Read aloud and discuss this Bryan Stevenson quote from True Justice: 

"Slave owners in the American South wanted to feel like they were moral people. They were Christians. And to feel that and still be owning other people, they had to say that black people are different than white people. And that was ratified by the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott decision. The Supreme Court says in 1857, look, black people are an inferior race. They’re not like white people. They’re three-fifths human, and because of that, they’re not citizens. They are not protected by the Constitution. And that decision not only allowed slavery to persist, but it created a racial hierarchy. It introduced formally in the law this idea of white supremacy—this narrative of racial difference." 

As a class, students will use the context offered by the quote to brainstorm what they believe to be the meaning of the phrase “Narrative of Racial Difference.”

Write the class definition up on the board to refer back to during the class period. 

Teacher Note: The following film clips chronicle the through-line of how the narrative of racial difference has influenced enslavement, lynching and racial terror, segregation, and mass incarceration. This content is emotionally difficult and setting the context is critical.

Distribute Handout One: Reckoning With the Narrative of Racial Difference Note Catcher. Ask students to review the Note Catcher before watching the clips so they are familiar with the questions. Invite students to write down their notes while watching, and offer a few minutes after each clip to complete their notes. 

Watch Clip 1: "Everybody was Complicit" (runtime 4 min) 

In this clip, Bryan Stevenson describes racial terror lynchings and how they were used to terrorize the African American population in order to enforce racial inequality and segregation.

Watch Clip 2: "The Label ‘Slave’ is Replaced with the Label ‘Criminal’" (runtime 4:08) 

This clip demonstrates how the criminal justice system became a tool to maintain racial hierarchy and control after slavery was abolished. It draws a historical through-line from the laws that passed during and after Reconstruction to limit the freedom of African Americans, to Civil Rights activists who were criminalized and jailed, to the “tough on crime” laws that initiated and continue to sustain mass incarceration.

Distribute Handouts Two, Three, and Four to delve deeper into how the narrative of racial difference has shaped, and continues to shape American history. These Handouts, and the accompanying instructions and discussion prompts, may also be used as homework.

Handout Two: Racial Terror Lynchings. Using an excerpt from EJI’s “Lynching in America” report, students will gain background knowledge on the context and characteristics of racial terror lynchings. While racial terror lynchings preceded the Civil War, the excerpts chosen discuss the characteristics of racial terror lynchings in the period after the Civil War.

Handout Three: The Legacy of Racial Terror Lynching, Excerpt from “Lynching in America”

Using an excerpt from EJI’s “Lynching in America” report, students will analyze the connection between lynching and capital punishment.

Handout Four: Analyzing Images to Confront Complicity 

The acts of racial terror that characterize the periods of enslavement, racial terror lynching, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration are enabled by the narrative of racial difference in that the belief that people of color are inferior to white people enables bystanders to these crimes to be complicit, by either actively taking part in enforcing them, or silently standing by and allowing them to happen.

Students will analyze the images in Handout Four, or viewed online in the Images section below, to reflect on the role of complicity in perpetuating the narrative of racial difference.

*How was the narrative of racial difference sustained from slavery to the present era, and what actions and ideas allowed the narrative to continue to shape American culture across generations? 

*How do we change societal narratives, including narratives of racial difference, that perpetuate inequality? 

Option One: Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells, renowned activist and journalist, played a critically important role in exposing thousands of racial terror lynchings to a national audience and mobilizing protests against these crimes. In 1909, Ms. Wells gave a speech to the National Negro Conference, precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),  entitled “Lynching Our National Crime” in which she said: 

The lynching record for a quarter of a century merits the thoughtful study of the American people. It presents three salient facts: First, lynching is color-line murder. Second, crimes against women is the excuse, not the cause. Third, it is a national crime and requires a national remedy. ... Why is mob murder permitted by a Christian nation?

Read the excerpt of her speech included in Handout Six, noting in particular where she refers to the narrative of racial difference. Imagine you were the host of the event where she spoke and write an introduction to this speech that both offers the listeners an explanation of the narrative of racial difference, and insight into how our beliefs about race would change as a result of her recommendations for bringing an end to racial terror lynching. 

Option Two: Implicit Bias 

In his interview, EJI Deputy Director Randy Susskind says, “Everyone knows that there's implicit bias, that people have deep-seated biases, unconscious biases, and it permeates all areas of life, it permeates how people buy and sell houses, how people get taxi cabs in the city - medical care is affected by that.” 

There is a great deal of research and resources available to learn about the effects of implicit bias and how to interrupt and challenge when biases surface. Consider having students learn more about implicit bias from these sources:

● Listen to this Equal Justice Initiative talk on implicit bias and education

● Explore Dr. Jennifer Ebherhardt’s work and research on implicit bias