CHANGING CIVIL

RIGHTS
CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL
LIBERTIES
In accordance to California History and Social Science Standard 12.3.2
12th Grade American Government
By Emmanuelle De La Cruz
OBJECTIVES
 Students will analyze how civil rights
in the United States has changed
through the efforts of different kinds
of people in order to better
understand how students can
produce change in ways other than
voting
 12.3 Students evaluate and take and
defend positions on what the
fundamental values and principles of
civil society are (i.e., the autonomous
sphere of voluntary personal, social,
and economic relations that are not
part of government), their
interdependence, and the meaning
and importance of those values and
principles for a free society.
 2. Explain how civil society makes it
possible for people, individually or in
association with others, to bring their
influence to bear on government in
ways other than voting and elections.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

 Every high school student has some school rule they dislike- some do not like the
dress code, others do not like the rules of where they can hang out.
 If you wanted to change a rule, how would you try to change it?
Would you do this by yourself or try with some friends?
 After you are done, compare your answer with your shoulder partner. Do
they have a different way of changing it? Is one way a better way than
another way?
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND
CIVIL LIBERTIES
 Civil Liberties in the United
States rarely change as they
are based on the Bill of Rights
 Civil Rights in the United
States are results of
interpretations of
amendments and
implementation of legislative
acts
 The focus here is to see how civil rights
changes in the United States
 HISTORY OF CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE US

 Many civil rights movement have

existed in US History
 The early African-American Civil Rights
Movement from the 1860s to 1870s
 The Women’s Movement from 1890 to
1920s
 The Civil Rights Movement of 1950 to
1968
2000
 Native American Rights movements from
1800 1900 1920 to 1970s
 The Second Wave Feminist Movement
from 1960 to 1980
 Chicano Movement 1930s to 1970s
 Gay Rights Movement 1960s to 1980s and
from 2000 to now
 WHY SO MANY?

 A lot of these changes because people

were finally given an opportunity to
be part of politics
 Many of these were end points of
movements that have taken a long • Changes • Changes
• More occur that by other
time to get here people help groups
vote groups Groups inspire
 Having multiple groups fight is also People get
rights • More Change • Changes in start to
bring up
others
civil rights • More
beneficial to all people are
issues
changes
particip
 Some of your current civil rights were ate
interprete
d for other
help grow
civil
fought by people who may not look like groups rights
you or be like you, but they helped fight
for your rights
HOW DOES CHANGE HAPPEN?

 Many of these movements used

methods other than voting or electing
officials
 These are listed and will be gone over
 Peaceful Protest
 Forceful Resistance
 Lobbying
 Vocal Demonstrations
 Court Decisions
 Presidential Legislation
PEACEFUL PROTEST

 The most popular form of protest in the

world
 Based on the teachings of Henry David
Thoreau and popularized by Mahatmas
Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 Asks for groups of people to disobey laws
they find unjust through peaceful ways
like sit-ins, fasting, peace marches
 Effective when trying to change people’s
minds
 Challenges: If one person decides to fight
back in the group, the reputation and
movement is often lost
FORCEFUL RESISTANCE

 Historically, one of the most used

forms of demanding change
 In terms of use for civil rights,
Malcolm X is one of the most noted
users of this
 Creates situations where force is used
to demand change by either
threatening or performing forceful
resistance
 Often pushes forward demands
quicker and gains attention, but can Malcolm X, a contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Known for
cause a movement to be seen as a pushing the idea of self defense in the face of injustice. His idea of change
was that defending yourself with force would earn respect, and allow for
negative negotiations
 WHICH IS MORE USEFUL? PEACEFUL
RESISTANCE OR FORCEFUL CHANGE?
Peaceful Protest Forceful Resistance
Pro Con Pro Con

• Peaceful Protest does • If one person commits • Often leads to faster • Violent on all sides
not hurt people and violence, reputation is change • Can make people less
lets people know lost • Works well to express open to change
what the issue is • Can be met with how big the anger
• Widely accepted as violence in return about the issue is
what people should
do to ask for change

In your guided notes, compare how these two forms of change work. Which
do you think is the best solution when asking for change in civil rights
legislation?
LOBBYING

 Changes civil rights by asking for help from

politicians
 Lobbying is when someone is paid to convince a
politician to change their views on something or
ask others to help vote for legislation
 Benefits: Can help politicians become faces of civil
rights movements, and can make legal changes
come by faster
 Challenges: often requires money, and can be seen
as bribing Abby Scott Baker was a lobbyist during
the First Feminist Movement. She would
go to politicians and try to convince them
to vote for Women’s causes
 MEDIA

 Previous movements have used the

popular media of the time to change the
public’s opinion
 Newspapers, radios, television
 Changing public opinion through media
often makes people more open to change
 When used for civil rights, media can
bring light to the issues being fought over
and provide proof of what is happening
 Challenges can occur if the media is not
available to the right people, or if they
The death of Emmett Till in 1955 caused a national push to use the wrong kind of media
increase protections for African-Americans. Till’s mother
published her dead sons photos in the newspaper so people
could see the way racists treated him
 CHANGING PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS

 In 1947, Jackie Robinson, a black man, broke the

Major League Baseball color barrier by playing for the
Brooklyn Dodgers.
 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said desegregation
could not have been possible without Jackie Robinson
playing baseball
 After he retired, Jackie Robinson wrote letters to
different Presidents of the United States. (example to
the left) His letters tried to convince the Presidents to
change how they viewed civil rights in the US.
 Taking what you just learned, with what
Dr. King said, did Jackie Robinson use the
media, by playing baseball and changing
the public’ more to help the cause or use
his lobbying to help?
COURT DECISIONS- APPEALS

 Something we have studied a lot!

 Court cases can decide how civil rights change,
especially if the cases are appealed all the way up
to the Supreme Court
 Supreme Court has the right to interpret the law
and explain how civil rights are used
 The time it takes to get to the Supreme Court is the
biggest challenge to using this form of change
PRESIDENTIAL LEGISLATION

 Usually an end result, but changes

occur
 Usually adds civil right protections
 Two presidents are considered “civil
Rights” presidents because of what
they did in signing legislation
 President John F. Kennedy 1961-1963
 President Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-
1969
 The biggest issue with expanding civil
rights here comes from having a
president that agrees with your
positions and actively fights for them
NOW YOU TRY

 Look back to your original answer on how you would

change a school rule.
 How would you categorize your solution?
Is it a protest, a forceful demonstration,
lobbying a teacher for change, using the
media? Would you change it to something
else?
HOW DID MY CIVIL RIGHTS CHANGE? WHO
HELPED ME?
 Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Amendment
 Abolitionists and Freed Slaves
 Civil Rights Act of 1875
 Abolitionists
 19th Amendment, 1920
 First Wave Feminists
 Voting Rights Act, 1965
 African-Americans
 Civil Rights Act of 1968
 Native-Americans and African-Americans
CHALLENGES

 Expanding civil rights in any way is

difficult
 Some members in a group might not
think they need more change
 It takes a lot of time to get change
 Changes to civil right laws are still
easier than changes to civil liberties
 For civil liberties to change, new
amendments have to be made
 Most changes to civil rights have
come between 1950 and 1970
MORE CHALLENGES

 What other challenges can you come

up with that might stop people from
fighting to expand their civil rights?
 Write down your idea, in the bubble
 Talk with the person behind you, and
write down their responses Challenges

 Share with class and add to your

bubble if something new pops up
ACTIVITY

 You have learned a lot about court cases, what civil rights do and how people change it.
As you finish up, think about everything you have read and learned in this lesson.

Rank each method based on how well you think the

method works in bringing change in terms of
expanding civil rights. Next to each, write a quick 1-
2 sentence summary of why you think it should be
there.
 You can use historical evidence, practicality or you can judge it
based on how it relates to others.