Social+Justice+in+the+United+States

= **Teaching Social Justice **  =

Where does inequity come from? Why can the United States have such a distinct gap in wealth, where Bill Gates can live in the same state as a single mother of four living off welfare? Why are there so few women or people of color in political office? Why was there such a backlash against the election of President Obama? Spending cuts in the U.S. currently focus on social welfare programs, why not on political salaries? Why are there so many poor urban areas with larger populations of people of color? Why can representatives like Todd Akin discuss women's bodies and rape so readily? Why can transgender individuals be referred to as "it" on national television? Why was there such a backlash against Muslims practicing Islam, and people of color wearing turbans (who are Sikh, a completely different religion, from India), after September 11? These are all difficult questions to discuss with students, but all relevant in many ways. Even just presenting these questions for others to think about can lead to greater understanding of why Americans act as they do. It is not often that people stop to think, "Why is our society the way it is now?" Sometimes that is a worthwhile question, especially when it allows students to better understand the cycle of socialization and how they can break that cycle.

So many questions, yet still so many more. How do you teach students, or anyone for that matter, about racism, sexism, heterosexism, etc. in a classroom environment? In some school settings, it may be very near impossible. Yet here, I will try my best to present easy ways to include teaching for social justice in the regular classroom setting. Many of these lessons are from personal experience, or experience of teachers I have worked closely with, or even lessons I was taught in school. Most of these will apply to contemporary American history, however, many can easily be shortened and added to world history, or early American history, for a short current events look.

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