Use these discussion questions to get your youth to start talking. Make sure you allow for everyone’s input.
You may get a wide range of standards in the answers that are given, but do not rebuke the youths’ responses. Facilitate the discussion so that other youth can defend the “right” answers. If you try to ask the question and then tell them their answer is wrong, then they won’t answer any more questions. Help create an atmosphere where they can feel free to express their thoughts.
- How would you define racism? Do you believe it’s still a problem today?
- Do you see evidence of racism in your school or in your friends? Relatives? If so, in what way?
- Can racism be only white to black? Can it be black to white? Can it exist beyond that with other races? Give some examples.
- Why do other skin colors cause someone to feel threatened?
- How do you feel about racially mixed marriages? How do you believe God views them?
- God looks at us as individuals who need Him. Why can’t we do the same with others?
Close with this thought in your own words:
We are all created equal. However, we can easily be programmed to think about other races because of the environment in which we live. We must work through this in our own minds to be open towards other races. Experience with a few does not define an entire race.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.