Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History with 21 Activities

Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History with 21 Activities — page 3
Introduction The struggle for civil rights for African Americans exploded dra matically in the 1960s As black children in the south faced hos tile white mobs to enroll in school the nation watched their bravery on the evening news Television showed fire hoses turned on nonviolent demonstrators police dogs tearing at human flesh churches bombed and children killed as the strug gle between racism and resistance engulfed the country The quiet heroism of black men women and children inspired those who watched from a distance Soon many young people and some who were older streamed south to join in the civil rights struggle The southern Civil Rights Movement recognized its greatest leader in the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr Like many move ment leaders he based his commitment on his deep Christian faith In a brilliant synthesis Reverend King combined the non violent resistance tactics of Mahatma Gandhi with the prophetic Jewish cry for justice of Rabbi Abraham Heschel and his own Christian preaching on love of enemies Even when he was beaten and jailed his family threatened his home bombed Rev erend King refused to respond with violence or hatred By the thousands people followed his example and committed their lives to a nonviolent loving struggle for justice Black and white Christian and Jewish they found common ground in the Civil Rights Movement High school and college students of all races traveled south as Freedom Riders peacefully violating law and custom as they rode side by side in the back and the front of Greyhound buses Daring young people led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC in organizing and teaching in freedom schools in lunch counter sit ins and in voter registration