In their article, #Ferguson, Bonilla and Rosa argue that social media can positively influence racial politics in the world.

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS:

• In their article, #Ferguson, Bonilla and Rosa argue that social media can positively influence racial politics in the world. They suggest that something as simple as linking your profile picture to a hashtag can become an act of solidarity that seeks to humanize the victims of, for example, police brutality by suggesting that a similar fate could happen to you or someone you know. 
• In this assignment, make an argument for why or why not social media can be an effective way to change the way we think about race and racism. 

Steps to Take for Completing the Assignment:

• Begin by taking a look at our Padlet Board on Racism
  • Reflect on the impact of this visual representation of race and racism. What patterns do you see? What experiences and stories do you see? How does it make think about race?
• Next, review our lectures on culture and race, paying specific attention to how we have normalized race and how this has created an implicit bias in the way we see people
  • Consider our discussions on the Social Brain Hypothesis
  • Coalitions (ex. the race experiment on Oprah)
  • The power of symbols
  • Using cultural relativism rather than ethnocentrism
• Next, review the article by Bonilla and Rosa: Bonilla, #Ferguson.pdf Download Bonilla, #Ferguson.pdf
  • Consider how social media creates symbols and visual representations of race and how we see people
• Next, review chapter 9 on race and ethnicity (Links to an external site.) of the online textbook
• Lastly, putting all of these pieces together make an argument for why or why not social media can be an effective way to change the way we think about race and racism.