UNIVERSIDAD DE MONTERREY

Vice-rectory of Higher Secondary Education

Academy of Modern Languages and Multicultural Studies
Diploma Programme

Activity 8.1 Racism

Name: _________________________________ ID: _______________Date:_______________

8.1.1
Instruction: Answer the following questions.

a. To what extent is xenophobia a problem in your part of the world? Xenophobia is

the fear of people who are perceived as different.
b. Is racism a problem where you live? How has the history of your country or town
shaped these race relations?
c. To what degree is white privilege a problem where you live? White privilege
refers to structural advantages that are enjoyed by white people in a society.
d. Do you think you live in a post-racist world, where race no longer plays a role in
work, politics and education? To what extent are people “colour blind” or “colour
conscious” in your country? What makes you say this?

8.1.2
Instruction: Do an online search for a TED Talk by Paul Bloom entitled “Can prejudice ever be a
good thing?” and try to find answers to this question and others that you might have about racism.

1. Are people racist by nature?

1. Or is racism something we are taught from a young age by the
people and messages around us?
2. Is there a biological or psychological explanation for racial bias?
3. Might racism, in some cases, even be useful?

8.1.3
Instruction: Do you think Text 3.1, an advertisement for Aunt Jemima's Pancake Mix, is racist?
What makes you say this? Analyse the use of language, both written and visual, to inform your
answers to these questions. Discuss your answers with the class.

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 Quaker Oats, 2020. How Aunt Jemima Helped Mother Win The Title, "Our Sweetheart". [image] Available at: <https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/aunt-jemima-
pancakes.html> [Accessed 21 September 2020].
8.1.4
instruction: Look carefully at Text 3.1. Aunt Jemima speaks differently from the whtie people in the
advertisement. She drops letters, pronounces words differently, conjugates verbs differently
(pancake days is happy days) and even dresses differently.

● How is racism related to language?

Here are just a few characteristics of AAVE. What do you associate with people who
speak this way? Where do you think these associations came from?

Form of language Explanation Example

Double negatives Two negative words used “I don't have none”

in combination

Vocabulary Choice of words “I am not” becomes “I ain't”

or “ask” becomes “aks”

Pronunciation and Some parts of words are “What do you want?”

dropping consonants not voiced or they are becomes: “Whatcha want?”
conflated with other words “for” and “your” become
“fo” and “yo”

Subject-verb agreement One verb form for single “I don't” and “he don't”
and plural subjects

8.1.5
Instruction: What does AAVE sound like? How can it be used to express someone's identity and
comment critically on racism?

a. Read Text 3.2 carefully. Draw a picture that depicts the setting and characters of
the poem.
b. Now listen to it.
c. What can you add to your drawing of the setting and the characters of the
poem?
d. Share your drawings. Find similarities and differences.

*How do these differences in drawings show differences in your understandings

of the poem?

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 Dey been speakin’ at de cou’t–house,
An’ laws–a–massy me,
‘T was de beatness kin’ o’ doin’s
Dat evah I did see.
Of cose I had to be dah
In de middle o’ de crowd,
An’ I hallohed wid de othahs,
Wen de speakah riz and bowed.
I was kind o’ disapp’inted
At de smallness of de man,
Case I ‘d allus pictered great folks
On a mo’ expansive plan;
But I t’ought I could respect him
An’ tek in de wo’ds he said,
Fu’ dey sho was somp’n knowin’
In de bald spot on his haid.
But hit did seem so’t o’ funny
Aftah waitin’ fu’ a week
Dat de people kep’ on shoutin’
So de man des could n’t speak;
De ho’ns dey blared a little,
Den dey let loose on de drums,—.
Some one toll me dey was playin’
“See de conkerin’ hero comes.”
“Well,” says I, “you all is white folks,
But you ’s sutny actin’ queer,
What’s de use of heroes comin’
Ef dey cain’t talk w’en dey’s here?”
Aftah while dey let him open,
An’ dat man he waded in,
An’ he fit de wahs all ovah
Winnin’ victeries lak sin.
Wen he come down to de present,
Den he made de feathahs fly.
He des waded in on money,
An’ he played de ta’iff high.
An’ he said de colah question,
Hit was ovah, solved, an’ done,
Dat de dahky was his brothah,
Evah blessed mothah’s son.
Well he settled all de trouble
Dat’s been pesterin’ de lan’,
Den he set down mid de cheerin’
An’ de playin’ of de ban’.
I was feelin’ moughty happy
‘Twell I hyeahed somebody speak,
“Well, dat’s his side of de bus’ness,
But you wait for Jones nex’ week.”
8.1.6
Instruction: Reread the poem. Highlight the words and phrases that you find difficult to understand.

● Dunbar uses key characteristics of AAVE such as “dey´s” to mean “they is” (or
“they are”).

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 ● He also writes words phonetically based on AAVE pronunciation and not
standardised spelling.
● Furthermore, he uses colloquialisms such as “laws-a-massy me” which means
“lord have mercy on me”.
● Colloquialisms are phrases or words that are informal and figurative, typical of
a region or social group. Why do you think he has chosen to write his poem this
way? Discuss the author´s choice of style, referring to the highlighted words.
● What is the main message of this text? Write down the main idea of the
poem.
● How does Dunbar use language to construct this message?

https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/192/lyrics-of-love-and-laughter/4089/speakin-at-de-couthouse/

8.1.7
Instruction: Here is a “Text and context” box on Text 3.2. How does this information give you a
better understanding of the poem?

TEXT AND CONTEXT

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, and died, aged 33, in 1906.
His parents had been enslaved in the South before the American Civil War.
His father had escaped from slavery to fight for the North in this war.
One of the North´s objectives in winning the American Civil War was to end slavery in
the US.
After the North won the Civil War, African Americans in the US were still not granted
many civil rights, and segregation and employment discrimination were not banned
until 1964.

AOE Question
How can cultural contexts influence how texts are written and received?

The “Text and context” box on the previous box is a list of historic facts.
But what is the cultural context of Text 3.2?
How is this text a product of a particular culture?

Philpot, B. (2019). English A: language and literature for the IB diploma (1st ed., pp. 206-220). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.