In the play we are given to following dictionary definition of prejudice:

“ Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.” Prejudice comes in many forms. Brainstorm examples of prejudice not based on race, ethnicity or culture. For example: “the earth is flat”, “all blondes are dumb”, “all professors are absent-minded”, “all doctors have bad hand-writing”.

Ask students to research aspects of Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. Also, ask students to write a fictional first-person short story based on the idea that their street or suburb has had a brick wall constructed around it and that they are treated like prisoners in their own neighbourhood. Their stories would be a personal reflection on imagined aspects such as curfews, work passes, segregation, separation from friends and relatives living in other suburbs, etc.

Get students to research aspects of the history of racism and apartheid in South Africa. For example: the biography of Nelson Mandela; the anti-Apartheid movements and protests that occurred throughout the world (including Australia); or the Truth and Reconciliation process instituted by the Mandela government. (Note: For senior students, the 2004 film, Red Dust, is a highly-charged and thought provoking dramatization of issues relating to apartheid set against the background of the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings.) Ask students to discuss the idea of forgiveness and healing rather than revenge in a context such as post-apartheid South Africa.

In 1869, the Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines was established. The Governor had the power to remove any child to a reformatory or industrial school, and to remove children from station families to be housed in dormitories. Later similar legislation is passed in other colonies: New South Wales (1883), Queensland (1897), Western Australia (1905) and South Australia (1911). The Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance makes the Chief Protector the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and 'half caste' person under 18. Boards are progressively empowered to remove children from their families. Get students to research and discuss issues around “the stolen generation” in a Western Australian context. (The film and/or book of Rabbit Proof Fence would be a good starting point.)

Ask students to research Cooroboree 2000 which took place in Sydney during Reconciliation Week in May 2000. Ask students to research the idea of treaties with Indigenous cultures in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.

Ask students to research the importance of land to aboriginal people discuss the implication of the claim of “terra nullius” in this context. Get students to write a short story, play or film script that imagines a scenario of dispossession in a futuristic, or science fiction context.

Here is the extract from the Australian Declaration towards Reconciliation used in the play:

We, the peoples of Australia, of many origins as we are, make a commitment to go on together in a spirit of reconciliation.

We value the unique status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the original owners and custodians of lands and waters.

We recognise this land and its waters were settled as colonies without treaty or consent.

Reaffirming the human rights of all Australians, we respect and recognise continuing customary laws, beliefs and traditions. One part of the nation aplogises and expresses its sorrow and sincere regret for the injustices of the past.

We desire a future where all Australians enjoy their rights, accept their responsibilities, and have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

And so, we pledge ourselves to stop injustice, overcome disadvantage, and respect that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have the right to self-determination within the life of the nation.

Our hope is for a united Australia that respects this land of ours, values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, and provides justice and equity for all.

Ask students to discuss issues relating to the above extract. Research the history of the movement towards reconciliation.

Public/government policy has been an important aspect of both the history of racism and, more recently, measures taken to end racism and discrimination.

Ask students to research aspects of the history of racist government policies in Australia, such as the denial of citizenship to Aboriginal people in the original Federal constitution, the Immigration Restriction Act (or “White Australia Policy”), the “dictation test”, the policy of assimilation for migrants, the WA Aborigines Act, quotas for European immigrants.

Also, as students to research government-sponsored or supported initiatives that have been intended to minimize racism and other forms of discrimination, such as: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Referendum on Aboriginal Rights, the establishment of the High Commissioner for Refugees, NAIDOC, the Racial Discrimination Act, the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Heritage Act, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the High Court Mabo and Wik Decisions. (Note there are many relevant on-line and printed resources available for students. One particularly useful website is: www.racismnoway.com.au).

Get students to research the brown eyes-blue eyes project. (There is a good deal on useful background to this project on the internet.) Classes may wish to try to simulate a version of the brown eyes-blue eyes role-play in class.