10thth Grade Civics
Mr. Reynolds
Freedom’s Journal
Instructions:
The 14th Amendment states that ALL people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens
of the United States regardless of their race, sex, age, or sexual orientation, and are all entitled to
equal protection under US law. It also forbids states from depriving any citizen of life, liberty or
property without due process of law.
Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, and sexual orientation still exists, however, and can
still deprive citizens of their constitutional rights.
You are a news team for “Freedom’s Journal”, a newspaper dedicated to telling the story of
young Americans and the ever-changing relationship with their laws and government. You have
been assigned to a Special Edition report on prejudice and discrimination in America today.
You have your choice of the type of discrimination you’ll want to look into – racism, sexism,
ageism, or homophobia. Follow the links on the appropriate page to find articles and opinion
pieces to research.
Once you have researched your sources, your task will be to create an illustrated news story
answering the following questions … How do prejudice and discrimination still affect the
lives of Americans? And do the events you’ve researched violate Americans’ rights under
the 14th amendment. Write your notes on the chart provided. You will need to use facts and
quotes from all of the articles to complete your story.
A news story begins with a “Lead” paragraph which gives the reader your opinion on the
question, and the key pieces of evidence you have supporting that opinion. Below it are your
supporting paragraphs, which will give the reader the facts and quotes you found in your
research
You will also need to illustrate your story by drawing at least one color image. This may be
a single image or a political cartoon, (stick figures are OK), showing one event from your story.
Be sure to tie the image in to your story with a sentence or two of explanation on the picture.
14th Amendment web quest links
The Amendment - http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv
Race discrimination –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-paterson/protecting-the-14th-amend_b_836544.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/opinion/12thur3.html
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3931382/race-discrimination/
http://crooksandliars.com/taxonomy/term/11838,310,949,4561
Sex discrimination
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/05/135149194/is-sex-discrimination-at-work-still-a-problem
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-19/business/ct-biz-0320-court-walmart20110319_1_walmarts-wal-mart-stores-job-bias
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/20/scalia-women/
Age discrimination
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/jobbed/2010/04/17/keep-young-and-beautiful-especially-atwork.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/30/sports/la-sp-clippers-baylor-sterling-20110331
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/Resorts_Casino_Cocktail_Waitress_Uniform_Flap_
033111
Discrimination based on sexual orientation
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec03/gay_8-13_printout.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121801729.html
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42519411/ns/us_news-life/
Names:
10TH GRADE CIVICS
Bullard-Havens CTHS
, 2011
Freedom’s Journal
The News and Opinion of a Free People
Picture:
Headline:
Begin your story:
Freedom’s Journal
NAME: _______________________________
Freedom’s Journal - Notes
Write down at least three essential facts and two quotes from each of the articles you
research in the columns below. You will need to use all of these in your news story.
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Subject:
______________
Subject:
______________
Subject:
______________