Video Segment

Eyes on the Prize, Volume 163

Table of Contents

Objectives
Setting the Context
Evaluating Information
Reflecting on Our Learning
Acting on Our Learning

Objectives

• To learn some of the ways our system of government responds to a crisis.
• To study the checks and balances involved in our democracy.
• To understand events in Little Rock in 1957 and the role of the various institutions established to provide "liberty and justice for all."

Setting the Context

Ask the class to offer examples of unjust events that have happened to them or someone they know. Briefly explore a few of these examples: What was unfair about this event? Then, divide the class into small groups and ask them to discuss the following: You are a citizen of the United States who feels that a certain policy is unfair. It does not, you conclude, live up to the words in the pledge of allegiance. What could you do to try to change that policy? Where can you turn? How can a single citizen try to change the established order?

Have each group elect a spokesperson who will report the group's conclusions to the class. Record on the chalkboard each group's responses and then have the class determine where each approach fits within the confines of the three branches of government. Did anyone suggest bringing a lawsuit (judicial branch)? Writing to a legislator (legislative branch)? Notifying the FBI or the Justice Department (executive branch)?

Show the following documents and materials and ask the accompanying questions:

Marbury v. Madison
What principle did this court case establish? What is judicial review?

Plessy mandate
What did this decision establish? When was it decided? What did it mean in American history? Was the premise on which the decision was based generally accepted in the United States at that time?

Graph of high school graduates, Graph of college graduates, Graph of per-pupil expenditures
For each of these graphs, ask a student to interpret the data and to summarize for the class what the data means. What do these graphs tell you? Why were the rates so different? Were these disparities fair? Were they legal? What could have been done about them?

Charles Houston profile
What strategy did Houston decide upon to fight against the inequalities illustrated by the graphs we have just seen? Why did he challenge segregation through the courts?
Could he have accomplished his aims another way?

Brown decision.
What did the Supreme Court say in the Brown decision? What did this decision mean in relation to the Plessy decision? What does "with all deliberate speed" mean to you? What would you expect to happen in the wake of the Brown decision?

Evaluating Information

Have students voice their overall reactions to the documentary. Which scene stands out particularly in their minds?

Replay the excerpt of Senator Eastland vowing resistance. What assumptions does Eastland make in this statement? To whom was he referring when he said "all the people"? What role did the Congress play in this crisis? What are the responsibilities of Congress?

Call up the following, and have students answer the ensuing questions:

Orval Faubus profile.
What is the role of a state's U.S. senator in regard to schools? Why did Faubus decide to act in 1957? Who holds the most power within a state: the governor, a U.S. senator, or the president?

Elizabeth Eckford and the mob.
Who was protecting the students as they attempted to desegregate the school? What was happening to them? What were the options open to the authorities? Which authorities had the responsibility to act? Could the Supreme Court have done anything? Could the Congress? Could the president?

Dwight D. Eisenhower profile
What did the president decide to do? Why did he decide to act?

Divide students into small groups. Assign each group one of the following people: Faubus, Eisenhower, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, Daisy Bates. Have a student in each group explain why the person in question became involved in the Little Rock crisis. How did this person act? Evaluate his or her actions.

What did this crisis illustrate about the separation of powers? What was the role of the legislative branch of the federal government during this crisis? Did the other branches do their jobs? What did the crisis show about the relative power of the state and federal branches?

Reflecting on Our Learning

"Cycle of Inequality"
Ask students to interpret this graph. Does it help to demonstrate why schools became such a battleground during the civil rights movement? Explain. Is education a responsibility of the state or the federal government? Is it a responsibility of the executive, the legislative, or the judicial branch? Which branches tried to deal with the crisis in Little Rock? Were these actions in keeping with the principles of the Constitution? Explain.

Acting on Our Learning

Have students discuss the "cycle of inequality." Each student should identify her local, state, and federal representatives and compose letters in class to be sent to these representatives. In the letter, each student should identify who she is (age, race and ethnicity, place of residence, and the date on which the student will be of voting age). Have them write about an issue of urgent concern (based upon their reflections and discussion of the "cycle of inequality" and upon their own personal and family values). Make sure that the students ask for a response from the officials.

 

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