Teaching SNCC: the Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution
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Teaching SNCC: The Organization at the Heart of the Civil Rights Revolution BY ADAM SANCHEZ “THAT’S THE PROBLEM with Black Lives Mat- “S-N-C-C?” students sounded out as my ter! We need a strong leader like Martin Luther black Expo marker moved across the whiteboard. King!” Tyriq shouted as I wrote King’s name on “Have you ever heard of the sit-ins?” I the board. prodded. I started my unit on the Civil Rights Movement “Yeah, weren’t they in Alabama?” Matt by asking my high school students to list every per- answered. son or organization they knew was involved. They “No, Mississippi! Four students sat down replied with several familiar names: Martin Luther at a lunch counter, right?” Kadiatou proudly King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Emmett Till. declared. Occasionally a student knew an organization: the This is usually the extent of my students’ NAACP or the Black Panther Party. prior knowledge of SNCC, one of the organi- “Has anyone ever heard of the Student Non- zations most responsible for pushing the Civil violent Coordinating Committee?” I asked while Rights Movement forward. Without the his- writing the acronym on the board. tory of SNCC at their disposal, students think Danny Lyon/Magnum Photos A meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Atlanta, winter 1963–64. Executive Secretary James Forman leads singing in the SNCC office. From left: Mike Sayer, MacArthur Cotton, James Forman, Marion Barry, Lester MacKinney, Mike Thelwell, Lawrence Guyot, Judy Richardson, John Lewis, Jean Wheeler, and Julian Bond. Teaching SNCC – Zinn Education Project 1 of the Civil Rights Movement as one that was on what led up to the formation of SNCC. dominated by charismatic leaders and not one Before reading the handout out loud as a class, that involved thousands of young people like I told students they would be writing from the themselves. Learning the history of how young role of a SNCC member and should highlight students risked their lives to build a multigenera- any information — particularly about historical tional movement against racism and for political events — they might want to include. The role and economic power allows students to draw new begins with historical background: conclusions about the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and how to apply them to today. In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Boynton v. Virginia, and several other court You Are Members of SNCC cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Jim Pedagogically based on Rethinking Schools edi- Crow segregation unconstitutional. But from tor Bill Bigelow’s abolitionist role play, and movie theaters to swimming pools, parks to drawing content from the voices of SNCC veter- restaurants, buses to schools, almost every ans and the scholarship of Howard Zinn, Clay- aspect of public life in the South remains borne Carson, and other historians, I created segregated. a series of role plays where students imagined In 1955, 50,000 African Americans in themselves as SNCC members. In their roles, Montgomery (Alabama’s second-largest city) students debated key questions the organiza- participated in a boycott to end segrega- tion faced while battling tion of the city buses. Jim Crow. My hope was But after the Montgomery that by role-playing the Without the history of SNCC at their Bus Boycott, the move- moments in SNCC’s his- disposal, students think of the Civil ment struggled to move tory where activists made forward. Segregation- important decisions, stu- Rights Movement as one that was ists launched a massive dents would gain a deeper dominated by charismatic leaders campaign of terror that understanding of how and not one that involved thousands prevented further gains. the movement evolved, . While the protests what difficulties it faced, of young people like themselves. of the 1950s gave you a and most importantly, an sense of pride and power, understanding that social it increasingly became movements involve ordi- clear that larger, more nary people taking action, but also discussing dramatic actions would be necessary to break and debating a way forward. the back of Jim Crow. You were prepared to I taught the role play in my U.S. history class act and you were not alone. at Madison High School in Portland, Oregon, and more recently in a course about the Civil The handout continues by discussing the Rights Movement at Harvest Collegiate High initial sit-ins that spread quickly across the School in New York City. Both schools serve a South and led to the formation of SNCC. After diverse mix of Black, Latinx, Asian, and white reading about the sit-ins and SNCC’s founding students — unusual examples of diversity for conference in April of 1960, we quickly moved both public school districts. They also house a on to another crucial event that shaped SNCC’s large population of students who come from early history: the Freedom Rides. low-income families. To introduce the role play, I created a Freedom Rider Letter handout that situates students in the role of a To introduce the Freedom Rides, I edited SNCC member through providing background together two clips from the PBS documentary Teaching SNCC – Zinn Education Project 2 Freedom Riders. The first part introduces stu- Dear Mom and Dad, dents to the concept of the Freedom Rides, a I have made the decision to join the Free- series of bus trips organized by the Congress of dom Riders. I know it’s a big risk, but I Racial Equality (CORE) through the South to feel I need to do this. I’m sure you’ve heard protest segregation in interstate travel facilities. about the bus that was burned in Anniston The clip also takes students through the burning and the attack on the Freedom Riders in of one Greyhound bus in Anniston, Alabama, Birmingham. We can’t let this violence be and the attack on the Freedom Riders in a sec- the end. We need to show them that their ond bus by a white mob in Birmingham. violence can’t stop our fight. The second part reveals that after the vio- Now I know you’ll be angry with me for lence in Birmingham, the first round of Free- dropping out of school to join the Freedom dom Riders decided to fly to New Orleans Rides. I really appreciate all you have done and head home. It then turns to the Nashville for me, and how hard you worked to get me students in SNCC who decided they couldn’t to college. But seeing you work so hard for so let the Freedom Rides end in failure. As SNCC little is why I’m doing this. I remember how leader Diane Nash explains in the video: you worked 10 or 12 hours a day just to pay the bills and put food on the table for me and If we allowed the Freedom Ride to stop at my sisters. that point, just after so much violence had I know you wanted a better future for been inflicted, the message would have been me. But I’ve heard that nearly all of last sent that all you have to do to stop a nonvi- year’s graduates fell short of their dreams to olent campaign is inflict massive violence. It be doctors, lawyers, journalists, and so on. was critical that the Freedom Ride not stop, They say “knowledge is power,” but what’s and that it be continued immediately. the point of an education when I’m still going to end up in a low-wage job because After the clip, I tell students that to get in I’m Black? I want Lily and Diana to know the role of a SNCC member, they will be writing that their brother fought for their future. I letters to their parents as if they were planning to want my children to grow up in a country join the Freedom Rides. Together we read a short where segregation doesn’t exist. If not assignment that reiterates some of the basic facts now, when? This is our time. about the Freedom Rides and gives them more information about what to write: “Describe for After students finished working, I had them your parents the experiences that led you to risk read their letters to each other in pairs or small your life in order to end segregation in the South. groups. Sometimes I asked the class to form a You can choose your gender, your race, your age, circle and read each letter aloud one by one. I your social class, and the region where you grew was never disappointed when I took the time up. Give yourself a name and a history. Be imag- to do this. It helps students gain a deeper con- inative. In vivid detail, tell the story of the events nection to their roles and creates a rich aural that made you who you are now: a Freedom portrait of a social movement. Rider.” While in reality, many Freedom Riders chose not to tell their parents, this activity allows Organizing Mississippi students to think through what makes someone When students finished sharing their letters, we willing to take great risks for a just cause. watched the movie Freedom Song. Freedom Song Whether giving this assignment as homework is an indispensable film that gives a gripping or giving students in-class time to work on it, I narrative based on SNCC’s first voter registra- often get back incredible letters. Marquandre wrote tion project in McComb, Mississippi. I’ve found passionately about why he felt the need to join: that the film helps give students a deep visual Teaching SNCC – Zinn Education Project 3 understanding of SNCC’s organizing efforts that discussion in SNCC on the role of whites in grounds the role play that follows.