Unit Lesson: Change Civil Rights Movement Grade: 1 By Yetunde Howell freedom summer

Segregation in the south (1964) “John Henry crawls like a catfish, blows bubbles like a swamp monster, but he doesn’t swim in the town pool with me. He’s not allowed.” *This story gives an accurate description of segregation in the south in 1964, an attempt was made towards justice, and noncompliance of the opposite group. Does the book tell a good story?

1960’s segregated south “John Henry doesn’t come with me through the front door of Mr. Mason’s General Store. He’s not allowed.”

The language is authentic to the time. -Annie Mae(maid)-“Shoo now! Enough of you two! Go play!” - John Henry(Black boy)-“Let’s go!..I got my nickel!”

Joe and John Henry are a lot alike. They both like doing the same things. But there’s one major way they are different: Joe is white and John Henry is black. In the South in the 1960’s, that means John Henry is not allowed to do everything his best friend does. One day a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool for EVERYONE. The boys are so excited but discover that it takes more than a new law to change people’s hearts. *The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964 and prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.

I believe this book captured the voices of both Blacks and Whites, young and old, in the South. Although, no one in the story was verbally discriminatory, it was understood by the character’s actions. The filling of the pool symbolized the White’s nonverbal protest against outlawing segregation.

The book does not talk about WHY segregation occurred, it only states that John Henry is not allowed to do what Joe does. It briefly mentions the law being changed so Whites and Blacks can enjoy the same things. Currently, Whites are the most segregated group in the nation's public schools. Only 14% of white students attend multiracial schools (where three or more racial groups are present). Racial segregation in schools is strongly linked to segregation by class. Nearly 90% of intensely segregated, black and Latino schools are also schools where at least half of the student body is economically disadvantaged. --

This is Deborah Wiles’s first book. She was born in Alabama. She was fascinated with digging deep into the Mississippi soil of her extended family. She teaches writing and gives oral history workshops--sharing with children how all history is really biography, and how every person’s story is important. The book is based on her memories of growing up in Mississippi in 1964, during the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

1.Teach students that civil rights history is not just about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. 2.This can be used to distinguish among past, present, and future events. 3.Can be used to justify the need for rules and appropriate standards of behavior. 4.An introduction to multicultural education and to teach how communities are built.