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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Civil rights protests and dilemmas

Students discuss well-known civil rights protests in the context of personal risk. They will also listen to two oral histories where individuals tell a story about a protest, or personal risk, they took in order to promote equality for African Americans.

By Kristin Post

Provided by UNC Libraries / Documenting the American South

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Civil rights protests and dilemmas
In this lesson students explore well-known civil rights protests then listen to two oral histories of individuals who protested in their own way to promote equality for African Americans. Students specifically will consider personal risks involved in protest.
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Civil rights protests and dilemmas
In this lesson students explore well-known civil rights protests then listen to two oral histories of individuals who protested in their own way to promote equality for African Americans. Students specifically will consider personal risks involved in protest.
Page 0

Learn more

  • Timeline: Civil Rights Era (1954–1971) This timeline from PBS chronicles important people and events associated with the civil rights movement. Unlike a standard timeline, this resource contains a variety of opportunities to follow up on questions and learn more.
  • James Meredith A Wikipedia article about the first African-American student at the University of Mississippi.
  • The Little Rock Nine The Little Rock Nine website from Craig Rains documents the 40th Anniversary of this event with images of former President Clinton and the nine students forty years later as well as video footage of the students entering Central High School and of one student's experience. The student newspaper is reprinted from its 1957–58 editions and shows how the 2,000 students at Central faced the historic desegregation process from the inside. Plus, you can see the original front pages of Little Rock's two newspapers, the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Gazette, as they are reproduced day by day from 40 years ago on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette website.
  • Freedom Riders Read about the Freedom Rides in which the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee members rode buses through the deep southern states where discrimination and segregation were most prominent in the 1960s.
  • Selma to Montgomery marches In this Wikipedia article, learn about the Selma to Montgomery marches, which included Bloody Sunday. These three marches marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement.
  • Reading primary sources: An introduction for students A step-by-step guide for students examining primary sources, with specific questions divided into five layers of questioning.

Related pages

  • Using the interview “Joanne Peerman and youth protest”: Introductory script As an African American child growing up in the 60s and 70s in Chapel Hill, Joanne...
  • Interview: “Joanne Peerman and youth protest”: The recording Transcript Joanne Peerman When I was at the junior high school, the nation was full of...
  • Lesson plan: Brown versus Board of Education: Students will listen to three oral histories that shed light on political and personal reactions toward the 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown versus Board of Education. Though the ruling itself is not mentioned, words like “integration” and “forced busing” refer to the social outcomes as perceived by the speakers. Two oral histories are from prominent Southern politicians, George Wallace and Jesse Helms. The third offers a contrasting opinion from the viewpoint of an African American woman from Charlotte whose children went to integrated schools.

Related topics

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • become familiar with important historic civil rights protests
  • consider their own investment in protests and change
  • appreciate the complexities behind protests and the results they have on society as a whole, as well as individuals’ personal lives
  • write an argumentative essay taking a positive or negative stance toward protest

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1–2 class periods

Materials/Resources

Technology resources

  • internet connection
  • speakers
  • computer
  • headphones (preferred)
  • CD player (in lieu of the computer, speakers and internet connection, if you have burned your own CD)

Pre-activities

Teacher preparation

  1. Listen to the oral histories.
  2. Read through the teacher’s guides.
  3. Familiarize yourself with civil rights protests. See the internet resources in the links sections for starters.
  4. You may wish to print out the student worksheet and transcripts ahead of time, one for each student.

Audio preparation

  1. If you are playing audio from a CD player, you will not require a computer or speakers. In this instance, you will want to download the oral histories ahead of time and burn them onto a CD.
  2. If you are playing the oral histories from a computer and speakers in your classroom, you can play them live from the website, download the audio to your computer and play with a variety of audio players that may be preinstalled on your computer.
  3. If you are going to use the computer lab, you do not have to download the oral histories. You and your students can simply listen to the audio excerpts included in this lesson plan.
  4. Before you use the computer lab, you should ensure every student will have a computer and headphones. Also, ensure that the volume on all of the computers is not muted, and is not too loud.

Consult UNC’s Resources for Teachers: Audio Toolkit if you wish to know more about downloading or playing audio files.

Activities

National protests and underlying issues

You may use class time to complete this activity, or assign it as homework. If you do this during class, you will need to ensure you have enough textbooks, reference books, materials, and/or computers for students to complete the research involved.

The objective of this activity is to encourage students to think about nationally well-known protests, and the risks individuals took to participate in these events. Furthermore, students should be encouraged to think about protests on a larger scale—what strategies they employ, why they were used in the Civil Rights movement, how effective they have been, and why some protests have become famous.

Ultimately, the objective of the entire lesson is for students to understand what dilemmas protests may cause not just with respect to the society as a whole, but also for the people whom they represent.

  1. Discuss protests in general and address the following questions. Throughout history, what has been protested? Who usually does the protesting? What kinds of strategies may be used? What are the results of some protests? Can you name a few successful or unsuccessful protests from history?
  2. Hand out the Civil Rights Protest Chart to each student.
  3. Students will use their textbooks, reference books, and the internet to fill in the chart. Give them adequate time to use complete the chart in class or assign it to them as homework.
  4. After students have finished the chart, initiate class discussion. Go over each protest and the answers to the questions in the chart. Skip over the last row called Rate Risk.
  5. In order for you and the class to see how risky each of these protests were, you will create a class continuum. In order for there to be enough room, you may need to clear out chairs and desks, so that students can form a line from one side of the room to the other.
  6. Designate one side of the room as a “1” and the opposite side as a “5.” The middle of the room is a “3.” Ask the students to stand.
  7. Read out the first protest on the chart. Ask students to place themselves somewhere on the continuum between 1 and 5 based on how much risk they attribute to that protest. Students should have time to move around to the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 areas in the room, depending on their rating.
  8. Repeat this process for each of the five protests. Note which protests are particularly risky or non-risky, and if the ratings change according to the protest.
  9. As you go, call on certain students to explain why they gave that protest the rating they did. Discuss whether or not students give higher ratings to protests involving greater physical risks (bodily harm) rather than personal risks (alienating family and friends, loss of a job.)
  10. Ask the students to return to their seats and continue with the following discussion.

Oral histories: Personal protests and their dilemmas

Use discussion to transition between the former activity and the following activity. You are moving from the idea of national, well-known protests to more personal protests. The contrast of one with the other may shed light on the following:

  • Protests cause dilemmas for society, which has accepted a norm that is called into question. Protests also cause personal dilemmas.
  • We expect heroes to show a certain level of personal sacrifice and risk. How do we make people feel who are not able to take those risks for one reason or another? What issues are “important” enough to take those risks, and what are not?

The class will soon hear two oral histories. These oral histories recall personal protests that took place in 1969 and 1970, several years after the last protest discussed previously. The fact that these personal protests did occur so late indicate that the struggle for civil rights and desegregation lasted much longer than may be interpreted looking at historical dates alone. Each history is about a personal risk an individual took in order to call attention to a civil rights issue related to integration. The histories also describe a personal dilemma that each protest created. Though these individuals you will hear are not considered “heroes,” they certainly followed the pattern of those well-known protests already discussed.

Since these oral histories are more personal, the class should first think about issues that they find relevant. Initiate the following discussion by asking the students to respond to the prompts below. Write the list of school norms on the board. This list will be used later in the assessment. You may need to explain the meaning of “norm.”

  • List school norms with which you do not agree, or find unacceptable.
  • List the people who are adversely affected by these norms.
  • List the people who possibly benefit from these norms.
  • If you were to protest one of these norms, what level of risk might you be willing to take in order to change it?
  • Who or what in your personal life might also be affected if you choose to protest? (parents, friends, your teacher, your college aspirations, your grades)

Tell the students:

Now you will listen to two oral histories. Consider what you might do in the same situation, or faced with the same realities. Also consider how these protests shed light on the many issues and dilemmas surrounding integration.

Joanne Peerman and youth protest

  1. Using your teacher’s guide, read the introductory script aloud to the class.
  2. Using the Taking Notes section of your teacher’s guide, instruct the students on what details to note while listening.
  3. Play the Joanne Peerman and Youth Protest oral history excerpt. Running time: 4 minutes 45 seconds.
  4. Using your teacher’s guide, discuss the answers to the follow-up questions.

William Culp and adult protest

  1. Using your teacher’s guide, read the introductory script aloud to the class.
  2. Play the William Culp and Youth Protest oral history excerpt. Running time: 4 minutes 28 seconds.
  3. Using your teacher’s guide, discuss the answers to the follow-up questions.

Assessment

Students will choose one of the school norms listed during class discussion. Students will choose to either support the idea of a protest, or to argue why a protest is not a good idea. Students will write a five paragraph argumentative essay with an opening paragraph, three supporting paragraphs and a conclusion. If the student chooses a “pro” stance, the argumentative essay will discuss why a protest is necessary, the ideal strategy, and the ideal outcome. If the student chooses a “con” stance, the argumentative essay will discuss why the protest is unnecessary, what risks are involved, and an alternative solution that is might achieve better results. Students should make use of the lessons they have learned from the personal oral histories, and the civil rights chart.