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Students Challenged to Take a Stand Against Racism

A new program has been launched by a Canadian-based organization to assist schools and encourage students to embrace diversity. The goal is to help students move beyond tolerance to acceptance, understanding and celebration of racial and cultural differences. Most people, especially educators and government leaders recognize the existence of intercultural tensions in schools. This program offers tools that help students and organizations take specific actions to ease those tensions through personal expression by wearing colorful bracelets that state the wearers' convictions.

The results of several studies by Francis E. Aboud and Virginia Fenwick at McGill University in Montreal were published in the Journal of Social Issues (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00146) in 1999. Their research results "...support the assumption that talking about race and racial attitudes in classrooms can reduce prejudice under certain conditions, and that peers may be valuable sources of influence in this dialogue."

"Sometimes, social change on major issues requires small steps," says Sam Massad, a partner in SayNoToRacism.org. "Many groups and citizens have spent much effort to ease strained intercultural relations and foster more positive interactions among diverse groups in educational settings. We are attempting to provide tools to help with those efforts at the individual student level."

Another goal of the campaign is to stimulate conversations and intellectual curiosity on topics of anti-prejudicial thinking. This includes listening to other points of view, responding to what is said, and a willingness to be open-minded, objective, and flexible in one's beliefs. "We believe students will take personal pride in participating in this campaign," continues Massad.

The Say No To Racism campaign has information on the organization's website at http://www.saynotoracism.org School officials or student councils can order bracelets directly from the website, or contact the organization for more information. Each original bracelet is printed with "Say No To Racism," the website address, and a unique serial number to reinforce the importance of each voice. A portion of the proceeds from bracelet sales will be contributed back to the schools.

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