Pauli Murray's America Unit 2
Learning Objectives:
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Students engage with the social and political history of the Jim Crow era
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Students discover its effect on Pauli Murray and their family
Key Civics Themes:
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Rights and Responsibilities: Using the Fitzgerald quote and the introduction to Proud Shoes as a launch, students can discuss the responsibilities of citizenship and our responsibility to one another as human beings. Through a review of Jim Crow laws, students interrogate the rights of individuals and the role of the local, state, and federal government in ensuring the rights of individuals are protected.
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Power and Politics: Examples of Jim Crow laws as tools to oppress certain groups of people while empowering others.
Activities:
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Introduce Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family by Pauli Murray (1956) for students’ independent reading throughout the semester. Share the epigraph from Murray’s grandfather Robert G. Fitzgerald's diary, dated July 26, 1867, and have students reflect on its meaning to them.
"The past is the key of the present and the mirror of the future, therefor[e] let us adopt as a rule, to judge the future by the history of the past, and having key of past experience, let us open the door to present success and future happiness. ~ Robert G. Fitzgerald, diary, July 26, 1867
Suggestion: Read the Introduction to Proud Shoes to students.
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Introduce Jim Crow laws. Suggested options include the following:
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Suggested Reflection and/or Discussion Questions:
What is the primary difference between Jim Crow as a “system of laws” vs. Jim Crow as a “system of customs”?
Which is more difficult to navigate and/or challenge, laws or customs?
Are you aware of any “system of customs” in today’s world?
