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Units January 22, 2025

The People vs. Mass Incarceration

Lesson Summary: In this role-play-style unit, students determine who, or what, is responsible for the system of mass incarceration and its dismantling. Downloads: Unit resources
SECTIONS


This unit was created by Educators at Two Rivers Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., as part of the 2022 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across five 55-minute class periods.

Objectives & Outcomes 

  • analyze multiple sources demonstrating the root causes and perpetrators of the issue of mass incarceration
  • debate who, or what, is responsible for the issue of mass incarceration
  • support their arguments with clear evidence
  • integrate, question, and respond to new perspectives as presented by peers
  • begin imagining a future where mass incarceration is no longer an issue

Essential Questions

  • Who is responsible for the problem of mass incarceration?
  • What root causes have created and continue to maintain this present-day issue?
  • What are possible solutions?

Unit Overview

This unit draws on the premise that the current issue of mass incarceration has its roots in the legacies of slavery in the now-called United States.
Students will grapple with perspective-taking via a role play and a “trial discussion .” They will also practice using evidence to support a claim, integrating new evidence, and forming/responding to questions and alternative viewpoints. 

This unit helps to build the context of where the United States is currently located in time as we heal from the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade, specifically around their manifestations in the justice system. It begins to help students imagine other possibilities.

Performance Task

Students will engage in a “trial discussion” in which they debate who is responsible for beginning, maintaining, and ending the system of mass incarceration in today’s United States. 

They will produce “Claim-Support-Question” writing pieces in which they present their own case after researching their perspectives as well as participating in the trial discussion; take note of other perspectives; revise; and reflect.

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