Name of activity: Race Pie Chart



Name of activity: Race Pie ChartAuthor’s name: Nick SolebelloTopic or learning outcome: Race; demographics; social constructions; media influencesTime required: 10-15 minutes; could take longer depending on what you want to talk aboutMaterials required: Nothing really; though I pass out index cards to each student at the beginning of every class, so they often draw them on the index card, but they could easily do it on a scrap piece of paper. None of this has to be handed in; it’s really free form and up to the instructor.Prep required: 5 minutes to look up the latest population numbers sorted by raceActivity outline:So there’s really not much to this, and you can adapt it any number of ways. Sometimes I plan this, other times it’s strictly off-the-cuff; it just depends on where class discussions go as the semester goes on. Typically, this activity happens in my classes either at the beginning of the semester when I talk about how sociology makes you question things you thought you already knew, or, when we start to discuss the broad topic of race. What it comes down to is this:Stop class and ask every student to draw a pie graph. Tell them not to talk to anybody else and don’t look at anybody else’s pie chart. Tell them this isn’t for a grade and while there is a right answer, you don’t expect them to know it. Tell them to draw a pie chart of the US population, based on race. In other words, ask them to tell you how big each of the following racial categories is as a percentage of the total population: 1) White, 2) Black/African-American, 3) Hispanic/Latino, 4) Asian/Other. They’re probably going to look at you funny, but just keep talking to them and explaining what you mean. Make sure to emphasize that they should make their best guess. Tell them to take it seriously, but try not to think about it too much. Just tell them to write what comes to mind. After everyone is done drawing their pie chart or simply listing the percentages (2 minutes), now it’s time to see how close everyone is. I strongly suggest making this next part fun—I usually start with the minority categories first—either black or Latino—and go from there. I write each category on the board and I ask a string of questions:Okay, by a show of hands, how many people said that Hispanics/Latinos make up 75% or more of the US population?No one’s hands should go up unless they’re messing with you, but I haven’t had any trouble with people not taking this seriously over the past 4 years. Okay, by a show of hands, how many people said that Hispanics/Latinos make up 50 to 74% of the US population?Again, no one should be raising their hands.Okay, by a show of hands, how many people said that Hispanics/Latinos make up 40 to 49% of the US population? You may actually start to get people raising their hands. Once people start raising their hands, start to keep track on the board. Again, if they seem shy about raising their hands, assure them that nobody (or everybody) will be embarrassed after this activity. Repeat for the rest of the categories until you get to zero:Okay, by a show of hands, how many people said that Hispanics/Latinos make up 30 to 39% of the US population? 20 to 29%? 15 to 19%? 10 to 14%? 5-9%? 0-5%?Again, keep a tally on the board.Don’t tell them the real answer yet. Do this for every racial category. Once you go through all the categories, sum everything up:Example: Okay, it seems like most of us think that Hispanics/Latinos make up about 30% of the population, black people are 25%, white people are 35%, and Asian/other make up 10% of the population.Now tell them the real answers: 2010 census—white = 66%; black = 13%; Hispanic/Latino = 16%; Asian/other = 5%Then use as much class time as you want to discuss why everyone was so far off the real numbers. What influences their perceptions/guesses? Talk about the pitfalls of relying on anecdotal experience to inform one’s opinion of complex social patterns. Talk about knowledge as a social construction. Talk about whatever comes up! ................
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