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Source set · 8 sources ✓ Lesson ready

Nonviolence or Black Power: which approach did more to advance civil rights?

King's letter and speech meet Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, with photographs of sit-ins and the March on Washington and the responses of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Timeline of key events →

Teach it

✓ Lesson ready

A ready-to-run lesson for this set: Socratic Seminar. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.

Make a copy (Lesson Slides)Make a copy (Lesson Plan + materials)

1. Hook: a striking quote 3-5 min

This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never."
Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (April 1963)

Ask: King wrote this from a jail cell. Who was telling civil rights activists to “wait,” and why did King refuse?

2. Main activity: Socratic Seminar

Grouping: Fishbowl: inner circle of 8 to 10 speakers, outer circle of observers; switch halfway

Setup: Opening question: “Which approach did more to advance civil rights: King’s nonviolent direct action or the Black Power movement’s call for self-determination?” Strong answers quote the sources and consider the other side.

Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • Evidence cards for all 8 sources (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • Seminar prep sheet (in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • Observer tally sheet
  1. Prepare 8 min
    Students read the evidence cards and fill in the prep sheet.
  2. Round 1 12 min
    Inner circle discusses the opening question. Speak to each other, cite a source each time, and invite quiet voices in.
  3. Switch 2 min
    Outer circle moves in.
  4. Round 2 12 min
    Follow-up question: Kennedy and Johnson spoke after major protests. Did protest move the federal government, or did the government act on its own?
  5. Debrief 6 min
    Observers share one strong comment and one point no one raised.
  6. Exit ticket 5 min
    Students answer on a slip before leaving.

Take a stand: Which approach did more to advance civil rights?

  • Nonviolent direct action: Sit-ins, the Birmingham campaign, and the March on Washington built national support, followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  • Black Power: Malcolm X and Carmichael argued that Black Americans had to organize their own political power and define themselves, rather than wait for others to grant rights.

3. Pacing options

15-minute bell-ringer

  • 3 min Hook: “Wait” means “Never”
  • 8 min Read the King and Malcolm X quotes side by side; quick-write and pair share: how do their strategies differ?
  • 4 min Exit ticket question 1

Full 50-minute lesson

  • 4 min Hook: Birmingham letter
  • 8 min Prepare
  • 12 min Round 1
  • 12 min Round 2
  • 6 min Debrief and vote
  • 5 min Exit ticket
  • 3 min Buffer

4. Exit ticket

  1. Which source made the strongest argument? Quote it and explain.
  2. Could the two approaches have worked together? Use one source from each side.

5. Differentiation

Support

Extension

  • Read the full “Ballot or the Bullet” speech. Is the title a call to violence, a warning, or both? Use his words.
  • Compare the 1963 March on Washington photograph with the Nashville sit-ins. What do they show about nonviolent strategy?

Suggested sequence

  1. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
    Letter · University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 30+ min
    Full text of King's 1963 letter.
    Ask: Why did King argue the time for action was now?
    Open with this source to frame the question.
    Original ↗SOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  2. Martin Luther King Jr., 'I Have a Dream' (audio and text)
    Speech · American Rhetoric · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    Audio and transcript of King's 1963 speech at the March on Washington.
    Ask: What promises did King say America had not kept?
    Original ↗SOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  3. Sit-ins in a Nashville store (1960)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Sit-ins in a Nashville store (1960). 1 photographic print. | Photo shows a group of African Americans seated at lunch counter during a sit-in Nashville, Tennessee.
    Ask: Why were lunch counter sit-ins an effective protest strategy?
    Original ↗See-Think-WonderOPTIC
  4. Aerial view of crowd and stage at the March on Washington, 1963
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Aerial view of crowd and stage at the March on Washington, 1963.
    Ask: What does this photograph reveal about the scale and organization of the March on Washington?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC▶ Watch
  5. Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet (1964)
    Speech · Teaching American History · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 30+ min
    Malcolm X's April 1964 speech on voting rights and self-defense.
    Ask: How did Malcolm X's strategy differ from King's?
    Original ↗SOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  6. Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and Charles V. Hamilton, Black Power: The Politics of Liberation (1967)
    Essay · Teaching American History · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 30+ min
    Excerpts from the 1967 book by Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) and Charles V. Hamilton, beginning with Chapter One, "White Power: The Colonial Situation."
    Ask: What did 'Black Power' mean to its supporters?
    Original ↗SOAPSToneClaim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER)
  7. JFK's Civil Rights Address
    Speech · UVA Miller Center · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    Kennedy's 1963 televised address calling civil rights a moral issue.
    Ask: Why did Kennedy call civil rights a 'moral issue'?
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  8. LBJ's Voting Rights Speech ('We Shall Overcome')
    Speech · UVA Miller Center · Civil Rights Era (1954-1975) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 20 min
    Johnson's 1965 address to Congress after Selma.
    Ask: How did events in Selma push Congress to act?
    Close with this source before writing.
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP

Watch

Free videos to pair with this set. Preview before showing in class.

Teach with (more from Hillsdale): Unit 7: Post-War America (1945-1974) (free K-12 curriculum unit)

Culminating writing prompt

Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “Nonviolence or Black Power: which approach did more to advance civil rights?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.

Printable writing sheet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.