Attacks on African Americans

Attacks on African Americans

Aim: What were the lasting effects of Reconstruction?

Objective: Students analyze a variety of images to identify and evaluate the lasting effects of Reconstruction on African Americans and the United States.

CCLS Standards Addressed: RH 6-8. 1, 2, 4, 6

Directions- First look at the picture below and answer the 4 questions that follow. Afterward, you will learn about the SIGHT strategy and choose one of the three documents given to you to analyze and answer the SIGHT questions.

“If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid.”—Paulo Coelho

New-York Illustrated News, July 25, 1863 Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society

1. What is meant by the quote? Explain

What this quote means is like ur torturing this person in front of hundreds of people.

2. How does the issue of control come through in the image?

The issue of control is that the man that is being hanged is helpless, and the people with weapons control the situation.

3. What questions does it raise? The questions that are raise are why is this man is being tortured or like what are we these men attacking this helpless man.

4. How might the quote and image be connected?

The quote and image are very alike comparing the words with the imagine with this man being tortured by other men with weapons.

S. Scan for important details

I. Identify the conflict or tension

G. Guess the creator’s intent or message

H. Hear the voices

T. Talk about your observations

Using the S.I.G.H.T. Strategy

S. Scan for important details- I see a bunch of unarmed black people being shot by white people in New Orleans. Some of them are trying to climb the fence while they are being shot at.

I. Identify the conflict or tension- Based on the caption on the bottom, it tells me that this conflict took place in New Orleans because it says, “The Riot in New Orleans- Murdering Negroes in the Rear of Mechanics’ Institute.”

G. Guess the creator’s intent or message- The creator’s intent is to show that even after the Civil War was over and slaves were considered to be officially free, there was still a lot of violence against them. For many former slaves, life was more dangerous once they were freed.

H. Hear the voices- Although there is no dialogue in this picture we could imagine that the black people in the picture might be saying, “If this is freedom then I would rather be a slave.”

T. Talk or write about your observations- I can observe from the picture that life was more dangerous for black people after slavery. I can infer this from the picture because white people had no use for them if they were no longer slaves. I can also infer that white people were more likely to get away with this behavior because they were most likely not going to be arrested for killing blacks.

Background Information for S.I.G.H.T. Strategy

S. Scan for important details

Students often direct their attention to the most dramatic or seemingly central aspect of an image. For example, when shown a photo or drawing of a lynching, students inevitably focus on the body. We need to help them see more—to note the smiling faces in the crowd, the public square setting, and the presence of children and prominent citizens. To accomplish this goal, provide students with ample time and urge them to compile a list of significant clues, details, symbols, colors, characters, and layout choices. Ask them also to identify things they don’t understand.

I. Identify the conflict or tension

What problematic idea or controversial issue is being addressed in the image? Sometimes the conflict or tension is obvious, as in the case of a 1912 political cartoon that opposes women’s suffrage. Sometimes it’s more subtle, like a Lewis Hine photograph of a young child laborer standing amidst a vast complex of industrial machinery. In other instances, the conflict emanates from beyond the image and its creator, as in the case of the criticism by many African Americans of the depiction of a kneeling slave in the Freedman’s Memorial Monument (1876) statue in Capitol Hill.

G. Guess the creator’s intent or message

What is his or her opinion? What is his or her goal in creating this image? For example, if students are examining an 1850s drawing of a slave auction, they should speculate on the artist’s position on the slavery question. Is the artist an Abolitionist? A defender of slavery? Neutral? How can the viewer tell?

H. Hear the voices Many images present scenes in which dialogue is spoken. Ask your students to consider the ideas, issues, problems, and controversies the characters are discussing. Have them speculate on the attitudes and opinions being voiced. When using an image in which there is no dialogue, ask your students to consider the

voice of the creator. Ask them to write a caption that expresses this voice.

T. Talk about your observations

It is important for students to unpack the images themselves and discuss their findings. The teacher facilitates this discussion while collecting students’ ideas and charting them so that knowledge and understanding are recorded and shared. The teacher might support students by raising key details at first and gradually releasing responsibility for discussion to students.

SIGHT Strategy Document Used-

S. Scan for important details

I. Identify the conflict or tension

G. Guess the creator’s intent or message

H. Hear the voices

T. Talk about your observations