Massive Resistance and School Integration: Social Ramifications in Virginia

Author: Matthew Cookus

School: Banneker Elementary

Grade Level: 4th

Time Estimated: 2 days (60 minute periods)

Overview

In this lesson students will examine how the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision gave rise to the Massive Resistance Movement in Virginia. Students will discover how the Massive Resistance Movement sought to stop the ordered integration of public schools in Virginia mandated by the Brown decision and analyze the social ramifications on both the whites and blacks in Virginia. This lesson focuses mainly on the events surrounding the integration of public schools in Virginia. Students will analyze political cartoons and other primary source documents from the Massive Resistance Movement era in order to interpret the ideas and events from different historical perspectives.

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