing that different people mean different things even though they are using the same words. People must own their own definitions.
(7) Notice how emotional the discussion becomes at times. Previous activities should have set the stage for a respectful forum for this discussion. Revisit respect if necessary.
(8) Mention how, when we don't know the meaning of a word, we go to the dictionary and accept its definition as truth. Challenge people to look up definitions for "black" and "white" and notice the connotations.
(9) These terms have the power to push people's buttons. People do not like to be labeled racist or sexist. Some people will become defensive. This is an indication that they are thinking about the issues.
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