Developer’s Name:
Oscar Koopman, Ph.D.
Audience:
Grades 10 – 12
Lesson Description:
Before the institutionalization of legal apartheid in South Africa in 1948 , District Six was one of the largest cosmopolitan communities in Cape Town. Approximately 60,000 people lived in District Six. The space is often remembered as an interracial community where Black, white, Coloured and Indian people were socially integrated and lived in harmony with each other. Swanson and Harries (2001, p. 80) describes the atmosphere and social experiences of the people in District Six through the memories of its ex-citizens as follows: ‘at times it was a place of violence, but mostly it was a place of love, tolerance and kindness’. The National Party came to power in 1948, and the Group Areas Act was legislated in 1950. This Act resulted in District Six becoming a ‘Whites Only’ neighborhood, leading to the exodus of approximately 60,000 Black and Coloured people being forcefully moved 20-50 km outside the city.
In this lesson, the students will dissect what happened during the forceful removals of the District Six community by focusing on the 5W’s -Who, What, Where, When, Why and the H – How of the event, and; what led to the event. Using their reflections from the 5W’s and H activity, they can expand their understanding of how the violation of people’s human rights can destroy not only the lives of the people that were forcefully removed, but also of the future generation to come.
The students can use this event of the forceful removals that took place in District Six to connect with how the Indigenous and Black people (e.g. Africville Nova Scotia) in Canada had their human rights violated when their land was taken away from them with the arrival of the Europeans.
Lesson Objectives:
World Studies
- Students can use the process of historical inquiry and the concepts of historical events when investigating aspects of world history since 1900
- Students investigate the forceful removals of District Six
Writing
- Use the 5W’s and the H as an investigative tool to combine the objective as well as the subjective dimensions of history when write about a topic
- Use the 5W’s and the H to provide a critical analysis on the topic of the forceful removals
Relevant Ontario Curriculum:
Writing
- Developing and Organizing Content: generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience;
- Using Knowledge of Form and Style: draft and revise their writing using a variety of literary, informational, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audience;
- Applying Knowledge of Conventions: use editing, proofreading, publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively;
- Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as writers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful at different stages in the writing process.
Relevant Ontario Curriculum Documents
- Ontario Ministry of Education. (2007). The Ontario Curriculum. Grades 9 and 10 English
Human Rights Instruments:
- Declaration of Universal Human Rights
Article 3 – Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of a person.Article 13 (1) – Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.Article 17 (1) and (2)- Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
- Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
Mobility rights – section 6(1) and 6(2)- Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.
- Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent
resident of Canada has the right:- to move to and take up residence in any province; and
- to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province.
- Human Rights in Education
- Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
- To value human dignity and develop individual self-respect and respect for others
- To promote respect, understanding and appreciation of diversity, particularly towards different national, ethnic, religious, linguistic and other minorities and communities
- To promote democracy, development, social justice, communal harmony, solidarity and friendship among people and nations
Resources:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Guide to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Government of Canada Guide
- South Africa under apartheid – City Vision University
- Classification and its Consequences
- Remembering District Six: Forced Removals, Demolition, and Apartheid Activism (9:12)
- Canada’s cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples (3:58)
- Cape Town District Six – Worlds of English (4/4) – The Open University (11:55)
- Swanson, F & Harries, J. (2001). ‘Ja! So was District Six! But it was a beautiful place’: Oral histories, memories and identity. In Field S (ed.). Lost Communities, Living Memories: Remembering Forced Removals in Cape Town. Cape Town: David Philip.
- Lesson Appendix
Lesson Plan Details by Stages of African Epistemology:
Activate
Real time in the classroom: 10 minutes
Links and Resources:
- Introduction: Apartheid in South Africa.
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- Open the links on apartheid in SA from City Vision University and Classification and its Consequences
- Talk about the long legacy and history of apartheid in South Africa and the devastating impact it had on peoples’ human rights, leading to the total destruction of many families and communities.
Activate
Real time in the classroom: 15 minutes
Links and Resources:
- Watch the videos on District Six: The end of their world and Cape Town District Six – Worlds of English
- Briefly explain the 5W’s and the H.
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- The YouTube video that that the students are about to watch focuses on the forceful removals that took place in District 6 in 1966, when District 6 was declared a ‘Whites Only’ neighbourhood.
- Allow students to fill in the 5W’s and the H as they watch the video.
Reflect
Real time in the classroom: 20 minutes
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- Divide the class into groups of 4 students per group, and allow them to discuss the impact of apartheid.
- Identify the struggles that the people of District Six went through. For example,
-
- What human rights were violated?
- How do they feel about the violations of these people’s rights?
- Do they think the people of District Six will ever get justice for what they were subjected to?
Connect
Real time in the classroom: 10 minutes
Links and Resources:
- Watch the video on forceful removal of the Indigenous people in Canada (3:58).
Instructions and Lesson Breakdown:
- Discuss in your group how the experiences of the Indigenous peoples in Canada resonates with the lived realities of the people in District Six. Focus on how human rights violations -such racial discrimination – influenced/shaped the spatial and economic stratification in both South Africa and Canada.
Do an investigation into the following question:
- Compensation for the ex-citizens (and their descendants) of District Six is not only about the restitution of land and houses, but it is also about the restoration of their human dignity, cultures and all other human rights that were violated. Use the events of what happened in District Six to write an essay on: What can be done to create better futures for the historically marginalized to empower them for better futures?