Opening: Quick Picture Analysis
Show two pictures to the class. The first photo is of a sit-in at a lunch counter in 1963. View it here:
https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM2381
The second photo is of a civil disobedience protest by the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on Monday, May 14, 2016, in Maryland. Photographer: Henrieese Roberts
Have groups share what they notice about the first picture. By the end of the sharing, students should know that this is a lunch-counter sit-in. Black, white, and Native-American students are sitting at the counter in protest of the store’s policy against serving African-Americans. White people are attacking the students to try to force them to leave. You may wish to explain that this picture was taken at a Woolworths department store in Jackson, Mississippi on May 28, 1963, and that many similar sit-ins ended with police arresting the students for “refusing to leave private property when requested.”
Next, have groups share what they notice about the second picture. By the end of the sharing (which will likely be quite brief for this picture), students should know that the police are arresting a protester with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. You may wish to explain that the picture was taken at the State Capitol of Maryland on May 14, 2018, and the protester was one of 11 people arrested for blocking traffic.
Introduce focus question: Why do people get arrested on purpose?
Ask students to pair up and share their responses to this question: Why do people get arrested on purpose? Elicit that people might get arrested on purpose if they 1) break laws because they are 2) protesting an injustice.
Pass out the “Civil Disobedience Handout” (in this pdf and also at the end of the lesson), and ask students to read the first two quotes aloud:
Martin Luther King Jr., "The Trumpet of Conscience," 1967
"There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light, and normal traffic had better get out of its way. Or, when a man is bleeding to death, the ambulance goes through those red lights at top speed. ... Disinherited people all over the world are bleeding to death from deep social and economic wounds. They need brigades of ambulance drivers who will have to ignore the red lights of the present system until the emergency is solved. Massive civil disobedience is a strategy for social change which is at least as forceful as an ambulance with its siren on full.”
Morris Leibman, "Civil Disobedience: A Threat to Our Society Under Law," 1964
“While the idea of civil disobedience may evoke sympathy where the claim is made that the cause is just, once we accept such a doubtful doctrine we legitimatize it for other causes which we might reject. We must be even more careful in the sympathetic case because, in effect, that sets the standard of conduct which then becomes acceptable for cases not as appealing or for groups not as responsible. Thus, we substitute pressure for persuasion and squander the carefully nurtured value of self-restraint and jeopardize the system of law. The plain fact of human nature is that the organized disobedience of masses stirs up the primitive. This has been true of a soccer crowd and a lynch mob. Psychologically and psychiatrically it is very clear that no man—no matter how well-intentioned—can keep group passions in control.”
Ask students, in small groups, to turn to their handouts and answer the questions that follow these quotes in the handout. Ask them to find evidence from the text to support their answers.
Circulate around the groups to hear their ideas.
Ask the groups to share their responses with the whole class if you have time.
Examine the Poor People’s Campaign
Introduce the video: “The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.”
The Poor People’s Campaign is a modern-day movement to fight systemic racism, poverty, war, and ecological devastation. The campaign has organized protests across the country on different themes to take place every Monday for six weeks in May and June 2018. During the first four weeks of the protests, over 1000 people were arrested in state capitol buildings across the country.
Show students this video from the New York State Poor People’s Campaign action in Albany, NY, on June 4, 2018, or have them watch the video on their phones:
https://www.facebook.com/NYSPPC/videos/215148179268401
Ask students to think, as they watch the video, about why the protesters might want to be arrested.
After watching the video, construct a Civil Disobedience chart as a class. Include three categories: Goals, Methods, and Risks.
Ask students to share out their observations and ideas about the video. As you take notes on the board, place students’ comments in categories.
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Goals can include reasons for protesting in general or getting arrested in particular.
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Methods might include particular strategies (Where are protesters located? Why might they choose to block State Senate doors? What are people wearing? What are they singing?)
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Risks can include any criticisms of civil disobedience in general, or reasons why civil disobedience might be more dangerous for some individuals. (For example, because of racism, being arrested may have more harmful long-term consequences for a low-income person of color than an affluent white person.)
If questions about the video come up during the discussion, you may wish to share some of these details: Twenty-seven people were arrested in Albany, New York, for blocking the doors to the State Senate and the Governor’s office. State troopers asked each person to move away from the door and when they did not, arrested them. It took about 20 minutes to clear the doors. Arrestees were released within two hours with a court summons for disorderly conduct, on the level of a traffic ticket. Other states have responded differently to Poor People’s Campaign protests, with some protesters receiving felony charges.
Introduce the information that before this civil disobedience action took place, participants trained and planned together to address concerns participants might have. The handout includes a document that Poor People’s Campaign participants discussed in trainings before the protest.
Small Group Reading and Discussion
Split the class into four groups. Each group will focus on a different document or quote related to nonviolent protest. Ask each group to read their document, then answer the questions together.
Circulate to hear their ideas. Note that shorter readings include more questions, and that all groups have at least one question critiquing the methods and risks of civil disobedience.
Once groups are ready to share, ask each group to summarize its reading and share the most important ideas about the goals, methods, and risks of civil disobedience that the group got from the reading, questions, and discussion. Encourage everyone in the group to share. Continue to take notes on the board.
Closing
Ask students to share one idea that stands out for them in the discussion today.
Extension Activities
1. Fishbowl roleplay
Explore the reasons for and against civil disobedience with a fishbowl role-play.
Ask for a volunteer to play a teenager planning on participating in civil disobedience, and another to play a concerned parent trying to convince their child not to go. Explain that anyone who wishes to jump into the role-play should stand up and tap the person on the shoulder in order to switch out. As the role-play begins, watch for any students who look eager to speak and encourage them to jump in.
Share responses and experiences as a class afterward. Did this bring up any emotions about your own relationship to injustice, or about the personal risks of civil disobedience?
2. Assessment
Assess learning by asking students to make posters in small groups or write individually about the following question: What is civil disobedience, and what are the most important factors to consider when planning a civil disobedience campaign?
Further Resources
To learn more about the specific goals of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/demands/
To learn more about the different actions taken by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival on each week in each state: https://medium.com/@kylemmoore725
Handout on Civil Disobedience
Martin Luther King, Jr., "The Trumpet of Conscience," 1967
“There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light, and normal traffic had better get out of its way. Or, when a man is bleeding to death, the ambulance goes through those red lights at top speed. ... Disinherited people all over the world are bleeding to death from deep social and economic wounds. They need brigades of ambulance drivers who will have to ignore the red lights of the present system until the emergency is solved. Massive civil disobedience is a strategy for social change which is at least as forceful as an ambulance with its siren on full.”
Questions:
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What is the difference between breaking a traffic law normally and breaking a traffic law in an emergency?
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What does Dr. King mean when he writes that civil disobedience is “as forceful as an ambulance with its siren on full?”
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What is the goal of civil disobedience, and why does it require breaking the law, according to Dr. King?
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What injustices are emergencies today?
Morris Leibman, "Civil Disobedience: A Threat to Our Society Under Law," 1964
“While the idea of civil disobedience may evoke sympathy where the claim is made that the cause is just, once we accept such a doubtful doctrine we legitimatize it for other causes which we might reject. We must be even more careful in the sympathetic case because, in effect, that sets the standard of conduct which then becomes acceptable for cases not as appealing or for groups not as responsible. Thus, we substitute pressure for persuasion and squander the carefully nurtured value of self-restraint and jeopardize the system of law. The plain fact of human nature is that the organized disobedience of masses stirs up the primitive. This has been true of a soccer crowd and a lynch mob. Psychologically and psychiatrically it is very clear that no man—no matter how well-intentioned—can keep group passions in control.”
Questions
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What do you think of Leibman’s argument? Could civil disobedience “jeopardize the system of law”?
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What would happen if everyone disobeyed any laws they personally disagreed with? Is this the same as civil disobedience? Why or why not?
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Does civil disobedience “substitute pressure for persuasion”? What would be the consequences of substituting pressure for persuasion in societal conflicts?
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Would you ever break a law to protest an injustice? Why or why not?
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Are there any laws that it would be wrong to break, even to protest injustice? Is it wrong to stop traffic? Take down a flag? Block doors? Damage property? Assault people? Why or why not?
Group 1: Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom, 1958
Principles of Nonviolent Direct Action
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Nonviolence is not passive, but requires courage.
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Nonviolence seeks reconciliation, not defeat of an adversary.
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Nonviolent action is directed at eliminating evil, not destroying an evil-doer.
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Nonviolence means a willingness to accept suffering for the cause, if necessary, but never to inflict it.
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Nonviolence means rejection of hatred, animosity, or violence of the spirit, as well as refusal to commit physical violence.
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Nonviolence requires faith that justice will prevail
Questions:
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Why do you think the Poor People’s Campaign protesters ignore people shoving them from behind? Think back to the lunch-counter sit-ins, when people were hit and had cigarettes put out on their skin: why did they ignore that kind of abuse as well? What advantages does nonviolence give?
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How is nonviolence and civil disobedience emotionally challenging? What strategies might protesters use to support each other and themselves emotionally during civil disobedience?
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How did the police at this protest treat the protesters? In the 60’s civil rights movement, at Black Lives Matter, or at Standing Rock, police often acted very differently toward protesters. Why might police choose different strategies?
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How might it affect a movement if police choose to be violent toward protesters or keep them in jail? Would it be good or bad for the movement? Why?
Group 2: Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 1963
“You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored….
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never.”…
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws… The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws…
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”
Questions:
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How does civil disobedience create a “tension” or “crisis”? Why might that be important or helpful to do?
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What possible concerns might ordinary people have about the methods that the Poor People’s Campaign uses, blocking traffic or blocking the Senate doors in the Capitol building, even if they support the goals of the Campaign? How does Dr. King respond to those who agree with his goals but not his methods?
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How should protesters decide which laws to break, and when things are bad enough to act?
Group 3: New York State Poor People’s Campaign, “Things to Know,” 2018
(A training document for participants in civil disobedience in Albany, NY)
Risks of engaging in non-violent civil disobedience include:
- physical harm
- being held in custody: lack of access to medication, medical treatment, family
- time, inconvenience, money
- adverse legal consequences- criminal conviction, incarceration, loss of legal privileges and rights, immigration consequences, employment consequences
Factors to consider in deciding whether to engage in non-violent civil disobedience:
- are you on probation or parole?
- are you lawfully present in the U.S.?
- do you have any other pending cases?
- have you ever failed to appear in court when you were supposed to?
- do you have any medical conditions or family obligations that could cause difficulty for you if you were held in custody?
- will you be able to come to court when necessary?
- would being arrested cause a problem for your employment?
Potential charges:
Felonies (maximum potential sentences include state prison of more than one year)
Examples: assault 2nd degree (includes any assault on a police officer), criminal mischief (intentionally causing more than $250 worth of property damage
Misdemeanors (maximum potential sentences are up to one year in jail)
Examples: resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration (intentionally interfering with a police officer’s performance of a lawful duty), criminal mischief (less than $250), assault 3rd degree (intentionally causing physical injury to another person
Non-criminal offenses (maximum potential sentences are up to 15 days in jail)
Examples: disorderly conduct, trespass
Questions:
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Why do you think the campaign provides this information in advance trainings?
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How might being Black/Hispanic, poor, LGBT, or young affect a protester’s experience encountering the police?
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What kinds of demographics (age, race, gender, religion) led this protest through speaking or singing? What kinds of demographics participated? What kinds of demographics chose to be arrested? (You may need to watch the video again.)
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In Albany during the first week of the Poor People’s Campaign, on May 14, 2018, protesters blocked street traffic for six hours to show that business as usual needs to stop, but were not arrested. Why might police choose not to arrest civil disobedience protesters at all?
Group 4: Bree Newsome, “The Civil Rights Movement’s Generation Gap,” 2018
Bree Newsome is best known for her civil disobedience on June 27, 2015, when she climbed the flagpole at the South Carolina Statehouse and removed the Confederate flag. She was arrested, but the Statehouse voted 12 days later to permanently remove the flag.
A feature of the modern [civil rights] movement has been an open rejection of “respectability politics”—the notion that black Americans must prove themselves “respectable” to gain equal rights. Iconic images from the 1960s show young people dressed in their finest while police dogs bite them or fire hoses knock them flat. … But wasn’t Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated while wearing a suit? … And so wearing T‑shirts, jeans, and hoodies to protests became an intentional act of rejecting “respectability,” instead of trying to look wealthy and white….
Institutions such as the NAACP generally consider the courtroom and the halls of government the most important battlegrounds in the fight for equality, while student movements seek to empower communities with nonviolent direct action… Then, as now, getting arrested or jailed or associated with criminality in any fashion, whether in a hoodie or a suit and tie, was bound to upset the political establishment. When Black Lives Matter activists blocked traffic and engaged in other acts of mass civil disobedience, many white liberals and older black activists charged that King wouldn’t have approved of the type of disruption these protests caused. While the likes of King and Rosa Parks are now celebrated for their acts of defiance, their protests were no less controversial at the time, even within the civil-rights movement.
Taking the long view is important. The generations need to converse. The elders who once battled to integrate schools must listen to the young people who are now battling forces that funnel them from classrooms into prisons. The younger generation needs to understand how the modern movement is built upon every black-freedom effort that preceded it.
Questions:
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Should protesters “try to look wealthy and white,” as Newsome puts it? Why or why not? How does protesting in a hoodie affect the risks of civil disobedience?
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When Newsome planned her action as part of a team, the team decided that Newsome, a black woman, would take down the flag, and a white man would stand guard. Both were arrested. Why did the team plan the action this way?