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Home , Birmingham campaign, Bull Connor, Civil Rights Movement, Fred Shuttlesworth, James Bevel, James Hood

Don’t sugarcoat history in teaching the . Students deserve the full NCE UPON A TIME truth about both the racial bias that caused it and our hesitant steps toward freedom. IN AMERICA By Alice pettway ILLUSTRATON BY david vogin

44 Teaching Tolerance Teah c ing the Movement

E vERYONE loves fairy tales—the easily identifiable villain, the flawless hero and, of course, the happily ever after. So it’s not surprising that teachers of the civil rights movement often skip the more confusing or distasteful aspects of that era, such as the dissension among black leaders and the racism that was widespread then, even among moderate . Fairy tales have a place in our cul- ture, but when history’s thorns are pruned until our past becomes just another story, we are doing a disservice to both our students and ourselves. NCE UPON A TIME This school year we will mark the 50th anniversaries of many pivotal events in the civil rights movement. It would be easy to teach the familiar heroes and villains, but 1963 was messier than that. That year was a turning point in the movement—a period when civil rights leaders overcame differing viewpoints to conclude that small successes were no longer enough. If equal rights were to be IN AMERICA attained, hard decisions had to be made—and acted upon. The cast of 1963 includes the figures students already expect to see on the stage: Martin Luther Jr., President John F. Kennedy and T. Eugene (Bull) Connor, the public safety commissioner in Birmingham, Ala. But there were many others. What of ? ? ? A. Philip Randolph?

fal l 2012 45 T eACHING the Movement

When you plan your curriculum Ma y 2 Calls for a this school year, invite these and other Children’s Crusade lesser-known figures into your class- Perhaps the most extreme action a room. Students will engage more fully society can take is to purposefully put with the civil rights movement when it its children at risk. This is what one of is presented in all its complexity. K ing’s aides, James Bevel, proposed: a children’s that would pit young JYANUAR Time for New Tactics students trained in nonviolent protest By the end of 1962, the stress of con- against ’s Birmingham ducting small, simultaneous actions police force. across the South had taken its toll on A PRIL 3 Fred Shuttlesworth Invites civil rights workers. Resources, both Martin Luther King Jr. to Birmingham human and financial, were depleted, F red Shuttlesworth and other civil and there hadn’t been a major victory rights leaders made the strategic deci- since the Montgomery Bus of sion to consolidate their efforts in Birmingham, the most segregated city in the South. Shuttlesworth invited King to come from and join them. Activists in Birmingham con- ducted daily mass demonstrations against white business owners and city officials who continued to enforce seg- The march began on May 2. Police regation. Many protesters, including confronted the young protesters, who King, were jailed. were assaulted with fire hoses, attack King’s Letter From Birmingham dogs and tear gas. Steve Klein, commu- Jail, written on April 16, 1963, will be nications director of the King Center, marked on every civil rights anniver- says that Connor “filled the jails with sary calendar this school year. But children.” Televised images of this bru- 1955-56. But when newly elected Gov. unless students read it in context, they tality sparked international outrage. of declared will not see it for what it was—won’t Shocked by the , President “segregation now, segregation tomor- understand why King and others had K ennedy called for King to end the row, segregation forever” in January come to believe that small, isolated vic- march. King agreed, but Bevel refused 1963, it was clear to civil rights leaders tories would no longer suffice. The time and pushed forward. Bevel’s tactics that a change in strategy was needed. for extreme action was at hand. worked. In June, Kennedy proposed

10 Alabama ay King writes his Civil Rights Bill 3 – M 16 desegregationersity of of vers murdered 2-4 11 niv 12 pril pril ay U A the Birmingham CampaignA Letter From Birmingham JailM ’s Crusade maythe JuneMedgar E Juneintroduced 19 in Congress

1 Teaching Tolerance 63 46 a comprehensive civil rights bill in order to avoid more brutality against the young protesters.

Ma1 y 1 Vivian Malone and Enter the Schoolhouse Door Every student knows that the school- house door can loom large on the first day of classes. Imagine then, the fears facing Vivian Malone and James Hood as they sat in a car listening to Gov. Wallace’s threats to block them from entering the . Imagine the moment of decision when they stepped from the car to be escorted past Wallace at the doorway of the university’s . The students’ escorts were National Guard soldiers—the same sol- diers who had stopped them from enter- Music in the Movement ing the campus just hours before. Despite these obstacles, both stu- When asked about the music of the movement, most people think of “.” But there were many other songs, such as “I’ve Been ’Buked, and I’ve Been Scorned,” performed by during the March on Washington. Songs like this one gave voice to a passion that many in the South felt was not safe to express any other way.

I’VE BEEN ’BUKED AND I’VE BEEN SCORNED I’ve been ’buked an’ I’ve been scorned, children I’ve been ’buked an’ I’ve been scorned I’ve been talked about, sho’s you’re born

Dere is trouble all over dis world Children, dere is trouble all over dis world

dents showed a great deal of courage Ain’t gwine to lay my ’ligion down as they walked in and paid their stu- dent fees. “I didn’t feel I should sneak Children, ain’t gwine to lay my ’ligion down in,” Malone said years later. “I didn’t feel I should go around the back door. If [Wallace] were standing in the door, I Discussion had every right in the world to face him Gospel music, and religion in general, played a key role in the civil rights and to go to school.” movement. How do the lyrics of this traditional gospel song sung by Jackson at the march relate to the challenges faced by civil rights activists?

the 16th 10 15 22 er er vers murdered Civil Rights Bill 28 b ber b 19 ugus eet Baptist Church bombedovem JuneMedgar 12 E Juneintroduced in Congress At the March on WashingtonSeptemBirminghamintegrated schools SeptemStr N Presidentassassinated Kennedy

fal l 2012 47 T eACHING the Movement

π fact π U.S. armed forces. President Franklin D. Television Moves Roosevelt issued the Fair Employment the Nation Act to appease them and, as a result, the idea was shelved. The caught the More than 20 years later, Rustin attention of more white and Randolph’s plan for a march on and non-Southerners than any cam- Washington was revived. Civil rights paign before it. Television view- leaders chose Rustin to be the chief ers worldwide were outraged by Bull detail man for organizing the march Connor’s brutal use of fire hoses and despite their fears that his homosex- Ju ne 12 Medgar Evers Killed attack dogs against students. uality and political inclinations would by a White Supremacist be played up in the press by enemies of The civil rights movement did not the movement. Those fears prompted spontaneously arise, full-blown. the organizations involved to publicly Activists had planned and nurtured it ignore his contributions. for a long time in their communities. the movement. Community organiz- Rustin remained undaunted, throw- Medgar Evers, for one, began tending ers acknowledged the danger, but con- ing himself into his task. “The mood is the movement in Mound Bayou, Miss., tinued to build the movement at the one of anger and confidence of total vic- as president of the Regional Council local level. In so doing, they ultimately tory,” Rustin wrote. “One can only hope of Leadership (RCNL). He later overcame this violent opposition. Their that the white community will realize became the first for the individual courage made universal that the black community means what NAACP. change possible. it says: freedom now.” A week after the Bit by bit, Evers cultivated commu- march, Life magazine featured Rustin nity resistance against inequity. He and Randolph on its cover as the orga- made bumper stickers, led protests and nizers of the March on Washington. investigated vigilante violence, such as None of these now-legendary events the murder of . ended racial discrimination for good. As Evers’ accomplishments grew, so “Happily ever after” isn’t for his- did the determination of white suprem- tory books. What we can say, though, acists to stop him. On the night of June is that the individuals behind these 12, a member of the White Citizens’ events made choices—incredibly diffi- Council shot Evers in the back as he cult choices—and the ones they made walked from his car to his home. The advanced the cause of civil rights in murder took place just hours after crucial ways. President Kennedy had given a pow- We still fight segregation. We still erful speech supporting civil rights. A8 ugust 2 Rustin and Randolph struggle against racial discrimination. Evers’ death was but one violent Realize Their March on Washington But we have made progress; we even act among many committed by segre- Civil rights leaders had faced racial big- have an African-American president. gationists who were set on stopping otry all their lives. But they had not nec- When we teach our students the civil essarily been subject to other types of rights movement in all its gritty detail, intolerance, and intolerance can be we show them that they don’t have to be harder to recognize when you’re not Prince Charming to slay the dragon. We the target. Perhaps this accounts for help them see that ordinary people can Discussion some of their resistance to the activism create extraordinary change. Why do images, particularly film, often of Bayard Rustin—an openly have the power to people to action? gay former member of the Communist Party. TV viewers in 1963 were repulsed and Toolkit Download the text of Martin Luther King Jr.’s angered by images of protesters being In 1941, Rustin and A. Philip R andolph (an atheist and “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” review lessons sprayed with water hoses and attacked by with video footage from 1963, and access ideas dogs. Do you think their reactions would socialist) conceived the idea for teaching about the civil rights movement. have been less intense if the victims of of a march on Washington to visit>>tolerance.org/the-year-1963 police violence had not been children? protest discrimination in the

48 Teaching Tolerance