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Civil Rights: Laws or Morality by Anne Fiedler, PhD ClassroomActivities Lesson Plan Many students are aware that there are laws that protect people living in the United States against discrimination. They are often unaware, however, of what types of groups are protected or what they, themselves, should to if they experience discrimination. Also, students often naively believe that discrimination no longer exists. Below are some activities, and a case study, designed to help students think a little deeper about what discrimination means and where it still exists in our society. These activities will help students understand how the law protects them and why it is up to them to be socially responsible in dealing with different kinds of people in our increasingly diverse society. The activities are designed for high school students in a social studies, American history, or government class. Activity #1: Have You Ever Experienced Discrimination? Explain the concepts of the Civil Rights movement and describe the Civil Rights Law of 1964 (especially Title VII) to your students. Ask the students if they believe that discrimination still exists. Discuss whether or not discrimination exists in your school. Ask the students to write a short paper describing a time when they felt that they experienced prejudice or discrimination, or when they discriminated against someone else. They could also write about a time when they witnessed discrimination. Activity #2: The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission) Explain the origin, purpose, and importance of the EEOC (see Background for Classroom Activities) to the students. Then, print copies of the following directions for the activity and distribute to the students: 1. Go online to the website at www.eeoc.gov. 2. Choose Statistics on the left. Click on EEOC Enforcement Statistics and Litigation 3. Click on one of the discrimination charges (for example, Equal Pay Charges). Print out this page. 4. Return to the Homepage and click on Laws, Regulations, and Policy Guidance. Click on Laws Enforced by the EEOC. Find the law that applies to the charges that you selected and briefly summarize the part that applies to your charges. 5. Next, look at the page that you printed out. Make a chart listing the trends over the last 10 years regarding charges filed and the results. 6. Finally, attach the charge sheet that you printed to the back of your activity research. TEACHER PROMPT: If this is used as a homework assignment, it can be the basis for an interesting discussion during the next class. Students will find that while the number of filings for certain types of discrimination such as Equal Pay have decreased, others, such as religious based discrimination, have increased. Discuss why the students think this has happened, even the legislation was passed long before they were born. Activity #3: Why was Mohammed Hussein Fired? Summarize (or print copies for each student) the following story of the EEOC v. Trans States Airlines: EEOC v. Trans States Airlines* Mohammed Shanif Hussein is of Indian descent. He was raised as a Muslim in Fiji and moved to the United States in 1997. Hussein was hired by TSA as a pilot on February 26, 2001. On September 13, 2001, Hussein returned to TSA's headquarters in St. Louis after commercial air travel was suspended as a result of the September 11 attacks. TSA Vice President, Captain Daniel Reed, claimed that he received an anonymous call reporting Hussein drinking in a bar while in uniform (a violation of company policy) between September 14 and September 17, 2001. The anonymous caller reported that he saw Hussein raise his beer "as in a salute and took a swig" when the images of the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers were being replayed in the news. The caller reported that Hussein's behavior "seemed to be intimidating passengers" by telling passengers he was flying a plane the next day. Hussein denied the accusations, and stated that he was smiling because he had just learned of his wife's pregnancy. The caller took it upon himself to follow Hussein to his hotel and ask the hotel staff about Hussein's identity. He reported Hussein's conduct to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and TSA. Shortly thereafter, TSA Vice President Reed fired Hussein without further investigation. Reed said he fired Hussein within an hour after receiving the anonymous call after he confirmed that Hussein was in St. Louis. Reed later tried to explain that he fired Hussein after he received a call from the FBI asking if Hussein was a TSA employee, because he felt the anonymous call, in addition to the FBI inquiry, was sufficient information to fire Hussein. However, the EEOC raised several facts disputing whether Reed fired Hussein one hour after receiving the initial anonymous call, or after receiving the FBI phone call, which occurred several days after the initial anonymous call. The EEOC filed a complaint on behalf of Hussein against TSA with the U.S, District court for the Eastern District of Missouri. \|* Source: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Court caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/052009P.pdf Use this case as the basis for a classroom discussion about the shift in prejudice against a given group based on a change in the environment, or an historical event. Conduct a classroom discussion addressing the following questions: 1. If you were Hussein's supervisor, Daniel Reed, what would you have done? 2. Did you believe the caller would have behaved in the same way if he had observed the same action by a white anglo pilot? By a Hispanic? By an African American pilot named Mohammed? 3. Do you believe that firing Hussein was discriminatory? TEACHER PROMPT: This case shows how a person's actions can be interpreted based on his or her name or ethnic origin. Use this case to discuss the fact that no matter what the law says, perceptions of prejudice and discrimination will be impacted by environmental/historical factors. The district court granted summary judgment, holding the EEOC did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate the reasons TSA gave for firing Hussein were a pretext for discrimination. Ask the students if they agree with this finding.

Civil Rights: Laws or Morality

by Anne Fiedler, PhD

ClassroomActivities

Many students are aware that there are laws that protect people living in the United States against discrimination. They are often unaware, however, of what types of groups are protected or what they, themselves, should to if they experience discrimination. Also, students often naively believe that discrimination no longer exists. Below are some activities, and a case study, designed to help students think a little deeper about what discrimination means and where it still exists in our society. These activities will help students understand how the law protects them and why it is up to them to be socially responsible in dealing with different kinds of people in our increasingly diverse society.

The activities are designed for high school students in a social studies, American history, or government class.

Activity #1: Have You Ever Experienced Discrimination?

Explain the concepts of the Civil Rights movement and describe the Civil Rights Law of 1964 (especially Title VII) to your students. Ask the students if they believe that discrimination still exists. Discuss whether or not discrimination exists in your school.

Ask the students to write a short paper describing a time when they felt that they experienced prejudice or discrimination, or when they discriminated against someone else. They could also write about a time when they witnessed discrimination.

Activity #2: The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission)

Explain the origin, purpose, and importance of the EEOC (see Background for Classroom Activities) to the students. Then, print copies of the following directions for the activity and distribute to the students:

1. Go online to the website at www.eeoc.gov.
2. Choose Statistics on the left. Click on EEOC Enforcement Statistics and Litigation
3. Click on one of the discrimination charges (for example, Equal Pay Charges). Print out this page.
4. Return to the Homepage and click on Laws, Regulations, and Policy Guidance. Click on Laws Enforced by the EEOC. Find the law that applies to the charges that you selected and briefly summarize the part that applies to your charges.
5. Next, look at the page that you printed out. Make a chart listing the trends over the last 10 years regarding charges filed and the results.
6. Finally, attach the charge sheet that you printed to the back of your activity research.

TEACHER PROMPT: If this is used as a homework assignment, it can be the basis for an interesting discussion during the next class. Students will find that while the number of filings for certain types of discrimination such as Equal Pay have decreased, others, such as religious based discrimination, have increased. Discuss why the students think this has happened, even the legislation was passed long before they were born.

Activity #3: Why was Mohammed Hussein Fired?

Summarize (or print copies for each student) the following story of the EEOC v. Trans States Airlines:

EEOC v. Trans States Airlines*

Mohammed Shanif Hussein is of Indian descent. He was raised as a Muslim in Fiji and moved to the United States in 1997. Hussein was hired by TSA as a pilot on February 26, 2001. On September 13, 2001, Hussein returned to TSA's headquarters in St. Louis after commercial air travel was suspended as a result of the September 11 attacks. TSA Vice President, Captain Daniel Reed, claimed that he received an anonymous call reporting Hussein drinking in a bar while in uniform (a violation of company policy) between September 14 and September 17, 2001.

The anonymous caller reported that he saw Hussein raise his beer "as in a salute and took a swig" when the images of the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers were being replayed in the news. The caller reported that Hussein's behavior "seemed to be intimidating passengers" by telling passengers he was flying a plane the next day. Hussein denied the accusations, and stated that he was smiling because he had just learned of his wife's pregnancy. The caller took it upon himself to follow Hussein to his hotel and ask the hotel staff about Hussein's identity. He reported Hussein's conduct to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and TSA.

Shortly thereafter, TSA Vice President Reed fired Hussein without further investigation. Reed said he fired Hussein within an hour after receiving the anonymous call after he confirmed that Hussein was in St. Louis. Reed later tried to explain that he fired Hussein after he received a call from the FBI asking if Hussein was a TSA employee, because he felt the anonymous call, in addition to the FBI inquiry, was sufficient information to fire Hussein. However, the EEOC raised several facts disputing whether Reed fired Hussein one hour after receiving the initial anonymous call, or after receiving the FBI phone call, which occurred several days after the initial anonymous call.

The EEOC filed a complaint on behalf of Hussein against TSA with the U.S, District court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

|* Source: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Court
caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/052009P.pdf

Use this case as the basis for a classroom discussion about the shift in prejudice against a given group based on a change in the environment, or an historical event. Conduct a classroom discussion addressing the following questions:

1. If you were Hussein's supervisor, Daniel Reed, what would you have done?
2. Did you believe the caller would have behaved in the same way if he had observed the same action by a white anglo pilot? By a Hispanic? By an African American pilot named Mohammed?
3. Do you believe that firing Hussein was discriminatory?

TEACHER PROMPT: This case shows how a person's actions can be interpreted based on his or her name or ethnic origin. Use this case to discuss the fact that no matter what the law says, perceptions of prejudice and discrimination will be impacted by environmental/historical factors.

The district court granted summary judgment, holding the EEOC did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate the reasons TSA gave for firing Hussein were a pretext for discrimination. Ask the students if they agree with this finding.