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N O T E B O O K #10
The Civil Rights Era
American History II
9th Grade
Mr. Konecke
Name:_______________________
Period:______
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Introduction:
It's the most controversial case in modern American history. Did
Lee Harvey Oswald kill John Kennedy by himself, or did a
conspiracy do it? And if a conspiracy did it, did
the conspiracy include Oswald? You must
research all of the theories and then decide
which one you believe is the best.
Directions:
Below are 10 theories about how JFK was
assassinated. After researching each one,
summarize each theory in 5 sentences. After
you have researched all the main theories,
you must decide for yourself what you think
really happened based on the evidence. Then write your
theory in 10 sentences.
Options:
1. You may choose one single theory or a combination of
theories as your final answer
2. You may write or type the responses
Grade:
1. Summarize each theory with 5 sentences – 100 points
2. Explain your own theory in 10 sentences – 50 points
3. Effort & Accuracy (your theory must be based on facts
and other theories) – 25 points
Due Date:
__________________________
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1. The Single Bullet Theory
2. Lee Harvey Oswald
3. More than one gunman
4. New Orleans conspiracy
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5. CIA assassinations
6. Cuban exiles
7. E. Howard Hunt
8. Organized crime and the CIA conspiracy
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9. Lyndon Johnson conspiracy
10. Soviet Bloc conspiracy
My Final Theory
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Notebook #10 – The Civil Rights Era
1. Reconstruction & Jim Crow
Segregation


Segregation & lack of civil rights made life for African Americans difficult
Civil Rights Won & Lost

After Civil War, slaves gained their freedom

Civil Rights Gains of Reconstruction

Reconstruction created political problems
o
South resisted Congress’ efforts to ensure civil rights for African
Americans
o

In response, South passed black codes
o
Congress then passed Civil Rights Act –
o
Congress also passed 14th Amendment – prohibited states from
infringing on rights of citizens (vote)


o
This law became foundation of civil rights movement
1869, Congress passed 15th Amendment –
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Stereotype : A generalization about what people are like; an exaggerated image of their
characteristics, without regard to individual attributes. Newspaper columnist Walter Lippmann
coined the term, calling a stereotype a “picture in our heads”
Directions: Draw a line connecting each name on the list below with that person’s occupation (use
each occupation only once; there will be some left over). Worth 16 Points.
NAMES
OCCUPATION
Jamal Jackson
Middle Manager
Eli Goldstein
Flight Attendant
Mohammed Al-Saaidi
Truck Driver
Alison Running Bear
Massage Therapist
Jiang Wu
Corporate Vice President
Consuela Garcia
High School Teacher
Faiza Shirazi
Computer Programmer
Naomi Herschberger
Farmer
Steve Smith
Secretary
Twila Sue Poole
Pro Basketball Player
George White Feather
Diamond Broker
Latisha Johnson
Oil Company Executive
Jorge Enriquez
Agricultural Worker
Machiko Matsumoto
Hotel Maid
Bubba Ray Deere
Homemaker
Shannon Roberts
Social Worker
University Professor
Lawyer
Blackjack Dealer
Waitress
1. We will share our responses with the class. Did many people connect certain names with the
same occupations?
2. If so, which names and occupations did your group associate with each other? Why?
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3. Consider the definition of stereotype. Did any of your responses to the exercise express conscious
or unconscious stereotypes you hold about various ethnic groups? If so, what were they?
Respond to this phrase: “. . . to know one member of the group is to know them all.”
4. Is this true of the ethnic group(s) to which you belong? Why or why not?
5. It is true of other ethnic groups?
6. How would you feel (or how do you feel) to be judged based on a stereotype about your ethnic
group(s)?
7. Where do we get some of the ideas that contribute to stereotypes about people of other ethnic
groups? What things reinforce those ideas? What things counteract them?
8. Did this exercise give you any new ideas? If so, what are they?
9. Will you change any of your language or behaviors as a result of this exercise? If so, how?
The Supreme Court Reacts

While Congress helped civil rights of blacks, Supreme Court took away
many of those rights
o
1876, U.S. v. Cruikshank –


This meant states had all power in civil rights cases
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o
1876, U.S. v. Reese –

o
But can deny vote for any other reason
1896, Plessy v. Ferguson –

Court said no civil rights violated because accommodations
for blacks were “separate but equal”
The Fight Against Injustice

As African Americans began losing rights, they began to organize

They planned to fight to win back their civil rights
Life Under Jim Crow

o
Jim Crow laws became widespread
o

Blacks could not go to same schools as whites


Buses followed the “separate but equal” law

But schools did not

Black schools were inferior to white schools
o

In Mississippi 1875, whites shot black voters

o
Blacks in other parts of country were also treated badly by whites
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
Lynchings occurred in Midwest

Race riots blew up in Chicago 1919 & Tulsa 1921
Directions: Below is a list of 20 examples of Jim Crow Laws throughout the South. While some are actual
laws, others are fake. Read each one carefully and write whether it is “real” or “fake” and then explain why
you answered that way. Worth 20 points.
1.
Barbers. No colored barber shall serve as a barber (to) white girls or women (Georgia).
2.
Blind Wards. The board of trustees shall ... maintain a separate building ... on separate ground for the
admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind persons of the colored or black race (Louisiana).
3.
Car Washes. No persons of color may enter or use any car wash facilities under the operation of white
owners (Tennessee).
4.
Burial. The officer in charge shall not bury, or allow to be buried, any colored persons upon ground set
apart or used for the burial of white persons (Georgia).
5.
Buses. All passenger stations in this State operated by any motor transportation company shall have
separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races (Alabama).
6.
Sporting Events. Admittance will not be permitted to persons of the colored race to any sporting event
including baseball, basketball, football while white teams are occupying the stadium (Virginia).
7.
Adoption. No person of the Negro race may under any circumstances adopt a child of the white race
regardless of age, gender, marital status, or socioeconomic status (Mississippi).
8.
Child Custody. It shall be unlawful for any parent, relative, or other white person in this State to dispose
of, give or surrender such white child permanently into the custody, control, maintenance, or support, of
a Negro (South Carolina).
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9.
Education. The schools for white and Negro children shall be conducted separately (Florida).
10. Libraries. The State librarian is directed to fit up a separate place for the use of the colored people who
may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals (North Carolina).
11.
Parks. All public recreational facilities including parks, playgrounds, and fairs shall be closed to all
Negroes at all times of year (North Carolina).
12. Mental Hospitals. The Board of Control shall see that proper and distinct apartments are arranged for
said patients, so that in no case shall Negroes and white persons be together (Georgia).
13. Militia. The white and colored militia shall be separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve
in the same organization. No organization of colored troops shall be permitted where white troops are
available and where whites are permitted to be organized, colored troops shall be under the command of
white officers (North Carolina).
14. Nurses. No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in
hospitals, either public or private, in which Negro men are placed (Alabama).
15. Prisons. The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate apartments for both eating and
sleeping from the Negro convicts (Mississippi).
16. Streets. Any member of the black race caught walking, riding, or running on the white side of the street
will be prosecuted under the harshest penalty of law (Maryland).
17. Reform Schools. The children of white and colored races committed to the houses of reform shall be kept
entirely separate from each other (Kentucky).
18. Teaching. Any instructor who shall teach in any school, college or institution where members of the
white and colored race are received and enrolled as pupils for instruction shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined... (Oklahoma).
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19. Wine and Beer. All persons licensed to conduct the business of selling beer or wine ... shall serve either
white people exclusively or colored people exclusively and shall not sell to the two races within the same
room at any time (Georgia).
20. Jobs. Any employer who hires Negro candidates for a position when white persons have applied shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor (Arkansas).
Calls for Justice & Equality Grow

North offered better life for blacks

1916-1919 was first period of “The Great Migration”
o

Here, blacks united

o

They brought attention to discrimination
WWII also helped blacks fight racism
o
2. The Modern Civil Rights Movement
Rosa Parks

o
Group of white people got on board along way
o
Bus driver told Parks & other blacks to move to back of bus
o

Parks was arrested
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
But this event started movement to end segregation in US
Directions: Read the summary of the life of Rosa Parks below and then answer the questions that
follow. Worth 22 points.
When Rosa Parks was born, she was named Rosa Louise by her parents. Her father was a carpenter and her
mother was a teacher. Her parents separated when she was two years old, and she with her mother and
brother moved to her grandparent's farm.
Her mother, Leona, home schooled her until she was eleven, then she attended a private school; the
Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. Her training there helped to shape her views which would guide her
later in life.
During this time in America blacks did not enjoy the rights they have today. Rosa remembered living in fear
when she was a child as a result of the insults and prejudices against people of her race.
She attended college, but had to drop out to care for her grandmother who became ill. Later she cared for her
mother. She married Raymond Parks, who was a barber. They were active in the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP (pronounced "N double A C P").
Rosa worked as a seamstress. It was very tiring sitting at a sewing machine and sewing all day. To get to work
she rode the bus.
Black people could not sit just anywhere they wanted in the bus. They had to sit in the back of the bus. If
white people were already sitting in the front of the bus, the black person had to pay the fare, get off the bus,
and reenter at the back door. Sometimes the bus driver just drove off and left them before they could get back
on at the back door. If the bus filled up with people, the driver would ask a black person to move so he could
reposition the movable sign which divided the black and white sections.
On December 1, 1955 after a hard day at work, Rosa was riding the bus home when the driver asked her and
three black men to move to make more room in the white section. The three men moved, but Rosa refused. A
police officer came, arrested her and took her to jail. She was bailed out that evening.
She didn't plan the incident, but when it happened, she decided to stand up for her rights. She was tired of
being humiliated and treated unfairly. She was not the first black person to refuse to move on a bus, but when
the event happened to her, civil rights leaders knew they had found someone to champion their cause. Rosa
was a person who was above reproach, and people could not find fault with her character.
A group was formed and 35,000 handbills were distributed calling for a boycott of the buses. This meant the
blacks would refuse to ride the buses unless they were desegregated and they could sit anywhere in the bus.
And refuse they did! For more than a year, 381 days, they boycotted the buses. They carpooled, rode in cabs,
and walked to work.
Rosa lost her job and was unable to get another one in Montgomery. She and Raymond moved to Virginia.
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During her lifetime she was awarded many honors for her courageous stand. There was the Rosa Parks
Peace Prize in 1994, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, and the Congressional Gold Medal in
1999. A library and museum is dedicated to her in Montgomery, Alabama.
Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92. Her casket was placed in the rotunda of the
United States Capitol for two days. This is an honor usually only reserved for Presidents when they die.
People waited in line for pay their respects.
Today people of all color can sit wherever they wish on buses throughout the nation due to the courage and
determination of one woman, Rosa Parks.
Rosa Parks
Civil Rights Leader
Born 1913 - Died 2005
Worth 22 points
1. Where did Rosa Parks attend school after being home-schooled until she was eleven?
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What did Rosa fear when she was a child?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What did Rosa do for a living, and how did she get to work?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. What were the rules for white and black bus passengers before 1956?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Why was it wrong to have such rules?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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6. What happened on December 1, 1955 when Rosa was returning home from work?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Why did the civil rights leaders choose to make an example of Rosa Parks' case?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. What is a boycott, and how long did the bus boycott last ?
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. What was the Supreme Court ruling on November 13, 1956?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. Name some ways Rosa Parks was honored during her lifetime.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
11. What special honor did she receive after her death, and what was unusual about the honor?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Court Decisions & Grassroots Organizing

Blacks had been fighting for equality since Civil War
o

Wanted political rights, better jobs, & end to segregation
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Brown Overturns Plessy

NAACP benefited from these changes

They established fund to pay for legal challenges to segregation
o
Still, “separate but equal” law in effect in 1950s


Before then, white school boards gave white schools newer
books, equipment, & school buildings than black schools

o
Thurgood Marshall, NAACP lawyer, led the fight against
segregation in courts



America’s schools should be integrated

Brown decision limited to public schools
o
But people hoped it would apply to other
public facilities
o
Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955, Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to give up her seat on bus
o
o
News of her arrest spread quickly
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
o
That night, NAACP held meeting

o
Boycott is type of political activism –
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. –
Boycott went on for 13 months

King & other leaders faced death threats, bombings,
jailings

Now blacks could sit wherever they wanted on buses
o
o
Results of boycott:


Led to founding of Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC)


Boycott made Martin Luther King national figure in civil
rights movement
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Goals & Obstacles of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Directions: For the goals of the movement, use the Alabama Movement Human Rights
newsletter. For the obstacles, you may use the newsletter & your own ideas. Worth 20 points.
Goals of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Obstacles to Achieving Those Goals
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Civil Rights Supporters Face Violence

Civil rights victories angered Southern whites
o
o
Many whites organized groups called White Citizens Councils to prevent
desegregation
o
Opposition of whites to desegregation –
Showdown in Little Rock

Massive resistance threatened school desegregation in Little Rock,
Arkansas
o
After Brown case, Little Rock school board planned to integrate


Segregationists tried to stop them

o
o
Went on for 3 weeks
September 24, President Eisenhower ordered 101st Airborne
Division into Little Rock

Directions: Below are 4 pictures of the Little Rock Nine. Based on the photos and what you know
of the story, write the captions for each photo. Each caption must be 2 sentences. Worth 16 points.
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_______________________________________
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Sit-ins Energize the Movement

Victories like one in Little Rock encouraged others to fight for rights
o
1960, 4 black college students started sit-in at lunch counter in
Greensboro, NC

o
Sit-in –
Students ordered coffee – waitress said no b/c they were black

Students came back each day w/ more protestors (over
100)


Segregationists began abusing protestors



Threw acid & ammonia, yelled & beat them, burned
w/ cigarettes
Protests eventually forced stores w/ lunch counters to serve
African Americans
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
This group & others increased pressure for change
in 1960s
3. Kennedy, Johnson, & Civil Rights
Freedom Rides

Jim Zwerg joined Freedom Ride 1961
o

During rides, whites would sit in back, blacks sit in front


Many were attacked for doing so
The Movement Gains Strength

Early 1960s, Congress did not act on civil rights issues

o
As this grassroots movement grew, politicians forced to get involved
Kennedy & Civil Rights

1960, America elected new president

Civil rights played big role in campaign

o
Democrats –
o
Republicans –
Kennedy won a very close election
o
Southern Democrats supported segregation


But civil rights activists kept pressuring the govt.
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

Despite attacks, freedom riders kept going

Kennedy sent federal marshals to protect them

40 years later, mission accomplished
'Freedom Riders' reunite on anniversary of civil rights struggle
Directions: Read the following article about the 40-year anniversary of the Freedom Rides
and then answer the questions based on the article. Worth 18 points.
WASHINGTON -- The Greyhound Bus -- a 1954 model occupied by a handful of black and white civil rights
activists, students and ministers -- had cruised without incident from Washington to Atlanta, Georgia. The
problems began in Alabama, with a group of 200 whites setting the vehicle on fire when it got a flat tire in
Anniston. The trip continued in another bus onto Birmingham, where the occupants -- the "Freedom Riders,"
as they were better known -- were met by another mob and assaulted with stones, baseball bats, lead pipes
and chains.
"It was very violent," said John Lewis, one of the 13 occupants who went on to become a Democratic
congressman from Georgia. "I thought I was going to die." But despite additional beatings, jail time and
persecution, the original Freedom Riders did survive, having brought the civil rights movement to the deep
South and awareness to the entire country. This week, they reunited in Washington on the 40th anniversary of
their historic ride, an event sponsored by Greyhound Lines. The group not only reminisced, but they recreated
the event by hopping on a bus and heading south once again. "To go down those roads, to get on a
Greyhound bus, just to relive this whole thing is going to be very moving," Lewis said.
Testing a 1960 decision
The Freedom Rides took place in May of 1961, in the early days of the U.S. civil rights movement. Rosa
Parks' refusal to budge from her seat near the front of a Birmingham bus had ignited a massive and largely
successful boycott four years earlier, but in other ways discrimination was still very much ingrained in
American, and especially southern, society.
The Freedom Riders set out to test a 1960 Supreme Court ruling that segregation in interstate bus and rail
travel was unconstitutional. Starting May 4, 1961, they planned to travel from the nation's capital south to
Atlanta, west through Alabama and Mississippi, then down to New Orleans, Louisiana. "Segregation was the
order of the day," Lewis said. "There was a tremendous amount of fear. So the Ride was going to test this
decision, try to desegregate these places, but also to take the civil rights movement into the heart of the deep
South."
The Freedom Riders would ride together, black and whites sitting side-by-side, walking into the same waiting
P a g e | 26
rooms and restrooms in protesting signs limiting areas to "whites" or "colored."
A violent voyage
Many of the protesters, Lewis among them, were brutally beaten at several stops in Alabama. Some called
their families to wish them goodbye during the journey, fearing they'd never see them again. "Many of us
didn't know whether we would return," Lewis said. "Many of us … wrote our wills, and we signed statements
because it was a very dangerous mission."
In Birmingham, where the Freedom Riders were joined by First Baptist Church preacher Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr., police arrested the riders then dropped them off late at night just across the Tennessee border. The
riders reorganized themselves and continued on to Montgomery, where they were met by their most violent
opposition. "I was kicked in the spine, thrown forward and felt a foot come down on my face," said Jim
Zwerg, a retired white minister for United Church of Christ. "That's basically the last thing I remember until I
woke up in a vehicle. I thought I was getting taken out to get lynched."
Mission accomplished
The riders continued on to Mississippi, where they were sentenced to 60 days in jail. By the time the bus
stopped permanently, they had attracted the support of 300 protesters as well as the attention of many
national television networks and publications. They never reached destination in New Orleans, but they
achieved their objective. Later in 1961, Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered the Interstate Commerce
Commission to enforce the previous year's Supreme Court ruling.
Forty years later, many of the signs of segregation -- both explicit and implicit -- no longer exist in Alabama,
Mississippi and elsewhere in the United States. Last week's conviction of ex-Klansman Thomas Blanton for
his part in a September 1963 church bombing that killed four African-American girls signals a renewed effort
to find justice after years of racially-related violence and prejudice.
"We have come such a distance," Lewis said. "Those signs are gone. The fear is gone." But Lewis and other
Freedom Riders say the civil rights situation in the United States remains imperfect. "We still have a lot of
work to do," said Catherine Burks Brooks, one of the protesters who is now a Birmingham school teacher.
"There's no time to rest."
1.
What more did you learn about the Freedom Rides after reading this article?
2. What were the rides designed to protest? Were they effective? Explain.
3. Why are they being re-enacted now?
4. Who is John Lewis? How does he describe the events?
5. What recent events reported in the media indicate there is still violent racism in the
United States?
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6. In what ways have displays of discrimination changed from days prior to the civil rights
movement?
Protests in Birmingham

o
Blacks in Birmingham, AL wanted to integrate public places, get
better jobs, & better housing

Protestors knew Public Safety Commissioner would use
violence to stop protests

o
Demonstration began April 1963 –

SCLC used children in protests

Police used dogs & firehouses on them

o
Soon Birmingham’s leaders desegregated lunch counters,
removed segregation signs, & hired more black workers
The High Water Mark, 1963-1965


A march on Washington & voter registration drive helped convince Congress to
make more changes
The March on Washington

Birmingham convinced Americans to support laws to protect civil rights
o

During march, Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream”
speech
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
He hoped his children would be judged by “their
character” rather than “the color of their skin”
o
o
Also convinced Kennedy to promise his support
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Directions: Create your own "I Have a Dream Too!" speech by filling in the blanks below
explaining specifically how you hope America will improve in the future. Worth 24 points.
I have a dream that one day this nation will __________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a dream that one day _________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a dream that one day _________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a dream that _________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day _________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day _________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
This is my hope and faith. With this faith we will be able to __________________________
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____________________________________________________________________________________
This will be the day when ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every
state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men
and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and
sing the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we
are free at last!"
New Civil Rights Laws

President Kennedy did not live long enough to keep promise
o
November 22, 1963, Kennedy & V.P. Lyndon Johnson went to
Texas to campaign

As motorcade rode through Dallas, shots rang out


Johnson was sworn in as president – promised to continue Kennedy’s
policies
o

Banned segregation in public places


Kennedy’s Assassination


But most still supported Kennedy

No one could imagine what was about to happen
Four Days in November

November 22, 1963, Kennedy landed in Dallas, TX
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o
Came to make friends w/ state’s Democratic Party
o
Streets of downtown Dallas full of applause
o
Governor John Connally (& wife) sat in front
o
As limo approached Texas School Book Depository, rifle shots
rang out



Taken to nearby hospital – President Kennedy was dead


o
Palm print found on rifle used to kill Kennedy

Oswald was 24, ex-marine, had lived in Soviet Union,
supported Castro


November 25, Kennedy’s funeral stopped work all across country
Directions: Watch the film clips below about the Kennedy assassination. Then read the
description of the magic bullet theory that follows. Finally, answer the questions at the end.
Worth 18 points.
Magic Bullet Theory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMsPq7gQCrk
JFK Assassination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IHYSwK9Xac
Seinfeld episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcaq4ElAJrE
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According to the single-bullet theory, a one-inch-long copper-jacketed lead-core 6.5-millimeter
rifle bullet fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository passed through
President Kennedy’s neck and Governor Connally’s chest and wrist and embedded itself in the
Governor’s thigh. If so, this bullet traversed 15 layers of clothing, 7 layers of skin, and
approximately 15 inches of tissue, struck a necktie knot, removed 4 inches of rib, and shattered
a radius bone. The bullet that is supposed to have done all this damage was found on a stretcher
in the corridor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital, in Dallas, after the assassination. The
Warren Commission found that this stretcher was the one that had been used by Governor
Connally.[2] This bullet became a key Commission exhibit, identified as CE399. Its copper
jacket was completely intact. While the bullet's nose appeared normal, the tail was compressed
laterally on one side.
In its conclusion, the Warren Commission found "persuasive
evidence from the experts" that a single bullet caused the
President's neck wound and all the wounds in Governor
Connally.[3] It acknowledged that there was a "difference of
opinion" among members of the Commission "as to this
probability", but stated that the theory was not essential to its
conclusions and that all members had no doubt that all shots were
fired from the sixth floor window of the Depository building.
Critics claim that a bullet that passed through several layers of clothing and flesh, destroyed a
five inch (127 mm) section of a rib, broke a wrist radius bone, and shed metal fragments (some
of which are buried with Connally) could not be in such nearly pristine shape, especially given
that the, supposedly, same type "headshot" bullet, according to the Warren Commission,
completely broke apart after passing through only two layers of less-dense skull bone.
1.
What is your opinion of the single-bullet theory? Explain in at least 3 sentences.
2. Many conspiracy theorists believe the single-bullet theory is ridiculous. Why would they
think that?
3. If so many people think the single-bullet theory is ridiculous, then why did the
committee in charge of investigating the murder of the president support this theory?
4. What if the conspiracy theorists were right – that Oswald was not the only one involved
in the shooting of JFK? Why would the government cover such information up?
P a g e | 32
5. People have a hard time keeping even small secrets. So if there was some big conspiracy
to kill Kennedy, why is it that no believable witnesses have come forward to tell the
“truth?”
6. There’s an old expression: “Either you die the hero, or you live long enough to become
the villain.” What does that mean? If JFK had survived the assassination attempt, do
you think he would have been as famous as he is today? Why or why not?
Unanswered Questions

Some people wondered if Oswald involved in conspiracy
o

o
Concluded Oswald shot Kennedy on his own
Another investigation in 1979 found Oswald had taken part in
conspiracy


Various theories have come about:
o
Anti-Castro Cubans
o
Communist-sponsored attack
o
o
American mafia
o
Fighting for Voting Rights

South had used literacy tests, poll taxes, & violence to stop blacks from
voting
o
o
Same year, states ratified 24th Amendment
P a g e | 33

Outlawed poll taxes


1964, SNCC organized voter registration drive for Southern blacks –
o Volunteers were harassed & some even killed


1965, King organized voter registration drive in Selma, AL
o
March 7, protestors crossed bridge – state troopers on horseback
attacked
o
Americans watched it all on TV
o
President sent troops to protect protestors


August 6, 1965, Johnson signed Voting Rights Act
o
The Focus Shifts

After Johnson signed Voting Rights Act, focus of civil rights movement shifted
to economic issues

However, disagreements over goals of movement caused fighting
Johnson & the Great Society

o
Helped poor, elderly, women, & the disenfranchised (people not
allowed to vote)
o

Many of these programs still exist today –
P a g e | 34
o
Congress also passed Elementary & Secondary School Act –
federal funds for education
o
Congress also strengthened Clean Air Act & Clean Water Act
o
Divisions in the Civil Rights Movement

Late 1960s, civil rights leader disagreed about movement
o
o
But other groups wanted to be more aggressive

1966, SNCC kicked out white members



Wanted blacks to make own organizations to fight
racism
Nation of Islam –

NOI led by Elijah Muhammad

o
By mid-1960s, however, Malcolm X rejected
NOI (but he remained Muslim)
o
In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Malcolm X saw all
Muslims living in peace
o
o
o
He came back to U.S. & wanted all races to be
equal
P a g e | 35
A Journalist’s Report: The Better Vision for Black Americans
Directions: As you work your way through “A Summing Up: Louis Lomax Interviews Malcolm X,” answer
the following questions in the space provided. Worth 18 points.
“A Summing Up: Louis Lomax Interviews Malcolm X,” November 1963:
LOMAX: Minister Malcolm, we are all by now familiar with your basic philosophy; we have heard you speak, seen
you on television, and read your remarks in magazines and newspapers. By now, I think, everybody knows your
position that the white man is a devil, a man incapable of doing right; you hold that the black man is of God’s divine
nature, that he fell from power because of weakness; you hold further that the white man’s rule over the earth was
scheduled to end in 1914, but that his end has been delayed because of the need to get the American Negro into the
fold of the black brotherhood.
MALCOLM X: Yes, sir, that is what The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us. The white devil’s time is up; it
has been up for almost fifty years now. It has taken us that long to get the deaf, dumb, and blind black men in the
wilderness of North America to wake up and understand who they are. You see, sir, when a man understands who he
is, who God is, who the devil is . . . then he can pick himself up out of the gutter; he can clean himself up and stand
up like a man should before his God. This is why we teach that in order for a man to really understand himself he
must be part of a nation; he must have some land of his own, a God of his own, a language of his own. Most of all
he must have love and devotion for his own kind.
LOMAX: Wouldn’t you say the Negro has a nation—America?
MALCOLM X: Sir, how can a Negro say America is his nation? He was brought here in chains; he was put in
slavery and worked like a mule for three hundred years; he was separated from his land, his culture, his God, his
language!
The Negro was taught to speak the white man’s tongue, worship the white God, and accept the white man as his
superior.
This is a white man’s country. And the Negro is nothing but and ex-slave who is now trying to get himself
integrated into the slave master’s house.
And the slave master doesn’t want you! You fought and bled and died in every war the white man waged, and he
still won’t give you justice. You nursed his baby and cleaned behind his wife, and he still won’t give you freedom;
you turned the other cheek while he lynched you and raped your women, but he still won’t give you equality. Now,
you integration-minded Negroes are trying to force yourselves on your former slave master, trying to make him
accept you in his drawing room; you want to hang out with his women rather than the women of your own kind. . . .
LOMAX: I have heard you say that a thousand times, but it always jolts me. Why do you call the white man a devil?
MALCOLM X: Because that’s what he is. What do you want me to call him, a saint? Anybody who rapes, and
plunders, and enslaves, and steals, and drops hell bombs on people . . . anybody who does these things is nothing but
a devil. Look, Lomax, history rewards all research. And history fails to record one single instance in which the white
man —as a people—did good. They have always been devils; they always will be devils, and they are about to be
P a g e | 36
destroyed. The final proof that they are devils lies in the fact that they are about to destroy themselves. Only a
devil—and a stupid devil at that—would destroy himself!
Now why would I want to integrate with somebody marked for destruction?
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us to get away from the devil as soon and as fast as we can. This is why
we are demanding a separate state. Tell the slave master we will no longer beg for crumbs from his table; let him
give us some land of our own so we can go for ourselves. If he doesn’t give us some land, there is going to be hell to
pay. . . .
LOMAX: But we have made some gains. . . .
MALCOLM X: What gains? All you have gotten is tokenism—one or two Negroes in a job or at a lunch counter so
the rest of you will be quiet. It took the United States Army to get one Negro into the University of Mississippi; it
took troops to get a few Negroes in the white schools at Little Rock and another dozen places in the South. It has
been nine years since the Supreme Court decision outlawing segregated schools, yet less than ten per cent of the
Negro students in the South are in integrated schools. That isn’t integration, that’s tokenism! In spite of all the dogs,
and fire hoses, and club-swinging policemen, I have yet to read of anybody eating an integrated hamburger in
Birmingham.
You Negroes are not willing to admit it yet, but integration will not work. Why, it is against the white man’s nature
to integrate you into his house. Even if he wanted to, he could no more do it than a Model T can sprout wings and
fly. It just isn’t in him.
Now The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says it would be the easiest thing in the world for the white man to destroy
all Black Muslims. We contend that the white man is a devil. If he is not a devil, let him prove it!
He can’t do it, Lomax; it isn’t in him; it is against his nature. . . .
LOMAX: This is strong gospel, Minister Malcolm; many people, Negro and white, say what you preach amounts to
hate, that your theology is actually anti-Semitic. What is your comment to that?
MALCOLM X: The white people who are guilty of white supremacy are trying to hide their own guilt by accusing
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad of teaching black supremacy when he tries to uplift the mentality, the social,
mental and economic condition of the black people in this country. Jews who have been guilty of exploiting the
black people in this country, economically, civically, an otherwise, hide behind—hide their guilt by accusing The
Honorable Elijah Muhammad of being anti-Semitic, simply because he teaches our people to go into business for
ourselves and take over the economic leadership in our own community. And since the white people collectively
have practiced the worst form of hatred against Negroes in this country and they know that they are guilty of it, now
when The Honorable Elijah Muhammad comes along and begins to list the historic deed—the historic attitude, the
historic behavior of the white man in this country toward the black people in this country, again, the white people
are so guilty and they can’t stop doing these things to make Mr. Muhammad appear to be wrong, so they hide their
wrong by saying “he is teaching hatred.” History is not hatred. Actually we are Muslims because we believe in the
religion of Islam. We believe in one God. We believe Muhammad is the Apostle of God. We practice the principles
of the religion of Islam, which mean prayer, charity, fasting, brotherhood, and The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
teaches us that since the Western society is deteriorating, it has become overrun with immorality, that God is going
to judge it and destroy it, and the only way the black people who are in this society can be saved is not to integrate
into this corrupt society but separate ourselves from it, reform ourselves, lift up our moral standards and try and be
godly—try to integrate with God—instead of trying to integrate with the white man, or try and imitate God instead
of trying to imitate the white man.
LOMAX: It is suggested also that your movement preaches violence.
MALCOLM X: No, sir. The black people of this country have been victims of violence at the hands of the white
men for four hundred years, and following the ignorant Negro preachers, we have thought that it was godlike to turn
P a g e | 37
the other cheek to the brute that was brutalizing us. Today The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is showing black
people in this country that, just as the white man and every other person on this earth has God-given rights, natural
rights, civil rights, any kind of rights that you can think of, when it comes to defending himself, black people—we
should have the right to defend ourselves also. And, because The Honorable Elijah Muhammad makes black people
brave enough, men enough to defend ourselves mo matter what the odds are, the white man runs around here with a
doctrine that Mr. Muhammad is advocating the violence when he is actually telling Negroes to defend themselves
against violent people.
LOMAX: Reverend Martin Luther King teaches a doctrine of nonviolence. What is your attitude toward this
philosophy?
MALCOLM X: The white man supports Reverend Martin Luther King, subsidizes Reverend Martin Luther King, so
that Reverend Martin Luther King can continue to teach the Negroes to be defenseless—that’s what you mean by
nonviolent—be defenseless in the face of one of the most cruel beasts that has ever taken people into captivity—
that’s this American white man, and they have proved it throughout the country by the police dogs and the police
clubs. A hundred years ago they used to put on a white sheet and use a bloodhound against Negroes. Today they
have taken off the white sheet and put on police uniforms and traded in the bloodhounds for police dogs, and they’re
still doing the same thing. Just as Uncle Tom, back during slavery used to keep the Negroes from resisting the
bloodhound or resisting the Ku Klux Klan by teaching them to love their enemies or pray for those who use them
despitefully, today Martin Luther King is just a twentieth-century or modern Uncle Tom or religious Uncle Tom,
who is doing the same thing today to keep Negroes defenseless in the face of attack that Uncle tom did on the
plantation to keep those Negroes defenseless in the face of the attack of the Klan in that day.
Now the goal of Dr. Martin Luther King is to give Negroes a chance to sit in a segregated restaurant beside the same
white man who has brutalized them for four hundred years. The goal of Martin Luther King is to get the Negroes to
forgive the people the people who have brutalized them for four hundred years, by lulling them to sleep and making
them forget what those whites have done to them, but the masses of black people today don’t go for what Martin
Luther King is putting down. . . .
LOMAX: Then your movement does not share the integration goals of the NAACP, CORE, Martin Luther King’s
movement, and the Student Nonviolent movement.
MALCOLM X: You don’t integrate with a sinking ship. You don’t do anything to further your stay aboard a ship
that you see is going to go down to the bottom of the ocean. Moses tried to separate his people from Pharaoh, and
when he tried, the magicians tried to fool the people into staying with the Pharaoh, and we look upon these other
organizations that are trying to get Negroes to integrate with this doomed white man as nothing but modern-day
magicians, and The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is a modern-day Moses trying to separate us from the modern-day
Pharaoh. . . .
. . . Everybody has a God and believes that his God will deliver him and protect him from his enemies! Why can’t
the black man have a God? What’s so wrong when a black man says his God will protect him form his white foe? If
Jehovah can slay Philistines for the Jews, why can’t Allah slay crackers for the so-called Negro?
LOMAX: Is that the reasoning behind your remark after the assassination of President Kennedy? You are reported
to have said that Kennedy’s death was an instance of “chickens coming home to roost.”
MALCOLM X: Yes, but let’s clear up what I said, I did not say that Kennedy’s death was a reason for rejoicing.
That is not what I meant at all. Rather I meant that the death of Kennedy was the result of a long line of violent acts,
the culmination of hate and suspicion and doubt in this country. You see, Lomax, this country has allowed white
people to kill and brutalize those they don’t like. The assassination of Kennedy is a result of that way of life and
thinking. The chickens came home to roost; that’s all there is to it. America—at the death of the President—just
reaped what it had been sowing.
LOMAX: But you were disciplined for making these remarks; The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has publicly
rebuked you and has ordered you not to speak in public until further notice.
P a g e | 38
MALCOLM X: This is true. I was wrong; the Messenger had warned me not to say anything about the death of the
President, and I omitted any reference to that tragedy in my main speech. But during a question-and-answer period
someone asked about the meaning of the Kennedy assassination, and I said it was a case of chickens coming home
to roost. Now about that suspension—it’s just as if you have cut off a radio. The radio is still there, but it makes not
sound. You can cut it back on when it pleases you.
LOMAX: How long do you think this suspension will last?
MALCOLM X: Only The Honorable Elijah Muhammad can answer that. I don’t think it will be permanent. . . .
LOMAX: Are not Negroes American citizens?
MALCOLM X: If they were citizens, you wouldn’t have a race problem. If the Emancipation Proclamation was
authentic, you wouldn’t have a race problem. If the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were
authentic, you wouldn’t have a race problem. If the Supreme Court desegregation decision was authentic, you
wouldn’t have a race problem. All of this hypocrisy that has been practiced by the so-called white so-called liberal
for the past four hundred years that compounds the problem, makes it more complicated, instead of eliminating the
problem.
LOMAX: What, then, do you see as the final result of all these demonstrations?
MALCOLM X: Any time you put too many sparks around a powder keg, the thing is going to explode, and if the
things that explodes is still inside the house, then the house will be destroyed. So The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
is telling the white man, “Get this powder keg out of your house—let the black people in this country separate from
you, while there’s still time.” If the black man is allowed to separate and go into some land of his own where he can
solve his own problems, there won’t be any explosion, and the Negroes who want to stay with the white man, let
them stay with the white man—but those who want to leave, let them go to The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. . . .
LOMAX: According to your own newspaper, one of the things you Muslims may do in the near future is vote.
MALCOLM X: Yes. After long and prayerful consideration, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad allowed us to
announce the possibility of Muslims voting. The announcement came at our annual Saviour’s Day Convention in
Chicago.
LOMAX: What does it mean?
MALCOLM X: Mr. Muhammad is the only one who can explain that fully. However, I can say that we may register
and be ready to vote. Then we will seek out candidates who represent our interests and support them. They need not
be Muslims; what we want are race men who will speak out for our people.
LOMAX: There are rumors that you may run against Adam Clayton Powell.
MALCOLM X: Why must I run against a Negro? We have had enough of Negroes running against and fighting with
each other. The better bet is that we would put a Muslim candidate in the field against a devil, somebody who is
against all we stand for.
LOMAX: What are the chances of Black Muslims joining us in picket lines for better jobs? ...
MALCOLM X: As I told you, only Mr. Muhammad can answer that. But let me tell you something: Better jobs and
housing are only temporary solutions. They are aspects of tokenism and don’t go to the heart of the problem.
This is why integration will not work. It assumes that the two races, black and white, are equal and can be made to
live as one. This is not true.
P a g e | 39
The white man is by nature a devil and must be destroyed. The black man will inherit the earth; he will resume
control, taking back the position he held centuries ago when the white devil was crawling around the caves of
Europe on his all fours. Before the white devil came into our lives we had a civilization, we had a culture, we were
living in silks and satins. Then he put us in chains and put us aboard the “Good Ship Jesus,” and we have lived in
hell ever since.
Now the white man’s time is over. Tokenism will not help him, and it will doom us. Complete separation will save
us—and who knows, it might make God decide to give the white devil a few more years.
Questions
1. Why does Malcolm X call white people “devils”?
2. Why does the Nation of Islam not try to integrate blacks into American society?
3. What solution does Malcolm X propose and how would this provide what blacks most need?
4. How does Malcolm X defend the Nation of Islam from the criticism that they preach black
supremacy and violence?
5. Why does Malcolm X not approve of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s approach to securing civil rights?
6. Does Malcolm X think black Americans are citizens of the United States? What does he cite to
support his opinion of the political status of black Americans?
Dr. King Assassinated

In North, no laws took away blacks’ civil rights
o
o
African Americans in cities grew frustrated


o
164 riots broke out in 1967
P a g e | 40

African American communities erupted in violence (40
died)
4. The Equal Rights Struggle Expands
Dolores Huerta

1950s & 1960s, Mexican-American activists organized
o

She helped form 1st farm workers’ union in 1962
Other Minorities Organize

Civil Rights Movement has huge impact on society

Mexican Americans Unite

Latino population in U.S. is diverse
o

Each group has different social & political concerns:
o
o

Puerto Ricans are already citizens –
Mexican Americans united to fight for equality
o

Chavez inspired by Dr. King & Ghandi (nonviolent)

1965, California grape growers refused to recognize union
o
P a g e | 41

Chavez organized boycott of grapes – it worked

o
Students walked out of class to get better facilities, more Mexican
American teachers

o
This action led to many reforms
1970, Mexican Americans formed La Raza Unida to elect
Mexican Americans to public office

STAND & DELIVER
Directions: As we watch the film, Stand & Deliver, keep in mind the following
questions and answer them completely below. Worth 42 points.
1.
What are your impressions of the neighborhood? Which things show you that there are
many Hispanic people in this neighborhood?
2. What is happening at the school when Mr Escalante arrives? What was Mr. Escalante
expected to teach at the school? Why does he end up teaching math instead?
3. What are your impressions of the school and the students? How do the students react
to Mr. Escalante? Do they like math? Do they like to study?
4. What was Mr. Escalante's job before he became a high-school teacher? How does Mr.
Escalante's neighbor react when he hears that he quit a high paying job to become a
teacher? Do you think people respect high-school teachers?
5. At the beginning, the students don't even know how to do basic math, such as fractions.
How does Mr. Escalante encourage them? How does he deal with the tough guys?
P a g e | 42
6. What kind of attitude do the other math teachers have about the students? What do
they think of Mr. Escalante?
7. At the beginning of the movie, do the students seem like they are planning to go to
college? How do their families and friends react when they start studying math so
intensely? (Think about why Angel asks for another book, and about how Anna's father
wants her to quit school.)
8. What things make it hard for the students to study outside of class? That is, what
responsibilities do they have and what distractions are there?
9. How do the other teachers react when Mr. Escalante says that he wants to teach
calculus in the fall? What do the students have to do in order to get ready for the class?
10. What are the conditions of the "contract" that Mr. Escalante gives the students at the
beginning of the calculus class? Why do you think he makes them sign the contract?
11. Besides teaching highschool, what other work does Mr. Escalante do? Why does he
take this job? What does his family think about it?
12. Why did Angel bring his grandmother to Mr. Escalante's house?
13. According to the doctors, why did Mr. Escalate have a heart attack?
14. How do the students do on the Advanced Placement Test? Why do the people at the
testing company think that the students cheated?
15. Who else thinks that the students cheated?
P a g e | 43
16. Consider the math background (knowledge of math) of the students in the movie at the
start of their first math class. When you started high school how did your math
background compare to those students in the movie?
17. Your socioeconomic (i.e. money and homelife) situation is ___ those students in the
movie. Why?
18. Besides having an inspirational teacher and that the students were naturally “smart”,
why do you think those students had the desire to work so hard on math (going to class 1
hour before school, giving up vacations and going to summer school)? (i.e. why was
math - calculus – so important to them?)
19. If there was something that you desired but it would take a lot of effort or work to
achieve it, would you…
A. Forget it and not try anything that was hard or took a lot of effort
B. Give it a try but stop if it got too tough
C. Work at it and if it got hard keep trying
20. In your classes now you are…
A. Doing the best you can, effort wise, in all of your classes
B. Doing the best you can, effort wise, in most of your classes
C. Just trying to get by with not much effort in most of your classes
D. Just trying to get by with not much effort in all of your classes
21. One message of the movie for teachers is to set high expectations and goals for their
students. Summarize what you would say is one (or more) message the movie is making
for students.
Native American Activism

As America grew, Indians lost their land & millions of their people
o

Many children forced into “Indian schools”


Indian language & culture forbidden here
P a g e | 44

1950s, Bureau of Indian Affairs started “termination policy”
o
o

Indians united against termination policy
o
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) – founded to
protect Indians – led protests

Govt. changed policy 1958

Indian unemployment – 10 times country’s average

Life expectancy – 20 years shorter than country’s average
o

1961, Indians issued Declaration of Indian Purpose – wanted to control
own lives
o

1970s, Indians won control of social programs, law
enforcement, & education


Also went to court over hunting & fishing rights on old land
The Women’s Movement Revives

Women’s rights movement began mid-1800s

Victory achieved 1920 – women gained right to vote
o
P a g e | 45
Directions: Fill in the chart below with what you think the following job positions pay male &
female workers just entering the profession. Then read each case study that follows and answer
the 3 questions for each case. Worth 15 points.
Job Title
Cashier
Stock Worker
Construction Helper
Waiter/Waitress
Receptionist
Male Entry-Level Pay
Female Entry-Level Pay
Readings/Case Studies from the Workplace
1. Female Custodians Settle Lawsuit against the U.S. for $2.5 Million
In November 2001, more than 300 current and former female custodians won a $2.5
million settlement resulting from a pay equity lawsuit filed against AOC (Architect of
the Capitol, Inc.) in 1997 by a group of African American female custodians on Capitol
Hill. The lawsuit alleged violations of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the 1964
Civil Rights Act. It charged that female custodial workers were paid significantly less
than their male co-workers for performing essentially the same work. Custodians
working at the Capitol, Washington, DC, are federal civil servants. At the time the suit
was filed, the highest pay possible for a female custodian to earn was $10.08 per hour.
For male custodians, the highest pay possible to earn was $11.10 per hour. The
disparity was due to discriminatory federal Wage Grade classifications. Women were
classified under WG-2 and men under WG-3. Under the settlement, all custodians,
male and female, were to receive upgrades to WG-3. Lump-sum payments of
approximately $1000 to $8000 were to be paid to each female represented. The
federal government, which had contracted with the AOC as a private firm to clean the
Capitol, defended the firm through the U.S. Justice Department. As a result of the
settlement, the government was required to pay not only the $2.5 million, but also the
attorneys’ fees and costs of class counsel for the plaintiffs.
A. What is the problem (the wage gap) in this story?
B. What is being done about it?
P a g e | 46
2. Female Workers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories – Sex
Discrimination
Suit
In 1998, six women members of the Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers
at Lawrence Livermore Lab filed a class action sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of
3,000 current and former female employees of the Lab. It alleged a pattern and
practice of discrimination and unequal pay across several decades. The lead plaintiff
was Mary Singleton, a chemist who worked 22 years at the Lab until retirement. The
Women’s Association at the Lab had studied salary pay scales and found women’s
salaries significantly lower than men’s for most of the 100 classifications. Women
were also not being equally represented in the higher ranking, higher paying
classifications, although there were more women in the pool to chose among for
promotions.
According the attorney for the plaintiffs, Mark Johnson, “women have been misled for
years that something would be done about gender bias, so many women didn’t file
lawsuits.” The lawsuit covered only women who worked at the lab from 1997 to the
present. The lawsuit was settled successfully for the women, as of Fall 2003.
A. What is the problem (the wage gap) in this story?
B. What is being done about it?
3. Wal-Mart Class Action Lawsuit for Equal Pay
In June 2001, six current and former Wal-Mart women employees filed a lawsuit
against the nation’s largest private employer, charging discrimination in pay,
promotions, training, and job assignments. It also charges that Wal-Mart retaliates
against women who complain against such practices. The class action suit represents
more than 500,000 female workers. The suit was filed in San Francisco’s U.S.
District Court. It alleges that male Wal-Mart workers get higher pay than women for
the same duties and that Wal-Mart passes over women for promotion and training. Of
the company’s 1 million employees, about 2/3 are female but women hold less than 1/3
of managerial positions.
Women bringing the suit said they were routinely denied the chance to move up in the
company because they were not made aware of openings or given the training needed
to advance. Betty Dukes said she also had been rebuffed in attempts to be promoted.
Jobs became available that were never posted, and were then filled by men. Women
P a g e | 47
were routinely assigned to certain areas of the store, like selling baby clothes, as
opposed to goods like hardware. “I can mix a can of paint,” she said. “I want a chance
to do it.”
A. What is the problem (the wage gap) in this story?
B. What is being done about it?
Discrimination & Limited Rights

WWII, 7 million women filled jobs for men
o

1960s, women still discriminated against at work
o
For example, few female police officers
o
Married women could not sign contracts, sell property, or get
credit

o
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In The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan described problem for
women:
o
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1966 Friedan started National Organization for Women (NOW)
o
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1966, 4% of lawyers & 1% of judges were women
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2006, women still only earned 76% of what men did
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Problem –
o 2005, only 8 of 500 largest companies led by woman
The Movement’s Impact
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1972 Congress passed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
o

Tried to protect women against discrimination & help them
achieve equality in jobs, pay, education
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38 states had to accept the law
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By deadline, only 35 did
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Other reforms helped reduce inequality
o
Higher Education Act of 1972 (“Title IX”) –

Example: many schools spent more money on men’s sports
than women’s sports

Directions: Read the article below regarding Title IX and then answer the questions that
follow. Worth 14 points.
Girls find inequality persists in sports despite progress from Title IX law
By Greg Botelho
(CNN) -- In 1971, males made up 99 percent of high school athletes in the United
States. One out of 27 high school girls played sports, compared to roughly one out of
two boys.
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One year later, the revolution began. In June 1972, Congress passed a bill -- known as
Title IX -- which changed the face of education as well as sports in the United States.
Today, around 2.65 million American girls participate in high school sports, a far cry
from the less than 300,000 who played in 1971. These girls are taking part in more
sports on more teams with more resources than ever before.
"Title IX has made a tremendous difference," said U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, D-Hawaii,
who co-authored the original legislation 28 years ago. "It has really broadened the
ability of young girls to participate … not only in sports but in all aspects of education."
But many involved in the women's sports movement insist the revolution is not over, a
sense supported by the record number of Title IX-related complaints and lawsuits
filed in the last decade.
"This (gender discrimination) is going on all around the country, especially at the high
school level," said Neena Chaudhry, a lawyer at the National Women's Law Center. "If
you have an athletic program, you treat boys and girls fairly."
'Any education program or activity receiving federal
financial assistance'
Sports wasn't mentioned in the 1972 sentence-long
Title IX provision, which addressed sex discrimination
for "any education program or activity receiving federal
assistance" -- things such as female admission into
vocational schools, colleges and graduate schools.
"Title IX has broad implications; it is not just sports,"
said Mink, the only female out of 180 students in her
1951 University of Chicago law school class. "But
sports is the area that most people talk about. It's front
and center -- everyone can see it."
While many other Title IX issues were addressed
quickly, equality in high school and college sports came
slower. Only a few complaints were filed in the 1970s
and 1980s, and a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision
brought legal action to a standstill.
What Title IX says
"No person in the United
States shall, on the basis of
sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied
the benefits of, or be
subjected to discrimination
under any education
program or activity
receiving federal financial
assistance."
From preamble to Title IX
of the Education
Amendments of 1972
"There was a great deal of discrimination and differential treatment," said Cindy
Brown, first assistant secretary for civil rights in the late 1970s and later deputy
director for the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, which enforces Title
IX. "Women didn't get scholarships, opportunities, equal facilities. The budgets were
very unequal."
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Despite the legal slowdown, the number of female athletes and teams at the high
school and college levels rose rapidly in the 1970s and '80s.
"The real success of Title IX has been the millions of girls receiving the benefits of
sports," said Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation.
Work to be done
But Lopiano added, "Girls are only halfway there when it comes to receiving the same
benefits and treatment as boys in sports."
National Collegiate Athletic Association records in 1997-8 show that males received
59 percent of sports scholarships and females 41 percent. The National Federation of
State High School Associations' 1998-9 report showed a like
breakdown in high school sports participation -- 59 percent boys,
41 percent girls.
Lopiano said there are many examples of sex discrimination in
athletics, from the quality of playing fields to whether the
cheerleaders and band perform only for boys events. "Ask any girl
athlete whether they are being 'fairly' treated compared to the
boys' teams," Lopiano said. "They will know the answer."
All school districts receiving federal funding must have a Title IX
coordinator by law. But these coordinators' authority and
presence varies significantly by community.
"At the college level, schools have to report certain statistics -there's some way to look at and evaluate them," Chaudhry said.
"There's no data collection at the high school level."
The fact that local school budgets and bureaucracies tend to work
differently from district to district also hampers the creation of a
universal, streamlined process.
And the issue isn't always with individual school districts,
Chaudhry said. Sometimes girls are forced to play in inferior
facilities or out of season. That hampers girls' ability to be
recruited and get scholarships.
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The flip side
Some claim football -- with its costly equipment, lengthy rosters and male-only
restrictions -- works against female and lower profile men's sports such as cross
country or wrestling.
"Football complicates everything," Brown said. "There's no counterpart to football that
has that many scholarships, and women have to have an opportunity to get
scholarships."
Another thorny issue is whether cheerleading and dance are counted as sports. The
Office of Civil Rights, with the official policy, said they aren't sports.
"With the number of girls involved in cheerleading in the South, it really is athletics,"
said Katherine Hanson, executive director of the federally funded Women's
Educational Equity Act Equity Resource Center, which distributes information on
gender equity. "That's where a lot of girls are doing their athletics. In the Northeast,
that just wouldn't be the case."
A matter of fairness
The number of Title IX-related complaints to the Office of Civil Rights "has gone up"
in recent years, said Department of Education spokesman Rodger Murphey -- with
110 cases filed in 1998 and 129 in 1999. The vast majority of these cases have been
decided, both in and out of court, in favor of the female side.
When asked if gender equity is still a serious problem in high school sports, Lopiano
said, "Unfortunately, yes, it still is. But change is happening. It's important for girls
and their parents to let the school know when they aren't being treated fairly. Sport is
as important for our daughters as it is for our sons."
1.
What differences do you note in girls' and boys' sports?
2. What is Title IX? Why did Title IX originate? Do you think that Title IX is fair?
Explain.
3. What are some examples of gender inequity in sports given in the article?
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4. Do you think cheerleading is a sport? Explain.
5. If Title IX doesn’t say anything about sports, why do all Title IX cases seem to be about
sports?
6. What is the one male-dominated sport that complicates everything? Why does it
complicate everything?
7. If girls and boys are to be treated fairly in athletics, should a boy be allowed to play field
hockey or softball? Should a girl be allowed to play football or wrestling?
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