Staging the Compelling Question
Students are introduced to the themes of the compelling question by responding to a quote from James Baldwin that sparks their thinking about the complexities and contradictions within US history.
![Photo of student listening to student-led teaching session](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/SL_190522_0700%20%281%29.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=glf-JB3p)
Supporting Question 1: The Nation’s Founding Ideals
Students explore the supporting question "What does the Declaration of Independence state about the nation’s founding ideals?"
![United States Declaration of Independence](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/master-rbc-rbc0001-2004-2004pe76546-001%20%281%29.jpg?h=4ec2df74&itok=6j3UL0rd)
Supporting Question 2: Founding Ideals Versus Realities
Students explore the supporting question "What contradictions existed between the ideals and the reality of the founding of the United States?"
![Photo shows a group of African American slaves posed around a horse-drawn cart, with a building in the background, at the Cassina Point plantation of James Hopkinson on Edisto Island, South Carolina.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/service-pnp-ppmsca-39500-39590v.jpg?h=fd5c1401&itok=K1ckwjtu)
Confronting Hate: The Perpetuation of Hate on Social Media
On-Demand
Virtual
This webinar examined the ways that young people encounter antisemitism online and the impact of this consumption.
![High school student looking at their smart phone as they scroll.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Where_Do_We_Get_Our_News_iStock-1064105690_Medium_res.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=jdloUCuv)
"A Rallying Cry and a Cause"
Explore Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous decision to show the public Emmett Till’s body through an open-casket funeral and photos in Jet magazine and consider why Emmett’s death generated widespread determination to pursue racial justice.
![A large crowd gathers outside the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago, Ill., Sept. 6, 1955 as pallbearers carry the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy who was slain while on a visit to Mississippi. Police estimate a crowd of about 2,000.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/AP_Domestic_News_Illinois_United_St_550906054.jpg?h=3a1350eb&itok=RygsP8FD)
The Anti-lynching Activism of Ida B. Wells
Students explore the life and choices of anti-lynching journalist Ida B. Wells and learn about the long tradition of Black resistance to racial terror and violence.
![Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was an African-American journalist and early civil rights activist.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/20170407_TreyClark_1979.jpg?h=35609fe0&itok=w5Yv43SB)
The Emmett Till Generation
Student’s explore how Emmett Till’s murder inspired a generation of young African American men and women to actively join in the civil rights movement. Student materials are available in English and Spanish.
![John Lewis at the Cairo demonstration.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/ART541179_cropped_72dpi.jpg?h=63ad9ec3&itok=HL78Aw90)
The Legacy of Emmett Till
Students identify continuities and changes between Emmett Till’s murder and today’s Black Lives Matter movement, and they reflect on the ways they can contribute to the movement for racial justice.
![George Floyd mural outside Cup Foods at Chicago Ave and E 38th St in Minneapolis, Minnesota](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/George_Floyd_Mural_Flickr.jpg?h=a1e1a043&itok=uzSVMaJ6)
Summative Assessment: Creating a Toolbox for Racial Justice
In this summative assessment, students reflect on their answer to the unit's essential question in order to create a Toolbox for Racial Justice.
![Students seated at desk facing each other work together.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/5-1-17FacH08686.jpg?h=e5565190&itok=3IwMMKxT)
Echoes of the Holocaust: Eugenics and Disability in the Time of the Holocaust
On-Demand
Virtual
This webinar featured Dr. Patricia Heberer Rice, senior historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and explored how the Nazis used eugenics in their pursuit of “Aryan genetic purity”.
![Teacher and Students](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Facing-History_SJLA_033.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=6k0Syi0f)
Preparing to Journey to the Mississippi Delta
Consider the talk Mamie Till-Mobley had with her son Emmett before he traveled to Jim Crow-era Mississippi in 1955 and the dangers that prompted her concern.
![Southbound Illinois Central Railroad "Seminole" passenger train crosses main line of West Point Route at station in Opelika, Alabama in August 1955. Absence of interlocker required crew member to flag crossing.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/Lamb_Passenger_train.jpg?h=c30f0a0d&itok=68xyDm2T)