On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It is vital that we make sure our sons know the history of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the history of the civil rights movement in the United States. Unless we happen to live in a community in which voter suppression is being actively conducted, it is likely that our children may not understand the significance of the passage of this act in 1965 or the significance of yesterday’s annihilation of it by the Supreme Court. As Julian Bond noted in an earlier GCP post Help Our Sons Learn Our History: Advice from Julian Bond (February 17, 2012), the history of the civil rights movement is not well taught in schools. So it is up to us to make sure that our sons learn about this critically important chapter of our history.
A good first step is to review this earlier GCP post, found here, which lists several sites for parents to use to help ensure that our children know more about the civil rights movement and its history.
“How the Children of Birmingham Changed the Civil Rights Movement” is an article about the Children’s Crusade, a group of children who marched on Birmingham in May 1963 to protest its system of segregation. Children in Middle school and above are likely to appreciate the important role that the Children’s Crusade played in the civil rights movement.
GCP will continue to research and report on civil rights movement sites and articles which will help us make sure our sons (and daughters) learn our history.