天美传媒

"Taking a Stand": Civil Liberties Then and Now

鈥淭aking a Stand: Civil Liberties Then and Now 鈥� offers secondary teachers and their students a way to make the issues of civil liberties and violations of civil liberties a part of their own experience. Rather than just reading about events in a book or online, a series of primary source lessons will allow students of the Inland Empire to discover that 鈥渉istory鈥� and a denial of civil liberties is not something that happens 鈥渙ver there鈥� but something that has taken place 鈥渋n your own backyard.鈥� 聽When civil liberties are denied, individuals find they must 鈥渢ake a stand鈥� and that can be difficult or even dangerous at times. In the United States, civil liberties are based on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, just as the idea of 鈥渆quality for all鈥� is in the Declaration of Independence. This program introduces highlights the interaction between ethnic diversity and civil liberties: human dignity, immigrant inclusion, racial equity, smart justice, and indigenous rights. The modules and the accompanying website discuss ethnic groups identifying as persons of Asian ancestry, Hispanic ancestry, Native American ancestry, African ancestry, 聽as well as gender-based discrimination. Case studies describe the experiences of each population to enhance contemporary discussions of civil liberties today and historical ethnic studies. Each of the five topics includes biographies and lesson plans, for classroom work and/or a field trip to local sites.

Hispanics: Migrations

Photo: Mexican mother in California. "Sometimes I tell my children that I would like to go to Mexico, but they tell me 'We don't want to go, we belong here,'" from

African Americans: From Slavery to Homesteaders

Photo: Unidentified Buffalo soldier, 10th Cavalry, United States Army, from

Indians: Accommodation and Resistance

Photo: Modern hut of mission Indians in Coahuila valley, 1890, from Popular Science Monthly Volume 37, Public domain, from

Woman: The Social Hygiene Movement

Photo: Sex hygiene and false modesty, from Public Domain, via

Japanese: Nisei Rights

Photo: A young Japanese-American child leans out of a window as residents of the Poston War Relocation Center are leaving after three years of internment, from Public domain, via
Cover Photo: 聽 聽from Wikimedia Commons
Project by 天美传媒 History Department
60 West Olsen Rd
Thousand Oaks, California 91360
Content by Dr. Michaela Reaves
Funded by the California State Library Public Education Grant
Website by River and Dakota Shelton, Class of 2018 and 2019