The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement - (Perspectives Flip Books) by Nadia Higgins (Paperback)

About the Book

"Describes the opposing viewpoints of those supporting and those opposing the civil rights movement in the United States"--

Book Synopsis

In the 1950s, a black man in the South was expected to lower his eyes when he passed a white man on the street. African-American and white citizens attended separate schools, restaurants, and parks. They were even buried in separate graveyards. That was how traditional Southern society had been for more than 300 years but times were changing. Civil rights workers were demanding equal rights for blacks. The nonviolent activists boycotted buses, flouted Jim Crow laws, staged marches, and filled up jails by the dozen. Meanwhile, the Klu Klux Klan and other white segregationists retaliated with their own protests, harsher laws, and increasingly violent attacks. The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement brings alive both sides of the civil rights movement. Learn about key figures and the strategies of the movement. Then flip the book for the lesser-known story of the segregationists and the motives that spurred their actions.

Review Quotes

Here's a fascinating two-pronged perspective on the Civil Rights movement beginning in the mid-1950s: the activists', initiating with the lynching in 1955 of Emmett Till; and the segregationists', starting with the Ku Klux Klan's reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling on Brown v. Board of Education. The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement doesn't make for light reading, but even for kids, the important issues never do (ages 9-14).-- "Working Mother"

Readers are able to understand the conflict by reading separately the point of view of segregationists and politicians who took advantage of the fears of local voters and then the point of view of those who wanted to make change through voter registration drives and education. Although the accounts of the important protests, walks, and boycotts are brief, readers can use the text and photographs to get a sense of the place and time and ponder the events that lead to social change as well as the resistance that tries to counter that change.-- "Reading Online Today"

This book surely provides a succinct but rich accounting of the history of Civil Right Movement.-- "Reading Today Online"