Introduction
When I heard the horrific news of what happened to George Floyd, I was outraged as so many others, thinking why and how does this continue to happen? Some said the protests and looting that followed was reminiscent of what was seen during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Again, it was a culmination of so many injustices that African-Americans were experiencing. It wasn’t just police brutality and killings. It was also inequitable education, access to adequate medical care, job opportunities and housing. Even years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we are still fighting for these rights to be equitable.
Where do we go from here? How do we help our children? I think about some of my students and my own child and worry about what freedoms they really have and what opportunities will exist for them because of it. First, I believe, we have to teach our children the history of what has happened as an example of what they can or shouldn’t do. We have to teach them what the government’s role is in protecting them and their role in enforcing that. This unit seeks to lay this foundation of understanding public policy and to teach students their role in this process.
Comments: