Museum of Tolerance
Can It Happen in America?: Taking Social Action
Class members investigate the Jim Crow Laws, Executive Order 9066, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Indian Removal Act to gather information about not only the challenges encountered by diverse groups of Americans, but their...
Curated OER
Chinese Immigration 1860s-1880s
Eighth graders consider the plight of Chinese immigrants to America. In this immigration lesson, 8th graders analyze political cartoons from the late 1800's that exemplify American public opinion regarding Chinese immigrants. The...
Curated OER
Building Bridges: Living in a Diverse Society
Students participate in various activities that help them build esteem, and explore racism. In this multicultural lesson plan, Students increase their awareness of, and appreciation for, cultural differences and similarities. This...
Curated OER
A Look at Race in America Using Statistics
Eleventh graders explore the issue of racism in America. In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze charts and graphs on blacks and whites in America.
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Examining the Choices People Made
The choices made by Roy Bryant and J.W. Millam, the men who murdered Emmett Till in 1955, are usually the ones people ponder when they examine the case. But other individuals made choices that contributed to the event and its subsequent...
Smithsonian Institution
Targeted at Home: Islamophobia
September 11th was a terrible tragedy with long-reaching consequences. Scholars learn about the Islamophobia that occurred to many Muslim Americans following the 9/11 attacks. The resource provides videos, articles, and interviews to...
Curated OER
"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
Curated OER
Land, Liberty and the Struggle for the American Dream
Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class. In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...
US Holocaust Museum
Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936
The Olympics are about more than sports—at times, the games are also a place of racism and prejudice! Pupils investigate the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. They analyze the meaning behind the materials included in the United States...
Curated OER
Race & White Privilege
High schoolers read and analyze the Tomas Rivera novel "...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him." In small groups they select three paragraphs from the text that are relevant to the issues of racism or white privelege, conduct Internet...
Curated OER
Africans and African Americans
Students complete small group tasks related to racism as it applies to African Americans, African immigrants, and white immigrants. Through discussion of their findings, students explain of challenges in society that African immigrants...
Curated OER
Chapter 10: Racial and Ethnic Relations
In this racial and ethnic relations in America worksheet, high schoolers answer 15 matching questions and respond to 7 short answer questions regarding various racial and ethnic groups terms and issues in U.S. society.
Curated OER
Boomtown
Students view a series of films that explore evolving concepts of civil rights in America. They consider the civil rights of African-Americans, the aged and homosexuals. They discuss the films and complete worksheets.
US House of Representatives
Exclusion and Empire, 1898–1941
Often forgotten and written off as the model minority, Americans with heritage in Asia and the Pacific Islands have played an essential role in American history, including Congress. Budding historians reclaim history by researching the...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Two Different African-American Visions: W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington
The strategies civil rights activists Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois proposed for blacks to achieve racial progress is the focus of an activity in which class groups identify the strategies as well as the benefits and drawbacks...
Teaching Tolerance
Why Do We (Still) Celebrate Columbus Day?
What are we really celebrating on Columbus Day? The resource explores the narrative behind Columbus Day and ways for people to change the perception. Scholars also review vocabulary terms associated with the topic and how attitudes have...
Facing History and Ourselves
After Charlottesville: Contested History and the Fight against Bigotry
History doesn't always reflect all sides. Academics discover how the remembered history of the Civil War differs for White and African Americans. The lesson explores how Civil War monuments and celebrations have racist connotations for...
Facing History and Ourselves
After Charlottesville: Public Memory and the Contested Meaning of Monuments
Are Civil War monuments a kind remembrance or a reminder of a dark past? The lesson plan focuses on the public's memory of the Civil War and the monuments that represent it. Young academics explore past efforts to change historical...
Smithsonian Institution
Separate is Not Equal: Fight for Desegregation
Separate is not equal! An eye-opening lesson delves into the past to understand the fight for desegregation and how it impacted African American communities. Academics complete two one-hour lessons using documents, photographs, and...
Smithsonian Institution
Us vs. Them: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Immigration issues are nothing new. An interesting lesson plan focuses on the racially motivated Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and its impact on the Chinese American community. Scholars read articles, analyze political cartoons, and...
Smithsonian Institution
Hidden Histories: Mexican Repatriation During the 1930s
Mexican Repatriation: the forgotten deportation of American citizens. The resource focuses on the deportation of Mexican American citizens during the Great Depression. Young historians read documents, complete a free-write, and fill out...
Smithsonian Institution
Native Resistance: Native Resistance Then and Now
Native Americans lost so much—and gained so little in return. Scholars explore Native Americans' resistance to the United States government. The lesson uses primary sources to explore the different forms of protest and gives a voice to...
Center for History Education
Japanese American Internment During World War II
World War II turned nations against each other and neighbors into enemies. An eye-opening lesson explores the dark past of Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. Scholars learn of the fear and distrust toward Asian Americans...
Center for History Education
Civil Rights and Cold Warriors
Three presidents, three views on civil rights. Scholars compare the administrations of President Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy to understand how each addressed the issue of civil rights. The instructional activity uses primary sources...