Teaching the History of Voting Rights in the USA

Before the election, we wanted to focus on something other than the actual candidates as many students (and teachers, including me) were feeling so stressed about the outcome. So we learned about the history of voting rights in the United States of America. We started, as we so often do, by reading a picture book to the students. We read Granddaddy’s Turn, A Journey to the Ballot Box and talked about what we knew and what we could infer about Grandaddy and the narrator. 

In this excellent book by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, a young boy goes with his grandfather to vote shortly after the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. It appears that they are in the rural South. The narrator’s grandfather is dressed up and has waited a long time to be able to vote. However, they are turned away and disrespected. Granddaddy is told he needs to read a complex text, and when he cannot, his ballot is taken away and ripped up. His grandson (the narrator) is shocked and devastated to witness this and see tears in his grandfather’s eyes. Later, when the narrator is older, he votes for the first time, and takes a picture of his grandfather with him.

Our students were so upset about what happened to Grandaddy and felt both happy and sad when the narrator was able to vote and did so with a picture of his granddaddy with him. They also had questions about if it was still like this for some Black people when they vote. To answer this question and provide some historical background, we used this history of voting rights titled Who Got the Right to Vote When? from Aljazeera. It has images and a useful list on the left side titled “Able to Vote” (in 1776, only “white property owners” are listed in green). 

Our students are in 3rd grade, so we could not use every listing on the timeline as it would be too lengthy and overwhelming, but instead focused on some important dates and images. As 3rd graders are very concrete and don’t always understand relative units of time (10 years ago and 50 years ago don’t always feel that different to them without any context), we tried to give context by saying this might have been in your parents/grandparents lifetimes. I used my parents, who immigrated from India in1975 and are now US citizens, as examples as well, especially as we talked about how who could become or was considered a citizen tied into voting rights as well. 

The literacy test Granddaddy encountered was one example of disenfranchisement tactics, and we also told students about poll taxes, voter ID laws, intimidation, and decreased access to polls (closing polling places or limiting the number of polling places in certain counties). We also talked about voting by mail and early voting as those are two ways many people in our community voted this past year due to the pandemic (DC and Maryland both have early voting and DC sent mail in ballots to all registered voters). 

Some questions to talk about with students: 

Why do we vote?

Who should have the right to vote?

Who has always had the right to vote? How does that compare to voting rights today? 

How do people vote?

How can the US government make voting more accessible for everyone? What could we do to help?

What barriers still exist to voting today?

After the horrendous attack on our democracy last week, as we get ready to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as we lead up to Inauguration Day on January 20th, critically examining voting rights through America’s history and today feels more relevant than ever. It’s also something tangible that students can relate to as who doesn’t want to have their voice heard? Children also can understand what it is like to feel silenced or without a say. 

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Observing MLK Day in the Classroom

Every year, when we have a long weekend for Martin Luther King, Jr. day, we wonder how to address the holiday. Issues of inequality cannot simply be explained and dismissed in one day, and simplistic or one-dimensional descriptions of Dr. King don’t do him justice. We also try to incorporate social justice education into our classroom everyday, as oppression, prejudice, and discrimination are always relevant to teaching and learning about the world.

We often find that our students think that racism and segregation were a problem, and Dr. King “fixed” that problem and everyone is equal now. They make statements about how everyone is equal now and Dr. King caused that through nonviolence and an inspiring speech. So we start by asking students what they know about Dr. King. Younger students in particular focus on the fact that he was shot (and yet still fixate on nonviolence when recalling the Civil Rights movement). This year, we heard a lot about his “I Have a Dream” speech and the fact that it took place here in Washington, DC, as well as the usual answers about how he spoke and acted against racism and wanted equality for all people.

We wanted to take a closer look at his “I Have a Dream Speech” as it is something students seem to have been hearing about for years, so it is very familiar to them. It’s also helpful context that it occured in Washington, DC. Third graders (like all of us) benefit from background information and contextual knowledge, especially when studying events that happened in the past. We also wanted to take a closer look at Dr. King’s speech as it is often referenced in the simplistic or one dimensional discussions and portrayals of Dr. King in our media and society.

So we gave each student a copy of his “I Have a Dream” speech. We used Newsela’s Primary Sources resource (which we recommend all Social Studies teachers use often!) so it was adapted to be at a 3rd grade reading level. We had students read the speech and indicate what they agreed with or had questions about. We also listened to and watched this excerpt from his speech so students could hear Dr. King’s voice instead of a different version or interpretation of it.

Finally, we talked to our students about how Dr. King’s dream is still relevant today on a variety of levels. In the past, students have told us that his dream was realized or “mostly accomplished,” but with our current political climate, more of our students are aware of the existence of racism, injustice, and inequality than ever. When President Obama was in office, we had students share variations of the idea that racism was “fixed” because we had a black president. Our current president has demonstrated to our students how racism is not “fixed” and is as pervasive as ever. However, they still benefited from a discussion of injustice and lack of equal opportunities to help push their thinking about equality (or equity) and how it is so much more than white and black children “being friends.”

We ended by reminding our students that we are all complex humans, and one day is not nearly enough to learn about someone’s life and beliefs. We are moving into a study of biographies and will have more opportunities to learn about many inspiring humans and their multifaceted beliefs and causes.

How do you commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in your classroom? Do you hear similar statements about racism being a past problem from your students (or other adults)? We’d love to hear about it.

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