Wing Chong Luke lived through bullying as a young Chinese American boy growing up in Seattle. In his own unique way, he dealt a peaceful blow to the bullies tormenting him daily. How? He made them respect him.
Many Asian and Pacific Islander children endure bullying and other forms of violence every day. Not all of them are able to find friends and teachers to stand up for them, and others feel powerless to take on a bully by themselves.
We are dedicating a weekly post on this site for the next year that addresses issues of bullying and violence, actions that students can take to create safe schools, and activities teachers can use to engage students. The museum recognizes that racial discrimination begins when individuals cannot connect as people. From bullying–to other forms of violence and hatred– to societal stereotypes and dehumanization– to policies and practices that overtly treat ethnic groups as second class.
In our Reading and Exploring section we will be continually posting suggested books and activities to challenge your students to explore their own biases, to think through what it means to really be accepting of themselves and others, and to see how children and teen characters persevere in staying true to themselves. Additionally, you will find activities in our Honoring Our Journey (upper grades) and Connecting with Our Histories (elementary) modules.
The Sikh Coalition actively addresses racial and religious bullying and violence directed toward Sikh Americans– on school, school district and national levels. Since the events of 9/11 Sikh children and adults have been targeted repeatedly with racial slurs, violence, and other forms of bigotry. The reports they produce and the stories they capture are quite moving. You may consider viewing some of these videos with your students. The image below links to an eye-opening info graphic. You might consider sharing this with older students. Teachers– This reading is for you and was also produced by the Sikh Coalition: go-home-terrorist.
