SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – In the late 1950s and early 1960s the NAACP faced the “Red Scare” when many politicians and civic leaders believed communists were everywhere in the United States. Because the NAACP influenced many activists, particularly in the South, Congress became paranoid and began to believe the NAACP was a communist organization. As a result, the NAACP was outlawed.

As a result of the demonization of the NAACP, organizations were formed to escape the “communist” label. Many of these organizations had the same leadership as the NAACP

Forefront organizations of this reactionary movement were the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the United Christian Movement (UCM), founded in Shreveport. Black activists and their white supporters understood that change needed to come from within local communities. Leaders in the movement believed that improvement could not be forced from outside.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that ordinary citizens must be engaged in economics, politics, and education. Southern states did all they could to avoid the forced integration of schools, local and regional buses, restaurants, and public spaces. Some White, Southern politicians also worked to deprive others of the right to vote.

Voting issues date back to the Reconstruction Era in the South, when White politicians had full reign within their power base to keep people from voting through various means. Among those means were poll taxes and literacy tests.

Then came 1954. The SCLC undertook a massive program to teach black citizens how to become a force in elections. Much of their effort was secretive because they were still being harassed in the South.

When John F. Kennedy won the presidency and took office in 1961, he made his brother Robert the Attorney General of the United States. Many Civil Rights Movement leaders were young and gravitated toward Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers realized there was a powerful force in these unregistered masses of adults. At the same time, the SCLC planned methods to bring these millions of potential voters into the system.

The plan was to train people who would then instruct locals on the simplicity of registering to vote, and literacy tests became the most significant impediment. A poor white person could go into the registrar of voters office in any parish or county and ask to register to vote. If the clerk of court or the registrar voters deemed that person unworthy, they were denied. If a poor white farmer came in and perhaps could not read, but the officials knew the person, they would easily be added to the voter rolls. However, most poor Blacks had to take literacy tests, which were constructed to prevent anyone from passing.

Literacy test examples

Literacy tests included questions like ” How many bubbles are in a bar of soap,” and “how high is up?” The tests specialized in questions that couldn’t be answered.

That’s where the new movement came in. If voters considered themselves equal citizens and “first-class citizens,” accountable to no one for anything except the rights granted by their forefathers, then the first step in fixing the literacy test issue was for voters to present themselves as educated men and women. They must be able to read and write and be polite. They must master at least simple mathematics. Whole neighborhoods must be organized in ways that show commonality.

The SCLC created a workbook of less than 30 pages to teach people with low incomes how to be citizens. It was hoped that, in the hands of trained leaders, this would create waves of new voters.

The Citizenship Workbook was a huge success, and the effort brought freedom writers and legal cases aimed at forced desegregation across southern society.

The Citizenship Workbook listed the SCLC leaders: Martin Luther King Jr., president; Wyatt Tee Walker, executive director; Reverend Ralph Abernathy, treasurer; and Gould Maynard, public relations director. Not listed was the Shreveport dentist C.O. Simpkins, who was vice president of the SCLC and the president of the UCM.

The voter registration project listed very well-known people then and now. Jay Odell was the staff consultant. Others were listed in the workbook, too, such as Shreveport’s Reverend Harry Blake, James Beville of Mississippi, Herbert Colton of Virginia, Bernard Lee as student liaison, J.H. Calhoun of Georgia, and Fred Bennett of Georgia.

The Citizenship Education Program cooperated with the American Missionary Association, Division of Congregational Christian Churches. Churches provided the spaces in which workshops were held. It was challenging, although not impossible, for local authorities to target churches, but the Ku Klux Klan dynamited several churches, including in Shreveport.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the forward to the workbook.

One of the primary weapons in the fight against prejudice and loss of human rights is education, and the fine edge of that weapon is understanding.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Citizenship program was designed to educate citizens about how our government is run and to help them meet voting requirements. The program helped adults help themselves by learning how to solve community problems. Reading and writing skills were also taught as invaluable lessons.

Citizenship Schools

Citizenship Schools were so organized that people who lacked literacy skills could acquire them quickly.

The Citizenship Workbook defined the purpose of the citizenship schools for adults. They believed that literacy would enable students to pass literacy tests for voting. Community development, which includes housing, recreation, health, and improved home life, was also a focus of the workbook. Specific subjects were emphasized, such as safe driving, social security, cooperatives, income taxes, tax-supported resources such as water testing for wells and aid for handicapped children, and the structure and function of local and national government.

The Citizenship Schools provided a service that was not available through any other private or public program at the present time. They were open to all people of any community who faced problems related to first-class citizenship and wanted to do something about their situations.

About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The workbook and the movement

The movement, at its core, became rooted in religion by engaging poor Blacks, wealthier Blacks, and God-fearing, church-going members of society. The statements in the workbook were, and are, powerful testaments.

The first topic set the tone for why people must be involved.

The Bible And The Ballot

The following is taken directly from the workbook:

“The first words of Jesus’ public ministry were: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he has anointed me to preach Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives… To set at liberty those who are oppressed, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18) It was believed that the movement was Jesus’ work and therefore it was the work of those who followed Jesus.

“We are to release the captives of this segregated society, and bring liberty to those who are oppressed. We must preach the good news of equality and brotherhood to the poor. The time is ready for all God’s children to learn to live together in peace and justice. In America we change things through the ballot. The Constitution allows each man a vote for what he thinks to be the right way. In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was passed which gave all men the right to vote, regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude. Now if we want justice, freedom, peace, and equal rights, we must vote for people who will consider these things important. Every election is a chance to vote for good. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This world can be more like God’s Kingdom if men 6 Ibid., page 3. will learn to care for the poor and needy: If we can help to feed the hungry in other lands and ours; if each is concerned about the well-being of his neighbor and if each votes for persons who share these same human ideals. The ballot is in our hands, to vote for good for all mankind.

“Discuss the following questions: 1. What would happen in your community if faith in God was put aside and violence took over? 2. If you are not registered to vote, do you think you are doing justice to yourself and your fellow man?7 Among the concepts that the workbook encouraged were basic literacy and social accountability. A prospective voter must be able to read and comprehend what officials tell them.“

Review your reading, improve your writing

Long before phonetics became a way to teach people, when many in the South were illiterate or semiliterate, the workbook described a sound chart of things that are second nature to us. These were taught on a rudimentary level.

“How does a hard “P” sound? You show a capital “P” next to a pig drawing. How do you say a “TH” sound? Beside it is the number three.“

The workbook was an amazing document. The “N” sound was shown with a needle; a “TR” sound showed a tree, a hard “G” a goat, a “J” a jar, and “Z” showed a zipper.

Students were taught to make words out of the alphabet and use them in sentences and stories. They progressed using each letter in a list of words that begin with a “B” – bell, bundle, and basket. More complex concepts came next – “G” – Georgia, government, governor, and general.

Latin words were mixed in because the concepts were needed in legal issues: habeas corpus and easy words like household.

J listed judicial, jurors, judge, judgment, and justice. When necessary, the lists became more difficult.

“L” listed labor, law, legislative, and legal. “M” used magistrate, mayor, misdemeanor, and motivation.

These concepts could confuse the illiterate.

“Z” brought complex ideas – zone, zoning, and zero.

Next came practices making little words from “registration.” How many words could someone come up with from a single word?

Then there was a list of words, some simple and some more complex. The students were tasked to use some of the words in their vocabulary to make sentences.

The workbook used the word government to make sentences out of the words. For example, “The men had to move over to make room for me on the bench” taught basic grammar and instilled that you do not have to move from your seat for anyone.

 “In the last term of office, the mayor appointed Alderman to the newly made districts.” This particular sentence taught how voting works and how the government operates.

Once students mastered such concepts, teachers focused on proper handwriting.

First-rate handwriting for first-class citizens

In the workbook, writing was reduced to a basic level. Cursive letters were shown in both capital and lowercase forms. Students replicated the shape to form each letter. Students then moved to practical tasks.

Correspondence included form and style. Students were taught how to write a friendly letter. The workbook contained examples of complex forms that students would encounter and their purpose. For instance, a money order form could be confusing to someone who is learning to read. Literacy tests and common banking transactions required at least some knowledge of mathematics.

The workbook used examples of simple arithmetic – adding and subtracting numbers, multiplication and division, and working with money to make bank deposits and to return change. Word problems and complex fractions were also covered.

The Citizenship Workbook stressed life skills and admonished those who complained.

“We go to the store, we count our change, we pay insurance or receive welfare benefits. All these things require arithmetic. Let us learn to count our blessings as we become First Class Citizens.“

Word problems were not abstract.

“Ten students were arrested in the sit-in movement and were fined $75.00 a piece. How much fine was paid?“

Social Security

The workbook also emphasized practical knowledge. Older students knew about social security, and younger people needed to understand it.

“Your social security card is the key to your social security account. It is important to you. Your card shows you have an insurance account with the United States Government. Your account is a record of the pay you receive which counts towards old age and survivors insurance benefits. The size of benefits will depend upon the amount of wages credited to your account.“

Good Manners

King’s firmly held beliefs in nonviolence became obvious in instruction modules. Politeness, social graces, and patriotism were all central tenets. Such teachings served multiple purposes. Students’ self-esteem issues were elevated. Meetings displayed decorum. Accusations of the Civil Rights Movement being a communist front were thwarted. Even good manners were taught, which was helpful in non-violent communication.

“When other people are talking, I listen. Harry likes me to listen when he talks. Sue likes me to listen when she talks. One has good manners if he listens when others talk. When I talk I want other people to hear me. I talk about things my friends are interested in. I speak so that everyone can understand me. It is not polite to do all the talking. Everyone likes to talk some. My friends like to tell me about their jobs. They like to discuss their community problems with me. I like to tell them about by job and my children… When your friend is talking, do not interrupt. It is not polite to interrupt. Everyone likes people to listen when he talks.“

The Power of Non-Violence

Dr. King patterned his beliefs from Mahatma Gandhi. Non-violence went against the teachings of early civil rights figures, particularly Nat Turner.

Although written in the third person, the following section in the workbook reads like one of King’s sermons.

“When Jesus said, “If a man smite thee on one cheek, turn to him the other also,” he was introducing mankind to a new way of life–a way of life which overcomes evil through love. This simple New Testament truth was put into practice by Mahatma Gandhi in India. Under his leadership, the Indian people won their freedom from the British without firing a shot. Their weapon was moral force, or truth force as Gandhi called it. The idea of non-violence first received widespread attention in the United States when a young Baptist minister, The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., led the people of Montgomery, Alabama in a non-violent protest against discourtesy and segregation on the busses of that city. These people walked to work for 381 days to demonstrate the fact that they were tired of being cursed and abused on the busses. Though their homes and churches were bombed, though they were thrown into prison, they did not strike back. They won the respect of the entire world and 20 Ibid. many of their oppressors, because they refused to be dragged down to the level of animal hatred and violence. During all these months they demonstrated that one may overcome an enemy through love and transform him into a friend. If a man returns evil for evil, one bad deed leads to another until one enemy is destroyed. We have no desire to destroy those who oppress us, we want them to understand and respect us. Therefore we take it upon ourselves to love them no matter what they do to us. We will not give in, nor will we attempt to do violence to them. Soon we see that our enemies begin to see our side of the story. When we don’t fight back, they are forced to think about why we don’t. This is the beginning of understanding. Understanding is the stepping stone to true brotherhood.“

Additional workbook lessons

The workbook detailed what happened during the century since slavery ended. The section described the unfinished saga by explaining, in simple terms, African American history. Subjects taught in the workbook were: One Hundred Years From Slavery, Chrispus Attucks, Sodjourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Mary McCleod Bethune.

Suggested steps for a neighborhood block party were even introduced to citizens through the workbook.

“Have a meeting at your home to help your neighbors to understand the importance of voting, how to register, and where to register. 1. Invite every adult on your street, from corner to corner (In rural communities, select all houses within walking distance) to come to your home for an evening of information and fellowship. 2. Have Voter Registration information and material on hand. 3. Have someone there who can talk on why, how and where to register. 4. Following speaker, have a discussion on some of your community problems and how voting can help solve them. 5. Tell why your block should have 100% voters. 6. Plan a meeting for the next week to give help to each other. (If possible, arrange to start a Citizenship School.) 7. Plan trips to take people down to register when they are ready. 8. Have someone contact the persons who did not show up at the meeting.“

The final pages of the Citizenship Workbook were “Freedom Songs To Sing.”

Songs included were: We Shall Overcome, Oh, Freedom, Woke Up This Morning, Keep Your Eye on the Prize, The Hammer Song, Wade in the Water, Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel, Done Made My Vow to Be Free, We Are Soldiers in the Army.

The workbook was primary education, and it was extremely important. Each page had something that you wanted and needed to do. But this SCLC was teaching much more than a workbook, more than a manual. King and others in the movement were using the Citizenship Workbooks to teach people how to be first-class citizens.

One last thing: these workbooks were not meant to last. They were never printed on good paper. The workbooks were impermanent, meant to be written in and discarded. You used the workbook, and then you were done. You moved on to something else.

And because these workbooks were used and then thrown away, very few copies remain. There may be some in someone’s attic, but even the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of African-American Heritage and Culture has found them difficult to find. They only have one copy.

One. Copy.

And you’ve just read a portion of it.