Watch the below video of James Forman, leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and answer the following questions.
1. Who was George Wallace? (Look this one up!)
2. What role does Forman think the Federal government should take in helping the Civil Rights movement?
3. When he talks about knocking the legs off the table, what do you think he means by this?
Listen to the news report about the famous Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education and answer the following questions:
1. Who was the lawyer for Brown in this case?
2. How many states had legally segregated schools in 1952?
3. Of all the school segregation cases presented to the Supreme Court, which one seemed the least likely to be considered?
4. What did one Justice say was the (wrongful) basis of segregation?
5. What amendment did some Justices say segregation violated?
6. Why did Justice Fred Vincent have to die in order for segregation case have to be won in the Supreme Court?
As the 50th anniversary of the landmark school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education approaches, NPR presents a series of reports examining the monumental decision and its legacy. In a three-part series for All Things Considered, NPR’s Nina Totenberg looks behind the scenes at the Supreme Court deliberations that produced the 1954 unanimous ruling that struck down the nation’s “separate but equal” doctrine.
At the core of the Brown case, which included lawsuits against school boards in Topeka, Kan., and several other states, was the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling in which the Supreme Court said racial segregation in separate but equal facilities met the 14th Amendment’s demand for equal protection under the law.
After initial successes in challenging public universities that had excluded blacks from law schools, the NAACP in the early 1950s turned to desegregating primary and secondary education. Led by Thurgood Marshall — who later became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court — the civil rights organization brought its first test case to the high court. But when the case, from Clarendon County, S.C., reached the Supreme Court in 1952, the court sent it back to lower courts. Totenberg reports that the court’s move had political undertones because of that year’s elections.
The case came back to the high court in 1953 and was heard along with four others from Topeka, Kan., Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia. In September 1953, with the court seemingly split and oral arguments a month away, Chief Justice Fred Vinson died in his sleep. President Eisenhower nominated California Gov. Earl Warren to replace Vinson. It was under Warren’s leadership that the court came to a unanimous decision May 17, 1954: “We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
Post an interesting fact about the African-American artist you have selected for your speech on Thursday.
Also, check out this great vid of a Black dancer from Harlem who became popular in the 1920s for his amazing dances – Earl “Snake Hips” Tucker:
Watch the video below about some long time Chicagoans trip back to Mississippi. Answer the following question in the comments section:
1. What does one woman say about buses from then to now?
2. What is the blues song about?
3. Describe the difference in the pictures of Chicago and Mississippi.
4. From what you see in this video, why do you think the Great Migration is such an important moment in African-American history?
Watch the clip below about the rise and fall of the Jim Crow South. Answer the following questions in the comments section:
1. Where did the term “Jim Crow” come from and in what year was this?
2. Describe two images from this video that depict what Jim Crow meant in the American South.
3. Along with securing voting rights, what else did African Americans attempt to use to defeat Jim Crow?
4. Why do you think the clip ends on a positive note?
Watch the first four minutes of the below clip from the film The Birth of a Nation. The film is considered one of the most racist films ever produced in American history. Look for the ways in which the movie depicts African-Americans and answer the following questions in the comments section:
1. What state does this segment of the movie take place in?
2. What do you think the gentleman was drinking at his desk?
3. What does the speaker “rule” must be worn?
4. What are the white legislators referred to as?
5. Describe the music that plays when the bill passes allowing whites and blacks to marry.
6. How does this clip depict African American politicians overall?
The election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African-American president was a historical milestone. The groundwork for this event was laid by the election of African-Americans to public office during the period of Reconstruction.
Click on the link below to watch a video about some of the men who achieved this. Write ONE IMPORTANT FACT you learned from the video that is different than the person who posted before you.
The period of “Reconstruction” was a critical time for African-Americans. Watch this brief introductory video and answer the following questions in the comments section.
1. How many Americans were killed in the Civil War?
2. Who is being assassinated in the video?
3. What was the purpose of the Freedman’s Bureau?
4. What laws were passed that discriminated against African-Americans?
5. What racist group was created during Reconstruction?
6. Why do you think withdrawing the Federal troops allowed for more violence against Blacks to occur?
7. BONUS: What is wrong with the footage of Lincoln being assassinated?
Read the description of the connection between the American Civil War and the emancipation of African-Americans from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2967.html
Now answer the following questions in the comments section:
1. Why were Blacks not allowed in the North’s Army?
2. What branch of the military were African-Americans allowed in?
3. How were Blacks used by the South?
4. Explain the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation on the North and the South. (Use detail!)
Watch the video below about the Dred Scott case and do the following in the comments section:
1. Summarize the argument of Scott’s owner.
2. Give your opinion of his view.
