I feel that it is important to include an extensive timeline to in order to give the teacher a greater understanding of all the significant events that lead to equality. One must comprehend the enormous suffering that occurred on the part of African Americans from the early 1600's through the mid-twentieth century. It is also important to note that this battle was also fought between southern whites and northern whites on the ground and in the federal courts. Teachers can choose which events would be appropriate for discussion at different grade levels. In addition, teachers are free to choose which historical individuals to focus on during their study of this unit.
On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis took the oath of office to become President of the Confederate States of America at the Capital Building of Montgomery, Alabama. President Davis led the Confederate States during the Civil War which was fought over slavery and states' rights. President Davis declared that people had the right to own slaves. It is ironic that at the same place where Davis proclaimed the right to slavery, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed the right for equality for people, regardless of race, in 1965. Montgomery played an important role in 1861 as the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and in 1965 as the cradle of the modern civil rights movement. (Wade, 1991)
Slavery, in what is now the United States of America, began in the early 1600's when Africans were brought to America against their will and sold as slaves. Slaves were treated cruelly. A sense of family was discouraged as children and spouses were sold to other people without regard for family units. Slaves were not educated and punished if they tried to learn to read. Also, if a slave should try to escape, he or she could be killed. Some slaves escaped successfully and returned to help others escape. Harriet Tubman was one such person.
In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped slavery utilizing the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a system of hiding places that was run by escaped slaves and white supporters. These hiding places led north to freedom. Harriet Tubman made 19 return trips to the south and helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom. She was never caught and she never lost a slave. During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman joined the northern army as a nurse and a scout. After the war, she assisted black people in many ways such as helping to build schools for them.
There were many black individuals who escaped slavery and helped to better the lives of black people. Frederick Douglass, after fleeing a cruel master, learned to read and write with the help of a sympathetic white woman. In 1838, he escaped to the North, utilizing his talents to help with the fight for black people's rights. Sojourner Truth, a freed slave, became one of the best known speakers of this time, promoting the abolition of slavery in 1843. W.E.B. Dubois became the first black man to graduate from Harvard University with a Ph.D. degree in 1895. He wrote extensively about the discrimination against black people. In 1910, he founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The road to equality began with the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in 1861. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed some slaves who later fought and died during the Civil War. In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution outlawed slavery. In 1866, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution protected the rights of freed slaves. In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution gave the right to vote to black people. Though the road to equality seemed to be going in the right direction, the road did get bumpy with formidable obstacles.
White people in the south did not agree with these laws. After the war, a group of Confederate Army veterans formed a controversial group known as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Their goal was white supremacy. The KKK used terrorist violence to intimidate and/or murder black people and white sympathizers. Between 1882 through 1901, almost 2,000 blacks were lynched. States passed separatist laws, the Jim Crow Laws, requiring separate facilities (restrooms, water fountains, restaurants, schools, waiting rooms, swimming pools, libraries, and bus seats) for blacks and whites. The Supreme Court was not yet ready to proclaim equal rights for all. In 1896, they ruled that separate facilities were fine as long as they were equal. However, that was not the case in the South.
A former slave named George Henry White became the only black U.S. Congressman in the early 1900's. He spoke out against racism and sponsored anti-lynching legislation. He encouraged Congress to enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th Constitutional Amendments. However, much time passed before equality was truly realized in the South. During the 1920's, white supremacist organizations such as the KKK became more prevalent and violent. For example, the KKK membership grew to two million individuals, which included members who held important government jobs.
The lives of black people began to improve with the election of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. He introduced the New Deal which provided jobs and welfare to both blacks and whites. This reform program helped the United States recover from economic disaster known as the Great Depression during the 1930's. In addition, a known black labor leader, A. Phillip Randolph, convinced President Roosevelt to end racial bias in all defense industries, thereby increasing job opportunities for black citizens.
After World War II, black soldiers had an increased understanding of racial oppression after witnessing the atrocities of the Nazi party in Germany. They compared the situation of the Jews to their own. The black soldiers returned to the United States with a loud voice against racial discrimination. As a result of their pressure, President Roosevelt ended segregation within the armed forces in 1945.
In 1942, black Americans formed a group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Members of this group subscribed to nonviolent ways to encourage equal rights. They were greatly influenced by the peaceful teachings of Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian leader. Civil rights groups such as CORE and NAACP were able to overcome some of the bumps in the road to equality. However the major hurdles would be overcome in the federal court system.
In the 1950's, NAACP lawyers began to prepare a case to end segregation in our public schools in order comply with the Constitution. During this time, black children had to travel long distances to attend a black school that did not have the same resources and their white counterparts. These black schools were usually run-down, lacking the educational equipment that the white schools had. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation in the famous
Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
The Chief Justice read the decision, "To separate black children solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way very unlikely ever to be undone…Separate educational facilities are…unequal."(Ward, 1991)
An interesting point is that the request for including black children in the common schools was first made in Massachusetts on October 17, 1787. The parents of black children made this request in a letter addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of the Massachusetts Bay. This petition was raised again by Benjamin Roberts in Roberts v. City of Boston as argued by abolitionist attorney Charles Sumner. Benjamin Roberts wanted his five year old daughter to attend the school closest to his home, a white school. Sumner's fundamental argument was the same argument used in the Brown v. Board of Education. The constitution guaranteed the equality of men before the law. Because black children were denied access to white schools, the black and white children were not equal before the law.
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabaman, a tired, hard working, African American woman named Rosa Parks was told to give up her seat on the bus for a white man. She refused. Rosa was arrested and jailed for her civil disobedience, breaking the Segregation Laws. She had to pay a fourteen dollar fine. African Americans were outraged at the arrest of Rosa Parks. They decided to boycott the use of buses until all people could sit wherever they wanted on the bus. This boycott, which lasted 381 days, hurt the bus company financially. (This peaceful demonstration against segregation also introduced Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the nation as a Civil Rights Advocate.) This controversy went to the Supreme Court with a ruling that bus segregation violated the Constitution of the United States on December 21, 1956.
While the bus boycott was difficult, requiring sacrifices on the part of Black Americans, desegregating schools was much worse. In September 1957, President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to enforce school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas. These troops were needed to protect nine black students entering high school. In November 1960, four black first-grade girls were integrated into two public schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ruby Bridges is one of these girls. Alone, she attended the first grade in William Frantz Elementary School under armed guard provided by the U.S. Marshalls. She endured countless threats as a 6 year old attending school. She spent her time in a classroom, the lone student of Mrs. Henry. Ruby recalls that she never knew that there were other children in the building. The few white children that still attended the elementary school were kept away from her for most of the year. Mrs. Henry finally challenged this isolation with the principal and won her case. The white children were allowed to enter Ruby's class daily for short periods of time. Ruby Bridges' bravery was noted in the writings of John Steinbeck and Robert Coles, the artwork of Norman Rockwell, and the documentary,
Eyes on the Prize
.In 1962, President John Kennedy sent federal troops to protect James Meredith when he became the first black student to attend the University of Mississippi.
Many civil rights activists realized that in order to make progress, their cause must continue to be highlighted to the public in a peaceful way. In February 1960, four black college students sat in at a "whites only" lunch counter at Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina. Four students grew to 400 students, blacks and some whites, who took turns sitting at the lunch counter in quiet protest to segregation. These sit-ins caught the attention of other young southerners. Soon, sit-ins were staged in more that 100 cities in the south. Approximately 70,000 people participated in the sit-ins with 3,600 having been arrested. In the Deep South, many of the participants were beaten and terrorized. Despite the violence, the participants continued their non-violent ways. Freedom Riders came on the scene to test the bus desegregation laws. In May 1961, they were attacked in Alabama. The federal government had to intervene and reorder the desegregation of bus terminals.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. played an important role in the desegregation of Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King led peaceful protests and boycotts in Birmingham. At one point he was arrested and placed in jail while leading a boycott. Violence grew in Birmingham leading to President Kennedy's decision to send federal mediators to resolve disagreements. Despite the increase in violence against blacks and their decision to fight back in violence, Dr. King continued to walk through Birmingham encouraging peaceful responses. Ultimately the federal government's decision to end discrimination would not be swayed. Agreements were made to end the segregation of blacks and whites in Birmingham.
One month after resolving the conflict in Birmingham, in June 1963, President Kennedy introduced a civil rights bill to Congress. In August, 250,000 blacks and whites marched on Washington D.C. to support the civil rights bill. At this event, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous "I have a dream" speech. Support for this bill continued to grow despite two tragic events: the bombing of a church in Birmingham that killed four black students and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The following summer, Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act ordered all businesses to serve all people regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin. Discrimination in the workplace was outlawed and an agency was put place to enforce fair work practices in all businesses. The act placed a measure of consequences by stating that any place or activity that continued to practice racial discrimination would not receive any federal funds.
Despite the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, voting rights for black Americans were a problem. Many were intimidated or harassed when trying to register to vote. That summer, 1,000 college volunteers traveled to Mississippi to help register black Americans for the vote. This was known as Freedom Summer. They were met with violence. Three civil rights activists were kidnapped and murdered. Eighty civil rights activists were beaten and over 1,000 were arrested. Thirty-seven black churches were burned and thirty homes were bombed. On January 22, 1965, Dr. Reese, a black teacher, led a group of black teachers on a march to the Dallas County Courthouse. They were turned away. While they were not able to register to vote, this small march paved the way for a much larger march.
Black leaders began to plan for a 50 mile march from Selma to Montgomery. On Sunday, March 7, 1965, 600 marchers began the long walk to Montgomery singing "We Shall Overcome". As they reached the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met with resistance from Sheriff Jim Clark and his troopers. The troopers attacked the marchers, man and woman alike. More than 50 people were admitted to a local hospital. This date became known as Bloody Sunday. In the 80's, the rock band U2 published a song, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" that commemorated the needless bloodshed of this date. Dr. King heard the news and arrived to help. He promised to lead a march from Selma to Montgomery. His first attempt met with failure, although there was no bloodshed. At the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Dr. King and the marchers were met by troops and ordered to return. After praying, the marchers returned to their church. Their next attempt, two weeks after Bloody Sunday met with success. In order to ensure the safety of the 8,000 marchers, President Johnson signed an order to federalize nearly 1900 men of the Alabama National Guard. In addition he authorized 2000 army troops to protect the marchers. The march took five days but they reached Montgomery with few incidents of violence.
President Johnson recognized the need to end racial injustice. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the president signed it into law. This law allows many African Americans to fully participate in the electoral process at the municipal, state, and federal level. They now have opportunities to influence the political process with their votes. At the present we continue to ensure equal rights for all people no matter their race, sex, or culture of origin.
In summary, this unit teaches the Road to Equality for African Americans using authentic literature and CMT comprehension strands. This unit is intended for second and third graders but can easily be adapted for other grades. In addition, there are many opportunities for differentiated instruction that challenge those students that are above grade level and meet the needs of those students that are below grade level.