Julian Bond And The Civil Rights Movement

If you ask a person on the street to name all of the civil rights activists that they know, you would most likely get common answers--Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and maybe even John F. Kennedy. People are not as educated as they should be on the Civil Rights Movement. Georgia, a state whose civil rights history is long and gruesome, does not require that eighth graders learn about two of the movement’s most notable activists--Julian Bond and John Lewis. Students are not learning about these two figures, but they are learning many unimportant topics. Based on their tireless efforts for the Civil Rights Movement, John Lewis and Julian Bond need to be included in Georgia’s curriculum.
Julian Bond was deeply rooted in the Civil Rights Movement.
He dedicated his life to ensuring that everybody be equal, regardless of their differences. In college, he led student protests to end segregation in Georgia’s public facilities. He founded the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, which is an organization that fights bigotry, and served as its president for eight years. He was very active in the government, serving ten years in Georgia’s House of Representatives, and then serving six terms representing Georgia in the Senate. He was so influential that he was the first African American to be nominated as the Vice President of the United States, but he was too young to serve the position and withdrew his name. He served eleven years as Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP, an organization that fights for civil rights for minorities. Julian Bond was a necessary asset to the Civil Rights Movement.
Eighth graders in Georgia are required to learn about the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a peaceful civil rights group made up of college students. In order to fully grasp the subject, students should also be required to learn about the accomplishments of SNCC and the people who contributed to its cause. In 1960, Julian Bond founded the Morehouse College chapter of SNCC. He then went on to serve as its communications director for five years. Bond was an integral part of SNCC, and students should be able to recognize his contributions to the committee.
Like Bond, John Lewis contributed his life to civil rights, and is still active in government today.
He led the demonstration known as “Bloody Sunday,” which was a highly publicized march that was subject to police brutality and led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1965. He led the Voter Education Project (VEP), an organization that provided information about voting and encouraged black people to vote. His leadership added several million minorities to the voter rolls. Lewis defied segregation on public transportation and became one of the original thirteen Freedom Riders. He is currently a Georgia Representative and has been for nearly thirty years.
John Lewis is connected to many of the Georgia Studies objectives, yet he is not one himself. He is considered one of the “Big Six” civil rights activists, along with Martin Luther King, Jr. He assisted in the planning of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and made a speech there as well. He is one of the founders of SNCC, and he was their chairperson from 1963 until 1966. As their leader, he organized voter registrations and community action programs, among other things. Lewis is tied to a number of events and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, and should be included in the state
curriculum.
One could compare John Lewis to Ellis Arnall, the former governor of Atlanta, because they supported many of the same issues while in office.
Both supported education: John Lewis sought to improve all education, and Ellis Arnall improved state colleges. They both made great strides to improve the economy. Lewis made measures to end poverty, while Arnall paid off the state’s debt and made it easier and more rewarding for teachers to retire. Both leaders supported the right for everyone to vote; Arnall repealed the poll tax and Lewis ensured multiple renewals of the Voting Rights Act. John Lewis made many of the same points in office as Ellis Arnall did, yet he is not in the state curriculum like Arnall
is.
The state of Georgia does not believe that eighth graders should learn about John Lewis and Julian Bond, activists pertinent to the Civil Rights Movement, yet they include several irrelevant people and topics in the curriculum. Students are required to know about Rebecca Latimer Felton, the first female senator. Though her title sounds wonderful, in reality, she is not as significant as she is made out to be; she only served in the Senate for one day, and many people speculate that she was only put in office to appease newly enfranchised women. Furthermore, she was a terrible racist; she was quoted saying that in order to protect women from being raped by black men, people should “lynch a thousand a week.” Rebecca Latimer Felton is not as relevant as Bond and Lewis, and she sets a bad example for children. Eighth graders are also required to “explain the impact of the Holocaust on Georgians,” even though there was hardly any impact.
Georgia’s eighth graders need to learn about the Civil Rights Movement. In order to fully understand it, they need to learn about every prominent member and their contributions. However, they are not doing so; Julian Bond and John Lewis, two very important activists, are not included in the Georgia Studies curriculum. There are several parts of the curriculum that seem irrelevant and should be replaced by something or someone of meaning. Based on their tireless efforts for the Civil Rights Movement, John Lewis and Julian Bond need to be included in Georgia’s curriculum.