WCAR: Educating Youth Against Racism

[***Moderator's note: This will be the last report from the World
Conference.
Below you will find the table of contents, introduction and conclusion of a
report on Educating Youth Against Racism by Morris Lipson, prepared for the
High Commissioner for Human Rights. The full report can be downloaded in
PDF format at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/wcar/ ***]

EDUCATING YOUTH AGAINST RACISM
A Report Prepared by Morris Lipson [*]
for the
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
for the World Conference Against Racism
Durban, South Africa, August 2001

Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Racism Around the World
II. Formal Educational Efforts
A. Dowa Education in Japan
B. Implementation of the Action Plan of the Slovak Republic
C. Anti-Defamation League's Efforts in the United States
D. Peace Education in Jordan
E. The British Columbia Teachers Federation's Programme Against Racism
F. Racism. No Way! Project in Australia
G. South Africa: Two Projects
H. Clover Park Middle School, New Zealand
I. A Project by Amnesty International in Mauritius
J. Israel/Palestine: The Israel/Palestine Centre for Research and
Information
K. Activities of the Board for Ethnic Equality in Denmark
L. iEARN: School-based Education Employing the Internet
III. Informal Educational Efforts: Internet Web Sites
IV. And All the Rest . . .
Conclusion
Introduction

Racism and racist practices exist in every corner of the world. Racist
activities run the gamut from offensive speech to the exclusion of
victimized groups and individuals from adequate employment, housing and
other services, to violence, including beatings and killings. No racial or
ethnic group is necessarily safe from these toxic acts and attitudes.

There is perhaps no place better to focus anti-racism efforts than to
educate children and youth about racism and how to combat it. Racism,
after all, is only as strong as its proponents and practitioners and
educating the next generations is surely one of the most effective ways of
reducing the number of racists and the potential appeal of their
message. Accordingly, this Report focuses on anti-racism educational
efforts directed at children and youth.

In the first section, the Report describes the scope of racist activities
worldwide, with a particular emphasis on how they affect young people. In
the second, and principal, section, a variety of formal anti-racism
practices in schools around the world are described. Some involve national
or local governments; others are private efforts by NGOs and other
groups. Most involve teacher training and curricular activities; some
include more, including bringing students of diverse backgrounds together
informally, but within the school context. It is important to note that
these are simply a few noteworthy examples only a few of such formal
school practices in existence around the world: no attempt was made here to
be exhaustive or scientifically representative. In addition, while the
Report has attempted to describe these efforts clearly and fairly, the High
Commissioner is not in a position to specifically endorse any of them.

The following, much shorter, section of the Report is devoted to describing
a handful of Internet websites designed, in whole or in part, to convey to
children and youth anti-racism information. While these efforts represent
only a small fraction of informal anti-racism educational efforts, they are
of particular interest here, both because of the rise of racist activities
on the Internet (described below), and because of their potential for
reaching millions of young people no matter where they are situated in the
world.

The third, and shortest, section acknowledges the wide range of informal
educational and other activities by youth groups devoted to combating
racism: while these activities exist in ever-increasing number, it is
beyond the scope of this Report to describe them in the detail they
deserve: it remains for another day and another report to carry out that
task.

All the efforts described or mentioned here are intended to inform children
and youth about racism and racists, to arm them with information to resist
and debunk racism and its myths, and to inculcate in them a knowledge about
and respect for differences between people. In the end, the efforts seek
to create in these young people the sense of mutual respect and tolerance
of others that will guarantee that they will not themselves become racists,
and that they will not tolerate racism in others.

Conclusion

Anti-racism work is on the increase. Networks of educators, often with
government support or participation, are being formed and alliances are
being established. The word is spreading that racism can be effectively
countered by the provision of information to children and youth to enable
them to see what is wrong with it, and what is right with others that are
different from them. This Report has chronicled a sampling of such
educational efforts, by national and local governments, by unions, NGOs,
and by dedicated teachers, administrators, and citizens of the
world. Anti-racism education is becoming a recognized necessity for the
lives of young people, and there is every reason to be confident that as
these, and other, efforts continue and increase in power and scope, the
messages and activities of racists will fall on increasingly
knowledgeable and, therefore, deaf young ears.

[*] Morris Lipson (Ph.D in philosophy, 1981) taught philosophy for 15
years, at, among others, the University of Pennsylvania and Reed College
and published on topics including human rights. After receiving a law
degree from Yale, he worked on civil liberties cases in the United States,
particularly challenging discriminatory and racist practices. He is
currently a consultant for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights as well as with the ILO, researching issues of discrimination and
racism as they arise in education and in the workplace.

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