Lesson 3: Reaction to the Court's Ruling to Desegregate Public Schools
Part 1: Understanding people's actions and attitudes
Guiding Question: What were the reactions to desegregation?
Objectives: Students will research an historic event using primary and secondary sources.
Procedure:
I will begin this part of the lesson by showing the students a film about the Little Rock Nine, who were the first group of black students to be integrated into an all white public high school. The film is entitled The Ernest Green Story. I hope to inspire my students through the actions of these brave young people. At the end of the film we will discuss the challenges the students faced.
I will then provide a list of events that took place after Brown v. Board of Education that were to become part of the Civil Rights Movement. Each student will select an event or person and research that event/person. The students will follow a rubric and create a poster board which will be displayed for the class. The events I will describe to the students will be the following:
Ruby Bridges
Rosa Parks
Freedom Riders
Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
Marches
Voter Registration
Little Rock Nine
The Murder of Emmett Till
Montgomery Bus Boycott
James Meredith
Medgar Evers
Martin Luther King Jr.
Jesse Jackson
A. Philip Randolph
John Lewis
Four Little Girls
Fannie Lou Hamer
Voting Rights Bill
Black Power
Coretta Scott King
Malcolm X
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
The rubric will include the following elements:
- Brief description of person/event with important dates
- Photograph
- Give reason for event taking place/ Action taken by individual
- List the outcome of the event or action
- Describe why this event was significant
- Timeline of important dates surrounding event
- Researcher's name
Assessment: Student demonstrated written performance in the form of their poster board exhibiting their research findings. Student will give an oral presentation at the culmination of their research and this presentation may be conducted as a skit or by the student coming in costume as the person they researched.
Part 2: Eyes on the Prize
Guiding Question: What was the primary goal of the Civil Rights Movement?
Objective: Students will be able to identify the primary objectives of the Civil Rights Movement and understand their significance in history of the United States.
Procedure:
I will show the film Eyes on the Prize, which focuses on the struggles endured by the major players in the Civil Rights Movement. This film will tie together the students' independent research into a unified whole and make connections for them. The film may not be shown in its entirety because it is quite long.
Assessment: The final assessment following the viewing and discussion of this film will be an essay response to scenario below concerning desegregation.
Scenario: Imagine it is 1954 and the Supreme Court has just handed down the ruling on Brown v. Board of Education claiming that "separate but equal" is unconstitutional. The ruling mandates that all public schools desegregate. You live in a southern state. Your challenge is to define how you will respond as one of the following characters involved in desegregation.
Character A: Principal of the High School being integrated.
Problem: Parents have come to you with complaints that they feel violence will escalate at the school site. Other schools are using the Army National Guard (ANG) but you feel the presence of the Guard will send the wrong message to your students and create an environment of fear and intimidation. What do you do to insure the safety of the black students being integrated into your school?
Character B: African-American Student
Problem: You are just about to begin your sophomore year in high school and you have been asked if you want to attend an all-white high school with 8 other black students. The school you currently attend takes 45 minutes by bus to get to and the textbooks are used and out dated. The school itself has a lot of structural problems and is located in a bad neighborhood. The high school you could attend is ten minutes from your house and is very well equipped with up-to-date school materials. What do you decide to do? Do you decide to attend the all-white high school?
Character C: White Student already attending the high school that is being desegregated.
Problem: A friend of the family is one of the students about to integrate into your high school. You have known this person since you were little because his/her mother was your babysitter since you were young and the two of you played together. You always spent time around the house but you did not socialize outside the house. Now your friend is attending your school and will need a friend to help him/her adjust and get around. Your other friends have made discriminatory comments about the new students that are part of the desegregation. You want to help your friend, but you are afraid that your other friends will harass you and perhaps your friend too. What do you do?
Character D: Governor of the State
Problem: You have just received news that the Supreme Court ruling came down and mandated that all states take immediate action towards desegregation or face being in violation of federal law. However, you hear that your neighboring states are not taking any steps toward desegregation. They are waiting for the government to force them to do something. You took an oath of office to defend your state constitution as well as abide by the U.S. Constitution. The cities in your state are divided and you have some mayors supporting desegregation and a few who staunchly oppose it. How do you go about desegregating the schools in your state? (Note: Creating a timeline for your implementation might help you answer this question).
Character E: Superintendent of Public Schools
Problem: White parents are threatening not to send their children to school if you go forward with the desegregation. They feel that the quality of their child's education will be diminished if segregation occurs. They are writing letters of complaint to the State Department of Education. Many parents are starting to develop plans to home school students and create their own private schools. How do you deal with these parents and what do you?
Character F: Concerned Citizen
Problem: The all-white public high school you graduated from is closing because of low enrollment. All your neighbors, who have school-aged students, have begun home schooling their children because they feel this is a better option than desegregation. You do not have the same convictions and you feel all children should have equal opportunities for education. You believe other schools will be closing soon as fearful whites follow the trend set by parents in your neighborhood. What do you do to help keep the public schools open?
Character G: Teacher
Problem: Your principal has informed the staff that five teachers from the school need to volunteer to go teach at the all white school that is currently being integrated. The principal believes this with make it easier for the black students to integrate and feel more comfortable in their new setting. You are very close to your students and you have had good relationships with them. You know your presence will make a difference but you love your current work location. What do you do?
Directions: You are to select one of the characters described above and respond to the questions surrounding the problem in which they are engaged. Please describe your response in detail. You may refer to your notes or any written materials that we have utilized throughout the course of the unit. Please write your response in first person.
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