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When you think of high school geography classes, social justice issues usually aren’t the first thing to come to mind. For Kari Rise, however, social justice issues and geography are intrinsically linked. Kari is an IB geography teacher and Highland High School, and for the past 15 years her IB students have been conducting original fieldwork in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. But as with so many of us, COVID-19 forced Kari to find a new fieldwork project that could be done virtually. After the murder of George Floyd, dicussions with her students illuminated their desire to create change. That’s when she found Mapping Prejudice. Thrilled at the virtual opportunities and educator resources, Kari jumped at the chance to incorporate Mapping Prejudice’s project materials into her student’s fieldwork project. She believes that looking at Mapping Prejudice’s maps and looking at patterns of restrictive housing practices in South Minneapolis will help to highlight the pattern of racial unrest and inequality. Lastly, Kari believes the work Mapping Prejudice is doing is important at exposing “the invisible hand of systematic racism”, and starting conversation about poverty, wealth, and housing discrimination in the Twin Cities.
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