Home > Social Justice > Action Groups > Antiracism
Antiracism Video Resources
The videos listed below are available to borrow from the
BCTF Information Services Department.
- A Class Divided: recommended for teachers to
view as a resource. It is a documentary about an experiment by an
elementary school teacher to illustrate racism with her Grade 3
students. The video can be used as a starting point for a discussion and
an activity for the class.
- Fallen Feather is documentary on residential school survivors.
- For Angela is
an excellent video to springboard into conversations regarding racism
against Aboriginal people. Based on a true story, this drama is about
Rhonda Gordon and her determined stand for dignity and against ignorance
and prejudice when she and her daughter Angela were harassed by three
boys on a bus.
- Game Over: Gender, Race, and Violence in Video Games: a documentary examining racial stereotypes; asks students to think critically about the video games they play.
- Let’s Get Real: antibullying
video that deals with all types of oppression and gives voice to
targeted students while providing strategies for students to stand up
for themselves and their classmates.
- Not in Our Town: documentary set in a rural Montana town. It shows a community taking collective action against hateful incidents.
- Prom Night in Mississippi
is an excellent video that shows contemporary issues and the realities
of racism. Prior to showing the video, ask students to predict when they
believe the first integrated prom took place in this Mississippi
school. During the video, use a response sheet to have students document
the incidents of institutional and individual racism they see in the
film. Ask students to report out their observations. Afterward, ask
students how segregation based on race plays itself out within their
social circles, peer groups, school, and community. As a follow-up
lesson, work with students on how to challenge and interrupt racism
within their school and wider community.
- Reel Injun:
Hollywood has an impressive track record, one that spans more than
4,000 films, of blatantly misrepresenting Aboriginal people and their
cultures. Featuring interviews with filmmakers and activists such as
Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch and Russell Means, Reel Injun delves
into the fascinating history of the "Hollywood Indian" with razor-sharp
insight and humor, tracing its checkered cinematic evolution from the
silent film era to today.
- Schooling the World: The White Man's Last Burden: What
really happens when we replace a traditional culture's way of learning
and understanding the world with our own? Schooling the World: The White
Man's Last Burden takes a challenging, sometimes funny, ultimately
deeply disturbing look at the effects of modern education on the world's
last sustainable indigenous cultures.
- Steel Toes:
A Jewish liberal humanist is the court-appointed lawyer for a neo-Nazi
skinhead on trial for a racially motivated murder. An intense and fiery
relationship develops between the two men as they explore their
emotional and intellectual differences.
On YouTube
Other
- 21 Racial Microaggressions You Hear On A Daily Basis
- Al Helm--Martin Luther King in Palestine:
An African-American gospel choir goes to Palestine to sing in a
Palestinian play about Martin Luther King, Jr. They become witnesses to
life under occupation and a non-violement movement for social justice.
Connie Field, English, 93 min., USA.
- Diet Racism
- Extreme dialogue:
A
series of short documentary films tell the personal stories of Canadians
profoundly affected by violent extremism; a former member of the extreme
far-right and a mother whose son was killed fighting for ISIS in
Syria. The films are accompanied by a set of educational resources that
can be used with young people in classrooms or community settings, and are
intended to build resilience to extremism through active discussion and
enhanced critical thinking. These resources include Prezi presentations and
practitioners’ resource packs, and are available via the “Stories” pages in both
English and French.
- Welcome to Dresden: Between 1949 and 1956, the
small town of Dresden in Ontario was the scene of an elaborate campaign
by the National Unity Association to end anti-Black racism. The courage
of community leaders, with the solidarity of the Toronto Joint Labour
Committee for Human Rights, resulted in the Fair Practices Accommodation
Act of 1954. This film highlights salient moments of the campaign and
the contribution of union activists to the struggle for racial equality
in Canada. Esery Mondesir, English, 14:18, Canada.
- When the Drum is Beating—When the Drum is Beating
is a documentary that interweaves the story of Septentrional’s six
decades of music with the history of Haiti and how it went from being
the first free black republic with a huge wealth of natural resources to
a shattered country that could not support its citizens. The film moves
back and forth in time between the past and present, and gives broad
context to the current problems facing the country: from the brutality
of French colonialism and the bloody revolution that brought Haitians
their freedom to the crushing foreign debt and the 15-year American
occupation that helped usher in the brutal dictatorship of Francois
“Papa Doc” Duvalier. We see the hope that was created by the rise of
Jean Bertrand Aristide, and the despair that followed the coup that
drove him from power. Most importantly, we learn how all these events
contributed to creating the conditions that made the horrific death toll
of the earthquake inevitable.
Below are the winning PSAs for the “Racism. Stop it! National Video Competition.”
Templeton Secondary (Vancouver)
- 2010 WINNER:
Diversa T
Diversa-T”
brings the viewer to an exciting fashion show where a designer is being
interviewed about his new clothing line, the “Diversa collection.” The
video uses upbeat dance music, dramatic lighting and a fast editing
style to bring a message about the appeal of diversity and
multiculturalism in Canada. - 2009 WINNER:
Multiple Choice
This PSA emphasizes the importance of empowering students to
be active witnesses during discriminatory incidents rather than merely
‘bystanding’. This PSA supports the school-wide program, Break the
Silence: The Power of Active Witnessing. - 2008 WINNER:
I Remember
This PSA was inspired by a discussion regarding the web of
laws that were developed in the past to create racism and discrimination
in BC and Canada. Most students learn about European, American and
Colonial history before they learn about the historical, oppressive
events that have marked our own history. - 2007 WINNER:
That Joke
This
PSA was the result of a powerful dialogue around whether racial jokes
were harmful and hurtful. Some students argued that they were harmless
because they were understood among their peers as ‘just jokes’. Some
brave students shared that they’ve been hurt by these jokes in the past,
whether or not they were the targets, but did not have the courage to
speak out. Our 45 minute courageous conversation led to this PSA. - 2007 WINNER:
Not the Colour
Students were intrigued by the notion of privilege, one's
unearned entitlement which can be misused as control or dominance over
others . . . and the term 'White privilege’, described as those who tote
an “invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps,
passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks” (Peggy
McIntosh, 1989) Students felt compelled to create a PSA that would
initiate dialogue around the impact of ‘White privilege’ in their lives.
David Thompson Secondary (Vancouver):
- 2009 WINNER:
Diversity is a gift
This PSA celebrates and values the notion of diversity and sends the important message that we must ‘Celebrate our differences’!
Killarney Secondary (Vancouver):
- 2010 WINNER: “
Monoculturalism”
In the video a bland looking Roste seamlessly appears as
multiple versions of himself, an editing method called “cloning.” In a
Monocultural world everyone looks the same and we see black and white
shots of the multiple characters playing at the playground. Mundane
music and the sameness of this world culminate in the message “Life is
dull without diversity.” In contrast, a colourful classroom scene is
introduced with a group of joyful students dancing to upbeat music,
bringing a fun ending to the video.