White Socks Only

7th Grade Civics

In White Socks Only, Evelyn Coleman offers a lesson about the quest for Civil
Rights in Mississippi through her rich narrative depicting one small slice of reality in
Mississippi. Brought to life by illustrator, Tyrone Geter, this childrens book is an
appropriate backdrop for a DBQ critically challenging students understanding of the
reality of segregation and discrimination and various strategies used by Americans
during a time period known as the Civil Rights movement. While the Thirteenth,
Fourteen and Fifteenth Amendments should have guaranteed equality and justice for
all American citizens, there were some areas of United States that maintained a double
standard. The documents in this DBQ will give students the opportunity to better
understand this time period and the struggles some faced to achieve equality.

Rationale
Studying the Civil Rights Movement, via the primary source documents
provided, gives students examples of injustices faced some African
Americans and what it means to be an actively engaged citizen. Students
will be able to recognize injustice and inequality and how both served to
marginalize a segment of our society. They will learn the value of solidarity
through a variety of means to fight against oppression.

Essential Question
You are a well-respected leader in your community called Parkville. People
are looking to you for guidance and direction during this tumultuous time.
In an open letter to your community, you will accomplish two goals:
1. With specific examples, summarize the reality and impact of what is
happening across the nation.
2. Analyze three types of resistance strategies that you recommend for
implementation.
Use the documents below as evidence in your letter.

Tasks
1. Establish personal background knowledge by discussing with
shoulder partners the meaning of equality, justice, discrimination,
segregation, freedom, and civic participation.
2. Read the Background Information.
3. Read White Socks Only by Evelyn Coleman and note key information
about equality, justice, discrimination, segregation, freedom, and
civic participation.
4. Examine documents A J. analyzing them using a modified Library
of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tool
5. Create an outline for the DBQ essay.
6. Write the DBQ essay.

Background Information
Key Points:
Preamble to the Constitution

The 13th Amendment declared that slavery would not be

allowed to exist in the United States.
The 14th Amendment declared that the states could not
limit the rights of citizens. States could not take away life,
liberty, or property without due process of the law, or deny
equal protection of the law.
The 14th Amendment gave citizenship to all people no
matter their color of skin.
Due process is the principle that the government must
respect all of a person's legal rights. They cannot refuse
certain legal rights to people.
The 15th Amendment gave all men the right to vote, no
matter what their skin color was or if they had been
enslaved.
The struggle for equal rights for African Americans has been long and
difficult. Beginning in the 1950s, the fight for equality gained momentum.
This struggle for equality is known as the modern civil rights movement.

The Documents
Document A
From the Final Plans for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,
August 28, 1963 (Organizing Manual Number 2)

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
How do you think the government will respond to these ten demands?
Which demands do you think will be accomplished most easily? Why?
Are these demands reasonable?
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Document B
Demonstrators with signs outside the White House, protesting police
brutality against civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
How do you think the government will respond to this protest march?
Are these demands reasonable?
How effective is a protest march in achieving civil rights?
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Document C
A Skeleton of His Own

Illustration shows Uncle Sam holding a paper labeled "Protest against Russian Outrage"; he is standing with his back to a slightly
open door revealing a skeleton labeled "Lynching" and holding a handgun and rope in his closet, he looks at the skeleton, realizing
he is caught in a double-standard.

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
What should Uncle Sam do to take care of business in his own backyard (double standard)?
What is the effect of this double standard hidden behind closed doors? Whose responsibility it is to
effect change?
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Document D
Excerpt from A Statement to the South and Nation, January 11, 1957,
Atlanta, Ga.
. . . But far beyond this, we call upon them [African Americans] to accept Christian Love
in full knowledge of its power to defy evil. We call upon them to understand that non-violence is
not a symbol of weakness or cowardice, but as Jesus demonstrated, non-violent
resistance transforms [changes] weakness into strength and breeds courage in face of danger. We
urge them, no matter how great the provocation [aggravation] to dedicate themselves to this
motto:
Not one hair of one head of one white person shall be harmed.
We advocate [support] non-violence in words, thought and deed, we believe this spirit and
this spirit alone can overcome the decades of mutual fear and suspicion that have infested and
poisoned our Southern culture. . . .

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
In general, what is the effectiveness of a non-violence strategy?
Would employing this strategy be more of a short-term or long-term tactic? Discuss the level of
commitment to Not one hair of one head of one white person shall be harmed.
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Document E
As America Goes So Goes the World

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
Where does the United States stand on the world stage with regards to civil rights?
Is the world watching?
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Document F
Selma to Montgomery March

On 25 March 1965, Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma,
Alabama, where local African Americans, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had been
campaigning for voting rights. King told the assembled crowd: There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of
clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes (King, Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to
Montgomery March, 121).

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
Why were young people, particularly high school and college age students, so eager to participate in
marches? Is there a political upside to using youth in these marches even though technically they were
not old enough to vote? Is there a downside in using this strategy in this way?
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Document G
Barnard Elementary, Washington D.C.

This image of an integrated classroom in the previously all white Barnard Elementary School in Washington, D.C., shows how the District's Board of Education attempted to act
quickly to carry out the Supreme Court decision to integrate schools in the area. However, it did take longer for the junior and senior high schools to integrate.

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
Is this quick integration merely a symbolic gesture?
Why is government mandated school integration so controversial? Why isnt it instantly implemented
across the nation?
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Document H

A rest stop for Greyhound bus passengers on the way from Louisville, Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee, with
separate accommodations for colored passengers

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
What evidence do you see in the photograph that supports or refutes the equality of segregation?
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Document I
1961 Freedom Rides

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
Trace several routes and note incidence of violence and the number of jailed individuals. Whats the
goal of traveling by bus across state lines? Is this an effective strategy in the quest for civil rights?
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Document J

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
What is the purpose of depicting the figures as slovenly, uneducated thugs? Is this a fair representation
of southern whites?
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Document K

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
What is suspect with this sheriff representing law and order for this voter registration? Should literacy
be a requirement for voter registration? Why or why not? What conclusions can you draw from pairing
Doc J with Doc K?
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Document L
Sign posted in a Texas restaurant

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
How pervasive was discrimination in this area of Texas? What evidence supports your claim?
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Document M
Rosa Parks arrest record.

Rosa Parks arrest record from the day she refused give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Her Dec. 1, 1955 arrest sparked the
Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted 381 days, and captured world attention. The boycott was led by 26-year-old Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., who said Parks was anchored to that bus seat "by the accumulated indignities of days gone by, and the countless
aspirations of generations yet unborn."

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
How could the arrest of one person be the impetus for a boycott lasting 381 days? How effective is a
boycott as a strategy to effect change for civil rights?
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Document N
Excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April
16, 1963
But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are
sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be
patient and reasonable terms.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by
the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to
engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who
have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have
heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity.
This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of
our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied.
More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more
effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this
generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for
the appalling silence of the good people.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
What is the central message from the excerpts?
What was Dr. King imploring citizens to do? What groups were targeted for this action?
What was Dr. Kings rationale for civic participation?
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Document O
The Greensboro Sit-Ins
I want you to imagine that youre a freshman in
college (if you already are one, this exercise will
prove quite easy). I want you to imagine walking
into your local Starbucks. You have to sit at a
dingy, broken down counter, your drinks are
always served to you late, and they taste as if they
were made with second hand materials. The staff
is surly and mean to you, but you know thats not

Sitting for Justice: Woolworths Lunch Counter #1

the norm: you can see that the other half of the
college populace gets to eat at the fancy counter in
the front. Their food is delicious, hot and always
on time, and the staff always serves them with a

Sitting for Justice: Woolworths Lunch Counter #1

smile. Now I want you to stop imagining, because

that was a reality for African Americans in the
60s. However, the Greensboro Four werent
content to let sleeping dogs lie and preserve the
status quo. They saw injustice, and immediately
set out to right a historic wrong. The Greensboro
sit-in was not only one of the most important
events in Greensboros history, but it was also one
of the most important events in the history of the
civil rights movement. It struck a blow for civil
rights while simultaneously setting the stage for

Sitting for Justice: Woolworths Lunch Counter #2

similar sit-ins all around the country.

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
What makes the sit-in strategy more or less effective than other strategies to claim civil rights?
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Document P
Excerpt from President L.B. Johnsons Speech at the signing of the Civil
Rights Bill, 1964
Americans of every race and color have died in battle to protect our freedom. Americans of
every race and color have worked to build a nation of widening opportunities. Now our generation
of Americans has been called on to continue the unending search for justice within our own
borders.
We believe that all men are created equal. Yet many are denied equal treatment.
We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those
rights.
We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of
those blessingsnot because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin.
The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can
understandwithout rancor or hatredhow this all happened.
But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom
forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I will sign tonight forbids it.

Observations/Reflections/Questions:______________________________________________________
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Guiding questions:
Given all American history that LBJ has outlined, why does it take a governmental action to proclaim civil
rights? How was LBJ attempting to calm an angry nation?
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NGSSS 7th Grade Civics Standards

SS.7.C.2.3Experience the responsibilities of citizens at the local, state, or
federal levels.
SS.7.C.2.4 Evaluate rights contained in the Bill of Rights and other
amendments to the Constitution.
SS.7.C.3.7 Analyze the impact of the 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th
amendments on participation of minority groups in the American political
process.

CCSS English Language Arts

LACC.7.RI.3.7 Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or
multimedia version of the text, analyzing each mediums portrayal of the
subject.
LACC.7.W.1.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and
relevant evidence.
LACC.7.W.2.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.

Sources:
Background

http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/ampage?collId=mgw4&fileName=gwpage097.db&recNum=232
http://betterlesson.com/community/lesson/19560/lesson-1-13-14-15-amendments
http://www.nysedregents.org/Grade8/SocialStudies/20050601ratingguide2.pdf

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Excerpt from Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent
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Sitting for Justice: Woolworths Lunch Counter #1
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P. http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3525

Document Analysis inspired by

file:///C:/Users/User!/Desktop/Primary_Source_Analysis_Tool.pdf