Lucretia F. Edlow
Throughout our country’s history, African Americans have struggled to obtain basic civil rights. This struggle has spanned several centuries, beginning with the mutinies of the Africans during the crossing of the Atlantic, to the rebelliousness of the slaves in the New World, to the founding of organizations such as the Free African Society, the abolition movement, and to the civil rights marches and demonstration of the twentieth century. The reconstruction era was bombarded by civil rights legislation, only to be followed by a prolonged legislation silence on racial discrimination. In addition the various laws enacted by Congress after the Civil War were negated by the Supreme Court decisions of 1883 and 1896. The justices’ decision of 1883 indicated that only the states were prohibited from discriminating, while the individuals were not. The second decision, Plessy vs. Ferguson, 1896 declared that separate but equal facilities fulfilled the requirements, and was not overturned until 1954.
In 1957, the Congress broke its long silence by setting up a law which established the Civil Rights Commission to investigate discrimination. This was in reaction to years of effort by the NAACP. Additionally a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice was established to investigate and prosecute violations of federal law and empowered the attorney general to bring suit against any person or civic body that denied anothers’ voting rights. It is at this point that the basis of the unit is spawned.
I have selected the enthusiastic, and sometimes volatile leaders of the early sixties and seventies to provide the basis of the unit. The students will learn about those people who were the doers and shakers of that generation. While learning about the leaders of this period, the students will be able to recognize sweeping legislation that helped to change the course of history for Blacks and a framework of the struggle for peace.
The catalyst of the civil rights movement of the 60’s was none other than Rosa Parks. When, on December 1, 1955, Ms. Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man, as was required by law, she was arrested and sent to jail. As a result of Ms. Parks’ arrest, the Montgomery bus boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was organized and successfully led to the integration of all Montgomery city buses. Students should be led to understand that the fate of Ms. Parks, an ordinary citizen, encouraged a wave of massive demonstrations that swept across the south. In 1960, a group of students were denied service at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC., and started a “sit in” movement. During this same year, The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was formed and its members included Julian Bond, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, and John B. Lewis.
Students will investigate what it was like to be a civil rights activist and will be given biographical information on those persons mentioned. Special emphasis will be placed on the early years in the educational and social pursuits of the activists.
At its height, the civil rights movement was the most important event taking place in America. Through demonstrations, sit-ins, marches and soaring rhetoric, the movement caused widespread public indignation, thus creating an atmosphere in which it was possible to make positive changes in American society.
Students will become familiar with additional key civil rights activists of the 60’s including Ralph Abernathy, whose alliance with Martin Luther King Jr., stretched back to the mid 1950’s. The family and community in which Ella Josephine Baker was raised instilled in her a sense of racial pride and resistance to any form of oppression. The class can be taught to use her example as an inspiration to set up their own student-run organization rather than be consumed under the auspices of a more conventionally structured group.
If there was one individual during the 1960’s who stood at the forefront of The Black Power movement, it had to be Stokely Carmichael. He became famous as the popularizer of the phrase “Black Power”, and was one of the most powerful and influential leaders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Teenagers will hopefully be fascinated by him as he was jolted from ghetto life and as a result of his experiences at the Bronx High School of Science, was offered scholarships to many universities. He opted to attend Howard University, an historically black college. He worked ceaselessly registering and educating voters in the south. His cry for “Black Power” thrilled many disenfranchised young African-Americans but troubled others who thought it sounded too violent.
Students will not get a true picture of the 60’s without mention of the Black Panther Party and the influence of Angela Davis. Her involvement in the Black Panther Party eventually led to her arrest, placement on the FBI’s most wanted list, and later acquittal.
Throughout the unit, students will be participating in activities to prepare them about the reality of being Black in America so they can rise up against the afflictions of racism, violence, sexism and know that they can make a difference. Too many children have never heard of Medgar Evers, who gave his life so that they could vote and sit where they want in public places. Additionally, it is sad that too many have not read or spoken the beautiful words of Nobel Peace Prize Winners Ralph Bunche or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well. The memory and image of Malcolm X, which has changed as much after his death as his own philosophies changed during his life, will be discussed and students will develop an understanding of the man that is contrary to popular belief. At first thought to be a violent fanatic, he is now understood to have been an advocate of self-help, self-defense and education; as a philosopher, he was successful in integrating history, religion. and mythology to establish a framework for his ultimate belief in world brotherhood and human justice. The class will develop a spirit of camaraderie with leaders who were ordinary youngsters who cultivated their faith and beliefs and eventually had a profound influence on people throughout the world as voices of power and reason.
