Civil Rights Are Everyone's Right

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - Declaration of Independence



It's hard for me to understand that anyone can believe that these unalienable rights only belong to some people, or that the word "all" actually means "a select group", yet civil rights is still an issue nearly 240 years later.  I don't believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. was the kind of person who celebrated himself, so for MLK Day this year I'm choosing to honor him by focus on civil rights instead of the life of Dr. King himself.  That doesn't mean that I don't think it's important to learn about his life, just that I think he would prefer we put our energy into bringing up the next generation to truly see each other as equals...so we can all live the good life regardless of color, religion, sex, place of origin, or any other belief.

The Civil Rights Movement
EdTech Teacher has a wonderful collection of the Best of History Websites.  Their Civil Rights Movement page offers a load of resources including footage of Dr. King delivering his "I Have A Dream" speech, a link to the National Civil Rights Museum, and lesson plans covering civil rights.  The Multnomah County Library in Oregon has put together a great page on their website containing lesson plans, webquests, and library book reading lists about civil rights.  

Women's Rights
Time for Kids has created a mini-site about Women's History which includes a timeline of major milestones and information about women who were the first in their fields.  I found two articles on Scholastic's website.  The first is an excerpt from the New Book of Knowledge which effectively summarizes the Women's Rights Movement.  The second is an article from Grolier Online.

Today's Issues
What are the important civil rights issues in today's society?  That history is still being written.  Annenberg Classroom and Civil Rights.org both offer some interesting information and conversation starters to discuss with your children.  Many children react to learning about injustices by wanting to get involved.  One current civil rights issue they can easily become active in is bullying in school.  StopBullying.gov can give your children the resources they need to become activists for equality and fair treatment in their own environment.  

"Treat others the way you want to be treated."  That is what my husband and I have always taught our children.  If we could all live that way, the world would be a much better place.

Karissa