Teaching the Civil Rights Movement

Reflection on Teaching Social Studies in Mississippi

            My opinion on the new requirement of teaching the Civil Rights Movement to all Mississippi students at least one semester is that it is a long awaited and much needed requirement. I think that the students today are in need of knowing about the difficulties that American’s have had to overcome or are overcoming. Our freedom and the freedom of all people, not just in America, but the world is a fundamental right in which our country is founded upon and in which our Constitution is built.

            How can our future adults be able to cope with the ever changing world in which we live in if they do not know the past or the way other people live? A great many of our students know nothing of communities, the laws governing the communities or other ways in which people live, govern, and believe. This failure to the students has handicapped them when it comes to global education. There are students in other countries who know more about the Civil Rights Movement then our own citizens do. The fact of the matter is there are countries who have been inspired to copy the U. S. and the movement that brought about this change.

            The civil rights movement is at the center of our countries history, especially for the last fifty years. So many of our students do not know what a difficult time this was and what actually went on before equal rights.  The mere fact that hundreds of people have lost their lives and so many more went through hardships and personal loss in order to bring equality to all races and genders is in itself a reason to include this subject. What a sad legacy we will leave to the next generation if we do not correct this omission. It will be one of ignorance and apathy about an important issue. The students of Mississippi will greatly benefit from the teaching of this issue. So much of Mississippi History has to do with integration and the process it involves.

An example of why this is important to me is one of my own. The library at the Elementary School in Bruce is a memorial to the once all black school. Hanging from the ceiling around the library are the graduation class pictures of the school dating up to integration. During one of my class periods, one little black student was looking at the pictures and asked my why there were not any white people in the pictures. I explained to him that at that time the white and black students went to different schools. We discussed this for a while and then he just said “uhh ok.” That was the response! Ok! I sat there and thought about how important this issue was and is and that this little child was not even interested in the fact that there used to be segregated schools. On one hand I felt that this was good in that the student could not imagine a school where black and white children did not attend together, yet on the other hand I was sad at the fact that Dr. King’s dream was being accomplished and this child did not know the history of the integration.

By insisting that the Civil Rights Movement be taught in our public schools the state is trying to correct the last few years of neglecting this issue. I think  that by educating our young people  about the past and segregation we can not only  teach them about an important event in  America’s past, but we  can try to make sure that it never happens again to any race or religion.

           

           

Freedom songs

Civil rights would have been won without the participation of blues, gospel, and folk singers and songwriters, but the participation of musicians and the effectiveness of sing-alongs certainly helped an incredible amount.

The songs on this list don't even begin to capture the hundreds of tunes that have been written about civil rights in America (and around the world), but if you're looking to learn more about music during the civil rights movement, this is a good primer for your journey. Some of these songs were adapted from old hymns. Others were originals. All of them have helped inspire millions.

1. "We Shall Overcome"

© Sony 1963

When "We Shall Overcome" (purchase/download) first came to the Highlander Folk School via the Food and Tobacco Workers Union in 1946, it was a spiritual titled "I'll Be Alright Someday." HFS Cultural Director Zilphia Horton - along with those workers - adapted it to the struggles of the labor movement at the time, and began using the new version - "We Will Overcome" - at every meeting. She taught it to Pete Seeger the following year. He changed the "will" to "shall" and took it around the world. It became considered the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, though, when Guy Carawan got folks singing it at a rally in South Carolina. It's since been sung around the world.

Deep in my heart, I do believe / We shall overcome some day

Purchase/DownloadRead Review

Sponsored Links

Full-Text Online LibraryRead full books, journals, articles & more with a Free Trial at Questiawww.Questia.com/FreeTrial

Peace Songs-Downloads/CDsAward-Winning Activist Music. "Inspiring, Gutsy & Rockin'!"EmmasRevolution.com

Top 20 Video CountdownVote for Katy Perry on VH1's Top 20 Countdown & Watch Videos.top20.vh1.com

2. "When Will We Be Paid For the Work We've Done?"

© Stax

This Staple Singers classic brings to light the entirety of African-American history until that point, including slavery, the construction of the railroads, and highways, and demands payment and reparations for the horrors and exploitation of the working class African Americans.

"We fought in your wars ... to keep this country free for women, children, man ... When will we be paid for the work we've done?"

Purchase/Download

3. "Oh Freedom"

After reflection for EDCI 401 The Civil Rights Movement

After Reflection

     I was convinced when I wrote my before reflection that to mandate the Civil Rights Movement for a semester throughout Mississippi for grades k-12 was a wonderful idea. Now that we have had various assignments and a trip to the Civil Rights Museum to prepare us to teach this subject I am doubly convinced that this is not only a great idea, but a much needed area to include in the Mississippi curriculum.

     The Civil Rights Museum was one of the most interesting museums that I have been to in a while. I think that a field trip to this museum would be educational as well as an enjoyable one. By high school the students may have a general understanding of the Civil Rights Movement, but to see this place where Martin Luther King Jr.  was murdered and then the boarding house to get a view of the hotel from the angle of the shot coming from the gun of James Earl Ray is a part of the event that is not mentioned much neither is the conspiracy theory or the intricate details about how Ray managed to flee the country to England, and the following capture and extraditment which would be a good discussion and lesson

     I am also taking another course this term which is African American Women’s history. This class combined with EDCI 401 has given me such a boost in wanting to teach not only the Civil Rights Movement, but the entire plight of equal rights from the beginning of this country. How can we expect the students to have the responsibility of being good citizens when they have no idea what this privilege cost so many people.

     I found myself feeling very inadequate in my knowledge of the movement, but what disturbed me the most was my perspective of the period of time. By exploring this issue in class I have had my eyes opened to a completely different perspective. As educators we can present the Civil Rights Movement in a way that includes all children and all perspectives in a whole picture of the wrongs in the U.S. I said in my before reflection that if we do not understand the past how can we learn from those mistakes and not make them again. I stand on that still.

     To give students a bunch of facts and present them to the class and hope they learn it is so far from the way we should be teaching Social Studies. Through hands on projects and a learning environment that is exciting and fun we will be able to infuse this information into the student’s life instead of until the next test. Somehow we should take teaching of the Civil Rights Movement and Social Studies to the next level by allowing the students to prod and examine the information from a black, white, male, and female perspective in order to complete the entire picture. The days of cut and dry lessons are over and before us lies a new world in which a student is as much in charge of his/her learning as the teacher. We have too many resources in which to draw on to settle for a mediocre education.

interview number 2

·         1. What is your name? Gloria Bean

2. Where were you born? Bruce

3. Where did you grow up? Bruce

4. What were your parents names and occupations? Della Bean

5. Do you have any siblings? Yes, one sister and one brother.

6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in Bruce? It was good. I was picked on because I was skinny. I can’t think of anything different. We just went to school and came home and Granny would have us a big supper ready to eat. You know Nancy I never had to cook and still don’t. Maybe that is why I am still so skinny! Haha.

7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain? Hell yeah! Right now I am. They don’t treat me as well at the school as they do the white aides. They come and go and no one says anything. My white teacher doesn’t have to do what they pay her to do and no one says a word. I am in there getting paid 14,000 a year and I’m doing all the work!

8. Do you think this treatment is because you are black or because you are uncertified? Both! I guess mostly because I’m uncertified. I just get tired of working and fighting to raise my kids alone and I look at those white women complaining about how hard life is and they just don’t have any idea.

9. What would you like to tell these women? I’d like to tell them to shut the hell up! What difference does it makes if your husband is mad at you, or you can’t go on a vacation this summer. Hell I never get to go on a vacation. I have to do everything myself.  Every month I cry because I don’t know if there will be enough money to pay the bills. Praise the Lord there always is, but it isn’t easy.

10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman? My Grandmother told me I was just as good as anyone and certainly better than any man. Men don’t have a good name with my family. They were never around. My grandmother is very strong and she just sort of showed me how a woman was to be. She taught me how to love God. She told me to be a good person and love God

.

11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?  Yes I went to school here in Bruce and I lack one semester having my degree in Education. I was going to Blue Mountain and they didn’t seem to want to help me. I think it was because I am black. You know it’s a Baptist school and they have to let some of us in, but they don’t go out of their way to help us. I did not like it. There were too many snooty folk.

12. Did you have any children? Yes. I have three daughters. They drive me nuts. No one messes with them though. The teachers at the school know I won’t put up with it. I never have been married. The girls go to see their fathers some but he is remarried and has another family. He pays child support and helps  out a little with the extras.

13. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman? I like being a black woman! I’m proud of my race and think I’m very pretty. I’m getting old though! Haha I think times are hard for any woman especially when they are raising children on their own.

14. I have a lot of friends. Most of them are black women and men. I am active in church so most of my friends are there or family. I have white friends. You know Nancy, your one of them. We have had a few sparks between the two of us but have worked them out. We really are friends. I know I can count on you. Some of my friends, both black and white I can’t count on. There are a few women at work that I think feel they are better than me, but I don’t know if it’s because I black or not.

15. What type of relationship do you have with black men? Whoo they love me (laughing) I haven’t found one that I want to live with though. They are fine for a good time, but I don’t want anyone telling me what to do. I guess I want to control things. I never had a man in the house except my brother. Just don’t know. I see so much abuse. I won’t let a man lay a hand on me! I would have to kill him.

16. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?  I don’t have any problem with mixed marriages. I like my men black, but I have had a few white men in my time. They all end up the same. No good. They are good for a good time, but when things get bad they leave. I think that women are just as bad these days. No one seems to put the children first. It bad!

17. What issues do you think most affect black Americans today? I think we need to work on a better school system. Here at Bruce they keep cutting education an our children are missing out. At Coffeeville they had money and spent it on the children. There were afternoon programs and summer programs. Here they just run the streets and get into trouble.

first interview

·         1. What is your name? Rhonda T. Owens

2. Where were you born? Bruce Ms.

3. Where did you grow up? Bruce Ms.  

  

4. What were your parents names and occupations? My Mothers name is Doris

5. Do you have any siblings? Yes or No, names? Yes I have four sisters and two brothers. I also have a lot of nieces and nephews that I am close to. We were all raised up together.

6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in Bruce? Well I have nothing to compare it to. My Mother and Grandmother were strict and we had chores to do.  We had to go to school. Education was important to my Mom. We played and I was active in the school band and I was one of the first black cheerleaders.

7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain? Maybe. I don’t think so. I know a lot of my relatives say they did, but I just sort of took over and felt that if I didn’t think there was a difference there wouldn’t be. When I moved up North I saw more discrimination then here in Bruce. I had bosses that made a difference between me and some white man or women, but not many and I usually put a stop to it myself. After they knew I wouldn’t stand for any of that mess we were good.

8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South? I had the same as anyone. I could go to school, college I just didn’t. I got married and moved up North, got a job, had some kids and then divorced and moved back home.

9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race? My Mom and Grandmother felt that we were all God’s children and we were just as good as any white person. We had some white friends and they were welcome to come to my house and I went to theirs. Not much there wasn’t much time. We centered our social lives around school.

10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman? That I was beautiful and just as good as anyone. I didn’t have to take no mess out of any man. No one had a right to touch me or hurt me.

11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not? Yes I graduated High School and have two years of college.

12. Talk a little bit about those days...I was one of the first black cheerleaders. We were all friends and had a lot of fun. When I went to college the same. I just had a good time and so did everyone else. The racial thing was just over. Yea some folks may have had a problem, but I didn’t.

13. What was it like in school for you as a black female? It was good. I had my choice of boyfriends. I was a good student and the teachers liked me. It was a good experience.

14. Did you graduate and attend college? Yes and I have some college. I was going to go back to school to become a teacher, but with the teacher lay-offs I changed my mind. I may go back sometime, but not now.

15. Did you get married? I got married. Lived with him for five years before I married him. Things were good until we got married. After we married he started drinking a lot more and running around on me. I made sure everything was in my name though and when I kicked him out he had nothing. I lived in the house for a while, and then I came back to Bruce. That man died about four years ago. I didn’t go to the funeral. I don’t think I’ll ever get married again. I have had my chances, but I like my independence. I just don’t like being told what to do.

16. Did you have any children? I have three daughters. One set of twins. They are really something. My first daughter was born when I was barely twenty. I wasn’t married. The twins were born up North and I was married. I wouldn’t change anything. Didn’t need their Daddies. I made it on my own. My oldest girl had two boys without a Daddy. She doesn’t want to support that man. He doesn’t come around much to see the boys anyway.

17. I have worked in different jobs. I was the night manager in a Department store up North. Here in Bruce I’m a Teacher’s aide. I really love it. Those kids just get to me. I don’t give them much slack and they know I won’t take any of their mess, I’ll go tell their parents and grandparents. They don’t mess with me much.  We love each other though. I really love my job. Doesn’t pay much, but I do ok.

18. I don’t know what to say about being a black woman. That is who I am. I don’t have anything to compare it with. I like me and if anyone doesn’t like me too bad. I don’t take much off of anyone so they learn early to take me as I am. I don’t pay any attention to the race thing. I go to church and Jesus tells us to love everyone and so I do. I have always had white friends and they treat me the same. What do you think Nancy? Do you see me as a black women or just Rhonda? (my answer Rhonda)

19.  What type of relationship do you have with black men? I’ve always had a lot of men to choose from. White men and black men. I have a man in prison that I like a lot. He wants to marry me when he gets out. Don’t want any dead beats. I am not going to work my butt off for no man. My ex-husband, like I said, was good to me until I married him. It was like the paper made a difference to him. He began to take me for granted. We were friends when he died,  but I don’t really miss him.

20. What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be? I come from a home where my Mother and Grandmother ruled. The men were in the distance. For me I don’t need a man. I think that if I were younger and thought there was a good man around I would want one. There are so many men on drugs and liquor. Don’t see many men having anything much to do with their children. I don’t see anything much different with the white family. It seems that they are both going to hell! So many of my students are hurting because of their family life. Deadbeat Dads and Moms too. They either think that their children can’t do any wrong or they just don’t give a damn.

21. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men? It doesn’t bother me. This is 2011! Who gives a damn? If you find happiness then that is all that matters. There are so many mixed families now that the children don’t suffer as much as they used to.

22. What issues do you think most affect black Americans today? The economy and jobs. If we don’t get a handle on this issue we are going to be in worse trouble than we already are. I don’t see  any difference with the hiring of blacks and whites in the job market. It’s the same to me. I know whites who pick up garbage and I know blacks who are Doctors.

A Rising in the Sun

It was such an interesting thing that happened to me today. I had been thinking about this movie and then while I was working on my exam it came on. All of the issues that we have discussed in class were right there in the movie. Everything from the way a man felt about women to how they felt about being a man. The Grandmother and her power, the way the father had dreams and wanted to see them come true in his children. Hope, love, tenderness, and bitterness. All of these were in this movie. One of the best movie ever made.

lively class discussion

Yesterday in class we had one of the best discussions about why black men dated or married white women instead of black women. There were different opinions about why, but the most interesting to me was when one of the young men spoke. He said that when he began to disagree with the women's reason they ganged up on him and got loud.  He spoke about how black women seemed to not want to be wrong or questioned about their opinion. I think that there were a lot of feelings that came out and that is a good thing.

Just a thought

The discussions in class have been very good. I wonder how this type of discussion would be in a high school classroom. Our young people have no idea what actually went on during the Civil Rights Movement or why it was and is so very important. I am glad that the state has mandated one semester each year for the teaching of this issue. Our children both black and white need to view history through both of the eyes of history. The eyes of black and white.

Quicksand

Reflection on Nella Larsen’s “Quicksand”

     I agree with several of the students in the class that this may not have been one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read, however it is one of the best books that we have discussed. I think that there are several reasons that Larsen wrote this book. One she wanted to bring enlightenment to the plight of the Black Woman.

     First I think that Larson told a story of a woman of mixed race and how she seemed never to figure out who she was or where she belonged. She struggled with her identity and even her nationality. Was she a white woman? Was she a Black woman? Was she more American or was she Danish? Having a black father who deserted her and her mother as an early age and then a step family who was not like her, then the white mother dying, this poor child hardly knew what or who she was.

    Second I think that Larson wanted to show the conflict between the “upper” class black and the rest of the black female population. In the book Helga began as a young educator who didn’t fit in because of her uppity ways then went to her being among the elite to again being poor.  During this process Larson showed how even when Helga obtained wealth and freedom to do what she wished to do she was captive within herself and of her own doing.

     Third Larson showed the issue between black men and women and the attitudes of the time. She allowed us to watch as Helga has interested men of different statues and professions approach her and her attitude in which she rejected them. Larson also took us on a wild ride with her allowing Helga to marry a rather unattractive preacher and we really don’t understand the complete reasoning.

    One of the lines in the book refers to her mixed lineage and how “it was hard on the children.” I think that this issue is one of the main ones. What I find interesting is that the conflict does not come from the outside, it comes from within. Helga didn’t seem to know which race to align herself with. Was she a white or black woman? There didn’t seem to any nitch for a mixed woman. Larson explored this tumultuous attitude within Helga and allowed us to examine the crux of the matter, which is a belonging to a people or having a culture identity.  

     In the community that I live in there are now quite a few children who are of mixed races, black-white, white-Hispanic, and black-Hispanic. (It is interesting that spell check made me capitalize Hispanic not black or white) When this first began to happen there was a good deal of “talk” about the children and how would they handle being neither black nor white. The talk was especially about which culture the child would follow. In all honesty this did accrued. There was one of the first young girls who came of age and this issue was very difficult for her. In fact she tried to commit suicide. Her parents could not decide whether to stay together or not, her grandparents (white) were ashamed of their daughter’s predicament, and the boys didn’t know if they wanted to date her or not. Long story short, she worked this out with help and she is a healthy young mother who just recently got married and has returned to college. So proud of her!

Twenty something years down the line the children of mixed race that are in our community are not completely free from these issues, but the conflicts are less and the acceptance is abundant.

     I think that Larson explored a lot of different aspects of life as a multiracial girl. She did a good job of expressing the conflicts and allowing us to discuss the reasons behind this story.

Civil Rights

When my EDEL 401 class visited the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis one of the quotes was "Well behaved Women seldom make history" that is now my motto! Love it!

Social Studies

Today in my EDCI 401 class  we had an  interview with the author of the "JoJo" books. These books are about a boy and different situations he encounters.  Each book  incorporates a biography of an  important black personality. By reading these books children, and even adults not only enjoy a good story, but get a bit of history as well.  Cute, Cute,  Cute!

Movie

Today in class we watched the movie “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” This is about a young black women and the two loves of her life. One was her older husband who was the mayor of the first incorporated all black town in America. The second love was a younger man who entered her life after her husband died.

I found this contrasting of husbands interesting. The older one whom she married gave her everything she could have wanted, but she did not love him in the way she loved the young man. Although the Mayor was wealthy in him own right, he did not let this young woman be who she really was. In fact he sort of beat it out of her and took the “light” out of her eyes. She did conform to his wishes, but it cost him the closeness he would have gotten had he let her be free.

The younger man who came into her life after the death of her husband was carefree, but responsible. The one thing I really liked about him was that he wanted to support her with “his” money not live off the money she was left by the Mayor.

The one thing that sort of messed me up was the way the young man “tea cake” died. He died from rabies. This is a unusual way in which to end a story.

I think that the major point of this story is that being someone we are not yet having everything you want is not as good as being the real you and have nothing but someone who loves you just because you are you!

She wanted to know about livin and lovin and she did find that out through her love of Tea Cake.

"On Being Young"

This account of a young black girl is very moving. She discusses how she feels that she has a debt to others who have not had the privileges she has had in life. She talks about her dreams and what she wants out of life. One of the things she says that I like is when she is talking about those things a young girl wants and she says “A husband you can look up to without looking down on yourself.” I think that she was expressing how the young women of her day were feeling about the men. They wanted and needed a man that didn’t just take care of them, but would do it with respect and honor. She talks about how life can be like a barrel of fish with the ones on the bottom being crushed due to the ones on top trying to get out. She then talks about not getting bitter because that will not help. This young girl shows wisdom in how she tells the readers that wisdom is needed in their condition and to wait for the right time to “swoop to your feet-at your full height-at a single gesture” this is such a good quote. One of power and quiet determination to do what is needed in the advancement of the race and women in general. She called on the women to be patient when waiting for the right time for action.

This weeks discussions

We have had quite an interesting class discussion regarding the Black women's activist clubs, why the African Americans migrated north and how they were treated once they arrived. I have found it interesting that the north protested the treatment of the Blacks and yet in much the same way they treated the Blacks as second class citizens as well. They gave the women the jobs that no white women wanted; they got the lower end jobs when white women vacated them. Again here we have Black women who wanted to do better for their families and though the pay was better the jobs were discriminating.

Sara Baartman

My reaction to the documentary we watched today about Sara Baartman was one of disturbance. I think of all the stories, poems and tales I have read and listened to but this account is among if not the worse. The despicable way that young Sara was “tricked” into leaving South Africa and then put into a form of slavery is savage in itself. This young woman who left her country in order to better herself was treated upon arrival in England put on display like a wild animal. She was expected to draw in crowds by her different appearance and perform in a cage to make money for her “saviors”. I found this so sad and I felt not only contempt for her oppressors, audience, but myself included just for being among the white race. What a rotten display of ignorance! To debate her humanism and allow her to be the subject of prodding and poking to arouse a crowd and pull in money is disgusting.  At least and at last after her death so long ago young  Sara is at rest at her native home of South Africa. According to the website www.nathanielturner.com her skeleton and bottled organs were returned to her birthplace.  This author says that Sara was “ portrayed as racially inferior and more specifically, the way black female sexuality has been portrayed as inferior” how sad to reduce a human being down to sexuality and the gender female down to an animal. We should learn from this women and her treatment not to ever allow this to happen again to anyone, anywhere, by anyone. The sad part is that it is still happening all around the world and even still here in the U.S.

Last weeks class discussion

Our class discussions last week were very interesting. We discussed the question "What is race?" There were a lot of different responses to the question including body type, hair, culture, and origin. We also discussed an article about the Europeans reaction to the indigenous women they encountered on their travels. It seems to me that they were very interested in the size and looseness of their breast and their fascination of the way they gave birth. So many of the stories that were told about these strange peoples were naturally exaggerated, and false. We talked about why they would tell such stories and what would be the reason they would want to make these women seem so unusual. We talked about whether or not slavery was justified during that period and of course it never is, but by dehumanizing the blacks and making property out of them it didn't seem quite so bad. I guess it allowed the "Good Christian" men an easy conscious in order to sleep at night.

1.        

The beginning

I am doing this blog for a class "African American Women's history." Today we discussed the term "race." There were varying opinions about what the term means. Some said it meant color, others said culture and still others said it was a form of cast system. Several of the students questioned why we needed to have a title of race anyway. Why can't a person be taken for who they are instead of how they look.
I think that there has always been a "race" issue. The Jew's have a prayer that praises God for them not being a gentile or a woman. People seem to need a way to make themselves feel more important then another. Even in countries where the skin color is the same there is a "race" issue. North and South Koreans. English vs. Welsh, Scott's or Irish. In America there is a vast number of race differences  which  may have to do with  color yet may not as in  Irish-Americans vs. Italian-American. We will be getting into the gender aspect tomorrow.