TITLE:  HAVE MINORITIES GAINED ACCEPTANCE

AUTHOR:  Donna Cawiezell; Casper, Wyoming

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:   9-12, U.S. History classes

OVERVIEW: This lesson is used at the end of our minority
unit.  Previously, students will have discussed the
following topics:
1.  reconstruction
2.  attitudes of Blacks towards themselves, and Whites
    towards Blacks
3.  affect of Black codes and Jim Crow laws on Blacks
4.  debate between Dubois and Washington
5.  successes of Blacks starting with Civil War period
    and moving forward to 1960's.
6.  the affect of the U.S. court system on Blacks civil
    rights
7.  the  civil rights movement and Martin Luther King

Students are divided into groups of twos.  Each group is
asked to bring one current magazine to class.

PURPOSE: Students will have spent about four weeks studying
the topics listed above.  We wanted them to find out if the
civil rights movement, court cases, and congressional
actions  have caused Blacks to be accepted in the mainstream
of American life.

OBJECTIVE(s): Students will cite evidence gathered from
magazines about how much Blacks are accepted into the
mainstream of American life.  They will support their
conclusions by writing an answer to an essay question.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS:  Student teams will need to have at
least one current magazine.  It is helpful to have several
on hand for those students who might forget.  Students also
need to have completed a unit on minorities before doing
this assignment.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:   Student teams (of two persons)
will answer the following essay question:
They are asked to find out what percent of advertisements in
their magazines have Blacks and other minorities in them,
and how many stories or articles are written about Blacks
and other minorities?  Students will be able to answer the
following essay question:

Over 12% of U.S. population (based on 1980 census
statistics) is made of minority races.  Taking into
consideration all the legal accomplishments achieved for
minorities in the past 100 years, great strides have been
made.  The question still remains, however,  are minorities
truly a part of typical everyday American society?
Magazines and their advertising are aimed at the "typical
American".   Using your magazine(s), look at the advertising
and feature stories and decide if minority people are
considered as "typical Americans".  Use evidence (
statistical and /or examples) from your magazine to support
your conclusions in an essay.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: Students grade other teams essays.
During a phase of grading the essays, discussion is held.
Answers are shared and written on the overhead projector.
Students will find that Blacks and other minorities are
rarely part of the typical magazine's articles or
advertising.  Exceptions..sports magazines do portray Blacks
often and also direct advertising towards them.  In our unit
we had discussed how Blacks have won acceptance in the
sports arena and sports magazines support this view.