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Civil Rights Movement – Independent Study
Read pages 114 to 175
Assignment #3 – Little Rock, Greensboro, and the President

Post on Google Docs by Sunday February 26 @ 6:00 PM.

The linked Eyes on the Prize Video is very good for this section of the movement. Little Rock in 1957 is covered well. Watch the video for sure…maybe this time before you read. It is on YouTube and clear.

The book doesn’t delve into the Little Rock High School and Greensboro issues as deeply as does “Eyes on the Prize”, in part because King’s role in each was limited. He absolutely inspired black students at the high school and in Greensboro – there can be no doubt of that. The Montgomery Bus Boycott occurs one year prior to the integration of Little Rock High School. The Greensboro sit ins three years later. By then he was the voice and image of the movement. His role at inspiring these kids was definite; actual manipulation of the events was minor. Little Rock is barely talked about in the Oates book – so lets watch it on “Eyes on the Prize” and write about that reflection. The other topics I will draw from the reading. Post by noon on Sunday February 26…that way I can read them Sunday afternoon. Senior Current Issues students – yours need to be posted at the same time – we will discuss the questions on Monday February 27. Bring a printed copy of your Google docs.

#1 – Little Rock Nine – The first thirty minutes of Eyes on the Prize (part 2 Fighting Back) deals almost specifically with The Little Rock Nine. Watch it. Remember this occurs in 1957 – three years after the Supreme Court decision of Brown v Board that was issued with the caveat “with all deliberate speed.”

The video looks at the controversy from dozens of perspectives. I want you to listen to those involved (white, black, soldiers, politicians, parents and kids) Choose one person. I do not care who you choose. I want you to write a first person perspective for that individual. Note the time in minutes that you are into the movie, and describe the person (physical description and what they are doing at the time of movie) Then write a first person account of how they feel about this entire integration of these nine black kids into Little Rock High School. Dig in…be emotional. Stay in character whatever character you choose. And tell it in the first person – “I”.

#2 – Greensburo Sit ins – While King role in the Greensburo sit ins is secondary, he did support the youth movement. And he was involved on the side with the creation of SNCC (Student Non-violent Cooridinating Committee) Reflect on his thoughts on the sit ins and his relationship with SNCC. This will be a very complicated relationship as time goes on and the young people become increasingly more agitated at the way the movement is going.

#3 – The Presidents – His relationship with the three U.S. Presidents during the time period of the Civil Rights Movement was pivotal. Eisenhower (1953 to 1961) Kennedy (1961 to 1963) and Johnson (1963 to 1969). Sometimes they were supportive, sometimes not. The book explores King’s relationship in this section with Kennedy and Eisenhower. Talk about it.

Programs in the series:

Awakenings (1954-1956)
Individual acts of courage inspire black Southerners to fight for their rights: Mose Wright testifies against the white men who murdered young Emmett Till, and Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.

Fighting Back (1957-1962)
States’ rights loyalists and federal authorities collide in the 1957 battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School, and again in James Meredith’s 1962 challenge to segregation at the University of Mississippi. Both times, a Southern governor squares off with a U.S. president, violence erupts — and integration is carried out.

Ain’t Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961)
Black college students take a leadership role in the civil rights movement as lunch counter sit-ins spread across the South. “Freedom Riders” also try to desegregate interstate buses, but they are brutally attacked as they travel.

No Easy Walk (1961-1963)
The civil rights movement discovers the power of mass demonstrations as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerges as its most visible leader. Some demonstrations succeed; others fail. But the triumphant March on Washington, D.C., under King’s leadership, shows a mounting national support for civil rights. President John F. Kennedy proposes the Civil Rights Act.

Mississippi: Is This America? (1963-1964)
Mississippi’s grass-roots civil rights movement becomes an American concern when college students travel south to help register black voters and three activists are murdered. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenges the regular Mississippi delegation at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City.

Bridge to Freedom (1965)
A decade of lessons is applied in the climactic and bloody march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. A major victory is won when the federal Voting Rights Bill passes, but civil rights leaders know they have new challenges ahead.

You may access the first six videos (1954 thru 1965) of the PBS Eyes on the Prize video series below.  Click on the top of the video list to reach others down the line.  To truly understand the Civil Rights Movement, each of the first six in this series is a must.  Each is linked to youTube…if you would like a higher quality copy to watch, please see Mr. Wood for the original DVD series. 

You may earn up to 20% extra credit to be added in any increment you choose between the final three marking periods. You wait until your final grade percentage is tallied for the MP and then you take a portion of your total extra percentage and add it on. Example – lets say you had a 76% C at the end of the MP #4 – you need 4% for a B-, so you take 4% from extra credit and you have 16% leftover. Since we have just begun I think the MP#4 add-on needs to have a limit of 7%. By the time MP #5 comes around we will know if you are “all in” on this or not.

How to figure your amount of extra credit available? All assignments will be due by Sunday nights @ 11:59 PM. If you don’t post – you get a zero for that week. That gives you the weekend prior to, to get it done. I will ask three questions of each writing assignment. I expect at least 300 words per question. Google Docs has word counts available on the bar above your post. 300 is a target only – good insights are not word limited and your postings should never revolve around a word count.

I will give you a point total for your efforts on each assignment. Twenty would be 100%. However if you go above and beyond – you can earn a 25. Your score is based on depth of the post – your insights and efforts and how you relate them to the readings.  They are obviously subjective and if you think I’ve not accurately evaluated your post, just let me know.  I’ll take another look.

If you do an adequate job and cover the word limit, you’ll earn 15 – 5 points per post – that would reflect solid work and equal to a solid B. If you’ve done a thorough job (with extensive insight) that extra five will may added and you can earn a twenty (A).  A particularly insightful post can run all the way up to 25 (A+).  At the end of this study, you may throw out your low score – that would allow you not to post for a week. And for those of you who did do Readings 1 or 2, I have combo’d those scores into one total that you may use to replace any low score that you had…kind of like extra credit, inside of the extra credit. Part III – Little Rock will serve as our first assigned and evaluated post.

When we are finished with the readings I will merely take your total points and divide by the number of assignments. If you average over 20 points…you’ll get 20%. Any other point total will directly correspond to your total percent earned. Let’s say we have 10 readings and your point total is 165. You would end up with 16.5% extra credit. So, if you get overwhelmed – take a week off. If you did one and two and you need to use the points to plug holes – use it. Otherwise stay on top of the reading and continue to explore the movement.

A couple final notes: Again, let me say that I absolutely admire all of you who are working on this Independent Study.  Keep up the good work!

And finally, ff at the end of the semester you don’t use your extra credit percentages, and you enroll in Senior Current Issues next year I will allow you to carryover the remaining extra credit to be used the same way in 2012/13.