As a teacher of French in Pittsburgh Public Schools, my students have always asked me, "Are there any black people who live in France?" My answers and explanations seldom meet their approval because ultimately, the proof lies within what they see. Students form an impression of the French language based on the images of France and of French speakers presented to them in their textbook. If diversity issues are treated at all by their text, a thorough explanation as to why France is ethnically and culturally diverse is rarely given.

Pittsburgh Public Schools adopted the textbook, C’est ´ Toi for use in the French programs throughout the district. It is published by EMC / Paradigm Publishing. This particular series is more effective in presenting diversity issues in France compared to other texts that I have seen. It incorporates culture through the video series that accompanies the text and the same characters appear in a soap-opera-like format. One of the main characters is Auralie and she befriends Leila, a Moroccan-born immigrant to France. As the series continues and the students are expected to be more proficient listeners in French, the teenage characters grapple with diversity and immigrant issues through their conversations.

In the video, we find out that Leila’s family recently moved from Paris to La Rochelle, the setting of the series. Leila seems to be subject to the strict rule of her family and later we notice that her family observes different traditions and customs than Auralie’s family when we see some of the traditional Moroccan outfits that she and her family wear. Apart from these cultural differences, a recurring problem throughout the series is that Leila is supposed to marry her cousin (I must, of course, always explain that he is a distant cousin) who still lives in Morocco. This becomes an issue for Leila because she considers herself to be French, not Moroccan and she has also fallen in love with Auralie’s much-older cousin. The video series creates an obvious connection between the regular curriculum for French in Pittsburgh Public Schools and with Racism and Colonialism: a Francophone perspective. It creates many teachable moments because it incorporates language and culture so well by using cultural differences as a starting point.

The unit, Racism and Colonialism: a Francophone perspective is designed from my perspective as a French language teacher. I will use it in a high school French program with my second year students. Because many of the materials and information to be used in the curriculum are available in French and in English, the unit can also be incorporated into a World Cultures curriculum or a sociology class or possibly even a literature class. The goal of the unit is two-fold: to examine racial attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices through a world view in order to be able to broaden the American perspective and to have an understanding of racial issues in contemporary France. Ultimately, I would like students to be able to compare and contrast racial issues in order to come to a better understanding of American life. If we ever want to truly see ourselves as a society, we need to look at ourselves from another point of view. The first two weeks will give students the framework to analyze and discuss racism and then a movie will be shown in the third week titled La Haine. Students will also compile a journal in which they will take notes and reflect on their own attitudes about race through writing. The journal will serve as their assessment.

These particular objectives, I believe, will help my students at Westinghouse High School to develop a global perspective on an issue which surfaces often – racism. Westinghouse High School is a Pittsburgh Public School with a proud tradition and it is the only all-black high school in the city. Because I am the French teacher, my students are academically inclined and are generally interested in going to college. Students are constantly aware of my own whiteness and black versus white issues become a topic from time to time. I believe that this unit will initiate a dialogue that will get students to think about the world around them.

I believe that a closer look at the racial dynamics and attitudes present in the Francophone world is valuable for students for three main reasons. First, as students of a foreign language, it is important to be able to identify on some level with the people to whom you could speak if you become proficient in that language. Oral proficiency is the primary goal of foreign language instruction in Pittsburgh Public Schools but it is important to offer some motivation to learn the language. To be able to identify some French speakers who are non-white and who have examined their blackness or Arab-ness will allow my students to feel a part of a community who look like them and they will hopefully have a desire to effectively communicate with this community in French. Second, in order to understand racial dynamics in the francophone world, an understanding of colonialism is essential. Two-thirds of the people in the world live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Each of these areas has been subject to a Westernizing process under colonial influence. Since a large portion of the world was under colonial rule, it is crucial to understand what colonialism is in order to become a citizen of the world. Finally, an examination of what it means to be a minority in other parts of the world will hopefully create an understanding of what other people have endured. Despite the pain and suffering encountered by blacks, I would like to emphasize that racism takes on a different face in other countries around the world. African-Americans often feel as if their status and position is not understood. After a closer examination of colonialism, however, it becomes evident that oppression of Africans on the African continent is not much different from the enslavement and dehumanization that African-Americans faced. The Civil Rights Era involved hard-fought struggle for noticeable gains such as the right to an equal education. Other blacks and minorities around the world faced similar issues with a different resolve. I hope that making connections with racial attitudes amongst the colonized and other oppressed peoples will create solidarity among minorities where resentment is often felt. This solidarity can help alleviate the divide that exists between Africa-Americans and Africans.

As a teacher of French, I also have an interest in promoting the French language and Francophone cultures. A new world-order is forming in which the largest population of French speakers is African and French is the language of wider communication for Africans. The French, under the rigid direction of the Acadamie Francaise, are slow to accept that language is a living entity that grows and changes. Nowhere does the French language have more life than on the African continent as a result of the local languages and Islam.

The unit is based on three major topics: the history of colonialism with an emphasis on how the French viewed other cultures, the perspective of the colonized through literature, and finally, the way in which France has become the backdrop for these two phenomenon to be played out. In total, three weeks will be needed to present the unit – one week for each topic. It can be presented in three solid weeks or presented a week at a time so that the regular language curriculum will still be followed. The goal of the unit is two-fold: to examine racial attitudes, stereotypes and prejudice through a world view in order to be able to broaden the American perspective and to have an understanding of racial issues in contemporary France. This particular objective coincides with one of the Pittsburgh Public Schools content area standards for Citizenship / Social Studies. This standard (Number 19) states, "All students demonstrate an understanding of the history and nature of prejudice and relate their knowledge to current issues facing communities, the U.S. and other nations." The first two weeks will give students the framework to analyze and discuss a movie which will be shown in the third week titled La Haine. In short, I would like students to come to a more broad understanding of race and that racial definitions can, in fact, help to promote racist thinking.

Throughout the presentation of the unit, students will compile a journal that will give them an opportunity to organize material, respond to readings and react to the themes we encounter.

Week One -- Colonialism

The main emphasis of the first week is to provide students with a definition of colonialism and a framework for examining diversity issues. Ultimately, students will be able to see the connection between the attitude of the colonizer to the colonized and racism, prejudice and discrimination. As an example, Philippe Rouger wrote in the 1 January, 1997 edition of Le Figaro, "During the colonial era, the notion of race was used to justify the economic and political enslavement of the peoples colonized." (Ben Jelloun, p. 29)

Week Two – Voices in literature

This segment of the unit will give personality and substance to diversity issues encountered in France through literature. Jean-Paul Sartre called racism "domestic colonialism" (Ben Jelloun, p. 127) and the readings and discussion which follow will provide students with evidence of that. We will read different excerpts from novels and poems in English which paint a picture of the non-white condition under French rule either in France or her colonies. One of the recurring themes will be marginalization and I would like the students to state ways in which a society marginalizes people with the goal of having empathy for the marginalized.

Marginalization is "a process in which a sense of ‘otherness’ is perpetuated [via mechanisms of] … color, differentiation, nonrecognition, nonacceptance and the obstruction of mobility." (Jones, p. 381) In other words, those who are subject to marginalization live in two separate worlds. One world has many restrictions and the other one doesn’t. The basis of this restriction is determined by the society or dominant group and it could be because of race, weight, intelligence or any other visible factor. Frable, Blackstone, and Sherbaum call master status the basis for marginalization (Jones, p. 285) and how visible the characteristic is generally affects the marginalized group. For example, there are conspicuous and concealable traits. A person can generally hide their religious affiliation but not their race as is evident in Hitler’s Germany. Some Jews were able to conceal their faith in order to escape persecution but gypsys and blacks were unable to hide their identity.

A study suggests that an invisible master status makes people acutely aware that they are unique and different but a visible master status does not. Furthermore, marginality can result in negative experiences because it can further isolate people from society or it can bring people together. The degree to which marginalization creates unity can also determine a greater degree of psychological happiness in those affected. Other studies have shown that this group identification can create conflict. (Jones, p. 287)

Week Three -- Contemporary issues

During the third week, students will watch the movie, La Haine which is a rather controversial film. La Haine is a French film with English subtitles directed by Mattieu Kassovitz in 1995. The title in English is either Hate or Hatred. However, the content of the movie is rather harsh because of the amount of violence. The content is certainly not one that students are unfamiliar with. The action, itself, is driven by racially-motivated police brutality on one hand and cop-killing on the other and both issues are ripe for discussion in the classroom. Because of the content, it is good practice to preview the entire video first to ascertain if some parts of the video are segments with which you students would have difficulty. Additionally, it is essential to watch short segments of the video at a time and then debrief with the class both for values clarification and discussion and to be sure they got the content.

As a teacher of the French language, I am interested in showing students La Haine because it exposes students to real street language as opposed to textbook French. I suppose that students will be curious to know how to say some of the slang in the movie so they will listen attentively to the French and try to match it up with the subtitles. In general, students have a high interest level in this type of language, interaction and conversation.

The action of the film itself shows a fictitious riot that occurred in the housing projects (HLM) outside of Paris. In reality, this type of rioting was typical in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in France. Rioting was the response of the immigrant-origin youths’ to social and political issues. They wanted protection from deportation, punishment of racist crimes, the nationality law (passed in 1889), education, the right to vote, housing conditions, military service, treatment at the hands of the police and the justice system. These urban uprisings propelled the left and the National Front to organize and become stronger nationally.

The movie begins as a result of a fictitious riot, in which one young Arab, Abdel, was taken in for questioning by the police and was a victim of police brutality. He was hospitalized and in critical condition. The movie is about the three main characters’ reaction to the events. Vinz, an Eastern-European Jew wants revenge on the police. Students will easily identify him as a "hot head" because the least significant of events or comments makes him explode. Hubert, an immigrant from Sub-Saharan Africa is angry, too, but deals with the events by trying to keep the peace until he can leave the projects. He understands that "hate breeds hate" – the principal theme of the film and the quote cited by Hubert. The third main character is SaÎ d. Students will easily identify SaÎ d as a follower.

To understand the connection between the physical retaliations portrayed in the movie and racism in contemporary France, students must first have an understanding of living conditions in France for immigrants. France got swept up in the same trend as Americans when they started to build tall apartment buildings for use as low-income housing. They are called les habitations loyers modérés or HLMs. The primary difference between the French projects and the American ones is that it is the norm to have many buildings in France clustered together in a small area. The result is clearly seen in the film but background information is essential to understand how this conveys racism because otherwise, students will only see violence and retaliation.

Another consideration for the film is reflected in Ben Jelloun’s sentiment, "Racism arises out of forced cohabitation with people working together in the same place and living together in the same housing projects just because it is difficult to do otherwise." (p. 68) La Haine clearly portrays racism but not so much between the people living together in the housing projects but more in how the outside world responds to them because of their socio-economic status as immigrants. The film realistically portrays how immigrants are marginalized and forced to live in HLMs and it also shows the diversity of the population of France. What students must understand in order to relate to the fact that Vinz found a gun is that guns are highly controlled in France. It is rare to hear of shootings because people just don’t have guns. Of course, it is possible to buy them on the black market but it is rare.

Day One

Students will be given a chance to explore some of their own attitudes about prejudice, racism and stereotypes and discuss these attitudes with the class. I will first elicit a definition of race and ethnic group from the class since it is impossible to examine racism without a consideration of race. Ultimately, I would like students to have an understanding that race is a social construction that is defined in biological and physiological terms and depending on one’s own outlook, race can be based more on biology or on sociology. Zuckerman provides a biological definition of race as, "an inbreeding, geographically isolated population that differs in distinguishable physical traits from other members of the species." (Jones, p. 342) A definition of race from the social perspective is from van den Berghe and he states, "[race is] a human group that defines itself and / or is defined by other groups as different by virtue of innate or immutable characteristics. These physical characteristics are in turn assumed to be intrinsically related to moral, intellectual and other non-physical attributes or abilities." (Jones, p. 347) As Kottak states, "When an ethnic group is assumed to have a biological basis, it is called a race." (Jones, p. 358)

After arriving at a definition of race and ethnicity together, I would like students to reflect individually and write the answers to the following questions in their journal and then as a follow-up, discuss their responses either as a group or a class. The questions are as follows:

With which ethnic group do you most identify yourself?

With which other ethnic groups do you associate?

How did you first come to understand that prejudice / racism exist? Give specific examples and situations.

What is the origin or source of most of your views toward members of other ethnic / racial groups? How do these beliefs affect your behavior toward persons from other cultural backgrounds?

Finally, a presentation of the different terms to identify race will be presented to the class to show the changing definition of racial categories in order to emphasize the social nature of the definition of race. The categories were used by the United States Bureau of the Census to designate race. An extensive list is available through the census data but briefly, the categories are as follows:

In 1790, 1800, 1810 the terms Free Whites, Slaves, All other Free Persons, except Indians not taxed. In 1820, 1830, 1840, the categories were Free Whites, Foreigners, not naturalized, Free Colored, Slaves. In 1850 and 1860, the terms White, Black, Mulatto, Black slaves and Mulatto slaves were used. In 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920 the Census used White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Indian, Japanese to designate race. In 1930, White, Negro, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, Hindi, Korean were descriptors. In 1940, people were designated as White, Negro, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hindu and Korean. In 1950 the country was divided into White, Negro, American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino. In 1960, White, Negro, American Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Part Hawaiian, Aleut, Eskimo were in use. In 1970, the Census differentiated by White, Negro / Black, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean. In 1980, we had White, Black or Negro, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian (American), Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Eskimo, Aleut. Finally, the 1990 Census defined racial groups as White, Black or Negro, Indian (American), Eskimo, Aleut, Asian or Pacific Islander, Chinese, Hawaiian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Asian Indian, Samoan, Guamanian, Other Asian Pacific Islander. I would like students to consider how the term "race" has been used at different times throughout history and what it has meant. Furthermore, it is important to consider how these terms influence self-identity.

A quick examination of this list will allow students to see the impact that politics and social thought had on these definitions. I would like students to see the correlation between what was going on in the United States politically and the social definition of race. This is most clear immediately before and after the Civil War when people who we would now just consider Black were further divided into Free Colored or Slaves as their race. The list also indicates immigration trends in the United States.

If time allows, I would then ask students to make a prediction about what racial groups reside in France today.

Day Two

Students will develop a definition and deeper understanding of colonialism. Students will read the introduction to chapter four of Leon Clark’s Through African Eyes. Leon Clark’s book is a compilation of primary sources written about Africa mostly by Africans. They are from a variety of sources such as historical documents, auto-biographies, journalistic accounts, novels, poems, and studies by social scientists. Since most of the scholarship that defined the thinking about Africa came from Europe, Clark’s accounts are usually in direct contrast to European views of the "Dark Continent".

I chose to use Clark’s account of colonialism because it effectively conveys the far-reaching effect that colonization had on Africa and its people. I would like to supplement the reading with some additional information that Clark doesn’t provide. Colonialism is seen by some as the response to the termination of the slave trade. Trade-posts had existed for centuries in pre-colonial Africa. Goods such as gold, diamonds, and ivory were traded for centuries. Then, the slave trade allowed people to be sold to Europeans to work on plantations in the Americas to help harvest cotton and tobacco in North America and mostly sugar cane in the Caribbean. When the lucrative slave trade was made illegal, business people needed an alternative income source. This brought about the "Scramble for Africa". In 1884, King Leopold of Belgium sent an American explorer, Stanley, to make treaties with Congolese kings. While this was going on, Bismarck, the Chancellor of the German Empire, claimed territories for himself. The rest of Europe was alarmed that Belgium and Germany had laid claim to so much territory so they organized the Berlin Conference in 1884-5 in order to establish some rules. By 1900, what is now called the Partition of Africa was over. Clark describes the historical events but fails to mention that the European economy, then driven by the slave trade, provided the impetus for colonization.

Following the reading and discussion, students will write a brief definition of colonization in their own words and list some of the effects. Then I will provide them with a map of Africa to indicate which nation laid claim to each region to label and to include in their journals.

The concept of race, itself, developed in the fifteenth century when European powers started to travel and explore other areas of the world. The word "race" itself referred to roots and it was used with people to signify those with different roots or background just like different plants have different roots. As Tahar Ben Jelloun states in French Hospitality, "Nature has created differences; society has turned them into inequalities; and the power of money has established its own hierarchy and generated its own contempt." (p. 61)

Day Three

Students will watch pertinent segments of the video, Africa which is an eight-part series produced in association with the Nigerian Televison Authority. On the whole, the series examines the art, history, politics, technology and cultures of different African nations. The different segments are as follows: "Different but Equal", "Mastering a Continent", "Caravans of Gold", "Kings and Cities", "The Bible and the Gun", "This Magnificent African Cake", "Rise of Nationalism", "The Legacy". The most pertinent segment on colonial issues is "This Magnificent African Cake" or "The Bible and the Gun". The segments are about 30 minutes long and students will watch the video and then respond in their journal to the following questions at the end. Since both segments are pertinent, they both can be shown. "The Bible and the Gun" discusses the role of the missionary and Christianity itself in the colonization process – a topic touched upon in the readings of this unit. The journal question for this topic is: discuss what Christianity did to the indigenous religions of Africa. "The Magnificent African Cake" discusses more the historical aspect of the colonization of Africa and an appropriate journal question is: what are some of the effects of the westernizing process of Africa?

Day Four

Students will read a from Leon Clark’s Through African Eyes to develop an understanding of the European attitude and the African attitude regarding the contact they had with each other. The excerpt which students will read is "Too White, Like a Devil". This particular selection gives an account of an African chief meeting a white man for the first time. It is packed with accounts of cultural differences that will be fairly obvious to students. To help make these cultural differences salient, the class will be divided in two groups and one group will read from the African perspective and the other group will read from the European perspective. Select students will then act out the actions and the roles seen from both perspectives.

Following the skit, students will write reactions to the story and situation using the following questions as a focus. The answers to the following questions will be recorded in students’ journals:

How is the king’s reaction to the European similar to the reaction of some Europeans to Africans?

What are some examples of differences between the people? Are they differences of race or culture?

Day Five

In order to understand the attitude that the colonizers had toward the colonized, the class will read another excerpt from Through African Eyes. This particular selection is called "Houseboy" and it is from a novel by Ferdinand Oyono. The story gives a clear idea about what it was like for an African to work for Europeans and the ways in which the experience was demeaning for the African. The story is told in the first person and since it is an excerpt from a novel, the themes are not properly presented in Clark’s book. The story highlights the African’s attitude toward religion and demonstrates how religion was a part of the colonizing process and that process allowed the colonizer to get in the head of the African.

The idea that I would like to draw students’ attention to is not only the way the colonial master treated the colonized but more importantly, the hypocritical nature of the masters’ religious beliefs. While the European masters were preaching Christianity, they were brutally beating and punishing the African for doing wrong. To that end, following the class discussion, I would like students to briefly reflect on this question in their journal: what discrepancies are apparent in the practice of Christianity in colonial Africa?

An overview of days six through nine

Students will examine literature (poems, essays and novel excerpts) that portrays the former colonial attitude on the status and self-identity of former colonists. Key personalities and themes will be identified. Students will respond to the literature in writing in their notebook. The following is the format which students will use for all of the reading selections:

Jot down first impressions, observations, reactions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, questions, associations.

1. What sentences, phrases, paragraphs, sections, stand out?
2. What did you like about the passage?
3. What didn’t you like?
4. How do feel about the personalities?
5. What was surprising or unexpected?
6. What was puzzling about the passage?
7. How did it make you feel?
8. What did it make you think of?

Read through your first answers and jot down responses to these questions concerning second thoughts, interpretations, conclusions and connections.

1. Why did sections, sentences, paragraphs stand out?

        2/3 Why did you like / dislike these parts?

4.Why did you react as you did to the personalities? Were they real to you?

5/6. Why were certain elements puzzling or surprising?

7/8 What made you feel or think as you did about the story?

9/10. What was the author’s attitude about race? What gives you that impression?

Day Six

The colonial attitude that we examined during the first five days has repercussions and ramifications in contemporary France. As Ben Jelloun states, "France doesn’t have a problem with immigration as a whole. It does have a problem with its own colonial past in general, and with the Algerian past, in particular." A small but very vocal minority takes part in anti-immigrant politics under the political party named the National Front. Jean-Marie Le Pen is the leader of this movement and he is very effective in promoting his xenophobic agenda. Because racism is so intertwined with immigration in France, an understanding of the history of immigration in that country is essential.

In the 1800’s, French peasants chose to raise small families so they could divide their land resources among few people. Consequently, no one was available to do factory work so the government invited foreigners – mostly from Belgium and Italy—to do factory work in the industrial north. The workers faced violence and discrimination. In 1889, a new nationality law imposed French citizenship on all those born in France with at least one parent also born in France. This is called the "droit du sol". In the years following, people came from Portugal, North Africa, Sub-saharan Africa, Italy, Spain, and more recently, Eastern Europe. About 1/3 – 1/5 of all French citizens are thought to be of foreign origin but the irony is that an estimated 600,000 Portuguese live in France and about 450,000 North Africans. The Portuguese have been readily accepted and integrated into French society since they are Christians who look like the French. Arabs on the other hand, are the main victims of racist violence and they are readily identified by their appearance (dark skinned) and religious practices (Islam).

In the 1980’s, Jean Marie Le Pen organized a political party called Le Front National which helped institutionalize racism and organize people of similar ideology. He, too, distinguishes those foreigners of European origin who are easy to integrate and those who come from the Third World who are difficult to assimilate. (Fysh and Woefreys, p. 89)

In order to give students an understanding of the impact of immigration on France, we will read pages 468-471 of the book, France in the 1980’s. Even though the title would give the impression that the information is outdated, the facts and pertinent background have not changed. Of greater concern for students is the fact that the book was written by a British man and some of the terms and concepts he uses are very British. Prior to reading the article, I would like students to briefly respond either in their journals or in small group conversation to the following questions:

Do you know any immigrants in Pittsburgh?

What types of difficulties do you think they have in their every day lives?

Day Seven

The first selection that students will read is from the French-Moroccan author, Tahar Ben Jelloun. Ben Jelloun currently lives in France but was born and raised in Morocco. He received many literary prizes and is known for his novels, essays, and poems that treat the issues of people who are excluded from society. In France, these issues are immigrant issues and people who are without roots. In Morocco, these issues include poverty and women’s issues. He writes in French, not in Arabic, the other language of Morocco.

The selection is an excerpt from his novel, La réclusion solitare which was written in 1976. I have taken this segment from pages 98-103 of the text, En Voyage, which is a French language textbook. The French is appropriate for level 3 / 4 students but since I am using this with my larger group of Level 2 students, I translated the passage into English. I have been unable to find the whole text in an English translation but the language learning activities included in the book are excellent to use with more linguistically proficient students.

The novel from which the excerpt came describes the hate, violence, and indifference that an Arab meets when he tries to earn a living in Paris. It is an important passage because it alludes to the potential for violence amongst marginalized peoples which is a theme the movie explores. We will read the excerpt silently in class and then respond to the reading using the response to literature questions listed earlier.

Day Eight

On this day, we will read excerpts from Racism as Explained to my Daughter in English. The title is self-explanatory. Tahar Ben Jelloun wrote the book in order to address his young daughter’s questions about racism. The language is very simple and it is presented in question and answer format. Some of the discussion is very related to France but other times is very international in focus. I would like students to make the connection of racism to xenophobia and the presentation is very simple and straight forward.

The book was written in French originally however, an English translation is available which has response essays to Ben Jelloun’s work. These essays are from an American standpoint but are still very effective in raising different issues about racism.

The pages I would like students to read and discuss are pages 46-51. In these few pages, the author introduces many topics that can provoke a lot of discussion such as slavery, immigration, genocide, ethnic groups. Even though it seems that the quantity of the reading material is not very intense, the subject, itself, is.

Day Nine

Returning to the issue of colonialism, on this day, students will read three poems by a sub-Saharan poet, Bernard Dadié. These three poems can be found in Black Poets in French by Marie Collins.

Dadié was born in the Ivory Coast and was both an educator and journalist while the Ivory Coast was under French rule. As a journalist, he spoke loudly against the colonial masters and this put him in prison.

Dadié is very effective in getting to the heart of the evil of colonial rule in three of his poems and these are the poems I would like students to read: "I Thank You God", "What France has Given Me", "Litany of a French Subject". I will divide the class into three groups and each group will be responsible to do a choral reading of each poem in round-robin form and then will respond to the literature questions. They are charged with the task of becoming "experts" on that particular poem which they will later present to the class.

"I Thank you God" contrasts the view that Europeans have of Africans with the way Africans view themselves. "What France has Given Me" recounts the contributions of the French in a way that is somewhat ironic. Finally, "Litany of a French Subject" ironically uses the form of a prayer to discuss the treatment that Africans have endured under colonial rule. This poem will recall previous discussions of the role of Christianity in colonizing Africa.

Day Ten

In preparation for the film, La Haine, students will be divided into groups to do research about school and work, housing, police and justice in France. These readings are found in The Politics of Racism in France.

Each group will do research about that particular area based on the articles provided by the teacher and then present their findings to other classmates. It will be a "jigsaw" activity. In this type of activity, students will work in two different groups based on the numbers and the letters they are assigned. To begin, students will meet with those who have the same number as them. In the identical-number group, students will read and answer comprehension questions about the reading that has been assigned to their group. They are instructed to become "masters" of their content. After a pre-determined amount of time, students will then meet with the people who have been assigned the same letter as them. All of these same-letter students have read the other two readings. Students must share what they have learned about the article in response to the comprehension questions and summary statement with their new group members who haven’t read the other articles. If the activity is done correctly, the students will have read one article and then listened to a discussion about the other two.

Day Eleven

Students will engage in pre-viewing activities to better prepare them for the context of the movie, La Haine. We will watch the movie to look for evidence of marginalization in French culture and how that impacts its residents.

To begin, students will identify what the opening and closing quotation from the movie means to them.

"It’s about a society falling…on the way down, it keeps telling

itself, ‘So far, so good. So far, so good.’ How you fall doesn’t

matter, it’s how you land."

Then, the teacher will present quotes from the three main characters in the movie: Said, Hubert and Vinz. The characters will not be identified by race or ethnic group but the students will know that one is an Arab (North African), one black an one is Jewish. Based on the following quotations, students will have to guess who said what. Students will be surprised to know that the character who exhibits the most racist tendencies is actually Vinz who is a white, Eastern European Jew. They may find this ironic if they are working from an American framework or if they have learned of the status of an Arab through previous discussions. Hubert and SaÎ d are less angered by recent events so their comments are less charged than Vinz’s

Hubert: You gonna kill a cop?

Vinz: Best way to get respect,

Hubert: Smoking a cop will get you respect?

Vinz: It’ll even up the score.

Hubert: Will it help Abdel?

Vinz: It helps us.

Hubert: I’m sick of the projects. I want out. It’s getting worse.

Hubert: Wanting to kill a cop is jackshit.

Vinz: If Abdel dies, I hit back. I’ll whack a pig. So they know we don’t turn the other cheek now.

Hubert: If Abdel dies, we loose a friend. If a cop dies, do all cops just go away? You’re just one guy. You can’t blow them all away…

Hubert: In school we learned that hate breeds hate.

Vinz: I don’t go to school, I’m from the street. If you turn the other cheek, you’re dead.

This occurs after the three had left the police station and the cop attempts to shake the hands of Hubert, Said and Vinz.

Said: He’s always been cool with me.

Vinz: You don’t shake a pig’s hand.

Said: You shoot him. I’ll shake his hand.

Following a presentation of their guesses, students will view the first 15-20 minutes of the movie in order to establish the conflict and the main characters.

The conflict arises during a riot in the Muguet HLM (Habitation Loyer Modere or housing projects) outside of Paris. While attempting to quell the disturbance, a police officer brutally beat Abdel Ichacha and he is now hospitalized and in critical condition. The movie begins the morning after the riot and shows how Hubert, Said, and Vinz deal with the news that their "brother" has been beaten. We later find out that one of the police officers lost a gun in the riots and Vinz found it and we have a chance to see how the gun influences Vinz’ thinking and behaviour.

Day Twelve

Students will continue to watch the video, La Haine following a discussion of marginalization and how it pertains to racism. Now that the characters have been established, the focus will now be on the theme of marginalization and whether or not Vinz, Hubert and Said are marginal or integral members of French society. Students will write down evidence from the movie that supports their opinions.

Day Thirteen

Students will continue to watch the video, La Haine. The teacher will need to frequently stop the video and initiate discussion in order to clarify what has happened and get students’ reactions. For the last several minutes of class, students will write a brief description of the three main characters in their journal making sure to comment on who they liked the best.

Day Fourteen

Students will conclude the movie, La Haine, and discuss the ending since it is ambiguous. After Vinz, Hubert, and Said return to Paris on the RER (the commuter train), the local police heard that they had been harassing some skinheads in Paris. A police officer who had appeared earlier in the movie finds the three as they return home from a night with no sleep. He questions Vinz about what had happened with the skinheads and in an attempt to intimidate Vinz, the police officer holds a gun to Vinz’ head. Unintentionally, the gun goes off, shooting and killing Vinz while Hubert and Said witness the whole thing. Hubert pulls the gun that Vinz had given him on the cop. The cop pulls his gun on Hubert. The two are standing eye to eye looking down the barrel of a gun and then, the scene blacks out and the viewer hears a single gun shot. It’s not clear who the shooter was but we know that someone died.

Day Fifteen

Students will be assessed on the concepts and ideas they have taken away from this unit in addition to receiving a grade for their journals. They will be able to reflect on racism and racial attitudes in France as they react to the following quotation in their journals: "Racism is first and foremost self-hatred. And when it’s erected into a system, it spreads out from the self and includes one’s fellows." (Ben Jelloun, p. 35) First, I would like students to respond to this question in their journals using the movie, our readings and personal experience as evidence. If time allows, I would like students to have a chance to discuss the questions and their responses as a group.

Budig-Markin, Valerie and James Gaasch. Diversité: la nouvelle francophone à travers le monde. Princeton, NJ: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995.
An analysis of the different groups who live in France.

Clark, Leon E., ed. Through African Eyes. New York: CITE Books, 1991. A collection of writings by Africans about Africa.

Goldberg, David Theo. Racist Culture: Philosophy and the Politics of Meaning.
Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. 1993. A collection of essays which try to deconstruct race.

Jones, James M. Prejudice and Racism, second edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 1997.
A sociological look at racism.

CO2 – All students read and use a variety of methods to make sense of various kinds of complex texts.

CO3 -- All students respond orally and in writing to information and ideas gained by reading narrative and informational texts and use the information and ideas to make decisions and solve problems.

CO4 – Students write for a variety of purposes, including to narrate, inform, and persuade in all subject areas.

CO5 -- All students analyze and make critical judgements about all forms of communication, separating fact from opinion, recognizing propaganda, stereotypes and statements of group communications.

CO6 – All students exchange information orally, including understanding and giving spoken instructions, asking and answering questions appropriately, and promoting effective group communications.

CO7 – All students listen to and understand complex oral messages and identify the purpose, structure, and use.

CO8 -- All students compose and make oral presentations for each academic area of study that are designed to persuade, inform, or describe.

CO9—All students communicate appropriately in business, work, and other applied situations.

AH1 – All students describe meanings they find in various works from the visual and performing arts and literature on the basis of aesthetic understanding of the art form.

AH2 – All students evaluate and respond critically to works from the visual and performing arts and literature of various individuals and cultures, showing that they understand the important features of the works.

AH3 -- All students relate various works from the visual and performing arts and literature to the historical and cultural context within which they were created.

AH4-- All students produce, perform, or exhibit their work in the visual arts, music, dance or theater, and describe the meanings their work has for them.

CI4 – All students examine and evaluate problems facing citizens in their communities, state, nation, and world by incorporating concepts and methods of inquiry in the various social sciences.

CI5 – All students develop and defend a position on current issues confronting the United States and other nations, conducting research, analyzing alternatives, organizing evidence and arguments, and making oral presentations.

CI7 -- All students demonstrate their skills of communicating, negotiating and cooperating with others.

CI8 -- All students demonstrate that they can work effectively with others.

CI9 -- All students demonstrate an understanding of the history and nature of prejudice and relate their knowledge to current issues facing communities, the United States and other nations.