Learning About Segregation

By Ron White

Introduction

Cassie and her brothers and sisters all attend a school where their mother is a teacher. On Little Man’s (the youngest Logan) first day of school, he becomes upset at the condition of his textbook. In anger he throws the book to the floor and is reprimanded by his teacher, actually beaten (allude to the book-condition log). The setting is the segregated south during the 1930’s. Is every citizen entitled to the rights and privileges that America affords? Does the Constitution confirm/deny this notion? Has it remained constant in its endeavor to confirm/deny this notion?

To the best of your ability, please respond to the above questions. What do you think? How do you feel?

We have been learning about life in the segregated south during the 1930’s. In our Communication Arts class we have been reading about the Logan Family in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Brown vs. the Board of Education is a Supreme Court case that fought against segregated schools. We’re going to study that case using COMPULegal. Through our use of COMPULegal, we will find answers to the following questions:

How was segregation permitted in the first place?

What arguments were made in order to end legalized segregation?

TASK

1. Review the case and look into websites that will help you to understand either side’s position.

2. Collect notes from each website.

3. Create and present a report which includes the pros and cons of the case.

PROCESS

1. We will study the background of the case first.

2. We will also visit several websites about the history of segregation.

3. Next, we will examine the visual provided about Brown v The Board of Education.

4. Now we will go a step further and explore how segregation came to

be allowed in the first place.

5. We will learn about the case of Plessey v Ferguson. After reading the summary of this precedent case in COMPULegal, you are to find another good summary of the Plessey v Ferguson case on the Web, and share the address with your classmates on the large poster board by the computers. Then, in your report folder, you will write a journal on how the Plessey case connects to Little Man’s anger over the condition of the textbook.