1. Civil Rights in the Americas

2. Unit Goal Throughout this unit we will:
Examine the origins, nature, challenges and achievements of civil rights and social movements after 1945
What types of people and/or groups might we study in this unit?
Where should the focus of our study be for this unit?

3. Identification and Causes
What are civil rights?
Why have people felt the need to have civil rights movements?
What are the methods of some of the more famous civil rights movements?
Which methods seem most effective?
What are some of the long-term causes of the Civil Rights movement that took place in the U.S. in the s and 1960s?

4. Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings
How did WWII impact the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S.?
Why was Brown v. the Board of Education so significant?
Who was Emmitt Till? How does he relate to the Civil Rights movement?

5. TED.com Opinion Article
Do you agree with the article’s author that we have not dealt with our painful past? Why or why not?
Do you agree with the article’s author regarding the need for memorials dealing with the past? Why or why not?

6. Methods and Means to Achieve Civil Rights
Research your assigned event
Include WHO was involved, WHAT happened, WHEN did it happen, WHY did the event happen, HOW did the event impact the Civil Rights Movement
Using your research, create an entry for a timeline that your classmate’s can view and either photograph or copy information from
Evaluate which methods seem most effective and least effective being sure to explain your reasoning.

7. Methods and Means to Achieve Civil Rights
Little Rock Nine
Civil Rights Act, 1957
Civil Rights Act, 1960
SCLC
Sit-Ins and the SNCC
CORE Freedom Rides
The Albany Movement
University of Alabama
The March on Washington
Freedom Summer, Mississippi
LBJ’s Civil Rights Act
Selma
Voting Rights Act

8. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Role in the Civil Rights Movement
How many events on our timeline were influenced and/or led by MLK?
Would you characterize the late 1950s to the mid-1960s as a success for MLK and the Civil Rights movement? Why or why not?
Following the movement in the South, King expanded his focus to other regions of the United States
Ghetto Life – a cycle of poverty
African Americans made up 46% of the unemployed across the country
Los Angeles, Chicago, Meredith March, and Memphis

9. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Role in the Civil Rights Movement
Watts Riots of 1965
Went to Los Angeles at the request of church leaders following a riot breaking out after the arrest of Marquette Frye during a traffic stop – onlookers and police exchanged words which resulted in the violence
Lasted for 6 days, $40 million in property damage, killed 34 people, resulted in 4,000 arrests, and required 14,000 California National Guard troops to restore order
King visited at the request of local church leaders
“a class revolt of underprivileged against the privileged…the main issue is economic.”
How is this different from the message King gave in his “I Have a Dream” speech?

10. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Role in the Civil Rights Movement
Chicago, 1966
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (King’s organization) sought to use Chicago as the “poster child” for making strides in economic equality
Similar to Los Angeles in terms of the ghettos and substandard living conditions
Students split the school day because they needed the space to accommodate them all.
Mayor Richard Daley needed black voters and was a target for the SCLC to launch a campaign for change
King moved to Chicago with his family and experienced ghetto life
Poor communication led to a small rally turnout, only 30,000

11. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Role in the Civil Rights Movement
The Meredith March, 1966
Perhaps a distraction from the SCLC’s efforts to improve economic plight of African Americans throughout the Northern U.S.
James Meredith – University of Mississippi’s first black student – planned a walk from Memphis to Jackson to increase the number of black voters, he was shot the second day
King & the SCLC, the SNCC, and the NAACP wanted to continue the march, but differing opinions caused tension amongst the leaders
King was not on the same page as the Black Power movement
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. The government has got to give me some victories if I’m going to keep people non-violent.”

12. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Role in the Civil Rights Movement
The Last Efforts of MLK
Affirmative Action
Where Do We Go from Here?
The Poor People’s Campaign
Rally the poor together for a camp out in Washington
Ineffective
Memphis and the Assassination