MARCHING ON:
Learning About the New Civil Rights Movement

Grades:  6-8, 9-12

Subjects:  American History, Civics, Language Arts

Related New York Times Article
"Old Dream and New Issues 40 Years After Rights March, By LYNETTE CLEMETSON and STEVEN A. HOLMES", August 25, 2003

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students learn about the increasingly diverse civil rights movement by researching and profiling its key issues, main organizations, and top leaders.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:
1 hour

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

1. Reflect on their own definitions of "civil rights" and understanding of today’s civil rights movement.
2. Examine the evolution of the civil rights movement over the last forty years by reading and discussing "Old Dream and New Issues 40 Years After Rights March."
3. Research the legal goals, representative organizations, and key leaders of the current civil rights movement; present this information in class.
4. Write reflective essays on the new civil rights movement of the twenty-first century.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

• pens/pencils
• paper
• student journals
• classroom board
• copies of "Old Dream and New Issues 40 Years After Rights March" (one per student)
• resources on the current civil rights movement, including periodicals and computers with Internet access
• poster board or large sheets of construction paper (one per group)
• scissors, glue sticks, and markers (one set per group)

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: On the board prior to class, write the words "civil rights." Once class has started ask students to brainstorm any words or terms they associate with "civil rights." List contributions on the board. Then ask students what they know about today’s civil rights movement, and how they think the movement may have changed over the past several decades and note these on the board as well. Allow students a few minutes to share their responses.
2. As a class, read and discuss "Old Dream and New Issues 40 Years After Rights March," using the following questions:
   1. Who is Raul Yzaguirre?
   2. How long ago did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his historic speech at the March on Washington?
   3. What is "the shifting landscape of the civil rights movement"?
   4. Which groups in today’s civil rights movement might have been "inconceivable" in 1963, according to the article?
   5. How have the original groups from the March changed since 1963?
   6. What are some examples of civil rights issues in 2003?
   7. How are the terms "discrimination" and "racism" insufficient when discussing civil rights, according to Professor Randall Kennedy?
   8. What civil rights-related acts were passed in the 1960s, as a result of the movement?
   9. Aside from racial equality, what has been the primary focus of the civil rights movement over the past forty years?
   10. What are some social and economic changes, according to the article, the black population has experienced over the past several decades?
   11. What are some differences between the old and new generations of civil rights advocates, according to the article?
3. Explain to students that they will be creating an informative presentation on "New Voices of the Civil Rights Movement," focusing on the rights of one or more of the following populations of people mentioned in the article: African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, the disabled, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Arab Americans. Depending on the size of the class, you may wish to edit the list to include more or fewer groups. Divide students into small groups, and assign each group one of the populations included in today’s civil rights movement. Each group will be responsible for researching and creating an informative poster (or other visual product, such as a PowerPoint slide show) with the following information (written on the boards for easier student access):
   • At least two key legal issues or goals of this group and any relevant news headlines, pictures, charts, or graphs related to these issues (examples: ending housing discrimination, hate crime legislation)
   • Profiles of one or two key organizations that promote the rights of this group of people (examples: N.A.A.C.P., Arab American Institute)
   • Profiles and pictures of one or two leaders or organizers from this group (examples: Martin Luther King III, Raul Yzaguirre)
4. WRAP-UP/ HOMEWORK: When groups have finished their research and projects, they should present them to the class. Students may wish to take notes on each group’s key issues, organizations, and leaders for future reference in class or a follow-up quiz. As a homework assignment, ask students to write a thoughtful reflective essay in response to the following prompt: "What is your opinion of the new civil rights movement as it heads into the twenty-first century? Do you agree with the quotation from Raul Yzaguirre in the article, ‘All we need to do, really, is agree to a set of principles and stick to them'? If not, why not? If so, what should those principles be?"

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Do you think a civil rights movement comprised of so many issues and goals can be effective? Why or why not?
• How do you envision civil rights forty years from now?
• Why do you think issues such as the fight for economic equality often become obscured when discussing the history of civil rights in the United States?

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on participation in Warm-Up exercise, group research and presentation, and homework essay.

VOCABULARY:
Hispanic, dehydrated, peripheral, emblematic, unwieldy, inconceivable, torch-bearing, rhetoric, disparate, conglomeration, rife, diverse, integrated, desirous, detrimental, subordination, culpable, eradication, apex, gravitated, eschewed, stagnation, subordinate, slew, siphoned, bemoan, apathy, pivotal

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

1. How did the 1963 March on Washington come about? Create a timeline describing the events, people, and organizing that led to this historic event.
2. Though the article mentions "white liberals" opposing the Vietnam War, there were also many black anti-war activists, including Martin Luther King Jr. Investigate Dr. King’s role in the anti-war movement. Norman Solomon’s "Marching to the Beat of an Indifferent Drum" is a good place to start (http://www.fair.org/media-beat/990415.html).
3. The article mentions the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. What is the philosophy of nonviolence? Write a "Pacifism for Beginners" guide, highlighting the messages of thinkers such as H.D. Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, and explaining terms such as "civil disobedience" and "nonviolent resistance."
4. How did the civil rights legislation of the 1960s change the legal landscape for blacks in the United States? Make a chart on which you describe pre-1960s race laws (such as the "Jim Crow" laws) and the 20th-century laws that changed or overturned them.
5. The article mentions voting as a way for blacks to "secure rights and advantages," yet there have been concerns about some African Americans being excluded from the electoral process as recently as the 2000 Presidential elections. Research the notion of "voter disenfranchisement", and write an editorial for your school or local paper. You may want to begin research at the BBC's report on the Americas ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1112505.stm)

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
Geography- Where are most of today’s new United States immigrants from? Research this [beginning at the U.S. Census Gateway
(http://www.census.gov/population/projections/nation/summary/np-t7-c.txt)],
and write country profiles on the three top lands of emigration.

Media Studies- Films such as "Boycott"(2001), "The Long Walk Home" (1990), "Mississippi Burning"(1998), and "10,000 Black Men Named George"(2002) address issues of the civil rights movement before the Civil Rights Act. Watch one of these films, then write a treatment for a film that tells a compelling story from today’s civil rights movement.

Teaching with The Times- The article is accompanied by a chart, "Four Decades: Gauging Progress," which can be viewed online
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/24/national/24RIGH.html).
It compares the differences in professional opportunities, household income, poverty levels, and college education between black and white Americans. Using this chart or other statistics from the Joint Center Data Bank
(http://jointcenter.org/DB/index.htm)
as a guideline, create a survey to poll friends, family, and neighbors on their perceptions of social and economic difference. Compare your results to the chart.

Copyright 2003
The New York Times Company