Teaching Tolerance Releases The New Jim Crow Teacher’s Guide

As more attention is focused on race and mass incarceration in the United States, the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance project has released a guide to help educators use The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness in high school classrooms.

Teaching Tolerance will host a one-hour webinar with The New Jim Crow author Michelle Alexander on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CDT to introduce the guide – Teaching The New Jim Crow – which is available at no cost. Participants must register for the free webinar.

“Young people need to have a role in national discussions about race and racial justice,” said Maureen Costello, Teaching Tolerance director. “Participating in these discussions requires that students learn to talk about the relevant issues, which is what we hope to provide with this teacher’s guide.”

The guide, which was released this week, follows the arc of the book and equips teachers with the tools and strategies to distill for their students – step-by-step – Alexander’s sophisticated arguments and analysis of mass incarceration. At the core of most lessons is an abridged excerpt of a chapter from The New Jim Crow. 

“In many ways, this is a dream come true,” Alexander said.  “I have long hoped that a set of materials would be created that would support high school teachers who want to explore the myriad issues surrounding race and justice in our society, and who hope to use my book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, as a resource. I am thrilled that Teaching Tolerance has created The New Jim Crow curriculum, specifically designed for students in grades nine-12.”