Racism in motion

Invisible racism Stereotypes and prejudices

Summary

Through a short theatre play, participants are invited to discuss and present their own understanding of racism.

Procedure

1. Divide participants in small groups of four to five people in a group. 2. Ask each group to briefly discuss what racism is according to them and to present it in a short theatrical scene (each scene should be up to two minutes). You can also give additional requirements, e.g. no talking in the scene. 3. Each group presents their scene. After each scene the other groups can ask clarifying questions or try to guess what was visualized, but do not allow discussions before all scenes are presented.

Debriefing questions

• How do you feel? • Were you surprised by something and if so, what? • What was common in all scenes? What was different? • Can racism be explained in other ways apart from what was showed in the scenes? If so, how? • The scenes usually show actions and motions. Can racism also take form of inaction and if so, how? • Were there aspects of racism we did not see in the scenes and if so, what are they? You can use the debriefing discussion to extract a definition of racism as a way of thinking that can take various manifestations: some more extreme and explicit, while others, at a first glance, more harmless. They, however, come from the same mindset: that some people are worth more than others.