Introduction: Desegregation
Introduction
Throughout U.S. history, communities of color fought for their right to equal access and for human dignity and equity. Desegregation in public schools, transportation, and other accommodations was more than court cases and legal victories. Desegregation was a long struggle led by students, parents, and every day citizens who experienced or saw the injustice of American segregation. Faced by indignities and violence, students and parents maintained the courage to fight for the rights of first class citizenship. They were not interested in integration, or the desire to mingle socially or otherwise with whites, but to break and reconstruct institutions that forced people of color into positions of poverty, illiteracy, and political powerlessness.
Nicolás Guillén: The Struggle against Two Racisms
Reading by Carmen Gómez García
In this essay, excerpted from a chapter on the history of Cuban social poetry, Gómez García introduces the reader to Guillén’s poetry about racism in the United States. This is an ideal text for classes on poetry, Spanish, 20th-century U.S. history, and Latin American history.
Elegy for Peter Norman
Reading by Josh Healey
Poem about Peter Norman, the white Australian athlete in the historic protest and iconic photo at the 1968 Olympics.
The Influence of Musical Folk Traditions in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén
Lesson by Kathryn Gray
Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén were both young men of African descent born in 1902 who wrote poetry concerned with racial and class issues. One was raised in Cuba, the other in the United States, one in Spanish, the other in English and both had parents of mixed racial descent. In this unit, students explore how the two poet friends share a pattern of using musical influence in their poetry.
A School Year Like No Other, Eyes on the Prize: “Fighting Back: 1957-1962”
Lesson by Bill Bigelow
Students write poetry or prose in reaction to viewing "Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back 1957-62" and two readings.
Write That I . . . for the Civil Rights Movement
Lesson by Linda Christensen, as applied by Deborah Menkart
Students research Civil Rights Movement activists and then write poetry based on what they have learned.
Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives
Lesson by Linda Christensen
A unit designed to help students practice behaving as allies. Students read Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Senior High, then create and act out scenes from their own experiences where people act as allies, victims, perpetrators, and witnesses.