oral presentation about racism

Talks to help you understand racism in America

From passionate pleas for reform to poetic turns of phrase, these talks take an honest look at everyday realities of Black Americans and illuminate the way forward.

The path to ending systemic racism in the US

The urgency of intersectionality

Color blind or color brave?

How we can make racism a solvable problem -- and improve policing

Racism has a cost for everyone

An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter

How racism makes us sick

How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time

How to raise a Black son in America

The danger of a single story

My road trip through the whitest towns in America

Recommended Readings on Anti-Racism from the OHR Archive, Part 1

Following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in hundreds of cities, hundreds of thousands of people have protested systematic racism broadly, and police brutality specifically. One of the most important things we can do is educate ourselves on the history and oppression of the Black community and the ways activists have challenged racism. We at OHR have contemplated what and how oral history can contribute to this action.

OHR editorial assistants Lauren Connors and Sydney Davies dug into the OHR archive to compile a list of resources utilizing oral history that can help us wrestle with anti-racism, activism, police brutality, and white privilege. This first installment shares articles from the journal, with Alex Haley’s 1973 “Black History, Oral History, and Genealogy” as the earliest, written three years before the publication of Roots . 

We had hoped that this reading list would provide us with an opportunity to amplify the voices of Black practitioners working in the field of oral history. Sadly, Haley’s article is an all-too-rare example of an OHR piece by an African American author.  The field of oral history, like other parts of academia, is disproportionately white, reflecting the systematic racism that plagues much of higher education. We recognize that there is a lot of work we must do as individuals and institutions to make our field reflect the inclusivity and democratic impulses that it has long advocated. We at OHR are committed to this work and will strive to publish and promote the work of people of color in the journal. 

The leadership of the Oral History Association, OHR ’s parent organization, recently published a statement in response to the the killing of George Floyd, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter , which we would like to endorse and excerpt here: 

“As oral historians, we understand that through the stories of people—citizens and activists—we can confront oppression and work to create an equitable and just society. In our commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and respect, and to a historical record that documents the experiences of unheard and marginalized voices, we must listen to and amplify the demands of people and communities of color. We must continue to document and expose the injustice so many have suffered for centuries, and develop new projects to expand these efforts.

In our commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and respect, and to a historical record that documents the experiences of unheard and marginalized voices, we must listen to and amplify the demands of people and communities of color.

In this work, it is essential we adopt anti-racist methods and practices. Further, we can and must work to address institutional racism in our institutions and our field, through developing and supporting leaders of color, providing anti-oppression training, and continually working to center the voices and experiences of those most directly impacted by oppression. People of color, whether they be colleagues, narrators, students, or patrons, must be supported and valued. Historical knowledge around police brutality and systemic racism is essential to addressing both, but Black and Brown people must have a clear, equal, and respected role in developing this knowledge.” 

Follow the links to the individual articles in the OHR archive, where Routledge has generously removed the paywall for these pieces. Next week we will share book reviews of publications addressing themes of anti-racism through an oral history lens. 

Howard Beeth, “Pigmentocracy, Melting Pot, Mosaic, Salad, or Stew?: Some Current Thinking About Race in the USA,” The Oral History Review , 22.1 (1992). 

Howard Beeth contrasts the varying approaches of oral historians to the issue of race in his review of five works regarding the racial discourse in the United States and Britain. Beeth’s comparison displays the different ways in which oral history can address and contribute to conversations about race. Read Beeth’s review at OHR. 

Emilye Crosby, “ White Privilege, Black Burden: Lost Opportunities and Deceptive Narratives in School Desegregation in Claiborne County, Mississippi,”   The Oral History Review ,   39.2 (2012)

Crosby examines the history of school desegregation and the lives of both Black and white families through retrospective interviews from the 1990s during a time of re-engagement between the two groups.  The article also explores the topic of white privilege in both the past and present, as well as the question of lost opportunities in Claiborne County, Mississippi, during the 1960s. 

Bret Eynon, “Community in Motion: The Free Speech Movement, Civil Rights, and the Roots of the New Left,”  Oral History Review 17.1 (1989). 

Through interviews with many of its participants, Eynon explores the 1960s Free Speech Movement, as it intersected with and drew on the foundations of other activism of that era, particularly the Civil Rights Movement.  In particular, Eynon analyzes interviews in order to situate the Free Speech Movement in relationship to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and other civil rights organizations. 

Alex Haley, “ Black History, Oral History, and Genealogy,”   The Oral History Review ,   1.1 (1973).

Writing about his process of uncovering his family history through storytelling, Alex Haley shares his journey of tracing his “roots” to Africa and how it relates to oral history. Haley dedicated almost a decade to this research and describes both his  methodology as well as his personal insight and feelings towards the work and the civil rights climate during that time. Adapted from his address to the Oral History Association annual meeting, this article was published three years before Haley’s landmark Roots. 

Roger Horowitz & Rick Halpern, “ Work, Race, and Identity: Self-Representation in the Narratives of Black Packinghouse Workers,”   The Oral History Review ,   26.1 (1999).

Through the examination of the lives of Rowena Moore and William Raspberry, two very different meatpacking workers in post-war midwest cities, the authors explore topics including union organization, Black advancement, and self-identity. 

Tracy E. K’Meyer, “Remembering the Past and Contesting the Future of School Desegregation in Louisville, Kentucky, 1975–2012,” The Oral History Review, 39.2 (2012) 

Focused on the city of Louisville and Jefferson County, K’Meyer examines the policies of busing through current policy debates and oral histories from multiple activists, students, parents, and school administrators.  Connecting the 1975 busing crisis to the current issues of integration within the city, K’Meyer demonstrates how oral history can impact public policy discussions. 

Phyllis Palmer, “ Recognizing Racial Privilege: White Girls and Boys at National Conference of Christians and Jews Summer Camps, 1957–1974,”   The Oral History Review ,   27.2 (2000)

Through interviews with participants at the intentionally interracial National Conference of Christians and Jews summer camps, Palmer explores how White teenagers came to identify and understand their racial privilege and the oppression of institutional racism. 

Abigail Perkiss, “ Reclaiming the Past: Oral History and the Legacy of Integration in West Mount Airy, Philadelphia,”   The Oral History Review ,   41.1 (2014)

West Mount Airy is historically known as one of the few intentionally integrated neighborhoods in postwar America, avoiding both violence towards new Black families moving in as well as ‘white flight.’  As the decades went on, this community faced new challenges and in 1992 the West Mount Airy Neighbors Association created an oral history project to trace the roots and examine the legacy of its integrationist efforts. In doing so, the project “use[d] historical memory in order to stir residents to action in the present.” 

Judith A. Ridner & Susan W. Clemens-Bruder, “ Taking Their Place Among the Giants: Performing Oral Histories of Pennsylvania’s Black Freedom Struggle,”   The Oral History Review ,   41.1 (2014)

The three major towns of the Lehigh Valley; Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, all have a hidden history of African Americans and their struggles against urban renewal and racism.  Using recorded life histories from the oldest members of these towns recorded as part of the Lehigh Valley Black African Heritage History Project, playwright Linda Parris-Bailey created Another River Flows: Stories, Songs, and a Celebration of the Lehigh Valley Black Experience. 

Kim Lacy Rogers, “ Organizational Experience and Personal Narrative: Stories of New Orleans’s Civil Rights Leadership,”   The Oral History Review ,   13.1 (1985).

Kim Lacy Rogers, “ Memory, Struggle, and Power: On Interviewing Political Activists,”   The Oral History Review ,   15.1 (1987).

In this pair of articles, Rogers analyzes interviews she conducted with New Orleans civil rights leaders active during the 1950s and 1960s. Using interviews with members of organizations including the NAACP, CORE, and Urban League, Rogers explores the role of of institutions and personal histories in shaping the legacy of activism in Louisiana. 

Barbara Shircliffe, “‘We Got the Best of That World’: A Case for the Study of Nostalgia in the Oral History of School Segregation,” The Oral History Review 28.2 (2001)

Shircliffe analyzes the role nostalgia plays in recollections within oral history interviews, particularly how African Americans educated in segregated schools look back fondly on those experiences, despite the systemic oppression of the Jim Crow school system. While nostalgia normally poses a challenge to historians trying to understand the past, nostalgia can also inform historians of the emotions and experiences of individuals.

Jessica Taylor, “‘We’re on Fire’: Oral History and the Preservation, Commemoration, and Rebirth of Mississippi’s Civil Rights Sites,” The Oral History Review 42.2 (2015)

Historical sites have long been an important way to commemorate our nation’s history, yet what constitutes a landmark in regards to the civil rights movement is under question. Taylor shares interviews with civil right activists conducted as part of Mississippi Freedom Project, an initiative on the part of students and staff at the University of Florida’s Samuel Proctor Oral History Program to document the stories of civil rights workers and everyday life in the Mississippi Delta.  Taylor reflects on why her efforts to place parts of the historical civil rights built environment on the National Register of Historic Places ultimately failed, noting the tension “between oral history as a people-based discipline and historic preservation’s attachment to place.” 

Victoria Wyatt, “ Oral History in the Study of Discrimination and Cultural Repression,”   The Oral History Review ,   15.1 (1987)

With Alaskan Indians as her focus, Wyatt details the process and obstacles of conducting oral history interviews as a member of the race who has perpetrated the oppression which is the project’s subject matter.  Wyatt describes the trust that must develop between interviewer and narrator when talking about discrimination. 

Ruth Carbonette Yow, “ Shadowed Places and Stadium Lights: An Oral History of Integration and Black Student Protest in Marietta, Georgia,”   The Oral History Review ,   42.1 (2015)

Football is widely seen as a colorless sport, one that anyone can play and can help create a bond between races, and Marietta High School in Georgia uses the storyline of their desegregated football team’s state victory in 1967 as evidence of their historically racial harmony.  Here Yow unpacks this narrative, arguing that it overshadows the Black student-led protests at the school and grassroots organizations of the town.

This reading list was compiled by OHR  editorial assistants Lauren Connors (History major, Kean University) and Sydney Davies (History major, West Chester University) working remotely as summer interns.

• Date July 9, 2020
• Author Oral History
• Category Current Events education From the editors
• Tag BLM protest racism white privilege
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• Resources for Teaching About Racism, Anti-racism, and Human Rights
• Featured Resources

The following articles have been selected from our three main journals for K-12 teachers: Social Education, Middle Level Learning, and Social Studies and the Young Learner. These articles are grouped by topic for easy reference. Also included are recent current event responses that address racism and call for human rights education.

NCSS Current Events Responses (2020) Teaching about Race and Racism in the Classroom The African American Struggle for Civil Rights Slavery and Its Legacy Racism and Discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Human Rights Education Middle Level Lessons on Racial Injustice and the Struggle for Civil Rights Elementary Lessons on Racial Injustice and the Struggle for Civil Rights

NCSS Current Events Responses (2020)

The free press in a time of crisis  .

Joint Statement (from the National Coalition Against Censorship, co-signed by NCSS), June 2020  

AHA Statement on the History of Racist Violence in the United States 

Joint Statement (from the American Historical Association, co-signed by NCSS), June 2020  

NCSS Condemns the Killing of George Floyd and Countless Black People

Press Release, May 29, 2020  

A National Council for the Social Studies Response to Anti-Asian Harassment and Violence during COVID-19

Statement, May 2020  

Teaching about Race and Racism in the Classroom

Let's talk teaching race in the classroom.

Candra Flanagan, Anna Hindley

Teachers can use specific tools and strategies highlighted in this article to foster open, honest, and productive dialogues on race and identity in an educational setting. Secondary/High School

A Pathway to Racial Literacy: Using the LETS ACT Framework to Teach Controversial Issues

LaGarrett J. King, Amanda E. Vickery, Genevieve Caffrey

Exploring race and other controversial issues in a civil and productive manner develops students’ racial literacies and equips them to be proactive citizens in a democratic society. Secondary/High School

Agency, Advocacy, Activism: Action for Social Studies

Tina Lane Heafner

As social studies teachers, we play an essential role in preparing the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to become informed and engaged citizens.

Ferguson Is About Us Too: A Call to Explore Our Communities

Alexander Cuenca, Joseph R. Nichols, Jr.

The events in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 can serve as a jumping off point into an exploration of students' own communities.  Secondary/High School

A Time for Social Studies: Talking with Young People about Ferguson and Staten Island

Beth C. Rubin

This article examines the challenges of teaching about the deaths of African American men at the hands of police in Ferguson and Staten Island in 2014, and shows that when students engage in discussions about civic rights and processes, their sense of discouragement transforms to a sense of empowerment.

Confederate Monuments: Heritage, Racism, Anachronism, and Who Gets to Decide?

Mandy Tompkins Gibson, Gabriel A. Reich

This inquiry, which explores the current debate on what should be done with Confederate monuments, engages students in historical, geographic and civic skills.  Secondary/High School

The White Gunman, The Anti-Semitic Automaker, and Other Dilemmas of a History Textbook Author

Rosalie Metro

A textbook author reflects on the ethical and ideological choices she made in her quest to create a history book that would be relevant to demographically diverse high school students.  Secondary/High School  

A Mile in Another’s Shoes: A Thematic Approach to Ethnic Studies

Ingrid E. Fey

High school ethnic studies courses that address the perspectives and experiences of people of color are increasingly in demand. The author describes the thematic, inquiry-based approach she developed that reflects her school’s diversity.  Secondary/High School

Who is Afro-Latin@? Examining the Social Construction of Race and Négritude in Latin America and the Caribbean

Christopher L. Busey, Bárbara C. Cruz

This article reviews the distinctive social construction of race in Latin America and the Caribbean, discussing its historical background and contemporary manifestations.  Secondary/High School     

Teaching about the Rise of Hate Groups, Neo-Fascism, the Alt-Right, and the Threat to Freedom and Democracy in the United States

C. Frederick Risinger

These recommended sites offer materials, lesson plans, and activities for teaching about our democratic principles.   Secondary/High School

The African American Struggle for Civil Rights

The long civil rights movement: expanding black history in the social studies classroom.

Andrea M. Hawkman, Antonio J. Castro

The lesson presented in this article offers an expansive view of Black history, which moves beyond the limited focus on slavery, reconstruction, and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.  Secondary/High School

Learning through Doing: A Project-Based Learning Approach to the History of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement

Diana B. Turk, Stacie Brensilver Berman

A project-based approach to studying the civil rights movement can stimulate student engagement and their sense of connection to this historic period.  Secondary/High School

Constructing a Narrative with Students about Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks from Her Notes

Cheryl Lederle

A close look at Rosa Parks's handwritten notations on the program from a Montgomery bus boycott event can engage students into a deeper study of Parks, the boycott, and the civil rights movement.  Secondary/High School

The Rule of Law and Civil Disobedience: The Case Behind King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Howard Kaplan

A class lesson on Walker v. Birmingham, the legal case related to Martin Luther King Jr.'s arrest in Birmingham, can lead to a stimulating exploration of civil disobedience and its role in a democratic society. Secondary/High School

A Street Named for a King: A Lesson in the Politics of Place-Naming

Jerry T. Mitchell, Derek H. Alderman

As students use geospatial technology to discover streets named for Martin Luther King, Jr., they learn about politics and social power as well as geography.  Secondary/High School

Voting Rights Act of 1965: In Whose Interest?

Jane Bolgatz and Ryan Crowley

In this lesson, students consider important factors that converged to help civil rights activists win a decades-long struggle for voting rights.  Secondary/High School   

A. Philip Randolph's Attempt at Equal Economic Opportunity: A Case Study

Joel Walker

The two featured documents from the 1940s offer insight into the African American struggle for economic opportunity in the South and can help teach about the greater civil rights movement.  Secondary/High School   

Letter to President Harry Truman about the Murder of Harry T. Moore

Megan Jones

The featured letter to President Truman about the murder of an NAACP official can be used as a springboard into the exploration of the civil rights struggle and violence, as well as the issue of presidential powers.  Secondary/High School

Teaching about Racial Segregation in Postwar America using Black Like Me

Richard L. Hughes

The memoir of a white journalist who disguised himself as an African American in the pre-civil rights South provides students with greater insight into the evolution of segregation in American society.  Secondary/High School     

Interviewing the “Lost Generation” from Prince Edward County’s Closed School Era

Helen Stiff-Williams, John P. Sturtz

An oral history project by students in Southside, Virginia, exposes a neglected aspect of the civil rights movement—a generation of young people who were deprived of an education by segregationists.  Secondary/High School   

Education Equality: What Happens to a Dream Deferred?

Annie Davis, Kimberlee Ried

The highlighted documents from Boston´s desegregation case can serve as a jumping off point into an engaging classroom study of education equality and civil rights.

Slavery and Its Legacy

The american contradiction: conceived in liberty, born in shackles.

Kenneth C. Davis

The role that racial slavery played in the founding and development of our republic should be woven into the bedrock of how we teach American history and civics.  Secondary/High School  

Engaging Digital Humanities: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

Nafees M. Khan

Students can use the large Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database to conduct research and discover the scope of the slave trade over four centuries.  Secondary/High School  

The Connecting Carolina Teaching with Primary Sources Program

Meghan Manfra and the Connecting Carolina Grant Team

Digital sources like Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl can involve students in a deep investigation of the long-term history and personal impacts of slavery in the United States.  Secondary/High School   

Using Inquiry and Digital Storytelling to Teach about American Enslavement: Anna, One Woman’s Quest for Freedom

Grant Scribner, Aaron Johnson

An inquiry framed around the experience of an enslaved woman, highlighted in a recent film, offers an opportunity for meaningful student engagement with the history of American enslavement. Secondary/High School  

Marriage between Slaves: Analyzing Legal Documents from Spain and the United States

Luis Martínez-Fernández

When studying the early colonization of the Caribbean, students will gain a deeper, more nuanced, understanding of the institution of slavery by examining Spanish colonial documents and comparing them with documents from the antebellum U.S. South.  Secondary/High School  

Expanding Student Understanding of Slavery in America by Exploring an Arabic Muslim Slave Narrative

Michael Apfeldorf

Examining the life of an enslaved West African man in North Carolina who wrote a memoir in Arabic can broaden students’ perspectives on slavery in America.  Secondary/High School   

Critical Race Theory Meets Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Advancing a Critical Sociohistorical Consciousness for Teaching and Curriculum

Anthony L. Brown, Keffrelyn D. Brown, Angela Ward

The featured lesson examines the role that race played in the history of the United States and in the decision-making of President Lincoln during the Civil War.  Secondary/High School

Slavery and its Legacies: Marking the Sesquicentennial of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Ana Lucia Araujo

A close look at the struggle to pass the 13th Amendment will ignite a stimulating classroom debate on the legacies of slavery that persist today.  Secondary/High School  

Jourdon Anderson and the Meaning of Freedom in the Aftermath of Slavery

Robert Cohen and Janelle Pearson

The featured letter from an emancipated slave to his former master illuminates the historical transition from slavery to freedom and is an excellent resource for classes in both history and literature. Secondary/High School  

Race and the WPA Slave Narratives: A Lesson in Historiography

Michael J. Swogger

The Library of Congress’s Slave Narratives Collection present students with an opportunity to expand their understanding of slavery in America while grappling with questions about interpretations of the past.  Secondary/High School

Racism against Black, Indingenous, and People of Color

Toward responsibility: social studies education that respects and affirms indigenous peoples and nations.

(NCSS position statement, 2018)

Now You Can’t Just Do Nothing: Unsettling the Settler Self within Social Studies Education

Christine Stanton

Promising practices offer educators opportunities to confront the perspective of white settler colonialism that has permeated the study of the history of Indigenous peoples. Secondary/High School  

Using the Indian Removal Act to Teach Critical Thinking

Carol Buswell

The featured primary source in support of Native American tribes who were victims of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 can be used to spark a classroom lesson on this disturbing period in American history.  Secondary/High School  

The Braceros: Mexican Workers in the Jim Crow South, 1949–1951

Jarrod Hanson, Ruben Donato

Primary sources on the treatment of contracted Mexican workers in Arkansas in the mid-twentieth century can launch an engaging lesson on the role of race, economic power, regional differences, and citizenship status in historical events.  Secondary/High School

Mexican Americans in the Era of World War II: Studying the Sleepy Lagoon Case and Zoot Suit Riots

Axel Donizetti Ramirez

A creative and intriguing lesson plan examining the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles in June 1943, in which naval servicemen clashed with Mexican Americans. Secondary/High School     

Case Study of Chinese Exclusion Act Enforcement

Joanne Dufour

The featured lesson exploring early twentieth-century U.S. policies towards Chinese immigrants can serve as a jumping off point into a discussion of contemporary U.S. immigration issues.  Secondary/High School     

Immigration Stories: Using Primary Documents to Help Students Explore Historical and Contemporary Immigration

Andrea Reidell

The featured documents related to the Chinese Exclusion Act can launch an engaging classroom lesson on the complicated history of United States immigration policy.   Secondary/High School     

Suffrage, Activism, and Education in the Era of Chinese Exclusion: Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

Sara Lyons Davis

A close look at documents related to the case of Mabel Ping-Hua Lee can be a springboard into an engaging classroom lesson on the Chinese Exclusion Act and its impact on the voting rights of women in the United States.  Secondary/High School    

Enduring Lessons of Justice from the World War II Japanese American Internment

Nancy P. Gallavan and Teresa A. Roberts

Investigating the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II helps students develop an appreciation of constitutional rights and civil liberties. Secondary/High School    

Inspiring Citizen Action with Motion Pictures

Danna Bell, Lee Ann Potter

A short 1945 film in the Library of Congress archives starring Frank Sinatra, who stops a group from bullying a young Jewish boy, could jumpstart a range of classroom projects such as an inquiry into post-World War II domestic issues.   Secondary/High School  

The Bullying of Religious Minorities in Schools: Consequences and Solutions

Ameena Jandali, Henry Millstein

The authors recommend important steps and strategies to help schools and educators reduce or prevent bullying.   Secondary/High School  

At Risk of Prejudice: Teaching Tolerance about Muslim Americans  

Karima Alavi

Common misperceptions about the religion of Islam threaten to distort views of Muslim Americans and their convictions. The author answers questions about the Muslim faith, community, and beliefs. Secondary/High School  

At Risk of Prejudice:The Arab American Community 

Zeina Azzam Seikaly

How can we protect our Arab American students from encountering prejudice, educate all our students about the Arab American community, and emphasize tolerance over bigotry? Secondary/High School  

Confronting False Narratives in the Debate over Immigration

William McCorkle, Mikel W. Cole, Mindy Spearman

Examining the featured political cartoons offers students an opportunity to analyze myths about immigration and to consider ways that politicians have historically used nativist sentiments for political gain.   Secondary/High School    

Equal Protection, Immigration, and Education: Plyler v. Doe

Joseph R. Feinberg, Frans H. Doppen, Matthew S. Hollstein

This lesson on the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment will give students a deeper understanding of the issues framing the current immigration debate.  Secondary/High School     

Human Rights Education

Human rights education: a necessity for effective social and civic learning.

(NCSS position statement, 2014)

What Should We Teach about Human Rights? Implications of International Research

Keith C. Barton

It is important to consider the influence of students’ social context when teaching about human rights. Secondary/High School     

The World War II Era and Human Rights Education

Stewart Waters and William B. Russell III

This historical analysis and teaching activity offers teachers an approach for integrating human rights issues into the world history curriculum.  Secondary/High School   

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Hilary Landorf

The document that began as a declaration of human equality and dignity has become the foundation of the human rights movement and a cornerstone of world political dialogue.  Secondary/High School      

The Bystander's Dilemma: How Can We Turn our Students into Upstanders?

Lauren Woglom and Kim Pennington

By studying moments in history where bystanders made a difference, teachers can motivate students to think critically in the face of social dilemmas.  Secondary/High School    

Youth in Front: Supporting Youth-Led Social Action

Marti Tippens Murphy

Allowing students to take the lead in a specific social action campaign enables them to take classroom learning about the democratic process to a much deeper level.   Secondary/High School   

Civics in Action

Jessica Lander

To cultivate engaged citizens, we should ensure that students have real-world opportunities to develop, practice, and apply civic skills.

Understanding the Universe of Obligation: An Approach to Civic Responsibility

Dan Sigward

In the featured lesson, students explore the ways that individuals, groups, communities, and nations define who belongs and who does not.  Secondary/High School   

Middle Level Lessons on Racial Injustice and the Struggle for Civil Rights

Middle level learning january/february 2016.

“Benjamin Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson” by John A. Moore provides students with excerpts from one of America’s first Abolitionist documents. Both men were well-known public figures, free and patriotic citizens, and scientists who had worked on the planning and measurement of the new nation’s capital (Washington, D.C.). Both professed to uphold the unalienable rights of man, but one was an independent farmer, the other a wealthy slaveholder. (pp. 1-11)

Middle Level Learning September 2008

“Frederick Douglass, the Constitution, and Slavery: A Classroom Debate” by Vanessa Rodriguez invites students to read excerpts, from different decades, from the writings by the famous American Abolitionist. Was Douglass inconsistent, or did his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution evolve in a meaningful way? (pp. 1-13)

Middle Level Learning May/June 2013

“Harriet Tubman: ‘Emancipate Yourself!’” by Steven S. Lapham and Peter Hanes provides student handouts with images of historical primary sources preserved at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, as well as incidents from Tubman’s biography that are not well known today, but that propelled the global struggle to end slavery at that time. (pp. 1-11)

Middle Level Learning September 2005

“Philip Reid and the Statue of Freedom” by Eugene Walton reveals that an enslaved American solved a technical puzzle, then assisted in the casting of the bronze figure that now stands atop the U.S. Capitol. Handouts provide historical evidence of these events, and a handout with “An Abolitionist Cartoon, 1830” closes the issue. (pp. 1-16)

Middle Level Learning May/June 2012

“Slavery After the Civil War: ‘It Makes a Long-Time Man Feel Bad’”and “The Convict-Lease System, 1866-1928” (three lessons with four readings and two worksheets), both by Christine Adrian, reveal how the institution of slavery was reinvented, after the Civil War, in a new form and then persisted, in many states, for another 60 years. (pp. 1-16)

Middle Level Learning Jan/Feb 2002

“The WPA Slave Narratives: Teaching with Oral Histories” by Paul Horton provides a variety of excepts from this famous historical collection at the Library of Congress and guides students in interpreting what they have read. (pp. 3-8)

Middle Level Learning September 2016

“Voting Rights and Literacy Tests”by R. Z. Seitz and P. T. Chandler includes a handout from a 1956 “literacy test” that was designed to exclude Black citizens from voting. (pp. 8-13)

A “Book Review: She Stood for Freedom” invites teachers and students to learn about “the untold story of a civil rights hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland,” who was attacked along with other young civil rights protesters at a lunch counter, captured in a famous 1963 photo. (pp. 14-16)

Middle Level Learning May/June 2018

“How to Be an American” is an article with handouts that links to two video resources: Judge Lucy Koh: “Be Fully Engaged in Democracy” as well as Karen Korematsu: “You Can Make a Difference.” In a candid conversation (transcribed on the handouts), these two prominent civic leaders, Korematsu and Judge Koh, discuss growing up as the children of immigrants and how they became involved in advancing civil and human rights for all people. Discussion questions challenge students to consider the many “ways to be fully engaged in democracy.” (pp. 1-7)

Videos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvkwlphRcjM&feature=youtu.be and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxj9iNnLbK0&feature=youtu.be .

“Conflict, Service, and Civic Involvement” by Sarah K. Anderson. The author describes leading Project Citizen activities with her students, which include identifying a local problem, researching it, proposing a policy-based solution, and putting the solution into action. One of the student-generated questions is: Why are immigrants so often treated differently? (pp. 8-12)

“Immigration Today: Teaching with Film” by Jeremy Hilburn and Lisa Brown Buchanan. A discussion strategy “Take a Stand” has students move about the room as they read, respond, analyze, and deliberate statements individually and as a group. There are many variations, and using the strategy after viewing a documentary can help students begin thoughtful deliberation about a challenging or controversial issue. (pp. 1-7)

Elementary Lessons on Racial Injustice and the Struggle for Civil Rights

First graders’ inquiry into multicolored stories of school (de)segregation.

Powerful stories of three Americans—girls of Indigenous, Chinese, and Mexican ancestry—who fought for equal education in America in the last century. Their struggles all pre-dated that of the well-known African-American girl, Ruby Bridges, whose story is included in the first grade unit plan, which includes handouts that can be found in the Pullout .

Why are People Marching? Discussing Justice-Oriented Citizenship using Picture Books

Jessica Ferreras-Stone and Sara B. Demoiny

Teachers, in accordance with NCSS guidelines, can use picture books to spur discussions about justice-oriented citizenship, including protest marches, as a means to understand the past and present.

Beyond Pocahontas: Learning from Indigenous Women Changemakers

Turtle Island Social Studies Collective

Indigenous women have long held positions of leadership, including the position of President, Chairperson, or Chief, among other titles, within their Native nations. The authors describe how students in grades 3–5 can learn about and from Indigenous women changemakers and their professions, communities, and Native nations.

Examining the Evidence in a History Lab: George Washington and Slavery

Cara Ward and Travis Matthews

Students engage with primary source texts, a painting, and a photograph (images created in different decades) to arrive at a more complex understanding of a historic American icon and the society he lived in. A handout features a stereograph, ca. 1860s, “Slave family picking cotton in the fields near Savannah, Georgia.”

Justice Pedagogy: Grade 1–3 Students Challenge Racist Statues

Meir Muller

A ten-week inquiry project is designed to address issues of inequity and privilege. Challenges in enacting justice-focused pedagogy are discussed. A sidebar spotlights Benjamin R. Tillman, Jr. (1847–1918), who served as governor of South Carolina, U.S. senator, and was an avowed white supremacist. His statue was erected on the grounds of the state capitol in 1940.

How Did Slavery Shape My State? Using Inquiry to Explore Kentucky History

Carly Muetterties and Jess Haney

Students analyze an 1855 ad for a “great sale of slaves” and interact with an online map created by a George Mason University professor. “Slide your finger along the timeline at the bottom and watch the institution of slavery grow in this color-coded map of the United States. Zoom to any county by clicking on it and view the original U.S. Census data behind the illustration. You can also view data on free African Americans, total population, and other groupings.”

What Makes a Family? Sharing Multiple Perspectives through an Inclusive Text Set

Pullout: Activities for Learning about Diverse Families using Picture Books

Christina M. Tschida and Lisa Brown Buchanan

Providing students with multiple perspectives that disrupt “the single story of family” helps students be open to diversity and see the complexity of the social world around them. Educators can be ready with text sets (picture book collections) in their classrooms that will engage students in discussions and activities about a concept of “family” that more closely reflects their own social reality. 

“They Want to Erase That Past”: Examining Race and Afro-Latin@ Identity with Bilingual Third Graders

Melissa Adams and Christopher L. Busey

The authors provide pedagogical and curricular insight for discussing global nuances of race and systemic racism with elementary students. They offer an integrated approach to teaching AfroLatin@ identity using social studies, reading, math, and art. 

Cultivating Curiosity and Active Citizenship: Teaching Voting and the History of Voting Rights

Rebecca Valbuena

Fifth graders study the history of voting rights (which have often been denied to African Americans) and create pamphlets to spur voter turnout in their community.

Reading Closely and Discussing the ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

Elizabeth S. Brown

The author highlights the importance of an in-depth examination of the language of lesser-known parts of King’s famous speech as a vehicle for connecting historical circumstances and current conditions of discrimination. In a sidebar, Susan Goetz Zwern briefly reviews the picture book I Have a Dream , illustrated the Kadir Nelson.  

Somebody Had to Do It: School Desegregation Stories

Pullout :  Millicent's Story: School Desegregation in South Carolina, 1963

Millicent E. Brown

Millicent E. Brown was one of the first eleven African American students in South Carolina to attend formerly all-white public schools. Millicent’s memoir of that time (provided in a pullout) begins the night before her entry into the tenth grade in September of 1963. A short article provides context and discussion questions for teachers. (p. 16 and pullout)

But They Didn’t Do Nothin’ Wrong!” Teaching about Japanese-American Incarceration

Noreen Naseem Rodríguez

The author focuses on Executive Order 9066 and the resulting incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, an aspect of World War II rarely addressed in elementary schools. She describes how two teachers used children’s literature and primary sources to teach students about racism, prejudice, discrimination, and civil rights.

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