Empowering Equity Through Education: Illuminating Affirmative Action's Legacy

This unit was created by the EMERGE Los Angeles team as part of the 2023 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across approximately 13 class periods with 1-2 additional weeks for student project completion.

Objectives:

Objective 1: Analyze the Historical Context

Outcome: By the end of the unit, students will be able to explain the historical origins of affirmative action policies in the United States, demonstrating an understanding of the social, political, and legal factors that contributed to their development.

Objective 2: Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Outcome: Students will practice constructing well-structured, evidence-based arguments related to affirmative action. They will be able to articulate their positions clearly, using persuasive language and logical reasoning in written essays, class discussions, and visual art projects.

Objective 3: Foster Respectful Dialogue

Outcome: Throughout the unit, students will demonstrate the ability to engage in respectful and empathetic dialogue with peers. They will actively listen, ask clarifying questions, and respond thoughtfully, creating an environment of open and constructive discussion.

Unit Overview:

This unit on the legacy of affirmative action is designed to delve into complex themes and essential questions related to the ongoing debate surrounding affirmative action policies in the United States. Students will explore the fundamental question of whether affirmative action is a necessary tool for addressing historical and systemic inequalities. Themes that will be explored include social justice, equity, race, privilege, and the role of government in addressing systemic discrimination. 

The English Language Arts component of this unit will emphasize critical thinking as students engage with primary source texts, academic articles, and persuasive writing exercises. In Social Studies, students will analyze historical contexts of systemic racism making affirmative action in education necessary. In Visual Arts, students will analyze the 1965 short film Felicia and use it to inspire personal expressions of their perspectives on affirmative action through visual storytelling.

The pedagogical vision underlying the unit prioritizes fostering informed, respectful, and well-rounded discussions among students, promoting the development of critical thinking and communication skills. The scope and sequence involves a gradual progression from historical background to contemporary debates, culminating in a project where students will present and defend their positions on affirmative action, supported by evidence and reasoned arguments.

Performance Task:

Performance Task 1: Persuasive Essay

In a paper of five-seven pages, students write a persuasive argument in which they take a position on the issue of “racism 2.0” that is explored in Tim Wise’s Colorblind.

Prompt: How should college and university institutions respond to persistent inequities in higher education admissions: should they continue to endorse colorblind universalism or should they shift to a new paradigm of “race-consciousness'? Use specific details from the text, 1619 Project resources, and supplemental readings to support your position.

Cite one or more of the assigned readings to argue your position. Also, draw on 1-3 vocabulary words from the Exploring Word Choices for Describing Events assignment to inform your position.

Performance Task 2: Oral History Interview
After watching the short documentary Felicia, students will complete their own oral history interview with someone who was the beneficiary of an equal opportunity program or affirmative action. The completed interview will be turned into a documentary similar to Felicia and/or a photo with a quote caption, and shared during a culminating film festival or exhibition.

Thirteen-day unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, handouts, and graphic organizers. Download below, or scroll down to review key resources included in the unit plan.

Unit Resources

English Language Arts Standards:

Reading: Literature (RL)

• RL9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RL9-10.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details. 

Reading Informational Text (RI)

• RI.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RI.11-12.2: Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis. 

Speaking and Listening (SL)

• SL9-10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. 
• SL9-10.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally), evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
• SL.11-12.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. 

Writing (W)

• W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• W9-10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selections, organization, and analysis of content. 

Social Studies Standards:

Grade 9-12: Principles of American Democracy (POD)

• POD 1.4: Explain how civil society provides opportunities for individuals to associate for social, cultural, religious, economic, and political purposes.

Grade 9-12: Civic Engagement (CE)

• CE 1.2: Analyze issues and policies in the U.S.                     government in terms of intended and unintended consequences. 
• CE 1.3:  Analyze the impact of landmark Supreme Court cases. 

Grade 9-12: Identity (ID)

• ID 1.1: Articulate the meaning and origins of different cultural, religious, and racial groups and their implications for identity. 

Visual Arts Standards:

Creating (VA)

• VA9-12.1: Apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art.
• VA9-12.2: Apply artistic criteria to differentiate between mere imitation and originality, and between trite and new creative solutions.

Connecting (VA)

• VA9-12.3: Research and analyze the work of an artist or designer and how the artist’s distinctive style contributes to their industry production.
• VA9-12.4: Analyze and interpret the intent, meaning, and impact of symbols, motifs, and themes in a work of art.

College-level Student Learning Outcomes:

• Write an essay that has a specific purpose, in response to specific writing prompts and course assignments
• Demonstrate critical engagement with outside sources
• Write in prose style characterized by clarity, complexity, and variety

Persuasive Essays:

Students wrote persuasive essays taking a position on the effects of colorblindness vs. race consciousness in policy. Explore example quotes from their essays below.

Tim Wise's book Colorblind touches on serious issues of racism...He shows us with passion and sharp, insightful, accessible analysis how this imagined world of post racial framing and policy can’t take us where we want to go and actually stifles our progress toward racial unity and equality...Many voices have called for an end to affirmative action and other color conscious policies and programs, and even for a retreat from public discussion of racism itself. I agree with Tim Wise’s point in his book and video about the issue that America is ignoring the fact of discrimination in employment, housing, education, and healthcare.

Student essay, "Racial Equality"

Most people think our country has now moved along and past racism...Still, social programs in our country are unfair and biased. Colorblind policies are making all this possible. We need to truly move forward as a country and adopt a new paradigm of illuminated individualism. Illuminated individualism will help social policies be fair to everyone by not discriminating against Black people looking for jobs, giving equal housing opportunities, and allowing all children to have equal learning resources.

Student essay, "America's Skepticism Against Racism"

Our society still heavily discriminates even though most people are ignorant to the fact that it is still happening today. We ignore these facts because of how our policies are written through colorblind multiculturalism, which really just makes people biased even though it’s through an unconscious decision. Our country needs to grow to be more equal and practice what our founding fathers wrote, but actually consider all people and not just white men. Illuminated individualism will create a more equal society by making the employment process less biased, our school system will teach kids equally without discrimination, and housing opportunities will be equal for all.

Student essay, "The Greatest Country Could Always Be Better"

Reflections on and Connections to the Short Film Felicia:

After watching Felicia, a documentary about a girl living in the Watts neighborhood in 1965, her observations of racial inequities, and her ambitions, students reflected on and made connections to the film. Explore some of their reflections below: