Overview

Lesson Five: Challenges to the Movement - Vietnam and the FBI - Lessons - Life Stories Interviews

Courtesy of Library of Congress

Essential Question: What significant turning points affected the momentum of the Civil Rights Movement and challenged Dr. King’s leadership from 1965-1968?

At any moment a variety of individuals or events can emerge that change the direction and evolution of a social movement or challenge its ability to achieve its goals. For example, the leadership and the constituents of a movement can strategically plan a public gathering, march, and protest to increase awareness and visibility and demonstrate their ongoing commitment for change. At other times external factors out of the control of the movement can emerge and undermine the mission, success of a campaign, or threaten the health and well being of the movement’s leadership.

In this lesson students will focus on two significant and often overlooked challenges within the Civil Rights Movement and to Dr. King’s leadership - one strategic, Dr, King’s decision to take a public stand against the war in Vietnam, and one external - the FBI’s ongoing surveillance of Dr. King and many leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.

By learning about the strategic and external factors that can challenge a movement’s success and momentum, students will apply the historical reading skills of sourcing, contextualization, and corroboration and broaden their skills and use of close reading strategies by analyzing historical images, documentary film, and first-person interviews alongside the transcript. As a demonstration of learning and/or assessment, students will write an op-ed expressing their point of view either on the strategic decision of Dr. King or the FBI’s actions. Through this process students will continue to build upon the essential habits of a historian and establish a foundation for critical media literacy.

Materials: Equipment to project photographs and watch film segments, copies of handouts

Length: Two 50-minute class periods plus a writing assessment

Download Lesson Plan PDF

Lesson Objectives

Students will use skills in reading historic content, and increase their understanding of nonviolent philosophy during the Civil Rights Movement by:

*Analyzing primary source materials including photographs and documents

*Critically viewing documentary film and first-person interviews to inform their understanding of the lesson topic

*Synthesizing new learning through developing questions for further historical inquiry

*Demonstrating their understanding of the lesson topic through a final writing exercise

1. Do-Now: Opening Exercise

Understanding Context

Teacher Note: Distribute Handout 1: Timeline for King in the Wilderness - 1965-1968 in the "Resources" section.

Explain to students that while this timeline is not comprehensive, it highlights many of the central events and historical developments chronicled in King in the Wilderness.

Have students review the timeline underlining details that are unfamiliar and events they immediately identify as potential challenges to the philosophy and tactics of the Civil Rights Movement.

Spend a few moments discussing their questions and what they noticed as potentially challenging.

2. Analyzing Images

Teacher Note: A Close View mirrors a Close Read exercise in which students use visual analysis skills to “read” visual sources as if they were employing literary analysis skills.

Project or print and distribute the photographs under the “Images” section on this page and have students discuss the questions in small groups.

*Describe what you see in the photograph.

*What questions would you ask the photographer about these photos?

*How can we know that these images are accurate?

*What larger story do the photographs tell when viewed together?

3. Analyzing film as text

Teacher Note: In this clip we learn about Dr. King’s decision to take a stand against the war in Vietnam.

Distribute Handout 2: Challenges to the Movement Note Catcher in the "Resources" section. Review the Note Catcher questions with students before showing the clips to help students watch the film clips actively and with critical eyes.

Watch Clip 1: “If America’s Soul Becomes Poisoned” (run time 7:38)

Habit of a Historian: After students view the photos and watch the film clip, have them write down their questions about the challenges Dr. King faced as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement.

4. Close View of Interviews

Teacher Note: The film-makers conducted 19 interviews to produce King in the Wilderness. The complete interviews and academic notes for each interviewee are available at www.kunhardtfilmfoundation.org/interview-archive.

For each lesson, interview segments that were not used in the film, but contain insights relevant to the lesson topic, are edited together to create “interview threads.“ There are two interview threads for this lesson that teachers and students can choose from, or use together, to deepen their understanding.

Print and distribute Handouts 1 and 2 in the "Resources" so students can follow along and take notes as they watch the interviews.

Watch the Interview Threads
As they watch, students will:

* Follow along on the transcript.

* Underline details that catch their attention.

* Jot down questions and insights that come to mind after viewing the threads.

Thread One: "Militarism and the FBI" (run time: 16:03)
Featuring Mary Lou Finley, Richard Fernandez, Clarence Jones, and Cleveland Sellers.
Thread Two: "FBI Investigation" (run time 6:52)
Featuring Clifford Alexander, Joseph Califano, and Cleveland Sellers.

Discuss:

* What do we learn from these first-person accounts featured in the interview threads that are different from other kinds of historical sources?

5. Research and Corroborate

Teacher Note: After viewing and reading the interview threads and film clip, have students choose one or more historical details to practice their habit of sourcing and corroborating - in other words, research and identify a credible historical source that will verify the detail they selected from the interview.

Here are some questions to keep in mind when selecting documents:

* Where did you find the document? Is it a credible source? How do you know?

* What is the date and who is the author? Why is this important?

* How does the document confirm the detail selected from the interview?

Here are suggested archives to use to find corroborating evidence:
1. The King Center
2. Stanford University: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
3. Library of Congress

6. Closing Discussion Questions

*How does viewing the historical sources contribute to your understanding of the challenges Dr. King faced as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement?

*What can we extrapolate from this lesson about the risks and rewards of taking a moral stand during a time of conflict or crisis?

Habit of a Historian
After completing the lesson, have students note what answers they found to previous questions, or identify new questions they’d like to explore.

Images

US soldier , Vietnam, circa 1960’s (Courtesy National Archives)

Lyndon B. Johnson visit to the troops, Vietnam, October 2, 1966 (Courtesy LBJ Presidential Library)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Anti-Vietnam War march, United Nations, New York, April 15, 1967 (Courtesy Library of Congress)

National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam direct action demonstration, Washington, D.C., October 21, 1967 (Courtesy Library of Congress)

Interviews

Thread One: Militarism and the FBI (16:03)

Featuring Mary Lou Finley, Richard Fernandez, Clarence Jones, and Cleveland Sellers

View Video

Thread Two: FBI Investigation (6:52)

Featuring Clifford Alexander, Joseph Califano, and Cleveland Sellers

View Video

Resources

Handout 1: Do-Now Timeline: 1965-1968

Handout 1

Handout 2: Note Catcher Challenges to the Movement

Handout 2

Handout 3: Thread Transcript Militarism and the FBI

Handout 3

Handout 4: Thread Transcript FBI Investigation

Handout 4

Assessment

Writing an Op-Ed

Throughout this lesson students have been studying two specific details associated with Dr. King that continue to be a focus for both ongoing study and controversy, his public stand against America’s war in Vietnam and the FBI’s subsequent surveillance and intelligence they fed to President Lyndon Johnson regarding Dr. King and his close inner circle of advisors and friends.

To demonstrate their ability to synthesize new knowledge, students will write an op-ed, or an opinion piece, sharing their point of view about Dr. King’s moral stand. Students may want to read Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam" Speech given on April 4, 1967 and use several quotes from this speech as a place to begin.

Standards

Common Core State Standards

Anchor Standards

Reading Literature and/or Information: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

RL/RI.X.7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

RL/RI.X.8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

RL/RI.X.9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

SL.X.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

SL.X.2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally

SL.X.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

W.X.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

W.X.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism