• Who was Brown?
• Why did Brown challenge the system?
• Who represented Brown?
• What was meant by “separate but equal”?
• Who were the Moton students? Why did they have enough?
• What legal strategies were taken in the case?
• What role did Thurgood Marshall play in the case?
• How did the other side argue for maintaining the status-quo?
• How did the community come to the rescue?
• Why was the question on how black students would be admitted to schools important?
• How did the Supreme Court rule?
• What was the promise of the Brown case? Has that promise been fulfilled?

C: View all the photographs in the Photo Gallery of Little Rock: 40 Years Later (Little Rock, Arkansas 1957 and 1997). After studying each photograph, research on the web and/or from a library what events transpired in Arkansas in the 1957 and 1997. Listen to an interview in which Elizabeth Eckford Recalls Her Long Walk Into Little Rock History.

• Who is Elizabeth Eckford?
• Who is Hazel Massery?
• What were their roles at Little Rock Central High School on the morning of September 4, 1957 and forty years later?
• What did Elizabeth Eckford mean by saying "This is a place where we can begin the process of reflection, but this place is not an alibi for atonement"?
• What's the difference between reflection and atonement?
• What can be learned from the events that transpired at Little Rock Central High School?

D: No Civil Rights leader in the 1950's and 1960's was more misunderstood and misrepresented than
Malcolm X- then or now. When Louis Lomax and Mike Wallace (later of 60 Minutes fame) produced the 1959 television show The Hate that Hate Produced, Malcolm X came to public attention (at least to white audiences). It charted the rise of Malcolm X within the Nation of Islam (aka Black Muslims) as one of the most important leaders of the organization. Wallace later admitted that he had never heard of Malcolm X before the show, although the Nation of Islam's largest following was only a couple miles north of his Manhattan CBS office.

Martin Luther King Jr. showed white America, the black man's best face- the non-violent one. He represented the black man's desire to be included. Malcolm X represented the alternative to that. He became the image of what white America feared most: the loud, insistent black man, who was willing to use "any means necessary" to achieve his goals. Martin Luther King Jr. was a self-proclaimed middle-class black kid, while Malcolm X was not.

Delivered only two weeks before he was killed, read what Malcolm X said about racist violence at the London School of Economics on February 11, 1965.

What is Malcolm X's message in his racist violence speech?

Consider the words Malcolm X stated at the end of his autobiography- "I know that societies often have killed the people who have helped to change those societies... if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America... then all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine." How do you interpret these words?

Read the eulogy for Malcolm X, delivered by Ossie Davis at the funeral of Malcolm X on 27 February 1965 at the Faith Temple Church Of God. What is Ossie Davis telling us when he says: "Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance?"

E: Since the time of the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, Mexican-Americans have struggled to achieve equality and full rights as citizens of the United States. In four one-hour programs, Chicano!- a public television series- examines pivotal events concerning land, labor, education, and political empowerment that took place between 1965 and 1975, the period that was the focus of the Mexican-American civil rights movement.

View one of the following four episodes of Chicano! and answer the questions for that episode. (Note: You may view two episodes and answer questions on both to receive two seperate assignment essay grades.)

Although this series is not currently on television, you may borrow all four episodes from the San Antonio Public Library system. All San Antonio public libraries purchased a copy of the series, when it was first broadcast in 1996. (So dust off that library card and check yourself in.)

Episode 1: Quest for a Homeland

Program Description: Examines the events at Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, that sparked a national movement for social justice. It focuses on the 1967 struggle by Mexican Americans to regain ownership of New Mexico lands guaranteed them by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and then visits the landmark Denver Youth Conference of 1969, where hundreds of Mexican-American youths met to plan their national agenda. The program concludes with the Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War, held in East Los Angeles in 1970 -- an event that turned into a tragic riot resulting in the death of renowned journalist Ruben Salazar.

• Why is a homeland important?
• During the mid-19th century as the United States was expanding it's territorial possessions, it followed a policy of manifest destiny. What is manifest destiny? Why is it important in the context of the Chicano movement?
• In 1848, as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the U.S.-Mexican War, thousands of individuals living in the Mexican territory that now constitutes much of the Southwestern United States were Mexicans one day and residents of the United States the next, without having moved. Comment on the statement: We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us.
• Many people considered the actions of Reies López Tijerina to be quite controversial. Do you think his tactics were justified? Why/why not?
• Yo Soy Joaquin (I Am Joaquin), the epic poem written by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales in 1967, became a rallying symbol for many Mexican Americans. What images does Gonzales use to describe his experience? How universal were these experiences? Why did this poem had such a great impact on individuals involved in the Chicano movement?
• The U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights guarantee certain inalienable rights to all U.S. citizens. Yet many groups have found the need to fight for and protect these rights. Why has this been true? What civic responsibilities do individuals have when their Constitutional rights are threatened?
  

Episode 2: The Struggle in the Fields

Program Description: Chronicles the efforts of farmworkers to form a national labor union. Under the leadership of nonviolence advocate César Chávez, farmworkers launched a strike against California grape growers in 1965, demanding better working conditions and fair wages. In 1970, they undertook a national table grape boycott that eventually led to the first union contracts in farm labor history. An important milestone in the struggle was the passing of the California Labor Relations Act.

• César Chávez and Dolores Huerta tried several different tactics to win a contract for the farmworkers in California. Which succeeded and which failed and why? If you were trying to organize farmworkers today, what tactics would you choose and why?
• Reies López Tijerina and César Chávez both took extraordinary actions to make a point: Tijerina took a town hostage; Chávez went on a fast that almost took his life. In each case, what were the consequences of these individual actions?
• In what ways did activists in the Chicano labor movement adopt the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in regard to nonviolent political action?
• The Chicano movement was one of several civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. What factors made this a period of such political action?
• What is in a name? Historically, the U.S. Census has had no means of identifying Mexican Americans as a specific group. In fact, for a long time, Mexican Americans were simply characterized as Other and sometimes as White; later they were grouped under the term Hispanic. What are the pros and cons of having Mexican Americans specifically identified on the U.S. Census?
• Americans of Mexican descent variously have been called Hispanics, Latinos, Hispanos, Mexicanos, Mexican Americans, and Chicanos. What do these different terms mean? What do they imply? Think about how you identify yourself. Does race or ethnicity play a role? Why or why not?
  

Episode 3: Taking Back the Schools

Program Description: Documents the Mexican-American struggle to reform an educational system that failed to properly educate Chicano students, causing more than 50 percent to drop out and leaving many others illiterate and unskilled. It focuses on the 1968 walkout by thousands of Mexican-American high school students in East Los Angeles, which resulted in conspiracy indictments against 13 students and community leaders -- each of them facing a possible sentence of 66 years! This event was emblematic of a national movement for improved educational opportunities.

• In 1968, Mexican-American students in Los Angeles used a California law that denies schools monetary support for each day a student is absent as a way of putting fiscal pressure on the Los Angeles school district. What did they want to see changed?
• Given their demands, were their actions justified? Why/why not?
• In what ways did the tactics and goals of the Brown Berets differ from those used by other Chicano activists?
  Are there still educational needs to be addressed that are specific to Mexican-Americans? What strategies could you use to bring about change?
• In what ways can students get involved in the political process now?
• By 2010, Hispanics are predicted to be the largest minority in the United States, with a population that is expected to exceed 39 million and constitute roughly 13 percent of the U.S. population. How will this affect the United States?
• Some people think only English should be spoken and be the official language in the United States. What do you think and why?
  

Episode 4: Fighting for Political Power

Program Description: Focuses on the emergence of Mexican-American political power and the creation of a third political party, La Raza Unida (The United People). The episode opens with the exodus of a large number of Anglo citizens from Crystal City, Texas, following the election of five Mexican Americans to political office in the town. It shows how a protest against a high school cheerleading tradition (only one Mexican American per year!) escalated into a movement that pitted the Mexican-American population against the town's Anglo-American power structure. Although the idea of a third party eventually proved ineffectual, La Raza Unida inspired a generation of political activists and pioneered voter registration strategies that eventually led to the election of thousands of Chicanos to political office.

• Why was La Raza Unida (The United People), the all-Chicano political party, created?
• At a time when Americans are once again discussing the need for a third political party, do you think La Raza Unida should be reborn? What should its goals be?
• What are the legacies of La Raza Unida? What goals still need to be addressed?
• In what ways have Mexican-Americans affected American culture?
• In regard to patterns of migration, what factors have pulled Mexicans toward the United States and what factors have pushed them from Mexico? Compare and contrast these to the factors that caused other groups to emigrate.
• Why have Mexican Americans been targets of discrimination in the United States? In what ways has the nature of this discrimination differed from that leveled against other ethnic groups, and what factors might account for such differences?
• Dissent and political expression have been a part of United States history since our founding. How does the Chicano movement reflect this aspect of American history?