Desegregation of Schools
Subject Social Studies, ELA research
Grade 2-5
Description:
Ask your child to read this article about
desegregation.
Talk with your child about the need for equal education and other
inequalities that were mentioned in the article.
Image
Credit: Uploaded on September 18,
2007 by Army.mil on Flickr under a
Creative Commons License
Learning Objectives:
- Learn facts about the desegregation of Little Rock Public Schools
- Understand the need for
desegregation
Keywords:
segregation, desegregation, discrimination
Materials needed:
- Computer with internet access
- Printout of questions
- Pen or pencil
Activities:
Tell your child that as late as the 1960s most
communities in the US segregated whites and blacks in schools, public transportation, and restaurants. This
practice prevented many black people from receiving equal
consideration for jobs and education.
Talk with your child about a time when you
felt left out or were treated unfairly.
Discuss your feelings about the incident.
Ask your child about a time when he/she may have also had those
feelings. Discuss how ridiculous it sounds
to discriminate against someone because they look different, for
instance, what if people with freckles were discriminated against.
Relate these feelings back to the way the Little Rock Nine felt
when they were turned away from school by the National
Guard.
Some answers may include:
- civil - being polite
2. segregation - practice of separating people of different races, classes, or ethnic groups, as in schools, housing, and public or commercial facilities, especially as a form of discrimination
3. discrimination - treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit
4. civil rights - the rights to full legal, social, and economic equality extended to blacks
5. equality - the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability; treated the same
6. desegregation - to become open to members of all races or ethnic groups
Use an online dictionary to find the meanings of these words, write their definitions.
- civil
2. segregation
3. discrimination
4. civil rights
5. equality
6. desegregation
