The Civil Rights Movement in the American Media

About this Taster Session

The Civil Rights Movement involved many different forms of protest against racial inequality and prejudice, including marches, demonstrations, petitions, and boycotts. We often think of Civil Rights activism in terms of physical spaces—the March on Washington, university sit-ins, or the arrival of students at Little Rock Central High School. However, most Americans, and certainly citizens in the North, encountered the struggle through the media. The media itself was a battleground for the Civil Rights Movement and its opponents. In this interactive workshop, you will explore two famous events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama—the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956 and the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham in 1963. You will study selected media articles, photographs, and newsreel footage. How did the media portray the protagonists, such as Rosa Parks or MLK? What can we learn about the different editorial agendas of publications or news agencies from examining their portrayals of the Movement? How might looking at these stories from the time change your appreciation of the popular myths of the Movement?

Key topics covered

• American History
• Civil Rights
• Injustice
• Media

How do I book?

If you would like to book a session, please email SCL@hull.ac.uk

Also available for pre-16 students

This session can also be adapted for pre-16 students