Transcript The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963

The Watsons Go to
Birmingham—1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
Menu
Introduction
Background
Discussion Starters
The Watsons Go to
Birmingham—1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Introduction
Kenny has problems.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Introduction
His friend stole his toys.
His older brother, Byron, is mean to him.
And he thinks his lazy eye makes him look
funny.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Introduction
One day Kenny’s family decides to take a
cross-country trip from Michigan to Alabama.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Introduction
Kenny’s parents have decided that Byron
needs to spend a summer in Birmingham with
his grandmother, who’ll teach him how to
behave.
Kenny thinks this sounds
too good to be true. Will
one of his problems really
go away?
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Introduction
But in Birmingham, Kenny’s problems collide
with America’s problems.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
After the Civil War, laws and constitutional
amendments were passed to give equal rights
to African Americans, but the laws were often
ignored, especially in the South.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
For many years, African Americans in the
South had to live with segregation.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
This meant African Americans had to use
separate bathrooms, water fountains, beaches,
and other public facilities.
African Americans were also forced to ride in a
different section of busses and go to separate
schools.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
But as long as segregation laws existed, African
Americans found ways to protest them.
These protests grew especially strong in the
1950s and 1960s.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
People like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King,
Jr., held sit-ins and protests, gave speeches,
organized boycotts, and formed organizations
to help people fight for equality.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
But not everyone in the South wanted
segregation to go away.
Some white Americans tried to stop the
changes—sometimes in horrible and violent
ways.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Background
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, at 10:22 A.M., a
bomb exploded in the Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Four African
American girls were
killed.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Discussion Starters
Discuss (1)
• Since 1963, how has the United States
made progress in fighting racism and
discrimination?
• Where do barriers between ethnic groups
still exist?
• What can you do to break down these
barriers?
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963:
Discussion Starters
Discuss (2)
• What effects do you think the church
bombing had on members of the civil
rights movement?
• How would you have responded to the
bombing if you were in Birmingham at the
time?
• What political actions or ideas today
have affected your family? How have they
affected you?