Freedom Summer

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The Civil Rights Movement is still a long operation that is continuing today. The South is known as the main place where racism is still strong, but many people don’t know about Freedom Summer. Freedom Summer occurred during the summer of 1964 in the South, largely in Mississippi. The Event was meant to help the African American population of the state gain the confidence to vote. Though African Americans made up a large portion of the population, only about 7 percent of available black voters were registered by 1962 in Mississippi. Slavery had been abolished for the longest time, but blacks were still treated as though they were below the whites. Two African American teachers at black schools sadi that they would be fired if they even attempted to teach the U.S. Constitution. Finally, the idea of Freedom Summer was proposed by Robert Moses, and Charles Cobb, a black man born in Washington, D.C., suggested that reforming education in Mississippi should be included in the project. …show more content…

In June 1964, many college students from the north, like Fred Bright Winn, came to Mississippi to help with the schools. Students ranging from kindergarten age to seniors attended. Schedules included core classes like “Freedom and the Negro in America” and English. Electives included: History, Government, Current Events, LIterature, Foreign Languages, Math, Science, Art. There were also clubs: Newspaper, Typing, Music, Sports, Drama, Public Speaking. The curriculum was based on six questions: Why are we here? What does the majority culture have that we want? What is the freedom movement? What alternatives does the Freedom Movement offer us? What does the Majority Culture have that we don’t want? What do we want to keep? Overall, the schools proved to be successful and the rate of African American voters

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