This video features the voices of a diverse group of 12-year-olds from West Side Collaborative Middle School in New York City talking about their experiences with race, racial identity, and racism. The featured students speak about their backgrounds, families, experiences with discrimination and stereotyping, and the confusion, fears, anxieties, and racial injustices they face in their everyday lives. The video is part of a multimedia project called Being 12: The Year Everything Changes, produced by pubic radio station WNYC.

discussion

What stories of discrimination are described by these 12-year-olds? Have you ever experienced discrimination? What aspect or aspects of your identity was it based on? How did you react? How does that affect how you act now?

What kind of stereotypes and identity pressures are they describing having to negotiate? How are the racialized experiences they’re describing intertwined with stereotypes and assumptions about class?

One of the featured students talks about White privilege. What other kinds of privilege are there? How do these privileges overlap when considering multiple aspects of identity?

The group of young people in the clip are from diverse backgrounds and upbringings. Whose voices are missing? How do you think their experiences of race and discrimination differ from the kids in the video?

How are race, racism, and racial identity represented in this video? What do you think was edited out of the video?