School Integration-Just a Southern Problem?

Christine Adrian

Summer Fellowship, 2007

Lesson 1: Defining Segregation

To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.

Abstract:

In this lesson, students will review the effects of Jim Crow on America. Specifically, students will explore why Brown v. Board was necessary. Students will postulate whether certain areas of the country were free of “segregation woes” and find out whether their assumptions were correct.

Essential questions/enduring understandings:

• Why do individuals and groups force segregation on others?
• Do laws have absolute power in the United States?
• Does historical fact match our preconceptions about historical events?

Assessment:

The teacher will use the feedback from the handouts to evaluate student understanding for this lesson.

Setting the Purpose:

Students will examine the term segregation and review the Brown v. Board case and decision as well as two articles from a local northern paper in order to understand the climate of school integration in the north in the late 1960’s. The class will use this background informational lesson as a set of base knowledge for lessons in the unit.

Duration: 1 to 3 class periods

Procedure:

Part 1:

• Starter: Can be placed on the board, overhead, or discussed as a group. What does the word segregation mean? Why do people segregate? Is segregation always forced, or do people segregate by choice? Discuss as whole group before moving on.
• Examine a map that shows segregation trends in America, such as The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Interactive Map and have the student analyze the maps by completing Analyzing Segregation through Maps worksheet.

Part 2:

• Starter: Have students write down or discuss thoughts to this question: Today, we cannot legally segregate public schools by the color of someone’s skin. During the time of Jim Crow, most schools were segregated by color. How did the change come about? Discuss postulations as a class.

• Use one of the many Brown v. Board websites listed in the resource section, like Brown V. Board of Education from Our Documents, to explore the Brown v. Board case and decision. You may choose to spend a day looking the background, the document and what the decision meant. Use NARA’s Written Document Analysis Worksheet.
• Distribute School Segregation KWH Chart (What I know, What I want to know, How I can find out). Explain to the students that for years this country segregated most public places and institutions by black and white.

Part 3:

• Have students write down the answer to this question: Which parts of the country do you think desegregated the quickest? Explain why you believe your thoughts to be true.

• Now, either display or distribute printed copies of Housing Report Here Worst In Illinois, October 20, 1961 and Bakalis Says November 23, 1971. You may choose to read each in whole group or in pairs. You may choose to distribute the Segregation in Illinois CU Newspaper Article Questions, or discuss them as a whole group. Explain the concept of neighborhood schools that were popular at this time, as many students may be unfamiliar with this concept (as many are products of bussing themselves).
• To close this session, explain to students that they will learn more about school segregation through the experiences across the nation, in Decatur and in Champaign Unit 4.

Analysis of local primary sources:

Students will use the following to guide their analysis:

• Analyzing Segregation through Maps
• NARA’s Written Document Analysis Worksheet
• School Segregation KWH Chart
• Segregation in Illinois CU Newspaper Article Questions

Ties to National primary source or sources:

It would be useful to review Brown V. Board of Education, as well as maps that demonstrate the climate of the United States in 1960 (see Jim Crow map below). Students should understand through looking at Brown V. Board that what it called for was met with great resistance, and compliance was not the order of the states, in the North as well as the South. The teacher may also want to have students look at pictures of students in integrated classrooms at the time (see Resources section) to start “stepping in the shoes” of the students. Students may analyze photos and postulate the feelings of the subjects.

Attachments:

Worksheets

• Analyzing Segregation through Maps
• NARA’s Written Document Analysis Worksheet
• NARA's Photographic Document Analysis Worksheet
• School Segregation KWH Chart

• Segregation in Illinois CU Newspaper Article Questions

Ties to Illinois State Learning Standards

Return to School Integration Overview