lence ys. Non-Violence: Which philosophy made the most sense for America in the 1960's? Socratic Seminar Background Essay: Racial strife plagued the United States since its beginning. This strife became explosive during the 1950s and 608. “Confrontation, violence, and social disorder indeed seemed almost ubiquitous in America during the mid- and late 1960s.”' This era, known as the Civil Rights Movement, was an opportunity for African Americans to strive for equality among other Americans. The Civil Rights Movement encouraged African Americans to speak out against injustices caused by de jure and de facto discrimination. Different groups fought against this discrimination in a myriad of ways. Some groups chose a non-violent approach by utilizing civil disobedience measures, such as boycotts and sit-ins, Other groups chose a more militant approach, arguing that non-violence would not achieve the equality they longed for quickly enough. The nonviolent method was lead in large part by Martin Luther King Jr and Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC). The militant approach was spread among several ‘groups, the most famous being the Black Panthers, who were largely impacted by the ideology of Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. Although both perspectives wanted to establish a more equal America, their methods and rationale varied greatly. The question then becomes: Violent vs. non-violent, which made more sense for America in the 1960s? Objectives: 1. To understand the driving philosophy behind violent and non-violent protest 2. To evaluate which method was most effective for promoting change 21" Century Skills: 1. Analyzing Information — interpreting primary sources. 2. Critical Thinking — creating and defending an argument 3. Effective Oral Communication ~ student led historical discussion Directions: 1. Carefully read each document in this packet 2. Answer the questions that follow each document in complete sentences. Also, highlight important passages in the document and parts of the document that helped you answer the questions 3. As you read, fill out the graphic organizer to help you organize your thoughts on this subject 4. These documents will form the basis of the Socratic Seminar. During the seminar, you will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both forms of protest. Expectations: 1. You must contribute meaningfully at least twice in order to earn an 80%. 2. In order to earn a higher grade, you must contribute more than twice and make specific reference to the text, ask others thoughtful questions, and/or demonstrate higher-level critical thinking skills.EN Questions: Violence vs. Non-Violence: Which philosophy made the most sense for America in | the 1960's? 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Kita white america Jo bacim ond Sey repot;DocuMENT? # Document Note: Stokely Carmichael, at the tine the national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Gann rae he fling PEL he New York Revi of Boks n Seebe 86. ail “ha Pe Wom," the article tried to sim up Te feelings and desires of younger African dnicans throwgho out the country going to do what we are supposed to do--why do you beat us up, why don't you give us what wes ask, why don't you straighten yourselves out?” After 2a of this, Weare atalmestthe same 4 point--because we demonstrated from a position of {We cannot be expected any longet> to march and have our heads broken in order to say to Whites: come On,.you're nice guys. For your > are not nice guys, We have found you out,{ LL : wall newer give 2 4 ty 1, What year did Carmichael deliver this speech? 19 6G 2. What does Carmichael state “we” want? shea Co tm dnees\ Nitentcanc WO ao Merk’, Dhah, ae def hove crane 3. Cite two specific ideas Carmichael presents as being examples of white oppression. Each time the people in those citres sa Machin Levit G4. I. hthey be ey ’ Wher hey fer ty } f dens Lney wel a 4. Does Carmichael seem to favor non violence or violence? Support your a evidence from the excerpt. J Or Gach 4 tahan he say 4FO# \ pe ! of we sy,"Document Note: Malcolm X's life changed dramatically inthe frst six months of 1964. On March 8, he let the Nation of stm, In May he towed Wes! ica and made plgrimage to Meco renaming as Hay hates 1 Shabazz. While in Ghana in May, he decided 10 form the Organization of Afro-American Liniiy-AQAdbl)). Malcolm returned 1o New York the following month fo create the OAA U and on June 28 gave his stpublic addesss on behalf ofthe new organization at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem ) Speech Vocabulary: [Nationalism ndoal spr or aspirations . Viglerce dere? Dugeas ¥ - Once we sayb what they were able to do, we determined to try and do the same thing here in 3] America anfong Afro Americans who have been divided by our enemies. So we have formed an | organizatiqh known as the Organization of Afro American Unity which has the same aim and C}_ objective -fo fight whoever gets in our way, to bring about the complete independence of people , ¢}_ oF African descent hee in the Westen Hemisphere, and first herein the United States and bring. | about the freedom of these people by-any-means necessary. ay Nedilling fo ca onytheny lor epau ht, S[ That's our motto, We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means. 5 necessary. We want equality by any means necessary. We don't feel that in 1964 Jiving ira Ccoulity that is supposedly based upon Fredo}, and supposedly the leader of the free world, we- A)... don't think that we should have (o'sit’around and’Wwait for sonie segregationisteongressmen and A mc © senators and a President from Texas in Washington, D. C., to make up their minds that our people are due now some degree of civilrights. No, we want it now of we don'tthink-anybody ~ should have it. We assert that in those areas where the government is either unable or unwilling \ geitay So) wai Loc ive | “| _ t© protect the lives and property of our people, that our people are within our rights to protect “0.5 Prod of hs lho S|. themselves by whatever means necessary co his bain «MONG Werks bo deve cy NOgend = x S1- We af Africans, and we happen to be in America. Wei et American, We area people who > = >| formerly’ ricans who were kidnaped and bro! America. Our forefathers weren't the 9 Pilgrims. We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; the rock was landed on us. We were brought here against our will; we were not brought here to be made citizens. We were not brought here to L enjoy the constitutional gifts that they speak so beautifully about today. x % 1. What year was Malcgim X’s speech given? (96 2. Why does Malcolm X argue that they are not Americans? + Moleolm X opgnes this becattse Mncons veces haken fren Fo he Unjbe! State a. ~ 3. What do you think Malcolm X means by “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, the rock was landed on us"? This is are re heonrctareant We DOCUMENT 3 awe bet Document Note: Letter rom Bizmingha Cia also known as The Negro s Your Brother on apn Teter written on Api 6 3963, ting wrote the leer frm thectyjailin Birmingham, Mabuma, where he wot helt efter beng aresta Orbs partin the Birman campaign, o planned non ient protest conducted by the Aaboma Christan Movement for Hunan Rights and King's Southern Christin Leadership Conference against rocal segregation by Birmingham's city government and dventows retaters, Iwas sinvggled Ou ofthe all ‘na toothpaste cube to avold the all's guar. King’ letter 1a response (aa statement made by eight white Alabonva clergymen Apt 12, 1963, ted “Cal or Uy”. The clergymen agreed tht socal justices eused bu argued that the batle agains racial segregation shouldbe fought solely nthe courts not the streets, Vocabutery Ominous ei or harm; threatening 5S lferorny of compara ow grade: poor quality substndand SE Married ro horas, aney, or prove mtsance 10 by or of repeated tacks Degenerating: so fal below a normal or desire ese! plysieal mena, ormoral gales © Martin Luther King Jr. from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” 1963 ‘We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations, *) of Asia and Africa are moving with jelike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still ereep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those," ~who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wail." But when yowrhave seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have E __-——eai hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers-smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst af ffl jen you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech Starimering as you seek to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been adyertiged on. ‘clevision, and see ters walling up Ty hor eyes whew STs told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; ‘when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night } after night in the uncomfortable comers of your automobile because no motel will accept you; whea you.» are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becaris nigger" your mide ram becomes "boy" (however oMTyou TeVanc your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day 7 and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite = {knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no 3 forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to > wait [There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. | hope, sits, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable => % impatience] \ for mali 1. What year was this letter written? (963 s 2. Describe two specific examples of racial injustice described by Martin Luther King Jr. = “Nour of Laan C69 es fe i phy BK yor of, Pi fo lo Hy oy bho amusement PAK Aol bog su fen Lets sky tt led J j wil ey re fi ‘ Nieted day in and Jaye gr rei, whl oof a. nbbldel Dr King feef abut the progress‘of civil rights? Use atleast one specie qutéto cacy support your answer Dew KingDOCUMENT 4 Document Note: Tie jollowing document is Martin Luther King Jr. giving an interview to Alex Haley. January re ZY feegte ho uge viobnce Even the extremist leaders who preach revolution are invariably unwilling to lead what they {4 know would certainly end in bloody, chaotic, and total defeat;ffor in the event of a violent zZ “> ~ _zevolution, we would be sorely outnumbered, And when it was al over, theNegro would face the - 7 same unchanged conditions, the same squalor and deprivation — the only difference being that his 1 7 bitterness would be even more intense} his disenchantment even more abject, Thus, in purely 24 g practical as well as moral terms, the Negro has no alternative ton c. 8 ly Mon vickpce pes ch S 6 & Why does King say the “American Nero ngs us Care te Ronviolence? 23 . x ; King cays duvs because © we use Ze \ \ epeok bub % Molerce Mnicgs will only © 5 PA the Peed Jeane with the dws ge p76 bh ebing m DOCUMENT 5 - S Document Note: The Following document contains the basic beliefs of The Black Panther Party (originally w= the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) It was an African-American revolutionary communis or gantetion, & Federal Bureau of Investigation Direcir J. Edgar Hoover called the party “the gtaatest treat 0 the infernal ~~ 8 secur ofthe aunt." The rales said that members had to follow the Ten Point Program, and had a know ty, heart o s Vocabulary: ‘. 3 Plebiscite- any expression or determination of public opinion on some matter 4 Black Panther Party Platform and Program-1966 a) % y rd 7 lo : de be dol wat fo What We Want Par wae What We Believe > 1. We want freedom. We'want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community, We believe that black people wilt nor be fee tintil we are able to determine our destiny: 2. We want full employment for our people. "We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the white American businessmen will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living 3. We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our Black Community. We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules was promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of black people, We will accept the payment as,currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The Germans are now aiding the Jews in Israel for the genocide of the Jewish people. The Germans murdered six million Jews. ‘The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of over twenty million black people; ~ A, therefore, we feel that this is a modest demand thal we make. — 4 So, 4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings. ’ We believe that if the white landlords will not give decent housing to our black community, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that our community, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for its people. 5. We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society, We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self, If'a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else. 6. We want all black men to be exempt from military service. We believe that Black people should not be forced to fight in the military service to defend a racist government that does not protect us. We will not fight and kill other people of color in the world who, like black people, are being victimized by the white racist government of America, We will protect ourselves from the force and violence of the racist police and the racist military, by whatever means necessary. Slo Cee Orerpoleas 7. We want an immediate end to police brutality-and-murder of black people. We believe we can end police brutality in our black community by organizing black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our black community from racist police oppression and brutality. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all black people should arm themselves for self defense. 8. We want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails. We believe that all black people should be released from the many jails and prisons because they have not received a fair and impartial trial 9. We want all black people when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their black communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States \We believe that the courts should follow the United States Constitution so that black people will receive fair trials.{The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives a man a right to be tried by his peer group. A peer is a person from a similar economic, social, religious, geographical, environmental, historical and racial background. To do this the court will be forced to select a jury from the black community from which the black defendant came. \We have been, and are being tried by all-white juries that have no understanding of the "average reasoning man” of the black community. { 10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black colonyin which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate for the purpose of determining the will of black people as to their national destiny. y 1. What year did the Black Panthers write their ten-point platform? 966 2._What do the Black Panthers want to control most? (hint look at #1) They woe Feee doc Nar a A 2 Kok conkes\ Ly walle 3._Which of the ten points stands out the most to you? Why? Ty A e bh 4. Do you think the Black Panther Party's requests are reasonable? Use at least on specific quote to justify your answer. TH pe become 4 ¢ . 2 fet bas 5 . oshil € é 5. Does the Black Panther Party seem to favor non-violence or violence? Support your answer with evidence from the excerpt. \/, re Ose / DOCUMENT 6 Pocument Note: The following speech was made my Martin Luther King J. a a staf retreat on November 14, 1966. Violence may murder the murderer, but it doesn’t murder the murder. Violence may murder the liar, but it doesn’t murder the lie; it doesn’t establish truth, Violence may even murder the dishonest man, but it doesn’t murder dishonesty Violence may go to the point of murdering the hater, but it doesn’t murder the hate. It may inerease hatef tis always descending spiral lending nowhere. This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn’t solve any problems 1) Define King’s argument in your own words. Viaten \ Ls