Lesson Plan, Article, Video South Asian Influence on the Civil Rights Movement
- Grade Level 6th-12th Grade
- Time Period 1950 - 1969
Introduction
While many may be familiar with Mahatma Gandhi’s influence on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the history of the impact of South Asians on the Civil Rights Movement is largely untold. In this lesson, students will explore historical examples of South Asian American immigrants whose writing and ideas influenced civil rights activists. Students will consider how ideas about nonviolence shaped civil rights political strategy in the United States.
In this lesson, students will explore historical examples of South Asian American immigrants whose writing and ideas influenced civil rights activists. Students will consider how ideas about nonviolence shaped civil rights political strategy in the United States.
Lesson Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Examine the influence of South Asian immigrants on the formation and political strategy of the Civil Rights Movement
- Identify historical examples of how South Asian individuals influenced civil rights leaders, and consider why this history is not well-known
Essential Questions
How did Manmatha Nath Chatterjee and Krishnalal Shridharani, two South Asian American activists, influence the Black-led Civil Rights Movement?
How did Shridharani’s activism in India influence his thinking and writing in the United States?
How did the concept of nonviolence fit into both the Indian struggle for independence from British colonization and the Black struggle for equal rights in the United States?
Why do you think Mahatma Gandhi’s influence on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is well-known, but the influence of other South Asian thinkers, such as Chatterjee and Shridharani, is less known?