This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
PERIOD 7 - "THE CHILDREN'S MARCH"
Today, you watched the film, The Children's March. Please post any thoughts you have about the film and comment on at least one other student's post.
31 comments:
Megan Sullivan
said...
I thought that the documentary on the Children’s March was very informative. The documentary was very interesting and I thought the documentary did a great job showing the discrimination that the African Americans went through in Birmingham. I found it really disturbing when they brought out the water hoses and sprayed the African Americans and the facts that the whites were able to put another human being through such pain. It’s alarming that people like Bull Connor can be so discriminative against the African Americans and can treat them so harshly.
I thought that this film was extremely interesting. At times though, it was very hard for me to watch. For example, when the film showed images of the police dogs biting people and a black man getting beat over the head repeatedly with a chair. It honestly made me sick watching it and it still baffles me how ignorant and close minded we were as a nation. Also, it really surprised me how Kennedy didn't stop Bull Connor in Birmingham sooner. I also thought it was insane how the Birmingham police were jailing children as young as four years old. I thought it was amazing that the four year old in jail couldn't even pronounce the word 'freedom' but he still knew that that's what he was fighting for.
I agree with Megan on how the documentary was very informative. We studied the children's march last year in history and some of the race riots in Birmingham. However, we didn't cover any of the Boston busing campaigns and I found that really interesting to learn about because Boston is so local to us.
I thought that this film was a good example the help us to see how bad discrimination was against African americans. It was hard to see how the police treat people they did not care if any of them got hurt or sick.
i thought that the documentary was really goodand very interesting. But i was really sad how the whites were putting african American in pain and how they made african american life hard. I agree with emily it was horrible and disgusting to seeing that african americans were getting beat with chairs. It sad to see the police man in the documentary arresting children.
The film was certainly interesting, and I agree with Megan Sullivan, in that I also found it extremely disturbing when the police department in Birmingham brought out the firemen and had them hose the protesters. It disgusts me that human beings can not only inflict pain on other human beings, but the fact that they will do it in such a ridiculous manner. Really? Fire hoses? No wonder the protesters eventually started having a good time while being hosed down. Even though the Jim Crow era isn't the same as the holocaust, I think that there is a similarity, in that I couldn't shake the feeling that seeing those kids in the jail was very similar to seeing pictures of children in the ghettos during WWII. Even though the event of the march was rather disturbing, it made me face-palm more than anything else. It was almost satirical, how the government handled each event, from Little Rock, to Boston. I learned a lot from this video, but I'm not sure if I like having that knowledge.
I agree with Emily, in that it is very interesting to learn that Boston had a pretty unsettling conflict as a result of racial discrimination. Everyone thinks of the north as the "good guy" in the fight to end slavery and racial discrimination, but not all of the history behind it is very flattering. However, I never realized the fact that Boston had such an issue with racial desegregation. I had learned previously that New York had race riots, but I never thought that Boston was a part of the conflict. Every time I saw that school committee woman stand up and claim to be working for the safety of "our children and our brother's and sister's children", I wanted to invent a time machine, go back in time, and slap the crap out of her. She honestly pissed me off. It just makes no sense to me as to why desegregation was such a "taboo" idea even in the '70s. What is so threatening? What part of it could even remotely do any bodily harm? More violence comes from the solution (riots), than the problem (desegregation)!
I thought the video was inspiring in terms of how much of a difference the children made in the movement. They were so dedicated to the cause that they were willing and excited to go to jail to do their part. They were extremely brave and their efforts really made the nonviolence movement very effective.
I really enjoyed watching this movie in class the past two days. One can hear over and over again how difficult it was for the African Americans but until you can actually see what it was like your view changes imensly. I agree with Emily and that it was difficult to watch how violent the police and the dogs were to the African Americans. But for me, the movie scenes of the children impacted me the most. The scene where one young boy was being shoved into the bus to be shipped to jail and he turned around for a quick second to put his fists in the air really got to me. The fact that children and young adults could make a difference like that makes me question what the youth in America today could change.
I was absent when we watched the second half of this film, but I was very moved by what I saw on Wednesday. The violent clips of white mobs and the KKK that the video showed were apalling and frightening to me. The fact that, through all of this, African American people refused to fight back is inspiring to me. This documentary really opened my eyes to the terrible discrimination that African Americans have suffered in the United States.
I agree with Megan in how well the documentry was put together, showing the racism and discrimination that not only did the African Americans of Birmingham under go but the entir nation. Its sickening to think that this was the State at which our Nation, the land of the free, had once been in.
I think Emily addressed an important point when she talked about how this film and how this entire Jim Crow era revealed how ignorant and close-minded our nation can be at times. I think it is important to realize that we are not a perfect, righteous, or superior nation by any means and even more important to remember how our ignorance can create such terrible violence and hatred.
The largest impact about watching the childrens march was the fact that it was children fighting for the freedom of the African Americans. I can even imagine me being 17 put into that situation and standing your ground while being blasted by high powerd hoses and attacked not only by whites but also attack police dogs. It was just amazing to see the courage that these children had to stand of for there rights as well as there parents.
I thought the documentary on the Children's March was a very eye opening look at the civil rights movement. While I did find it very informative, many of the clips of African Americans being cruelly beaten and sprayed with the hoses were very difficult to watch. I thought the fact that many African Americans still remained non-violent despite such brutality was really incredible and they continued fight for equality was very inspiring.
I agree with Dan's point about the courage and bravery of the children during the movement. I thought it was pretty incredible that the children took it upon themselves to lead the fight for rights.
I personally thought the documentary was very moving and disturbing. Its amazing to think that just about 60 years ago, the white people in America had such racist mind sets. It was very difficult to watch white Americans and police forces brutally beat black people for no apparant reason. Despite all of the struggles that black people were going through during these times, they stuck with non-violence as a tactic to overcome segregation which is remarkable. It was also uplifting to see how much impact children had on the civil rights movement.
I agree with what Megan said. I think it is extremely disturbing to think that one person (Bull Connors) could have such repulsive feelings toward a group of people. The things that white poeple did to the African Americans, such as beating them with chairs and bats is shocking. No group of people deserves to go through these kinds of things just because of the color of their skin.
I think that the Children's March documentary was very moving and interesting. I've learned in previous years about the pain that the African Americans went through but I didn't know how extreme it really was. At some points of the film it was hard to watch, especially when the police were spraying water at them and the dogs were biting people. I agree with Carli when she said that the Jim Crow era was similar to the holocaust.
I though the video had been very accurate and the video fotage allowed us to see first hand what the African Americans went through. The things that the African American people went through especially in Birmingham was trajic. I admire the fact that after all they went throught they continued to demonstrate peacfully even with the violence others directed at the African Americans.
I had seen this documentary before, when I was a sophomore. I believe that this march is crucial to any classroom curriculum, because not only does it show how horrendous whites were to blacks, but it shows that children can do something and create a change in something they believed it. I agree with Megan when she said that the hosing of people was disturbing. But I think that the african americans made the best of everything they were hit with.
The Children’s March documentary was very interesting as well as informative. I had no idea about how dr. Martin Luther King Jr set up this march and all these kids came from all over to get arrested. I had never heard of it before the movie.
31 comments:
I thought that the documentary on the Children’s March was very informative. The documentary was very interesting and I thought the documentary did a great job showing the discrimination that the African Americans went through in Birmingham. I found it really disturbing when they brought out the water hoses and sprayed the African Americans and the facts that the whites were able to put another human being through such pain. It’s alarming that people like Bull Connor can be so discriminative against the African Americans and can treat them so harshly.
I thought that this film was extremely interesting. At times though, it was very hard for me to watch. For example, when the film showed images of the police dogs biting people and a black man getting beat over the head repeatedly with a chair. It honestly made me sick watching it and it still baffles me how ignorant and close minded we were as a nation. Also, it really surprised me how Kennedy didn't stop Bull Connor in Birmingham sooner. I also thought it was insane how the Birmingham police were jailing children as young as four years old. I thought it was amazing that the four year old in jail couldn't even pronounce the word 'freedom' but he still knew that that's what he was fighting for.
I agree with Megan on how the documentary was very informative. We studied the children's march last year in history and some of the race riots in Birmingham. However, we didn't cover any of the Boston busing campaigns and I found that really interesting to learn about because Boston is so local to us.
I think Emily made a really good point when she mentioned the little boy who couldn't say freedom but was still jail because he was fighting for it.
I thought that this film was a good example the help us to see how bad discrimination was against African americans. It was hard to see how the police treat people they did not care if any of them got hurt or sick.
I was absent today.
i thought that the documentary was really goodand very interesting. But i was really sad how the whites were putting african American in pain and how they made african american life hard. I agree with emily it was horrible and disgusting to seeing that african americans were getting beat with chairs. It sad to see the police man in the documentary arresting children.
The film was certainly interesting, and I agree with Megan Sullivan, in that I also found it extremely disturbing when the police department in Birmingham brought out the firemen and had them hose the protesters. It disgusts me that human beings can not only inflict pain on other human beings, but the fact that they will do it in such a ridiculous manner. Really? Fire hoses? No wonder the protesters eventually started having a good time while being hosed down. Even though the Jim Crow era isn't the same as the holocaust, I think that there is a similarity, in that I couldn't shake the feeling that seeing those kids in the jail was very similar to seeing pictures of children in the ghettos during WWII. Even though the event of the march was rather disturbing, it made me face-palm more than anything else. It was almost satirical, how the government handled each event, from Little Rock, to Boston. I learned a lot from this video, but I'm not sure if I like having that knowledge.
I agree with Emily, in that it is very interesting to learn that Boston had a pretty unsettling conflict as a result of racial discrimination. Everyone thinks of the north as the "good guy" in the fight to end slavery and racial discrimination, but not all of the history behind it is very flattering. However, I never realized the fact that Boston had such an issue with racial desegregation. I had learned previously that New York had race riots, but I never thought that Boston was a part of the conflict. Every time I saw that school committee woman stand up and claim to be working for the safety of "our children and our brother's and sister's children", I wanted to invent a time machine, go back in time, and slap the crap out of her. She honestly pissed me off. It just makes no sense to me as to why desegregation was such a "taboo" idea even in the '70s. What is so threatening? What part of it could even remotely do any bodily harm? More violence comes from the solution (riots), than the problem (desegregation)!
I thought the video was inspiring in terms of how much of a difference the children made in the movement. They were so dedicated to the cause that they were willing and excited to go to jail to do their part. They were extremely brave and their efforts really made the nonviolence movement very effective.
I agree with Emily about how it was often difficult to watch the violent scenes and that it was hard to understand why there was such deep hatred.
I really enjoyed watching this movie in class the past two days. One can hear over and over again how difficult it was for the African Americans but until you can actually see what it was like your view changes imensly. I agree with Emily and that it was difficult to watch how violent the police and the dogs were to the African Americans. But for me, the movie scenes of the children impacted me the most. The scene where one young boy was being shoved into the bus to be shipped to jail and he turned around for a quick second to put his fists in the air really got to me. The fact that children and young adults could make a difference like that makes me question what the youth in America today could change.
I was absent when we watched the second half of this film, but I was very moved by what I saw on Wednesday. The violent clips of white mobs and the KKK that the video showed were apalling and frightening to me. The fact that, through all of this, African American people refused to fight back is inspiring to me. This documentary really opened my eyes to the terrible discrimination that African Americans have suffered in the United States.
I agree with Megan in how well the documentry was put together, showing the racism and discrimination that not only did the African Americans of Birmingham under go but the entir nation. Its sickening to think that this was the State at which our Nation, the land of the free, had once been in.
I think Emily addressed an important point when she talked about how this film and how this entire Jim Crow era revealed how ignorant and close-minded our nation can be at times. I think it is important to realize that we are not a perfect, righteous, or superior nation by any means and even more important to remember how our ignorance can create such terrible violence and hatred.
The largest impact about watching the childrens march was the fact that it was children fighting for the freedom of the African Americans. I can even imagine me being 17 put into that situation and standing your ground while being blasted by high powerd hoses and attacked not only by whites but also attack police dogs. It was just amazing to see the courage that these children had to stand of for there rights as well as there parents.
I was touched by the chillun. I thought it was awesome how they won their own right to go to the white schools.
I agree with Matt as to being amazed at how brutalized the blacks were, and furthermore at their ability to resist fighting back.
I thought the documentary on the Children's March was a very eye opening look at the civil rights movement. While I did find it very informative, many of the clips of African Americans being cruelly beaten and sprayed with the hoses were very difficult to watch. I thought the fact that many African Americans still remained non-violent despite such brutality was really incredible and they continued fight for equality was very inspiring.
I agree with Dan's point about the courage and bravery of the children during the movement. I thought it was pretty incredible that the children took it upon themselves to lead the fight for rights.
I personally thought the documentary was very moving and disturbing. Its amazing to think that just about 60 years ago, the white people in America had such racist mind sets. It was very difficult to watch white Americans and police forces brutally beat black people for no apparant reason. Despite all of the struggles that black people were going through during these times, they stuck with non-violence as a tactic to overcome segregation which is remarkable. It was also uplifting to see how much impact children had on the civil rights movement.
I agree with what Megan said. I think it is extremely disturbing to think that one person (Bull Connors) could have such repulsive feelings toward a group of people. The things that white poeple did to the African Americans, such as beating them with chairs and bats is shocking. No group of people deserves to go through these kinds of things just because of the color of their skin.
I think that the Children's March documentary was very moving and interesting. I've learned in previous years about the pain that the African Americans went through but I didn't know how extreme it really was. At some points of the film it was hard to watch, especially when the police were spraying water at them and the dogs were biting people. I agree with Carli when she said that the Jim Crow era was similar to the holocaust.
I though the video had been very accurate and the video fotage allowed us to see first hand what the African Americans went through. The things that the African American people went through especially in Birmingham was trajic. I admire the fact that after all they went throught they continued to demonstrate peacfully even with the violence others directed at the African Americans.
I thought Emily made good points. It was very bold of the children to be willing to go to jail even at the young age of 4.
(I was absent yesterday)
i was absent.
I had seen this documentary before, when I was a sophomore. I believe that this march is crucial to any classroom curriculum, because not only does it show how horrendous whites were to blacks, but it shows that children can do something and create a change in something they believed it. I agree with Megan when she said that the hosing of people was disturbing. But I think that the african americans made the best of everything they were hit with.
I was absent this day.
I was absent for this lesson.
The Children’s March documentary was very interesting as well as informative. I had no idea about how dr. Martin Luther King Jr set up this march and all these kids came from all over to get arrested. I had never heard of it before the movie.
I was absent when this blog was assigned.
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