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The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

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Page 1: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

Christopher Paul Curtis

Introduction

Background

Discussion Starters

Menu

Page 2: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

Christopher Paul Curtis

Page 3: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Introduction

Kenny has problems.

Page 4: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Introduction

His friend stole his toys.

And he thinks his lazy eye makes him look funny.

His older brother, Byron, is mean to him.

Page 5: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Introduction

One day Kenny’s family decides to take a cross-country trip from Michigan to Alabama.

Page 6: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Introduction

Kenny’s parents have decided that Byron needs to spend a summer in Birmingham with his grandmother, who’ll teach him how to behave.

Kenny thinks this sounds too good to be true. Will one of his problems really go away?

Page 7: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Introduction

But in Birmingham, Kenny’s problems collide with America’s problems.

Page 8: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

After the Civil War, laws and constitutional amendments were passed to give equal rights to African Americans, but the laws were often ignored, especially in the South.

Page 9: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

For many years, African Americans in the South had to live with segregation.

Page 10: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

This meant African Americans had to use separate bathrooms, water fountains, beaches, and other public facilities.

African Americans were also forced to ride in a different section of busses and go to separate schools.

Page 11: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

But as long as segregation laws existed, African Americans found ways to protest them.

These protests grew especially strong in the 1950s and 1960s.

Page 12: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

People like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., held sit-ins and protests, gave speeches, organized boycotts, and formed organizations to help people fight for equality.

Page 13: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

But not everyone in the South wanted segregation to go away.

Some white Americans tried to stop the changes—sometimes in horrible and violent ways.

Page 14: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Background

On Sunday, September 15, 1963, at 10:22 A.M., a bomb exploded in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Four African American girls were killed.

Page 15: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Discussion Starters

Discuss (1)

• Since 1963, how has the United States made progress in fighting racism and discrimination?

• Where do barriers between ethnic groups still exist?

• What can you do to break down these barriers?

Page 16: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis Introduction Background Discussion Starters Menu

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963: Discussion Starters

Discuss (2)

• What effects do you think the church bombing had on members of the civil rights movement?

• How would you have responded to the bombing if you were in Birmingham at the time?

• What political actions or ideas today have affected your family? How have they affected you?