Hello everyone!
This post is aimed at students with an upper intermediate level of English (B1-B2 Level). I hope you are well.
If you have been keeping up with the recent news, you will have heard about George Floyd's tragic death in Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA) and the ensuing 'Black Lives Matter' protests that have been taking place all over the world. Unfortunately, racism continues to be a huge issue in today's modern society. Black people continue to face discrimination, greater levels of violence, verbal abuse and many other problems because of their background and the colour of their skin.
To quote Nelson Mandela, "education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world". Therefore, I strongly believe the best way to eradicate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia and any other type of discrimination is education.
Today's post is going to focus on racism and one of its main origins: slavery. We often try to skim over this very painful and shameful chapter of history, but it is vital that we learn from our history to avoid committing the same (or similar) mistakes.
I would like you to watch this fascinating TEDEd Video titled 'The Atlantic slave trade: What too few textbooks told you'.
Once you have watched this video, you can find some reading comprehension questions here, under the 'Think' tab : https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlantic-slave-trade-what-your-textbook-never-told-you-anthony-hazard#review
If you would like to engage further, you can read more about this topic in additional resources here, under the 'Dig Deeper' tab: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlantic-slave-trade-what-your-textbook-never-told-you-anthony-hazard#digdeeper
Racism is a complex and bitter problem that we must eradicate once and for all. The best way to avoid future problems is to educate our young generations about racism, its origins and its problem - which is hopefully something that you have partially learnt today.
Best wishes,
Carla