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11th Grade English students

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This novel is about sixteen-year-old Starr Carter who is caught between two worlds: the poor neighborhood in which she lives, and the upper middle class private suburban high school she attends. The novel takes her back and forth between these two worlds as she tries to figure out how to meld the two personas she uses to deal with her everyday situations. Her difficulty in dealing with the conflict of her childhood friend being killed by a police officer is the spine of the novel. She was the only other witness other than the police office that killed her unarmed friend, so her decision to tell the truth or not will possibly upend her community and may also endanger her life.

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How does an individual’s point of view affect the way he or she deals with conflict?

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Identity influences perspective

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The purpose of this text set is for students to become more sensitive to the issues of identity and point of views of other people and how their own point of view influences their decisions.

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2.1 Determine the relevance of the information:
b. Analyze important ideas and supporting evidence in an information source by using
logic and informed judgment to accept or reject information.
c. Interpret meaning from charts, maps, graphs, tables, and pictures.
2.2 Assess the comprehensiveness, currency, credibility, authority, and accuracy of resources:
c. Analyze media for purpose, message, accuracy, bias, and intended audience.
d. Determine whether resources are designed to persuade, educate, inform, or sell.
3.2 Draw conclusions and make informed decisions:
a. Analyze information from multiple sources and identify complexities, discrepancies,
and different perspectives of sources.
3.3 Use information and technology creatively to answer a question, solve a problem, or
enrich understanding:
a. Explain how meaning is conveyed in image and sound and recognize that many media messages are constructed to generate profit, influence viewers, or both.

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This poem is about the absolute fear an African American feels when seeing a police officer walking down the street in his direction. The article that goes along with it talks about the history of when the poem was published, along with contemporary comments about the modern state of racism in the United States.

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Eric Garner's Family Drops Moving New Song 'I Can't Breathe'

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Eric Garner's siblings remember the their brother's death at the hands of police brutality on a new track titled "I Can't Breathe."

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In his perverse campaign to win black votes, Donald Trump said that "Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever. Ever. Ever...You take a look at the inner cities. You've got no education. You've got no jobs. You get shot walking down the street."

What makes this sinister isn't the notion that black communities trail white ones in education and affluence. The frightening thing is that a law and order president believes that certain cities are out of control, and we don't know what he'll try to do with federal troops to lay down his version of the law.

It's scary, and there may be no better crystallization of that fear than "Who but the Lord," the Langston Hughes poem published almost exactly seventy years ago, in the February 1947 issue of Poetry magazine. Seeing a cop coming down the street was not an occasion for a polite nod or feelings of reassurance. It was a moment of terror:

Today for Hughes's birthday we're looking back at "Who but the Lord?" In the year of the poem's publication, Jackie Robinson would debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Congress for Racial Equality would organize its first freedom ride into the South.

And while the struggle for integration was seeing early landmarks, there was a more sinister problem in black communities that persists to this day: people did not feel safe in their own neighborhoods. Worse, they had no authority to which they could go for help. This national ailment ran so deep that WEB Dubois went as far as appealing to the United Nations that same year with "An Appeal to the World," a statement to the United Nations Humans Rights Division. A few years later, he would go further in "We Charge Genocide," a petition to the UN for relief from the United States government's crimes against African-Americans. Later, the Black Panther Party would take up a similar philosophy, that black communities were like colonies, occupied by hostile police rather than protected by them.

This sentiment is perfectly illustrated in Hughes' "Who but the Lord." The poem reads more relevant than ever. Its final lines strike a saddening resonance in light of highly publicized police aggression against African-Americans from Los Angeles in 1991 to Staten Island in 2014, and of course the countless untold cases of death and brutalization at the hands of police in black communities:

Now, I do not understand
Why God don't protect a man
From police brutality.
Being poor and black,
I've no weapon to strike back-
So who but the Lord
Can protect me?

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The Langston Hughes Poem that Best Captures the Fear of Police Brutality

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The Langston Hughes poem "Who but the Lord" was published almost 70 years ago and yet reads like it could have been written today.

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Article

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Lisa H. Thurau and Johanna Wald | Opinion contributors | 9:30 am EDT September 15, 2018

Last week, Officer Amber Guyger was charged with manslaughter after entering an apartment she thought was hers, she says, and killing the unarmed black man who lived there.

Botham Jean's killing happened only days after another officer, Roy Oliver, was sentenced to 15 years for the murder of Jordan Edwards - a 15-year-old who was leaving a party with friends.

And on June 19, Antwon Rose Jr., a 17-year-old unarmed black male, was killed in a Pittsburgh suburb as he fled a car that had been stopped by police. He was shot in the back by Officer Michael Rosfeld, who had been hired one month before, and had only been formally sworn in hours before he took the teenager's life.

Two days after Rose's death, Boston University's School of Health and the University of Pennsylvania released a study that found the high rate of unarmed African Americans being killed at the hands of police has caused more incidents of depression, stress and other mental health issues among blacks. In other words, overwhelming police brutality is damaging the mental health of African Americans - even those who have no direct connection to men, women and teens who have lost their lives.

The context of history

The use of deadly force by police against an unarmed black American "carries with it the weight of historical injustices and current disparities in the use of state violence against black Americans," researchers concluded.

The study's findings aren't entirely new. In 2015, Berkeley law professor Franklin Zimring analyzed 1,100 killings by police and found that the death rates for African Americans (and Native Americans) were disproportionately higher than their populations. Both groups have a history of state-sponsored injustice in the U.S.

Both groups also deal with some of the highest rates of mental health issues in the country. Between blacks and non-Hispanic whites, blacks are more likely to report serious psychological distress. Native Americans also report high levels of PTSD.

The aftermath of Rose's death was predictable. There were public protests and demands to hold the police officer who fired the shots accountable. Rosfeld, the officer, has been indicted.

It remains to be seen whether the legal system will ultimately provide any relief to Rose, his family members and friends, or members of the black community.

Even more damning from a systemic perspective is the admission by the Allegheny County district attorney, when asked about established protocol for dealing with police use of force, that the county doesn't have a policy.

The absence of a policy is, unfortunately, the norm not the exception. Even those individual law enforcement agencies that attempt to regulate interactions almost always develop guidelines in isolation.

As little training as officers get today when it comes to use of force, they get even less training when it comes to dealing with youth.

Had officer Rosfeld, the man who killed Rose, been trained in adolescent development and the effects of trauma on behavior, he would have understood that the presence of authority figures often triggers flight-fight responses in traumatized youth, which comes from a heightened sense of powerlessness, regardless of guilt or innocence.

A public health issue

For many black youth, due to the disproportionate and often traumatic experience of police arrest and use of force against them, their family members and friends, the combination of race and authority is often lethal.

Darren Nichols, a black, Detroit-based reporter, described his own PTSD response to reading about Rose's death: "See, Rose was 17. Yet I'm sure we shared the same panic and the adrenaline rush when you see those red and blue lights flashing behind you. It never subsides."

Boston University and University of Pennsylvania researchers concluded that their findings support "recent calls to treat police killings as a public health issue." They noted that failure to do so produces mental health issues and health problems: "The observed adverse mental health spillover effects of police killings of unarmed black Americans could result from heightened perceptions of threat and vulnerability, lack of fairness, lower social status, lower beliefs about one's own worth, activation of prior traumas, and identification with the deceased."

We suggest going a step further and incorporating a public health perspective into 21st-century policing.

Using a public health perspective would mean more than the prosecution of a single police officer. These deaths indict an entire system of recruiting, hiring, training and evaluating police officers. It would mean that no police officer should leave the academy without training on the effects of trauma, violence and poverty on behaviors - including responses to law enforcement. And all officers should leave the academy understanding how biases - implicit and explicit - directly affect actions, particularly when under stress.

Every police department should be governed by clear, consistent standards developed by experts and other stakeholders convened by state agencies. These standards should be conveyed to every officer, supported by training, and used as the basis for evaluation and discipline.

Law enforcement leaders should promote a vision in which use of force and arrest, especially when it comes to youth, are the last and least desirable outcome.

As a nation, we require and have come to expect such training and standards of doctors, nurses, home health care professionals, child care workers and teachers. Why should police - who risk their own lives and have the power to take the lives of others - be exempt?

Lisa H. Thurau is the founder and executive director of Strategies for Youth, a national nonprofit training and policy organization dedicated to improving police/youth interactions and reducing disproportionate minority contact.

Johanna Wald is a writer and researcher who has written extensively about the school to prison pipeline and criminal and juvenile justice reform. She is the former director of strategic planning for the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute at Harvard Law School.

Originally Published 10:47 pm EDT September 14, 2018

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Police killings, brutality damaging mental health of black community

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Lisa H. Thurau and Johanna Wald | Opinion contributors | 9:30 am EDT September 15, 2018 Last week, Officer Amber Guyger was charged with manslaughter after entering an apartment she thought was hers, she says, and killing the unarmed black man who lived there.

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The article lists several recent shooting of African Americans by police officers, and then continues to talk about the toll this takes on families and victims.  The article goes deeper to say:  “The observed adverse mental health spillover effects of police killings of unarmed black Americans could result from heightened perceptions of threat and vulnerability, lack of fairness, lower social status, lower beliefs about one’s own worth, activation of prior traumas, and identification with the deceased.” The article suggests that police need to have training and be held accountable for their actions the same way that nurses and teachers are, and it must come soon.

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Depeche Mode - People Are People (Remastered Video)

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"We’re different colors and different creeds/ And different people have different needs”- This song basically is asking why humans treat other humans so inhumanely. People may have different perspectives and things that are most important to them, but at the end of the day we are all just trying to survive, and being more tolerant of each other might be the means to that end.

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Medium. Students can read this short article by themselves, but will go deeper with the topic if they work with a partner.

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Printed out article

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Low. The student will be able to read the poem and the article individually.

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Web Site

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This is a song that Eric Garner's sister and brother wrote and sang after Eric was killed by police officers. The last words Eric spoke as the police were holding him down are the words in the title.

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Medium. The song is not difficult, but the situation of Eric's death are and therefore should be unpacked with the teacher.

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You Tube

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Medium. The idea that "people are people" is not too difficult, but the idea about different needs is one that needs a little bit of development with the teacher.

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You Tube

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Have the students read the poem and then write about how they would feel if they were walking down their street in the daylight and saw a police officer walking in their direction. Then answer the question: Why is or why isn't your emotional reaction the same as the narrator of the poem? What type of neighborhood do you live in? How do the police treat people that live where you do?

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Gelgud, N. (2017, February 01). The Langston Hughes Poem that Best Captures the Fear of Police Brutality. Retrieved November 3, 2018, from https://www.signature-reads.com/2017/02/the-langston-hughes-poem-that-best-captures-police-brutality/

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After the students read the article individually, ask them to research with a partner one of the listed victims of police shootings on the board. Ask them to: 1) summarize the event 2) ask them to try to get in the heads of the victim and the police officer and write about what they think was going on in the police officer's and the victim's mind 3) write a different ending where no one dies. How were they able to deal with the conflict without anyone dying.

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Thurau, L. H., Wald, J., & Contributors, O. (2018, September 15). Police killings, brutality damaging mental health of black community. Retrieved November 3, 2018, from http://amp.usatoday.com/amp/1218566002

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Have the students listen to the teacher tell the story about what happened to Eric Garner and the aftermath, and then listen to the song. Ask the students to write down the limitations on one's perspective when trying to understand how something like this could happen. Think of the cops' point of view. Do you think they thought they were doing the right thing?

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Kreps, D. (2018, June 25). Eric Garner's Family Drops Moving New Song 'I Can't Breathe'. Retrieved November 3, 2018, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eric-garners-family-drops-moving-new-song-i-cant-breathe-192574/

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The teacher will give each student a different card with a description of a person. The people on the cards are of varying genders, sexual orientations, religions, ages, political views, etc. and the teacher will try to give each student a card the teacher thinks represents a person who is quite different from the student. Then the teacher will ask them to do a chart of all the things they think they have in common with their person and all the ways they might differ. Then the student will discuss with a partner what are some of the things that the student and the person on the card might clash over and how could they come to an understanding that while different, they have more in common as human beings.

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Mode, D. (2010, February 09). Depeche Mode - People Are People (Remastered Video). Retrieved November 3, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=75&v=MzGnX-MbYE4

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This is a drawing that, depending on your perspective, looks like an old woman or a young woman.

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Medium. Students will understand how to see both images, even if needing to be shown.

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Projected drawing on screen for whole class to see

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Have students be in pairs to discuss what they see. They will share a story with each other about a time when they were with someone and saw a situation in a totally different way. This does not have to be super deep, and can even be a movie that two friends disagreed on.

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Young lady or old woman illusion. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2018, from http://www.optical-illusionist.com/illusions/young-lady-or-old-woman-illusion

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Research Professor at the University of Houston

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We need to keep talking about Charlottesville.

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This is a video that a professor made after the racially-motivated rally that occurred in Charlottesville on  April 11-12, 2017. She talks about how one's perspective is key in understanding what happened there and how we move forward.

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High. Racial tensions are heightened in the United States in 2018, and the teacher will have to guide the students through this difficult discussion.

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You Tube

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Watch the video together as a class, with the kids writing down thoughts in a notebook as they watch. A Socratic seminar will follow with guided questions to get it started.

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Brené Brown. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2018, from https://www.facebook.com/brenebrown/videos/1778878652127236/

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Thomas, A. (2018). The hate u give. New York, NY: Balzer Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins.

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This short story tells the tale of a world which basically blew itself up, but before it did many African Americans were able to leave the planet for Mars. They have been living peaceably until the day a spaceship heads to Mars carrying a white man. The people of Mars are split, many angry at how they were treated on Earth and not wanting to help the white people after the way they treated African Americans on Earth. Once the ship lands, the confrontation between the people and the white man on the ship reveal a larger story of understanding and forgiveness.

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Medium. This story can be mostly individual but with some teacher guidance before and after reading the short story.

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Book of short stories

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Have the students read the short story for homework and answer a few guiding questions which will aid in the following day's class discussion.

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Bradbury, R. (2012). The illustrated man. New York: Simon & Schuster.