Teachers gave lessons to help young students comprehend an American past with racial segregation, and how a great leader helped to overcome it through nonviolent action and the pursuit of a dream.Īs my daughter grows older, she will learn about the parts of King’s dream that have gone unfulfilled. Snippets of King’s most famous speeches and pictures of his head, crafted from brown and black construction paper, lined the school hallways. at her elementary school in our small Midwestern town. This winter, my daughter’s first-grade class celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Read more: The War on Crime and America's Prison Crisis The Killing of Trayvon Martin 'Big Government' in American History The American Two-Party System “Class Warfare” in American Politics American Populism Immigration Policy Domestic Violence and Mass UnemploymentĬheck out a lesson plan based on this article: Federal Government and Policing the Police Listen more: A Long View of Policing in America Teaching Civil Rights Putting Race on Display Sorting out those tensions remains an unfinished part of the civil rights movement. Our system of federalism has created a tension between rights guaranteed by the Constitution and police authority that resides at the state and local levels. This month historian Sarah Siff details how the problem of 'policing the police' stretches back decades and is rooted in the structure of American politics itself. His death was one among several recent cases where African Americans have been killed by police officers, and have prompted serious discussions about policing around the country. Almost precisely a year ago Freddie Gray died of injuries sustained while in the custody of Baltimore police.

80s photo police real life