We started today talking about the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. It’s important that we continue to think about how our first amendment freedoms apply beyond our borders. These protests are being led by high school and college students halfway around the globe. We watched a news clip from CNN showing the police tear gassing protesters.
The next part of class I passed back the test on the Constitution. We went over the correct answers, and I explained the “test correction” process that will allow you to get back ¾ of the missing points from the test. Many people lost points due to not fully answering the questions. I have now posted the test itself online that you can use to "cut and paste" questions for your putting together your test corrections. Here is the article that for the reading analysis question. Test corrections are due next Tuesday, October 7th.
After break we watched another clip from out free speech video, Shouting Fire, this one on the court battle over the Nazi party marching in Skokie, Illinois. We naturally frown upon the government restricting assembly when it comes to the battle for civil rights. But what about protecting these rights for people who have shameful views? The American Civil Liberties Union feels that we have to protect these rights for everyone for them to mean anything. The video talked about how they represented the Nazi party in their battle to march in this case.
We ended this section with everyone blogging about what the freedom of assembly means to them, how they interact with or experience this freedom.
The second half of class was spent working in issue groups. Each group walked out with a strategy that they would pursue to create their desired change. This drew upon the organizing handouts from Monday. This is the last major group decision that you will have to make before the presentation, which will now be next Wednesday.
Assignment for Wednesday, October 1st
Keep working on issue group presentation