The Nation Classroom

 

INDEX PAGE

THE NATION CLASSROOM
American History as It Happened

RACE RELATIONS and CIVIL RIGHTS
MODULE SEVEN: 1966–1990

View of a line of Black Panther Party members as they demonstrate, fists raised outside the New York City courthouse, New York, New York, April 11, 1969. (Photo by David Fenton/Getty Images)

STUDENT PRACTICE ACTIVITY TWO

Carefully re-read the excerpts referenced in the questions below and answer accordingly.

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1. In Document Five, the Kerner Commission report states, “Discrimination and segregation have long permeated much of American life; they now threaten the future of every American.” Why might discrimination and segregation threaten the future of all Americans, not just African Americans?
2. In Document Four, “Television,” what does John Horn mean when he says, “To all human beings, television is a continuous assault on the heart, the mind and the spirit. To Negroes, as to all racial minorities, it is a major alienating force.”?
3. In Document Six, McWilliams says: “The struggle for civil rights was not a social revolution. It had limited objectives, though objectives of critical importance. Legal barriers and discriminations had to be removed before more significant progress could be made.” What might he be referring to as “more significant progress”?
4. Identify three excerpts in which the writers assert that blacks were literally afraid for their lives in the America of the post-civil rights movement era. According to those excerpts, what was killing—potentially annihilating—black America? Explain.

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