The Civil Rights Movement in Natchez, Mississippi

Introduction

The oldest city in Mississippi, Natchez was a key site of the Civil Rights Movement in the state. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which terrorized Black people through bombings, beatings, and murder, was active throughout southwest Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s. Blacks were also treated unequally due to the Jim Crow system of discrimination. As a result of the work of Black leaders in the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez, the city and the state moved closer to establishing equal rights for all.

Students Will

Use prior knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for equality of African Americans.

Analyze the article’s terminology through discussion and individual research.

Synthesize information to answer questions from the text in the article.

Explore events and information from the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez, MS.

Create a political statement poster after researching those involved in the Natchez movement.

Preparation

On Violence and Nonviolence: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi

The 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools

Curricular Connections

4th Grade-4.MS.8  Analyze the Civil Rights Movement to determine the social, political, and economic impact on Mississippi.

Define discrimination, prejudice, segregation, integration, suffrage, and civil rights. 2. Identify important figures of the modern Civil Rights Movement including Mississippians (e.g., Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, James Meredith, Fannie Lou Hamer, Charles Evers, etc.). 3. Identify and explain events of the modern Civil Rights Movement, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Jim Crow laws, Freedom Summer, and James Meredith’s admission to the University of Mississippi. 4. Analyze the importance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as it relates to Mississippians.

Mississippi Studies - MS.8 Evaluate the role of Mississippi in the Civil Rights Movement.

Analyze the significant figures, groups, and events of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi (e.g., Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, James Meredith, Fannie Lou Hamer, etc.). 2. Discuss the significant strategies used within the Civil Rights Movement. 3. Examine organized resistance to the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and how it shaped the conflict between the State and Federal governments during the Civil Rights Era (e.g., Citizen’s Council, MS State Sovereignty Commission, Ross Barnett, etc.). 4. Evaluate the lasting impact of the Civil Rights movement on Mississippi.

US History - USH 11 | Civil Rights Movement Evaluate the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on social and political change in the United States.

2. Trace the federal government’s involvement in the modern Civil Rights Movement (including the abolition of the poll tax, nationalization of state militias, Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965). 3. Explain contributions of individuals and groups to the modern Civil Rights Movement (including Martin Luther King, Jr., James Meredith, Medgar Evers, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Association for the Advancement Colored People (NAACP), and the grassroots efforts of the Civil Rights movement (civil rights foot soldiers)). 4. Describe the development of the Black Power Movement (including the ideology of self-defense which inspired the change in focus of the SNCC, the rise of Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and the Black Panther Movement). 7. Evaluate the effectiveness of major non-violent demonstrations and events on the Civil Rights Movement (including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, sit-ins, Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, and the Selma March).

African American Studies - AAS.8: Analyze the successes and challenges of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

2. Describe the impact of Brown vs Board of Education and evaluate the resistance and reaction to it such as private academies and citizens’ councils. 3. Define various methods used to obtain civil rights (e.g., boycotts, demonstrations, sit-ins, marches, freedom rides, etc.). 4. Identify various organizations and their role in the Civil Rights Movement (e.g., the Highlander Folk School, SNCC, CORE, SCLC, the Deacons for Defense, etc.). 5. Assess the extent to which the Civil Rights Movement transformed American politics and society (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Title IX, ADA, etc.).

Teaching Levels

Grades 8-12

Before the Lesson

Students should read the article The Civil Rights Movement in Natchez, Mississippi.

Students should know the vocabulary words in the article.

Vocabulary

Disenfranchised: to be deprived of some right or privilege (voting, for example)

Galvanized: to shock or excite someone into acting/taking action.

Ku Klux Klan: The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is an American white supremacist organization that was founded on the coattails of the Civil War on December 24, 1865, and used acts of terror in an attempt to achieve its goals.

Paramilitary: paramilitaries are unofficial forces organized similarly to military forces.  

Unprecedented: never before known or done. Something that has no precedent. (Precedent: an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example)

Questions

What three things triggered civil unrest in Natchez in the 1960s?

Black voters in Natchez experienced intimidation, violence, and discrimination at the polls. What are some ways people today might face issues at the polls when voting?  

What had George Metcalfe presented to the local school board that caused such an uproar, that the Klan wanted him killed?  

Why do you think no one was ever charged in the bombing of George Metcalfe’s vehicle?

What was the purpose of the Natchez Deacons for Defense and Justice?  

Why do you think the author says the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez was a success?

Answers

Three factors that directly contributed to the outbreak of civil unrest in Natchez were discrimination, police brutality, and racial violence.

Student answers may vary but should show an understanding of the material.

In August 1965, Metcalfe petitioned the local high school board to desegregate the public school system.

Student answers may vary but should show an understanding of the material.

The Deacons for Defense provided armed protection for civil rights workers and others because the police would not.

Activity

Political Statement Poster

Materials: Size determines physical materials. This can be completed on a sheet of copy paper or a poster board. It can also be created digitally in an online program of the teacher’s choice.

Directions: Have students create a poster that includes a political statement the SNCC workers would have publicized. The workers listed in the article were Dorie Ladner, George Greene, Annie Pearl Avery, Charles McGrew, and Janet Jemmott. They can all be found on the SNCC Digital Gateway.  

Rubrics:

Further Reading

When Youth Protest