I suspect that many people may have useful tips about how to teach/
sensitise people about racism. I have only one comment.
I have found it useful to speak about how present racial(ised) categories
have evolved over time. Thus, for example, I have discussed how the
labelling of African Americans/ blacks/ negroes/ coloured people has
evolved, and the cultural politics of this. [The entry by Roy Finkenbine
in the *Encyclopedia of African-Ametrican culture and History* provides
a useful, brief factual background.] It seems to me that this sort of
historical perspective can be very effective in underlining the fact that
racial categories are culturally constructed, and of course
re-constructed. Kay Anderson's book on Vancouver's Chinatown, familiar to
many on this list I would suppose, can also be used to provide this type
of historical perspective.
Richard Harris
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Richard Harris, editor, Urban History Review, School of Geography and
Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1.
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Webpage: http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Geography/harris.html
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