Name: Schneider Chery________

WEEK #1: Civil Rights Packet #1: Nonviolence and the Freedom Riders

You will begin this lesson by focusing on primary source documents about Jim Crow
conditions in the South. You will then read an essay on nonviolence, and look at a key
moment in the nonviolent struggle against injustice the Freedom Rides.

This lesson will help you answer the following essential questions:
What were the Jim Crow conditions that existed in the South? How were these state
laws in conflict with federal law?
Why would someone choose nonviolence?
How did the Freedom Riders use nonviolence to achieve a major victory against
segregation in the South?

Task 1: Document Investigation: Jim Crow Conditions in the South

Directions: Using the links below, answer the following questions:

1. What was the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson? Why was this significant?
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/separate-but-
equal.html

the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson was racially separate facilities. it was significant because
they didnt want chaos between the black African Americans vs. the white.

2. What are Jim Crow laws? How did STATES use Jim Crow laws used to keep African
Americans as second class citizens, even 80 years after the Civil War was over?
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/white-only-1.html
pole taxes required citizen to pay a fee to vote. the Jim crow law separated the people of
colored from the white, in school, housing and jobs, also public gathering places.


3. What are some examples of Jim Crow laws? Look through this list and find three
that surprised you.
http://www.nps.gov/malu/forteachers/jim_crow_laws.htm AND
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/jim-crow.html
some example of the Jim crow law are. 1 no person or corporation shall require an white
female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals even if it was private just because
they didn't want black people to have any contact with white at all. black and white people
had to stay in different space in the buses the company had to make different waiting room.
it was unlawful for black and white people to play together for example pool or billiard.







Task 2: Why Nonviolence? An Excerpt from Nonviolence and Racial Justice by
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1957)

Directions: Read the excerpt below and answer the prompt that follows.

Hence the basic question which confronts the worlds oppressed is: How is the struggle
against the forces of injustice to be waged? There are two possible answers. One is resort to
the all too prevalent [common] method of physical violence and corroding hatred.[Yet,]
violence solves no social problems; it merely creates new and more complicated ones If
the American Negro and other victims of oppression [give in to] the temptation of using
violence in the struggle for justice, unborn generations will live in a desolate night of
bitterness, and their chief legacy will be an endless reign of chaos. The alternative to
violence is non-violent resistance. This method was made famous in our generation by
Mohandas K. Gandhi, who used it to free India from the domination of the British empire.
Five points can be made concerning nonviolence as a method in bringing about better racial
conditions.
1. First, this is not a method for cowards; it does resist.; [this] method is passive or
non-aggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his
opponent. But his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to
persuade the opponent that he is mistaken.
2. A second point is that non-violent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the
opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding The aftermath of non-
violence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is
tragic bitterness.
3. A third characteristic of this method is that the attack is directed against forces of
evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is evil we are
seeking to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil.
4. At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love. To retaliate with hate and
bitterness would do nothing but intensify [make worse] the hate in the world. Along
the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the
chain of hate Here we rise to the position of loving the person who does the evil
deed while hating the deed he does.
5. Finally, the method of non-violence is based on the conviction that the universe is on
the side of justice. This belief that God is on the side of truth and justice comes down
to us from the long tradition of our Christian faith.So in Montgomery we can walk
and never get weary, because we know that there will be a great camp meeting in
the promised land of freedom and justice.

In the box below, identify and evaluate two of the reasons that King gives for why
nonviolent resistance is his preferred method of taking action.
the two reasons why the king used nonviolence is 1) because violence would not change
the way that people think about the black race, violence cant change feelings. or emotion.
2) if they had used violence then the white generation would think the worst of them like
they were like some kind of animals with no feeling who they need to stay away from
which would increase segregation. in order to decrease segregation is to do the opposite
thing that the white think of them. they had to humiliate them show how wrong they are
about the black people how they only assume the worst of a generation not knowing
anything about them. they black had to find a way to find respect from the white.





Task 3: The Freedom Riders

Directions: Ive compiled some excerpts of a documentary called Freedom Riders for you to
watch. Please watch the video below (feel free to watch it together with classmate(s) on one
computer to eliminate slow streaming!) and answer the questions that follow :

http://vimeo.com/mrsderstinedesai/riders
The password to watch the movie is: history

1. What was the purpose of the Congress of Racial Equalitys (CORE) Freedom Rides?
their purpose was to stop segregation on buses.


2. In the beginning of the documentary, one of the historians called the Freedom
Riders nave? Why do you think he thinks that?

he called the freedom riders naive because they were determined to go through anything
for freedom.

3. One of the historians says that the Southern system was only as strong as its
weakest link? What does he mean by this? How does that help you to understand
why a seemingly small thing riding a bus became such an important moment?
that means that the south was extremely racist zone it was hard to go there. at that time the
south had the most racist people so by riding there would be very important for people to
understand what they freedom riders wanted.


4. At each bus station, Freedom Riders white and black are sent into the bus station
to test the facility. What is meant by that? What happens to the Freedom Riders in
Birmingham who test the facility?
they were beaten the white people there burn the bus, some white men come with baseball
bat a black man got knocked out.


5. During some of the attacks on the Freedom Riders, the mob turns on the media.
Why do you think that was? What important role did the media play in Freedom
Riders? How do you think people around the country and the world reacted to the
medias images of Freedom Riders being beaten?
they wanted to show what was happening to the people in that march. the media play the
role of showing what was gong, how the people were naive with the civil right movement.
they were ready to die in order to accomplish it. when the black people including some
white were being beating the world would see that it was wrong to do such thing. that
show that the black nation wasn't destroying but the white men were the ones that were
destroying.


6. According to the Dianne Nash, who led the second wave of the Freedom Riders, even
after facing so much violence, they couldnt stop the Freedom Rides, even if CORE
wanted to cancel them. Why were they so resolute to continue?
they were ready to die in order to accomplish the march. even before they had left they
knew that some of them would die so getting beating couldn't be compared to that.


7. In what ways did the federal government respond (or not respond) to the violence
against the Freedom Riders?
the federal government betray the freedom riders. at first they intervene in it for the
freedom riders but left them when they were in danger. a helicopter was following them
then it stop and disappeared.


8. Did the Freedom Riders achieve their goals? Why or why not?
yes they did because today we black people can ride the where ever we want to. there is no
more fighting for who seat in the front or the back.


9. What do you think the lasting lessons from the Freedom Riders are? Why is this an
important moment in the Civil Rights Movement to learn about?
the lasting lessons from the freedom riders are that we don't need violence to solve
problem sometime.violence cant make a person change but the way you make the person
feel does.





Task 4: JFK, Desegregation, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Directions: Using the links below, answer the following questions:

JFKs Civil Rights Speech
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/jfk-
civilrights/
1. What evidence does President Kennedy provide to prove that segregation impacts
the lives and opportunities of African Americans? Choose at least 3 quotes and
discuss them below.
1) they were admitted peacefully on the campus is due in good measure to conduct of the
students of the university of Alabama , who met their responsibilities in a constructive
way that shows that they had to be careful in order to get into a university they couldn't
make no mistake they had to go through all type of bully and not fight in order to purchase
their dream.2) Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect
the right of all who are wish to be free. when Americans are sent to Vietnam war or west,
we do not ask for whites only. this shows that he is supporting the African Americans on
being free because that's what America do, give freedom. he also said that African
Americans are full citizen because they serve just like the white people do, they help the
country in ways they can. 3) it ought to be possible, in short , for every American to enjoy
the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. he is saying black
people are Americans and they have freedom so they should be able to enjoy it just like
other Americans even if they were black or white nor any other color and race.


2. What does President Kennedy believe is the best way to achieve equality for African
Americans? Choose at least one quote to support your answer.

he believes that all Americans should the same amount of right, and protection 1) i am,
therefore, asking the congress to enact legislation giving all Americans the right to be
served in facilities which are open to the public -- hotels, restaurants, theatres, retail stores,
and similar establishment

3. What is President Kennedy asking Congress to do in this speech? Choose at least
one quote to support your answer.

he was asking congress to give everyone the same right not more for one of a certain race
but same.1) i am, therefore, asking the congress to enact legislation giving all Americans
the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public -- hotels, restaurants,
theatres, retail stores, and similar establishment


The Civil Rights Act of 1964
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act

4. What encouraged Kennedy to propose this legislation?

he saw what was going on during the march so he decided not to tolerate that type of
violence in the country

5. What two major provisions (rules) were established by the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Civil right. Basic human rights.


6. In what way did the Civil Rights Act pave the way for other legislation? Explain.
When people saw what really happened during the civil right, they saw that the black
people were not creating no type of violence so they take part for them.