RACISM

A CLASS DIVIDED
1985
60 minutes

One day in 1968, after Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered, a school teacher in the small community of Riceville, Iowa, divided her all-white third-graders into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups for a lesson in discrimination. On successive days, each group was treated as inferior and subjected to discriminatory treatment. The lesson had an enduring impact on the children, who as adults still remember the pain and sense of powerlessness they experienced. The teacher, Jane Elliott, repeated the exercise in subsequent years. In 1970, a documentary called Eye of the Storm was made of one of Elliott's exercises.

A Class Divided, made in 1985, updates Elliott's unique lesson in a blend of film from the original documentary, a reunion of the former third-graders from the 1970 documentary, and clips from a workshop Elliott gave to prison guards and correctional officers during which she conducted the same exercise.

BABAKIUERIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
30 minutes

This video has won two Silver Awards at the International Film and Television Festival of New York. It satirizes the discovery of Australia (otherwise known as Babakiueria) and its white inhabitants by Aboriginals. Babakiueria offers a unique way of looking at racism in our society.

DOMINO
National Film Board of Canada
1994
44:34 minutes

Domino presents the poignant stories of six interracial peoples' quest to forge their own identity. Although there is only one human "race," the experience of interracial people underlines society's practice of categorizing its members by "race." Domino explores the issues of identity, cultural isolation and the search for community. Appropriate for university and senior high school classrooms.

FACING RACISM
Ontario Federation of Labour
1993
16:50 minutes

Facing Racism examines race discrimination (harassment in particular) in the workplace. It features interviews with people who have been racially harassed at work and with union representatives, and gives examples of what employees, employers and unions can do to eliminate race discrimination. Recommended for both management and unions.

FOR ANGELA
National Film Board of Canada
1993
21:29 minutes

For Angela is a story about racism inspired by Rhonda Gordon and her daughter Angela. On a trip to a bus stop three boys racially harass Rhonda and Angela. Their experience could have been devastating but instead it was empowering. Rhonda has the courage to take a stand against ignorance and prejudice, for herself and for her daughter. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, it comes with a print guide and is recommended especially for students of all ages.

NOBODY'S BORN A RACIST
The Students Commission
1995
26:50 minutes

A team of Students Commission writers and videographers created this anti-racist video and 55-page guide to assist others to take action against discrimination. Topics covered include: How to start an action group; First Nations; Coming to Canada; Systemic Racism at School and Work; and Video Talk.

SKIN DEEP
CBC
1996
45 minutes

This video looks at the science of race. What is race? Is it an idea rooted in our culture? Or a reality that lives within our genes? With the help of anthropologists and other scientists, David Suzuki takes a close look at the notion that humankind can be divided into races and that some races are inferior to others. Scientists talk about the fallacy of that belief in an easy-to-understand way and Suzuki traces the historic link between that idea and racism. The video ends with an optimistic prediction about the future of pluralistic societies in Canada.

SPEAK IT! FROM THE HEART OF BLACK NOVA SCOTIA
National Film Board of Canada
1993
28:50 minutes

Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia follows four black students as they work to establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group in their predominantly white high school. They face daily reminders of racism but do not lose hope. With help from mentors, they discover the richness of their heritage and learn ways to effect change. By following these young people as they grow in confidence and self-esteem, this film offers a welcome alternative to contemporary media portrayals of black youth. Produced for grades 7 through 12, but also suitable for adults and for students at the upper elementary level. Comes with 24-page user's guide.

TWO WORLDS COLLIDING
dir. Tasha Hubbard,
National Film Board of Canada,
2004

Two Worlds Colliding chronicles the painful story of what came to be known as Saskatoon's infamous "freezing deaths," and the schism between a fearful, mistrustful Aboriginal community and a police force that must come to terms with a shocking secret.

One frigid night in January 2000, a Native man, Darrell Night, finds himself dumped by two police officers in -20° C temperatures in a barren field on the city outskirts and finds shelter at a nearby power station. He survives the ordeal but is stunned to hear that the frozen body of another Aboriginal man is discovered in the same area. Days later, another victim, also Native, is found.

When Night comes forward with his story, he sets into motion a chain of events: a major RCMP investigation into several suspicious deaths, the conviction of the two constables who abandoned him and the reopening of an old case, leading to a judicial inquiry.

It remains to be seen whether the gulf between the two worlds can be bridged.