Document Discussion Guide

Read each text out loud to your group. For each text, discuss and answer the following questions:

  1. Who wrote this text? When? For what purpose and what audience?
  2. Based on this document, how did this person (or these people) feel about civil rights?
  3. Why do you think this person (or these people) felt that way?
  4. What aspects of his/her/their identity do you think motivated him/her/them?
  5. What experiences do you think motivated him/her/them?
  6. What does this person (or these people) have to say about Jews' relationship to the Civil Rights Movement?

For any photographs in your packet, spend some time looking closely at the image. Then discuss and answer the following questions:

  1. What's going on in this photograph?
  2. What do you see that makes you say that?
  3. What is your gut reaction or emotional response to this photo?
  4. What about this photograph makes you feel that way?
  5. If you were a Jew considering getting involved in the Civil Rights Movement, how might a scene like this influence your decision?
  6. Who do you think took this photograph, and for what purpose and audience?

After examining and discussing all the documents in your packet, fill in the following lists:

Some Reasons Why Jews Supported Civil Rights Some Reasons Why Jews Didn't Support Civil Rights
















Things that made civil rights or being involved in the Civil Rights Movement complicated for Jews








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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Document Discussion Guide." (Viewed on April 19, 2024) <http://jwa.org/node/11743>.