Discrimination and Violence Today
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Lesson Plans and Resources
Purpose: This activity teaches students about the change in Chinese immigration, from being nearly completely banned to being welcomed and feted as a ‘model minority’ and the creation of the “model minority myth.” This lesson is recommended as an activity to be used either in a post-WWII/Cold War unit or in a thematic unit on immigration.
Grade: 11- High school students taking a United States History course.
Objective: Students will understand the origins of the ‘model minority myth” and its impact on students of Asian descent.
Standards: See end of lesson plan
Suggested Time: 1 class (roughly one hour of class time)
Unit context: This lesson is designed to be an early lesson of a unit the Cold War in the U.S.
Procedure:
Warm up: Ask students: What do you know about the model minority myth? What has been your experience of it? Give them time to think & write out their answer, turn and talk to their partner, before sharing out & discussing as a class.
Interactive lecture slides (2): Ask students what facts/events they know about Chinese immigration. Have them share out. Then show list of dates so they can fill in any gaps in class knowledge.
Next slide shows students the chart from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1044524/migration-asia-to-us-1820-1957/ and ask them: What do you notice in the trends in Chinese immigration? What might account for the rise beginning in 1947? Allow students to share what they see and speculate based on their historical knowledge as to reasons.
One slide lecture: on changes in U.S./China relations & the impact of those changes on Chinese immigration
Read & Annotate: Pass out the handout entitled “How Chinese immigration after WWII contributed to the Model Minority Myth” and have students do a close reading of the text. When they finish, have them discuss the analysis question.
Video clip: Show students the 5.29min video clip on the Model Minority Myth from PBS’ Asian American series. Go over the viewing questions first and warn them there is one use of an anti-Japanese slur uttered by a Filipino man who is recounting the racism he experienced.
Reading excerpt: Read the excerpt from So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
After they have read, have them turn and talk to their partner, answering the following questions: - Did anything she write resonate with you?
- What are the problems with the ‘model minority myth’?
- What are ways that we could begin to address those problems?
Materials/Handouts:
Standards:
2017 History-Social Science Framework:
11.11.1 - Discuss the reasons for the nation’s changing immigration policy, with emphasis on how the Immigration Act of 1965 and successor acts have transformed American society.
Grade: 11- High school students taking a United States History course.
Objective: Students will understand the origins of the ‘model minority myth” and its impact on students of Asian descent.
Standards: See end of lesson plan
Suggested Time: 1 class (roughly one hour of class time)
Unit context: This lesson is designed to be an early lesson of a unit the Cold War in the U.S.
Procedure:
Warm up: Ask students: What do you know about the model minority myth? What has been your experience of it? Give them time to think & write out their answer, turn and talk to their partner, before sharing out & discussing as a class.
Interactive lecture slides (2): Ask students what facts/events they know about Chinese immigration. Have them share out. Then show list of dates so they can fill in any gaps in class knowledge.
Next slide shows students the chart from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1044524/migration-asia-to-us-1820-1957/ and ask them: What do you notice in the trends in Chinese immigration? What might account for the rise beginning in 1947? Allow students to share what they see and speculate based on their historical knowledge as to reasons.
One slide lecture: on changes in U.S./China relations & the impact of those changes on Chinese immigration
Read & Annotate: Pass out the handout entitled “How Chinese immigration after WWII contributed to the Model Minority Myth” and have students do a close reading of the text. When they finish, have them discuss the analysis question.
Video clip: Show students the 5.29min video clip on the Model Minority Myth from PBS’ Asian American series. Go over the viewing questions first and warn them there is one use of an anti-Japanese slur uttered by a Filipino man who is recounting the racism he experienced.
Reading excerpt: Read the excerpt from So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
After they have read, have them turn and talk to their partner, answering the following questions: - Did anything she write resonate with you?
- What are the problems with the ‘model minority myth’?
- What are ways that we could begin to address those problems?
Materials/Handouts:
- Google Slide Deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HH6FBcP-eqn_Xm6EMh5rBuZNzHlOhULIK2JfQaYItvI/edit?usp=sharing
- Close reading handout “How Chinese immigration after WWII contributed to the Model Minority Myth” using adapted excerpt from:
Hsu, Madeline Y. “The Disappearance of America’s Cold War Chinese Refugees, 1948-1966.”
Journal of American Ethnic History 31, no. 4 (2012): 12-33.
https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerethnhist.31.4.0012.
Close reading excerpt here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/108UoLJmhZHXaor5SAcWXhHcQaZzCy6yNvyKx1fEXl0k/edit?usp=sharing
- 5.29min video clip on the ‘Model Minority Myth’ from PBS’ Asian American series
- Excerpt from chapter 14 “What is the Model Minority Myth” from So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (2020) starting with the paragraph on p. 191 that begins: I didn't realize until I was an adult that most of my poor childhood friends were Asian American or Pacific Islanders.” To the end of the paragraph that begins with “When we say “Asian American" we are talking about an incredibly broad swath of cultures…” on pg. 194 for a short reading, to the end of the chapter (pf. 200) for a more complete reading.
Standards:
2017 History-Social Science Framework:
- How did the United States’ population become more diverse over the twentieth century?
- How was the Cold War fought domestically?
- How did the government work to combat the perceived threat of communism domestically?
- How were American politics shaped by the Cold War?
- How did the Cold War affect ordinary Americans?
11.11.1 - Discuss the reasons for the nation’s changing immigration policy, with emphasis on how the Immigration Act of 1965 and successor acts have transformed American society.