TITLE: HAVE MINORITIES GAINED ACCEPTANCE AUTHOR: Donna Cawiezell; Casper, Wyoming GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 9-12, U.S. History classes OVERVIEW: This lesson is used at the end of our minority unit. Previously, students will have discussed the following topics: 1. reconstruction 2. attitudes of Blacks towards themselves, and Whites towards Blacks 3. affect of Black codes and Jim Crow laws on Blacks 4. debate between Dubois and Washington 5. successes of Blacks starting with Civil War period and moving forward to 1960's. 6. the affect of the U.S. court system on Blacks civil rights 7. the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Students are divided into groups of twos. Each group is asked to bring one current magazine to class. PURPOSE: Students will have spent about four weeks studying the topics listed above. We wanted them to find out if the civil rights movement, court cases, and congressional actions have caused Blacks to be accepted in the mainstream of American life. OBJECTIVE(s): Students will cite evidence gathered from magazines about how much Blacks are accepted into the mainstream of American life. They will support their conclusions by writing an answer to an essay question. RESOURCES/MATERIALS: Student teams will need to have at least one current magazine. It is helpful to have several on hand for those students who might forget. Students also need to have completed a unit on minorities before doing this assignment. ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES: Student teams (of two persons) will answer the following essay question: They are asked to find out what percent of advertisements in their magazines have Blacks and other minorities in them, and how many stories or articles are written about Blacks and other minorities? Students will be able to answer the following essay question: Over 12% of U.S. population (based on 1980 census statistics) is made of minority races. Taking into consideration all the legal accomplishments achieved for minorities in the past 100 years, great strides have been made. The question still remains, however, are minorities truly a part of typical everyday American society? Magazines and their advertising are aimed at the "typical American". Using your magazine(s), look at the advertising and feature stories and decide if minority people are considered as "typical Americans". Use evidence ( statistical and /or examples) from your magazine to support your conclusions in an essay. TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: Students grade other teams essays. During a phase of grading the essays, discussion is held. Answers are shared and written on the overhead projector. Students will find that Blacks and other minorities are rarely part of the typical magazine's articles or advertising. Exceptions..sports magazines do portray Blacks often and also direct advertising towards them. In our unit we had discussed how Blacks have won acceptance in the sports arena and sports magazines support this view.
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