Class Update: 3/28 & 3/29

Yesterday, we worked on our eBooks in class. The project was an interesting way to apply our knowledge, but the website was difficult to use. I am pleased with the way my project turned out.

Today, we did a webquest on the journey of Lewis and Clark into the Unknown Territory. We wrote mock journals, as if each of us were the leader of the expedition. I did not realize how difficult the journey was. Without modern navigation, the group would have no way of knowing where they were headed. It must have been especially difficult to travel with Sacagawea's baby. I am glad that the expedition was successful, despite all of the hardships, because knowledge of the territory opened up many possibilities for Americans.

Diary of the Corps of Discovery

Link to the Diary of the Corps of Discovery
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FhVIQbO3NbbZasIXfHVMmUB8q33Bt8X57H7bvzGyEk0/edit?usp=sharing

The Story of the Civil Rights Movement

Class Update: 3/26 & 3/27

Yesterday, I was absent from school. I know that the class talked about the new flipped classroom for the 4th quarter. We will have accounts on sophia.org, and we will watch videos outside of class and use the information in class. I am looking forward to the new opportunity because I have never tried learning like this before.

Today, we worked on our eBooks, which are due Thursday night. They are stories that incorporate information from the Civil Rights Movement.

Class Update: 3/22 & 3/25

Last Friday, we talked about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act was very similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 because it addressed segregation in public places. The 1875 Act was found unconstitutional in 1883 because it separated out African Americans as needing special treatment, but the 1964 Act passed because it was apparent that African Americans needed extra protection. I think this Act was a good plan because it allowed African Americans to integrate with white people, making their job of becoming social equals easier.

Today, we talked about the Black Panther Party, a group of African Americans that did not agree with non-violent protest. They demanded free housing and land from the government, as well as supports for all African Americans that not even low-income whites received. The ideas were very communist, which may be why the government did not agree with the Party. The US had been fighting communist countries, and would not want to become communist in any way. Despite the Black Panther Party's arguments, I still believe that non-violent protest is the best way to advocate for one's beliefs.

Class Update: 3/19 & 3/20

We did not have class yesterday due to a snow day.

Today, we further explored Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. by listening to recordings of their speeches. I found Malcolm X's speech disturbing because it spoke of a violent rebellion that would harm the white population rather than working to achieve peace. It was more unsettling to hear that a "revolution" must be violent, according to Malcolm X. He cited rebellions in France, Russia, and even in the United States to prove that the only successful revolutions were violent. I found Dr. King's speech more motivational. His positive, peaceful attitude made me want to support African Americans in their revolution. His "dream" for the nation was to create a place where all people could be equal, which is a dream that even white people share with Dr. King. Even though we may not have yet achieved King's "dream" nation, I would much rather work towards equality in a peaceful, yet passionate manner, rather than proceeding in a violent rage.

Class Update: 3/15 & 3/18

Last Friday, we learned about Malcolm X. He was a radical Civil Rights activist of the Nation of Islam, a party that advocated for separation of races. Malcolm believed that white people were the "devils" of America, and that black people would rather isolate themselves than be destroyed among whites. He also opposed Dr. Martin Luther King because his actions were non-violent and taught African Americans to be "defenseless." We then completed charts about the differences between Malcolm X's violent plans and Dr. King's peaceful ones. I agree more with Dr. King because it is morally correct to choose a non-violent course of action that limits the harm of others. Malcolm X was too harsh to create a safe place in our nation for African Americans.

Today, we began class by discussing our plans for the rest of the year. Instead of taking normal tests, we will be assessing our knowledge through application. This will mean doing projects and completing online assignments that help us to make connections, rather than memorizing information for a written test. Then, we completed our notes on Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. I am interested to learn more about the upcoming assignments we will be having in place of our tests.

Desktop Documentary: Richard Wright

Works Cited:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19wLaBxcGGeF4UffxqG6_ycuvre27m8tVvNTMt8Pn-p8/edit?usp=sharing

Class Update: 3/13 & 3/14

Yesterday, we spent the first half of class discussing upcoming possibilities for the last quarter, like the "flipped classroom" concept. We would learn lessons through PowerPoints and other presentations at home, then apply our knowledge during class to complete a project. After learning about that, we took notes on sit-ins, a non-violent method of protest in which African Americans would sit at segregated lunch counters. The protestors were assaulted by white customers and were even arrested sometimes. Like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, I believe sit-ins were an excellent way to demonstrate beliefs without harming others.

Today, we learned about the Freedom Riders. They were a group of African American and white people who rode on two buses from Washington, DC to New Orleans, LA to demonstrate the desegregation of buses that rode through more than one state. Once the buses reached Alabama, the Freedom Riders experienced extreme violence from whites. The police allowed white people to beat the riders and set the buses on fire. This story makes me extremely sad, because the Freedom Riders were not violent and the police and government allowed them to be tortured. Even though the protestors of the Civil Rights movement were working hard, white people were still trying to sabotage their efforts and prevent change in any way possible.

Class Update: 3/8 & 3/11

We did not have class on Friday due to a snow day.

Today, we learned about the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African American students who attended a white school after the legal system ruled that all schools should be desegregated "with all deliberate speed." The nine students had to be protected by armed soldiers and National Guard to safely attend school in Arkansas, where racism was still an issue. Then, we were asked if segregation still exists in schools today. We read an article about an recent incident in a Southern school that would lead us to believe that segregation is still alive. Due to racism issues, a group of African American students had been severely punished for beating up a white student. Shockingly, white students at the same school did not receive harsh punishment for hanging nooses from school trees, suggesting the historic lynching of African Americans.

I do believe that schools are still segregated today. Students hold prejudices against other students for many other reasons than race, including gender, economic background, and interests. The majority of the class felt that a new student would not feel segregated from their peers if the student would approach the other students. I disagree with this point, because no matter how friendly and kind the new student is to their peers, it does not mean they will ever reciprocate. Maybe connections in an educational setting should not be based on what people have in common, but based rather on the goal of forming a welcoming, friendly environment. That mindset is needed to revolutionize our educational system and solve problems with segregation.

Class Update: 3/6 & 3/7

Yesterday, we learned about the story of Emmett Till by watching a video. Emmett Till was a fourteen-year-old black boy from the North who went to visit relatives in the South. He had been warned that the South was a dangerous place for black people. While there, he whistled at a white woman and was brutally murdered by two white men. His body was thrown into a river and was found shortly after the incident. When the body was returned to his home, his mother decided to put the body on display at his funeral so all people would understand what happened. The 50,000 people who attended the funeral were greatly angered by the sight of Emmett's mangled body. When the white men who killed Emmett were declared innocent, the entire world became angry. As the Till case was publicized, it sparked the Civil Rights movement by bringing attention to the horrors of racism that were still occurring in the US.

Only 100 days after the Till case, a Civil Rights protest known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott began. Today, we learned about the boycott through a series of documents. The boycott began after Rosa Parks, a black woman, would not give up her seat on a bus to a white person. She was arrested. Around the city of Montgomery, AL, black people stopped riding the buses in a non-violent protest. These actions were ultimately successful because they were dedicated to their non-violent cause and began to find alternative modes of transportation. Also, the bus companies relied on their black riders to continue running. I believe non-violent protests were most effective during the Civil Rights Movement because people could spread information about their cause without harming others.This method greatly contrasts with other protestors during the Civil Rights Movement, like Marcus Garvey.

Class Update: 3/4 & 3/5

Over the past two days in class, we have learned about different legal cases that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. One case was called the Scottsboro Boys Trial. Nine African American young men were tried for allegedly raping and assaulting two white women on a train. The trials lasted for years, though the men were innocent. They were all originally sentenced to death, but many got other sentences as the trial was reviewed multiple times. The trial demonstrated that African American people did not always get fair trials due to race. After learning about the trial, we wrote journal entries from the point of view of one of the convicted men, Haywood Patterson.

Today, we learned about the case of Brown v. Board of Education. The case was a combination of five cases that went against the segregation of schools, mainly in the South and the West. White and black children went to different schools that were apparently "separate but equal," but black children often received lower quality facilities, supplies, and education. The case went to Supreme Court and ultimately ruled that school districts could no longer be segregated. This case showed that "separate but equal" would no longer be accepted in the United States.

I believe W.E.B. DuBois would have approved of these cases because they attacked racial discrimination through the legal system. These cases were ultimately successful despite their outcome because they spread the idea that racial discrimination should no longer be tolerated.