Prior to Tuesday’s input and engaging with the materials on MyDundee, I had a rough idea of race, ethnicity, prejudice and discrimination, with my main understanding including the idea of people belonging to some sort of group, or being confined to some sort of group.

I perceived initially that race was something to do with a person or groups origin and heritage, ethnicity is something to do with culture, and prejudice and discrimination as a single person or group of peoples pre-conceived and strong opinion which singles out a certain grouping of people, making a distinction between people.

I understand that there has always been racism and discrimination towards certain groups in society, and through knowledge gained through school and media, that it was still a problem today.

However, it soon became apparent to me that racism today is just as big a problem, that has been carried through history. I thought it was interesting and thought provoking that to learn about how racism and the perceptions people have has changed throughout history, and how even though certain landmarks in history (such as Emmet Till) made me disgusted and feel relieved I wasn’t ailve at that time, it became apparent that discrimination and racism is still just as relevant today.

It was interesting to see how racism and discrimination happens today, and that even though it may not be as brutal as some events in history, it is still as much as an issue, possibly even still as prominent because of the significance of social media. Especially the section on the recent events in the USA and the many recent articles on Padlet, made me consider the extent in which racism is still happening today, and it is not a thing of the past.

After the input, reading and watching the content on MyDundee and engaging with Derek’s Padlet, it became apparent to me how large the issue of racism is and made me consider, going into the teaching profession, how I can create awareness and discussion about racism in the classroom, emphasising how someones race and ethnicity doesn’t change the person they are and highlighting how people shouldn’t be confined to the group society puts them in, which unfortunately happens as a result of discrimination, prejudice and racism.