Students laughing at black characters, help!

[joybot0]

I like to give the reference that if people in my country laughed at Koreans...how would they feel? I especially use this come back when a Korean coteacher tells me "All Americans like..." or you look like...

At my last school we were getting a new foreign teacher. He was black and from South Africa. To get the students ready (the younger grades) one of my coteachers told the Ss that he looked like Obama. Then when he came to our school the kids called him, "Obama."

During a nice little discussion in the teacher's room, while the new foreigner was out of the room, the same coteacher asked, "I hope he is happy here." I piped up and mentioned how he said to me that the kids call him Obama and that this is not always pleasant for him. She didn't understand why. I told her how he looks nothing like Obama and also he isn't from America. Also that if I told children in America that the Korean person coming to our school looks like Kim Yuna what would they think or expect. She was still dumbfounded. Telling me that she told the kids so they would feel more comfortable when he came to the school.

I asked her why she didn't just a show a picture of him (they had one) to the kids and explain his country of origin and that people with different skin color live there. Just tell the kids he is black and from a culture different from them, instead of making up some fairytale. Still she was dumbstruck.

I strongly feel we must be true to our culture and explain to these students that laughing at someone of a different race is racist. They can get the point or not, but it should be told. Also the coteacher must be on board with this, and God forbid, not laugh with the Ss. I have had other coteachers who did shun the class for laughing and gave a lecture about respect to people of all cultures.

Yes kids will just boo-hoo you, but someone along the way needs to transpire this idea.

[Brian]

I've posted this here before, I think, but I'll just mention it's not only laughing at black characters, it's laughing at anyone who looks different.  We were doing a lesson on famous people, and had some laughs at Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Lincoln's beard.  The middle school students also laughed at a picture of Yu Gwan-sun, a teenager considered a martyr for being tortured and killed by the Japanese in 1920. 

[canuck22]

N-Word - definitely a no - go. Talk to your co-teachers in a meeting. Don't accept that as "kids being kids". Say, if they keep using it as a loosely based joke, they may grow older and say that to the wrong coloured waygook and get hurt for what they thought was a joke. and I am thinking of the military guys. Another thing is, I have a friend who told me that one of her students did a presentation using the N-Bomb, clearly not knowing what it mean. In the presentation, she said that she wanted to marry a "N-Bomb." People over here only know their own culture and don't know what is offensive. Bring enlightenment to them.

I use different coloured people in my pictures all the time. First a white person so they are reminded of English, multi cultured person next, black, latin, etc, then an asian with coloured people to show mingling and expansion. Subtle growth.

Girls in middle schools are beginning to show attraction to dark skinned people. It is very noticeable.

[Pyrexea]

I've not heard the kids say "nigger" in reference to a black person before.

My experience with is the Year 6 text book with Peter. The kids laugh at him on a regular basis, but I don't think it is because he is black (in this situation). His acting in the first few videos he is in is terrible (even by the standards of the children in the book), I even laughed at it later on. But the first time I saw them laugh at him I got all fired up and expressed my "disappointment" at them for acting that way. One of the more fluent children explained why he thought it was funny.

Whilst there is an aspect of that "black people are different and look funny" issue here it's not the only reason for a student to laugh at a person on the screen. However, it does need to be drilled into the students (and the culture) that it is not appropriate to tease/laugh at/make fun of someone based on their appearance.

[minx]

Yeah my students laugh as black people in pictures all the time...

mind you they laugh at all the pictures I put up of people, because I make sure I only choose funny pictures of people of all races so they are encouraged to laugh but its of all people rather than 1 race...

I even done this with a .gif of Asian people looking funny, perhaps this is a good way to prevent the racial stereotypes.......

Also my students called each other black and don't even know what natural hair and eye colours people can have so I'd recommend a little describing peoples faces exercise to teach them about various skin colour etc...

[JoannaB]

I think its really important to include pictures of people from different cultures, teach something aside from English and all that.....