Civil+Rights+Primary+Document+Questions


 * African American Parents Petition the Clarendon, SC School Board, 1949**
 * Summarize the basic argument of the African-American parents. Why did they believe that integration was necessary?
 * How effective do you think these arguments were? Why?

**Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Defends Seamstress Rosa Parks, 1955**
 * How does Dr. King both praise and criticize America in this article? How does this view of America influence his optimism that change can be achieved through non-violent means? (Note: This second question is not answered directly in the document - you need to think critically on your own!)

**Author Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Remembers Civil Rights on TV, 1957**
 * Why was the author’s father critical of the African American students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School?

**Anne Moody Recalls the Lynching of Emmett Till (1968)**
 * Why do you think that teachers were forbidden from discussing this event with their students?

**The Southern Manifesto (1956)**
 * How does the occupation of the authors/signees influence this document?
 * What, specifically, are the Southerners calling for? What justification do they give for this?

**Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have A Dream,” 1963**
 * How does Martin Luther King Jr. appeal to both African Americans and whites in this speech?
 * How does the ideology of Dr. King compare to Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois in previous generations?

**Black Muslim Malcolm X Warns: The Ballot of the Bullet, 1964**
 * What is the author’s primary reason for advocating for the use of violence? Why does he believe this will be a more effective tactic?
 * How does he appeal to the common history that African Americans have with whites, dating back to the American Revolution?

**Stokely Carmichael Explains “Black Power,” 1967**
 * After reading this, why do you think some within the African American community called for a more violent methodology than even Malcolm X advocated for?

**Governor George Wallace Denounces Top-Down Reform and Pledges “Segregation Forever,” 1963**
 * What are the legal reasons that Wallace condemns the efforts of the government to enforce desegregation?
 * How does Wallace appeal to the Founding Fathers?

**The US Supreme Court Strikes Down School Segregation (1954)**
 * What are the arguments of both sides in this case? How do they make their arguments?
 * What is the final rationale that the Court gives for striking down school segregation?

**Congress Outlaws Segregation with the Civil Rights Act of 1964**
 * In your own words, what does this act do?
 * In terms of racial equality, what else could have been included in this act to improve race relations?

**A Senate Committee Reports on the FBI’s Campaign Against Martin Luther King, 1963-1968 (1976)**
 * Why did the FBI “declare war” on Martin Luther King, Jr.?
 * What impact do you think this had on Dr. King? Why?