Beyond Blame: Reacting to the Terrorist Attack

Education Development Center, Inc.
The Justice Project
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation

Table of Contents

Preface

In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect. —President George W. Bush

As teachers, we must create a culture of bonding and move away from a culture of blame and shame. —Santiago Wood, Superintendent, Fresno Unified School District

What do we tell the children? We tell them the truth. How we do that telling will depend on the youngsters’ ages and maturity, but even the littlest among them know that something terrible has happened. To express nothing teaches a savage lesson in unconcern. —Theodore Sizer, Founder of The Coalition of Essential Schools

In the next weeks and months, youth and adults alike will struggle to find meaning for the disaster that befell America on September 11, 2001. Whom will we blame, and what will be the boundaries of our response? When emotions are so raw and a nation is so inconsolable, can we keep our communities from developing an unbounded hatred? What must young people think when they see television coverage of foreign communities that celebrate our collective grief?

If we condemn those who blame any and all Americans for their own perceived grievances, we must not ourselves commit the same despicable act of misplaced blame. While the agencies of our government are making every attempt to identify the individuals and organizations responsible for this heinous act, we must be careful not to sow the seeds of hatred toward innocent groups. Beyond Blame is about the destructive nature of hatred and wrongful attribution. It is about helping the next generation reflect and react in ways that they will be able to look back on without regret.

As educators, we understand that young people are still developing the skills they need to bring order to new events. In making sense of America’s quest to attribute blame for the terrorism we have suffered, many students may need help in making refined judgments about who is—and who is not—to blame. Who is an ally, who is a friend, and who has earned our anger and hostility are all complex questions. These lessons are designed to help students address these issues and to support their exploration of justice and right.

We have sought to create a program that can be used as a follow-on to the many fine programs that already exist for addressing trauma and emotional distress. Education Development Center, Inc., has a long history of work in humanitarian law, social justice, and the prevention of hate crimes and violence. We hope that the lessons in this curriculum will help educators and other caring adults move young people to the “next step” in what will undoubtedly be a long-term process of coming to terms with a tragedy that may have changed this nation forever.

Gauging Your Readiness and Preparing to Teach These Lessons

Terrorism stirs up intense reactions of horror, confusion, sadness, fear, and anger—in all of us. Before teachers can be expected to turn the events into a “teachable moment” for students, they must judge their own readiness to teach and the readiness of their students to learn.

Preparing Yourself

• Address your own shock and grief in response to the attack. The American Psychological Association has created a helpful resource for adults about the September 11 attack, available on-line at http://helping.apa.org/daily/traumaticstress.html.

• In a time of crisis, our own fears and prejudices can surface, often taking us by surprise. You may want to reflect on these issues and perhaps discuss them with a trusted colleague or friend before teaching the lessons. You may also have had past experiences of belonging to a group that was (wrongly) blamed for an event. This is a time to be aware of those experiences and the thoughts and feelings they reawaken.

• Read carefully through the background materials and lesson plans and brush up on your knowledge of the incidents. Think about the kinds of questions students are likely to ask and your possible responses. This guide provides several Internet resources that can help.

Preparing Your Students

If you have not already allowed time for students to talk about their emotional reactions to the tragedies, please do not rush to proceed with these lessons. Before going further, we recommend that you use one of the guidelines on talking to young people after a tragedy, such as the one developed by the American Psychiatric Association (available on-line at http://www.psych.org/public_info/childrentragedy.cfm).

It is up to you to judge the readiness of your students to move forward with these lessons. If your students are unusually volatile, acting out, or showing signs of traumatic stress, wait until you feel they are ready. Pace your class; do not process reason before emotion. Be aware that some of your students and/or their family members may belong to stigmatized groups and may feel more directly affected or vulnerable as a result. Be thoughtful about how these issues may enter your discussions.

Extreme events can precipitate extreme responses, ones that may be beyond the training and expertise of parents and professional educators. All adults who work with youth need to be able to recognize signs that may be indicative of additional needs, and should be prepared to make referrals and/or identify resources that can address those needs. (For more information on coping with grief or trauma, see Additional Resources.)

Introduction

On September 11, 2001, four jet aircraft were hijacked from three different cities in the United States. The terrorists, who reportedly took over piloting the craft, had apparently planned suicide missions to crash these planes into important locations along the East Coast. The first two planes to crash hit the World Trade Center towers in New York City. The next plane targeted Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Pentagon, our national defense center. The fourth plane disappeared from radar and then crashed near Pittsburgh; it is believed to have been headed for either the White House or Camp David, the presidential retreat. All passengers aboard the aircraft and more than 6,000 people who worked in the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon are now presumed dead (as of September 24, 2001). The towers and Building Seven of the World Trade Center completely collapsed, causing destruction to a large part of the tip of lower Manhattan. Across America, all air travel stopped, our borders were reinforced, thousands of buildings were evacuated, and schools and businesses closed. The United States launched immediate police and military activity to try to prevent further acts of terrorism and to determine who was behind these horrible mass murders.

Thousands of people—those who died or were wounded and those who loved them—are direct victims of the attack itself. Now, radio talk shows and other media indicate that there may be a second wave of victims: Arab Americans, Muslims, and others who appear to be of the same ethnic or religious background as the suspects, but who are innocent of any wrongdoing. In short, many people are now the innocent targets of blame, anger, isolation, and violence.

We were not able to protect the first group of victims from harm. We can help prevent harm to the second group.

Beyond Blame provides lesson plans for three class sessions in which students in grades 6­12 can explore the consequences of mislaid blame in terms of basic concepts of justice. (If time permits, you may want to have students brainstorm a class definition of justice and injustice.*) Each lesson is based on questions about justice (and injustice) that lead to individual student responsibility:

Lesson 1: What Is Justice? What Is the Injustice Here?
Lesson 2: Has the Past Been Just?
Lesson 3: How Can You Prevent Injustice?

*Basic concepts of justice often come down to fairness. Younger students may understand justice as:

• Treating everyone the same, regardless of their nationality, race, or religion
• Not punishing people for crimes they have not committed
• Punishing the people who have committed the crimes

Older students might understand that, in addition, American concepts of justice include:

• Not punishing people for their beliefs

With the youngest students, you may want to substitute the terms “fair” and “fairness” for “just” and “justice.” We suggest that you allow students to articulate their own concepts of what is just—or fair—as they debate the concrete events, rather than present definitions yourself. Asking such questions will enable you to see students’ theories of justice and to apply them later to the events under consideration.

Goals for Students

• To be introduced to the concept of “misplaced” or “group blame”—blaming entire groups for the actions of a few
• To know the consequences that can come from blaming an entire group
• To understand that members of any ethnic or religious group do not necessarily share the same beliefs, in this case, beliefs about the use of terrorism
• To build ideas of what one can do to reduce the consequences of mislaid blame and to protect the people vulnerable to hate crimes

Age and Grade Level

We consider the central topic of this curriculum—the blaming of a whole group for the misdeeds of a few, and how to prevent it—to be appropriate for the full age range from grade 6 to grade 12. Teachers can adapt the materials to grade level by group reading or reading aloud, when necessary, for younger students, and by providing more complex examples, assignments, and supplementary materials for older or more advanced students. In many cases, this central topic will be reflected in students’ current courses in literature, social studies, or history, and, if so, good examples can be drawn from those courses.

Classroom Time

The three lessons can take one or several sessions, depending on the number of students in the class, the amount of student participation, and the depth to which you examine each of the questions.

Lesson 1: What Is Justice? What Is the Injustice Here?

Objectives for Students

• To have a common base of information about the attack
• To have a safe space in which to express their emotions about the attack
• To be aware that some people are being targeted out of anger or revenge simply because they share an ethnicity or religion with the terrorist attackers

Materials

Handout A: A Summary and Timeline of the Terrorist Attack
Handout B: Reports of Incidents Following the Terrorist Attack

Activities

1. Discussing the Attack

Read to the class a report of the terrorist attack, acknowledging that most everyone knows about it but that you are reading this to provide a shared base of information. (You may wish to use the report and timeline provided in Handout A.)

Q: “What are you feeling about this incident?”

Allow students to express their feelings about the attack. If, here or later, names of groups, such as “Muslims,” come up, you might simply ask, “All Muslims?” and then bookmark/reserve further discussion of specific groups for Lessons 2 or 3.

Q: “Why do people feel so angry?”

Have students brainstorm reasons. The most obvious reasons will come quickly, but it is useful to continue further, even waiting through some silences, until a fuller, more complete list of reasons is expressed.

2. Examining Attacks that Have Followed the Terrorist Attack

Q: “Have you heard about any instances of people taking out their anger on other people who are innocent of the crime?”

After students say what they have heard, present Handout B: Reports of Incidents Following the Terrorist Attack. Have students read the excerpts.

Q: “What do the people who were attacked after the terrorist attack seem to have in common?”

(Although the victims of attacks include children and adults, Christians and Muslims, Arab Canadians and immigrants, all the victims were assumed to be Arabs or Muslims.)

3. Writing Assignment

Have students write on any or all of the following questions:

• Why would people blame all members of an ethnic or religious group for the actions of a few?
• Is this just or right? Why or why not? Give reasons and examples.
• Where else have you seen group blame happen in your own life?
• Where have you come across it in a book or a movie?

Teacher’s Notes for Lesson 1

Lesson 1 focuses primarily on incidents of hate crime, threat, and harassment against Arab Americans, Arab Canadians, Muslims, and other groups in reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11. It is not meant as a primer on the complex issues of terrorism, the investigation, or the U.S. response. As events have progressed, however, several common concerns have emerged, including whether there will be a military draft and whether the government is taking any action to protect vulnerable groups. Teachers may wish to be prepared to address the following questions, at least briefly:

Background on the terrorists, the U.S. response, and the world’s response: Students are likely to have many questions about the specifics of the attacks, the perpetrators, the investigation, and the imminent U.S. response. Keeping up with the steady flow of new information can be overwhelming, however. For a brief review, teachers may wish to consult the following resources:

• CNN’s Education Web page ( http://fyi.cnn.com/fyi/index.html) synthesizes the main events in a manageable way for teachers and students alike. It also includes lesson plans for talking about aspects of the attack, placing it in historical context.

• For a short article on the background of terrorists and their training, see Training for Terror in the September 24, 2001, issue of Newsweek, available on-line at http://www.msnbc.com/news/629583.asp?0sp=w13b4.

• For information on the world’s response, see World Press Review, a print and on-line magazine that surveys the daily international press coverage of the events (available on-line at http://www.worldpress.org).

Military draft in the United States: Young people, particularly teenage males, may express concerns about a possible military draft should the United States go to war. At this time, it is too early to know if a draft will happen. As of September 24, 2001, the following statement was posted on the Web site of the Selective Service System ( http://www.sss.gov/):

It would take legislative action by the Congress and implementation by the President to reinstate a draft in an emergency.

If the question comes up, assure students that no draft has been announced yet. Young men are required by existing federal law to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Remind students that this law has been in effect since well before the current attack and that a draft has not been used since the Vietnam War.

The United States’ government’s response to attacks on Arab Americans, Muslims, and other vulnerable groups: The federal government has already taken swift action to protect groups vulnerable to retaliatory hate crimes. The FBI has begun to investigate more 40 possible hate crimes, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has set up a special national hotline (800-552-6843) for reports of hate crimes related to the attacks.

In Canada, groups such as the Canadian Race Relations Foundation have begun anti-hate campaigns to address the reaction to September 11th. To obtain information, stickers, posters, etc., contact their web site at http://www.crr.ca/EN/default.htm

Lesson 1: What is Justice? What Is the Injustice Here?

Handout A:
A Summary and Timeline of the Terrorist Attack

On September 11, 2001, four jet aircraft were hijacked from three different cities in the United States. The terrorists, who reportedly took over piloting the craft, had apparently planned suicide missions to crash these planes into important locations along the East Coast. The first two planes to crash hit the World Trade Center towers in New York City. The next plane targeted Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Pentagon, our national defense center. The fourth plane disappeared from radar and then crashed near Pittsburgh; it is believed to have been headed for either the White House or Camp David, the presidential retreat. All passengers aboard the aircraft and more than 6,000 people who worked in the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon are now presumed dead (as of September 24, 2001). The towers and Building Seven of the World Trade Center completely collapsed, causing destruction to a large part of the tip of lower Manhattan. Across America, all air travel stopped, our borders were reinforced, thousands of buildings were evacuated, and schools and businesses closed. The United States launched immediate police and military activity to try to prevent further acts of terrorism and to determine who was behind these horrible mass murders.

8:45 a.m. A hijacked jet crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center skyscraper in New York City.

9:03 a.m. A second hijacked jet crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings—each 110 stories tall—are burning.

9:43 a.m. A third hijacked passenger jet crashes into the Pentagon, the headquarters of America’s military, in Washington, D.C.

10:05 a.m. The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

10:10 a.m. A fourth hijacked passenger jet crashes in a field outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

10:10 a.m. A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

10:28 a.m. The north tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

Lesson 1: What is Justice? What Is the Injustice Here?

Handout B:
Reports of Incidents Following the Terrorist Attack in Canada

Some Actions

Some Reactions

Lesson 2: Has the Past Been Just?

Objectives for Students

• To examine another time when, as a result of an act of violence, an entire ethnic group was mistreated.*
• To know some of the consequences of blaming an entire group for the actions of a few.

* The purpose of this lesson is to explore the analogy of misplaced blame, rather than to relate the two attacks.

Materials

Handout C: In Another Time
Handout D: People Who Helped
Handout E: Epilogue

Activities

1. Examining an Incident from Our Own History

Distribute Handout C: In Another Time.

Read, or have students read, the background (general) on the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Q: What assumptions about Japanese Americans, as a group, has the speaker made?

Q: What fears does the speaker encourage?

Have students take turns reading to the class the story excerpts in Handout C (under “Background (Canada)” “The Evacuation,” “The Camps,” and “The Impact on Japanese Businesses and Farms”).

Explore the stories with these questions:

Q: Following the attack, what were the prevailing attitudes about people of Japanese ancestry?

Q: How did it unfold that we started to turn against these people because of the country that they—or, more often, their ancestors—came from?

Q: What were the consequences for these people?

(Schooling was disrupted; families were broken up; their homes, gardens, and pets were left behind; their incomes were destroyed; their businesses, homes, farms, and possessions were sold at a loss; their sense of vulnerability and of not belonging increased dramatically; etc.)

Q: What’s alike and what’s different about the situation today?

(While there are important differences from the perspective of international politics—i.e., the Pearl Harbor attack was by one nation on the armed forces of another nation—the situation within the United States is similar in at least one important way: A violent incident is being followed by persecution of innocent people of the same ethnic or religious group as the perpetrators or suspects.)

2. Exploring the Possibility of Protection and Support

Q: “Did anyone support or protect the Japanese Canadians?”

Brainstorm and list answers to these questions:

Q: What were the needs of the people who had been interned?

Q: What social pressures might have influenced people to help or not help?

Distribute Handout D: People Who Helped and give the following homework assignment:

• Write a short story or a brief scene about one of these helping incidents. Be sure that your story shows, through action, the conflicts within each character’s mind around giving or receiving help.

OR

• Create a poem, song, painting, or drawing about the things that were left behind.

3. Looking at the Aftermath

Distribute Handout E: Epilogue and read it to the class, or have students read it aloud or to themselves.

Q: What were the long-term consequences for the Japanese Canadians?

(Some are noted in Handout E.)

Q: What were the long-term consequences for Canada?

(The realization that even a great nation can make mistakes; a precedent for how not to treat Canadian citizens and residents; etc.)

Teacher’s Notes for Lesson 2

This curriculum uses the internment of Japanese Canadians in World War II as an example of the consequences of misplaced blame. Sadly, throughout history, there are numerous examples of widespread blame, isolation, and violence toward entire ethnic groups, triggered by the violent acts of a few people of the same ethnicity. Beyond Blame chose the story of the Japanese internment for several reasons:

• Japanese American and Arab American groups have used the example themselves.

• There are excellent education materials already available about the Japanese internment (see Additional Resources).

• Canada and the United States have officially acknowledged that the internment was “unjust” and has made reparations.

Lesson 2: Has the Past Been just?

Handout C: In Another Time

Background (General)

In the United States and its territories in the 1880s, there was a large demand for cheap labor. People from Asian countries were brought over to fill the jobs. By 1908, 135,000 Japanese had arrived. In the years that followed, many of them saved whatever money they could, brought their families over, and made America their home.

On December 7, 1941, as World War II was raging in Europe, the country of Japan attacked the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Newspaper headlines all over America quoted the president’s reaction: “DAY OF INFAMY!!!” The next day, the United States declared war on Japan.

In their rage and fear, people turned against Americans of Japanese descent and their entire community. It was feared that those living on the West Coast would help Japan by signaling military or industrial locations and otherwise try to sabotage America’s war effort. According to one Congressman:

Background (Canada)

The first Japanese settler to Canada was named Manzo Nagano. When Manzo was born in 1855, Japan was still considered closed to the outside world. By the time he was old enough to work in the shipyards, his country was beginning to emerge as a modern nation. Young Manzo was able to join the crew of a foreign ship and set off to see the world. In 1877, he landed in New Westminster, British Columbia.[19]

Japanese Canadians were frequently used as labourers on the railways and on fishing boats because there were restrictions on Japanese Canadians from entering the professions, the civil service and teaching until 1967.[20] While they worked as fishermen and labourers and paid taxes, they were denied the right to vote.[21]

At that time, Canadians did not always appreciate the Japanese Canadians and other Asians in their country.  Gov. James Douglas summarized the Canadian attitude towards Japanese Canadians in a letter dated April 23, 1860: “They are certainly not a desirable class of people, as a permanent population, but are for the present useful as labourers, and, as consumers, of revenue-playing character.”[22] At the turn of the century, anti-Asian sentiment was rampant.

Despite the racism, the Japanese community continued to develop and grow. During the years of limited immigration, women arrived and families began to grow.[23] In 1942, by the eve of the bombing on Pearl Harbor, 23,000 Japanese Canadians lived on the West Coast of British Columbia. Three quarters of that number were Canadians by birth or had become naturalized citizens.[24]

Evacuation

In 1942 the War Measures Act was enacted for the removal of all people of Japanese origin residing 100 miles off the Pacific Coast, three months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.[25] The War Measures Act gave the federal government full authority to do everything deemed necessary “for the security, defense, peace, order and welfare of Canada.”[26] Almost 21,000 Japanese-Canadians (75% of whom were Canadian nationals) were removed from their homes and shipped to road camps, internment camps and prisoner of war (POW) camps, most with only 24 hours notice to vacate their homes.[27] The evacuation began in the summer of 1942 and was not completed until October 31, close to eleven months after the beginning of the war.[28] Unlike the United States, where families were generally kept together, Canada initially sent its male evacuees to road camps in the B.C. interior, to sugar beet projects on the prairies, or to internment in the POW camp in Ontario, while women and children were moved to six inland B.C. towns created or revived to house the relocated people.[29] Many historians believe internment camps came about because of racist attitudes Canadians held towards Japanese Canadians.[30]

Aya Higashi, a Japanese Canadian born in Canada and settled with her parents, brother and sister on Quardra Island, was evacuated:

The evacuation experience of Irene Tsuyuki, a second generation Japanese Canadian, is as follows:

The Camps

There were ten internment camps, three road camps, two prisoner of war (POW) camps and five self-supporting camps in total.

The internment camps were located in Tashme, Greenwood, Slocan Creek, Lemon Creek, Popoff, Bay Farm, Rosebery, New Denver, Sandon and Kalso. The three road camps were located in Hope, Revelstoke and Blue River. The two prisoner of war camps were located in Angler and in Petawa (Ontario). The five self-supporting camps were located in Lillooet, Bridge River, Minto City, McGillivray Falls and Christina Lake.

Men were separated from their families and forced to work on work crews building roads, railroads, and sugar beet farms. The women and children and older people were sent inland to internment camps (desolate ghost towns and farms made into small cities) in the interior of British Columbia. 1,161 Internees paid for their relocation and leasing of farms in "self-supporting" camps that provided a less restrictive, less punitive environment. These Japanese Canadians were still considered "enemy aliens" by the government. About 945 men worked on road construction camps at Blue River, Revelstoke, Hope, Schreiber, Black Spur. Those men who complained of the separation from families as well as other "dissident men" who violated curfew hours were sent to the "prisoner of war" camps at Angler and Petawawa in Ontario (699 men). They were forced to wear shirts with round, red targets on their backs.[33].

The experience of Aya Hisgashi, who was sent to internment camp in Kaslo with her family, is described as follows:

The impact on Japanese Businesses and Farms

Similar to the emasculation and impoverishment of the Jews before the roundup to the German concentration camps, the Japanese Canadians had property, businesses, cars, and boats confiscated and sold by the Canadian government before they were forced into labour camps. Without their property, assets, or jobs they were then charged inequitably for their internment. Harold Hirose, a veteran of the Second World War, had five acres of Surrey farmland (a neighbouring area of Vancouver), confiscated and sold for $36. He received a check for $15, which included charges for the administrative costs in the transaction, which he did not approve. He subsequently made several appeals to the government to recover the land but these failed.[35]The government justified these actions. Proceeds from the sale of goods and property would be used to pay for living expenses of the interned.[36]

The experience of Irene Tsuyuki, a second generation Japanese Canadian, is described as follows:

After the War

After the Second World War ended in 1945, Japanese Canadians were forced into exile to Japan or to re-settle east of the Rockies. Ten thousand signed up for repatriation. The case against deportation was bought to the Supreme Court, which ruled for deportation of Japanese Canadians.[38] In 1947 on January the 24^th, Prime Minister King ended deportation, after protests by churches, academics, journalists and politicians.[39] But by then about 4,000 people had left, approximately 2000 of whom were Canadian-born[40].

On March 1949, four years after the war was over, the last of the wartime restrictions and the War Measures Act were lifted. Japanese Canadians were allowed to travel freely and return to the West Coast. Prior to this date, in 1948, Japanese Canadians received the right to vote. Public sentiment was beginning to lean in the community's favour. Japanese Canadians were gaining strength and resolve to mobilize politically.[41]

Lesson 2: Has the Past Been Just?

Handout D: People Who Helped

While Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans[42] faced a sea of trouble during this time period, a few individuals and organizations did offer help. Here are some examples:

• Many Canadians were very much dismayed, if not shocked, at the federal government's treatment of the Japanese Canadians. People reached out, often through Anglican, Catholic, United and Quaker churches, to help the Japanese Canadians in whatever way they could. Winifred Awmack was among those who went to teach or minister at internment schools and churches. Winifred was asked to teach high school because the government was only providing public school education at the internment camps. Awmack felt that if the Japanese Canadian children didn't have a high school education they would always be second class citizens. And so, despite the lack of facilities, a curriculum was set up designed not only to educate, but to comfort and to strengthen students emotionally bruised by being considered enemy aliens by their country of birth. [43]

• During the internment of Japanese Americans, a group of religious, academic, and civic leaders came together to form the “National Japanese American Student Relocation Council” in order to assist students in completing their education. Their help included providing sponsorships, scholarships, food, housing, and even jobs.

• In 1942, both the mayor and the chief of police of Lincoln, Nebraska, wrote letters supporting the rights and citizenship of Japanese Americans. These letters laid the foundation that allowed these citizens to become students at the University of Nebraska­Lincoln and to be released from the internment camp.

• Reverend Drew, a Methodist minister, was an outspoken pacifist and activist for the rights of Japanese American citizens. He supported efforts to move families to the Midwest, often providing them with food and shelter.

• Beet farmers in Idaho offered Japanese Americans the work opportunities that could serve as a basis for release from internment. Other farmers gave land to Japanese Americans in exchange for work to support those who were evacuated from the West Coast.

• Many members of the American Society of Friends (sometimes referred to as Quakers) protested the internment program and provided academic counseling and support, housing, and shelter to Japanese American students to help them continue their studies.

• In several communities in the Midwest, informal social groups were created for cultural exchange in order to help Japanese Americans become socially accepted.

Lesson 2: Has the Past Been Just?

Handout E:
Epilogue

What was the impact on the Japanese Canadians?

Many scholars have argued that the internment affected Nikkei people* in Canada and the United States, particularly the Nisei (second-generation Japanese Canadians), particularly impacting upon their self-images and ethnic identity. Because of their experiences during the war, many of them came to feel ashamed of being of Japanese origin and they tried to reject it, or to hide the fact that they were related to Japan, or to remove themselves from things that made them or made the people around them recognize that fact.[44]

Some Quotes:

Kitagawa, Muriel. Letter to the Custodian of Enemy Property, 1943:

Kogawa, Joy. Naomi's Road, 1986:

Takashima, Shizuye. A Child in a Prison Camp, 1971:

Roy Ito, We Went to War. The Story of Japanese Canadians Who Served During the First and Second World Wars. 1984:

Japanese Canadian Centennial Project, 1978:

What is the Canadians’ view today about the Japanese internment?

The Canadian Government compensated (“redressed”) the Japanese Canadians for their losses during the war, but redress could only be limited to property losses. It did not address the issue of civil rights, sale of property without consent, and damages incurred from lost earnings, disruption to education and psychological trauma. On September 22, 1988, The Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement was signed.[46]

Lesson 3: How Can You Prevent Injustice?

Objectives for Students

• To consider examples of groups that are now at risk for group blame and to identify the factors or events that might trigger it;
• To examine their own experiences with violence, group blame, and stereotyping—as perpetrators, bystanders, or victims;
• To understand that young people have a role to play in preventing violence and hatred in the world and ensuring justice;
• To feel empowered to act as individuals and as a group to prevent misplaced blame and to promote justice.

Materials

Handout F: Not Allowed / Not Cool / Cool
Handout G: People Who Are Helping

Activities

1. Who Is at Risk Today

Q: Who is at risk today of misplaced blame, prejudice, or violence?

(Possible answers include Arabs; Muslims; people who look like Arabs/Muslims; immigrants; foreign visitors; Jews/Israelis, who are blamed by some for our involvement in the Middle East conflict; Americans in other countries; all members of minority groups)

Q: Thinking about the experiences of the Japanese Canadians during World War II, can you imagine such events unfolding today? Who (what group or groups) might this happen to?

Q: Are Americans at risk today? Was the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon an example of group blame?

(Students may have said this in response to the first question, given that the United States was the victim of a vicious terrorist attack. If not, be sure to make this point.)

Q: How can individuals respond to the terrorist attacks in a way that doesn’t perpetuate misplaced blame or prejudice?

2. Examining Possible Responses to This Attack

Distribute Handout F: Not Allowed / Not Cool / Cool to your students. Tell students that the first list (“What is NOT ALLOWED”) identifies behaviors that, despite one’s personal views, are against the law—violence, destruction of property, harassment, etc. The second list (“What is NOT COOL”) identifies attitudes and beliefs that are protected under freedom of speech, but which potentially contribute to a climate of hatred, conflict, and misplaced blame. The third list (“What is COOL”) suggests some positive actions one can take.

Give students time to read through the lists and relate them to their own experiences or actions.

Ask them to answer the questions after each list as they examine which things they have experienced, witnessed, or done.

After students have completed their lists, ask for some volunteers to share their reactions. Help them connect their personal experiences with the way potential victims might feel right now.

3. What Can We Do Next?

Q: How have I contributed—for better or worse—to justice in my school, community, country, or world?

Q: What can I do now and in the future?

Have students brainstorm possible actions they might take (1) as individuals and (2) as a group.

Here are some ideas to use as prompts, if needed:

• Write letters to survivors of violence or to family members of victims who lost their lives.
• Create drawings, posters, poetry, stories, songs, performances, etc. that take a stand against group-blaming behavior.
• Act politically—write letters to political leaders or the local paper expressing their views on this issue.

Distribute Handout G: People Who Are Helping. Have students read the handout, then return to the list of possible actions they brainstormed.

Q: “Does this handout give you any new ideas for Canada?” and add their new ideas to the list.

Teacher’s Notes for Lesson 3

Moving Beyond Blame

These lessons are only a start. This discussion will have stimulated students’ thinking about the immediate and long-lasting effects of group blame and backlash. Many students, especially older ones, may feel particularly motivated to act in response to the tragedies and to prevent their escalation. Below are a few suggestions for integrating learning with activism:

• Organize a class or school project to support victims and their families.

• Have students research news stories of attacks against minority groups in response to the terrorist tragedy by collecting and analyzing news clippings or Internet printouts that portray unjust or unfounded sentiments, statements, or attacks.

• Have students collect accounts of protective and supportive acts toward Arab Canadians or Muslims.

• Create a class mission statement about responding to one’s fellow citizens in a productive way. (This can be an opportunity to brainstorm and model consensus-building.)

• Assign an essay comparing contemporary events to analogous tragedies in history.

• Dedicate an hour every week or month for students to locate and read publications written for largely minority audiences (e.g., Asian Week, Hispanic Review, Black Enterprise, Indian Country Today).

• Work with interested students to form a Student Human Rights Team in your school. (Student Human Rights Teams work in schools or other settings to teach their peers about prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes, and protecting victims or potential victims.)

“Never does hatred cease by hating in return.” — from the Dhammapada, a sacred text of Buddhism, posted outside a church in Newton, MA.

Lesson 3: How Can You Prevent Injustice?

Handout F:
Not Allowed / Not Cool / Cool

The following is a list of possible individual responses to terrorism or acts of violence. Some acts are harmful and against the law. Some are legal but potentially harmful. Others are helpful—and hopeful.

Take a few moments to look at these lists. As you read them, think about which actions you have witnessed, experienced, or done yourself.

What is NOT ALLOWED:

Regardless of your personal feelings about a person or a group of people,

• Killing, harming, or threatening someone because of his or her race, religion, skin color, or nationality;

• Harassment: inappropriate, unwanted behavior that disturbs someone and makes that person afraid for his or her safety, including threatening comments, letters, phone calls, or e-mail messages;

• Destruction of property: defacing or destroying homes, cars, centers of worship, public or private buildings, books, lockers, etc.

Have any of these things ever happened to you?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

Have you ever witnessed acts like these?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

Have you ever done any of these things yourself?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

What is NOT COOL:

Freedom of expression is protected in our country and is a foundation of our democracy. However, just because something is legal doesn’t necessarily mean it is okay, or that it contributes to the greater good:

___Judging people on how they look or dress

___Assuming that someone holds certain beliefs or attitudes based on the way he or she looks

___Stereotyping people because they belong to a certain racial, ethnic, national, or religious background

___Blaming innocent people for the actions of others

___Lashing out verbally at people who are different from you or who you don’t understand

___Making prejudiced comments or jokes about groups or individuals

___Verbal violence, including slurs, name calling, and insults

___Making obscene gestures

___Celebrating the death or injury of innocent people

___Drawing or writing hateful symbols or words on your personal property

Add your own ideas here:

Have any of these things ever happened to you?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

Have you ever witnessed acts like these?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

Have you ever done any of these things yourself?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

What is COOL:

Many young people react to violence in constructive ways that promote understanding and support potential victims:

___Talking about how it feels to be a victim of violence or prejudice

___Reaching out to victims to show your support

___Thinking before you speak or act, especially when you are angry or when your comments might hurt someone

___Having honest discussions about cultural differences in order to learn about one another

___Making a vow to avoid making racist or prejudiced comments

___Responding to peers when they make prejudiced comments, explaining why it bothers you and how it hurts others

___Teaching your friends and siblings what you have learned about the dangers of blaming or punishing an entire group based on the actions of a few

___Examining how television, music, newspapers, Web sites, chat rooms, and bulletin boards discuss blame or add to stereotypes

___Supporting and protecting victims, or potential victims, of hate-motivated violence, harassment, or discrimination

Add your own ideas here:

Have you ever witnessed acts like these?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

Have you ever done any of these things yourself?

___yes ___no ____don’t know

Lesson 3: How Can You Prevent Injustice?

Handout G:
People Who Are Helping

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. —Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl

• The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee received an outpouring of support—phone calls, letters, and other expressions of compassion.

• In New York, police officers stood watch over many mosques.

• Across North America, teachers are leading classroom discussions on diversity and cultural differences.

• The Asian American Journalist Association urged all media to maintain responsible coverage of Arab American communities.

• One United States middle school suspended a student who spread the false rumor that a Muslim classmate was celebrating the attack. The Muslim student later addressed a school-wide assembly.

• Christian leaders across North America initiated interfaith dialogues in support of Muslim community leaders.

• The U.S. Civil Rights Office set up a special hotline for monitoring and reporting hate crimes against Arab Americans.

• A Jewish temple in Chicago opened its doors to Muslim congregations looking for a safe place to hold worship services.

• In communities across North America, people are looking out for the safety of their Arab and Muslim neighbors.

Additional Resources

General

• There are numerous news stories on the September 11 attack. Here is one age-appropriate news source: http://teacher.scholastic.com/newszone/news/index.asp.

• A good source of some background information is The World Religions by Huston Smith, available from http://www.amazon.com/.

• The National Council of the Social Studies is offering on its Web site “Teaching About Tragedy,” a free information service designed to assist teachers in helping their students cope with, and make sense of, the senseless.

• The Detroit Free Press has put together a guide entitled “100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans.” It is available on-line at http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/index.htm.

• Additional information on the Nisei (Japanese American) experience is available on the Children of the Camps Web site: http://www.children-of-the-camps.org/history/.

• Two additional curriculum resources you may want to review:

  • Changing Perspectives on the Japanese Internment Experience, available on-line at http://www.thirteen.org/wnetschool/origlessons/internment/.
  • The Internment Camp Class Kit, available on-line at http://www.njahs.org/

• Healing the Hate: A National Bias Crime Prevention Curriculum for Middle Schools, available on-line at http://www.edc.org/HHD/hatecrime/id3_m.htm.

• The Co/Motion Guide to Youth-Led Social Change, available on-line at http://www.comotionmakers.org/manual.html.

• Helping Young People Cope with Grief or Trauma http://www.psych.org/public_info/childrentragedy.cfm.

• American Psychological Association, “Warning Signs of Trauma-Related Stress” http://www.apa.org/practice/ptsd.html.

• American Red Cross, “Helping Young Children Cope with Trauma” http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/keepsafe/childtrauma.html.

• National Association of School Psychologists, “Crisis and Loss: Information for Educators” http://www.naspcenter.org/pdf/bbcqcrisiseducator.pdf.

Additional Resources (Canada)

Lesson 1

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article (October 2, 2001) on reactions of Japanese Americans on the Attack on Sept. 11. The article discusses the similarities between the hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs with the hate crimes endured by the Japanese Americans during World War II. The article describes how the Asian community and organizations stand up for Muslims and Arabs. Available on line through http://www.recomnetwork.org/.

Lesson 2

The Japanese Canadian National Museum website provides a timeline of the Japanese Canadian history from 1877 until 2000. Available on line at: http://www.jcnm.ca/Jchist.htm.

The Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre has a number of resources available for teachers. These deal with discrimination, human rights, harassment and freedom of expression. Please visit our website under “publications”.

Acknowledgments (Beyond Blame) United States Version

For a complete list of people involved in the creation of the original version of this kit, please see Beyond Blame at www.edc.org/.

Endnotes