Unit 12 5: How We Will Learn

Background Story

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for a peaceful protest against segregation in Birmingham. Some white church leaders told him to wait and use the courts, but Rev. Dr. King said waiting was not fair because Black people had been treated unfairly for too long.

In the letter, Rev. Dr. King used ideas from a philosopher named Martin Buber. Buber said there are two ways people treat others:

• I-You: You see the other person as human and equal.
• I-It: You treat the other person like a thing, not a human.

It has been said that President Lyndon Johnson once told his Black driver, Mr. Parker, to “pretend you are a piece of furniture” when people called him bad names. He said Mr. Parker should let the bad names “roll off your back like water, and you’ll make it. Just pretend you’re a piece of furniture.” This showed that he didn’t see Parker as an equal human, but rather as an object.

Learning Activities

1. Do Now (5 minutes)
   Answer this question in your notebook:
   • What makes you and everyone else human?

2. Teacher’s Lesson

1. • Show a short slideshow explaining how Dr. King used Buber’s ideas.
   • Give students the 5th-grade excerpt of the Letter from Birmingham Jail
   • Show what an I-You relationship looks like (using you and a friend as an example).
   • Show what an I-It relationship looks like (using you and your desk as an example).
   • Explain how segregation made Black people be treated like “Its” instead of “Yous.”
   • Show the slide about President Johnson and explain how he treated Mr. Parker as an “It.”

3. Class Discussion (Guided Practice)

1. • Can someone who treats others like an “It” treat others as an equal?
   • Why do people treat others as less than human?
   • How did President Johnson treat Mr. Parker?
   • Do we see people treating others as if they are an “It” today?
   • Can you think of a time a friend treated someone as an “It”?
   • What needs to change to treat everyone as a “You”?

4. Homework
   Write three paragraphs:
   1. Explain the difference between an I-You and an I-It relationship.
   2. Say if you think President Johnson treated Black people with dignity.
   3. Explain how you will treat others as a “You.”

5. Time Plan: This lesson will take one 45-minute class.

Resources

• Letters to a Birmingham Jail
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Study Guide
• The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute
  
• Gospel of Freedom by Jonathan Rieder

Alternative – Hands-on lesson

1. Do Now (5 minutes) – Quick Write & Share
   Question: “What makes you and everyone else human?”
   
   • Write one sentence in your notebook.
   • Pair up with a buddy and share your answers.
   • Volunteers share aloud.

2. Direct Teaching with Interaction

1. 1. The teacher shows a three-slide PowerPoint with Rev. Dr. King’s ideas from the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
   2. The teacher acts out examples:
      1. Pretend to talk kindly and with respect to a student (I-You).
      2. Pretend to talk to a desk as if it were just an object (I-It).

3. Student Pair Activity:
   • Turn to your partner and greet them kindly (I-You).
   • Now, pretend your partner is a chair or pencil—how would you act differently? (I-It).:

4. Class Talk:
   
   1. “How did it feel when someone treated you like a ‘You’?”
   2. “How did it feel to be treated like an ‘It’?”
      • Teacher explains that segregation treated Black people as “Its” instead of “You.”
      • Teacher shows the quote from President Johnson and explains it.

5. Interactive Discussion
   Think-Pair-Share:

1. 1. Why would calling someone a piece of furniture be disrespectful?
   2. Can someone who treats people like an “It” really see them as equals?
   3. Do we see people treated like an “It” today?
   4. How can YOU make sure to treat others as “You”?
      Each pair shares one idea with the class.

6. Role-Play Game
   In groups of 3:
   • One person is “the person in power.”
   • One person is “the person being treated”
   • One person is “the helper”

   Each group acts out:

   • An I-It relationship (example: ignoring someone’s feelings or calling them an object)
   • Then, an I-You relationship (example: showing respect and kindness)
   • Class gives “thumbs up” for good examples of I-You.

7. Reflection Exit Ticket
   Write on a sticky note:
   “One way I can treat others as ‘You’ is…”
   Stick it on the class board or chart.

10. Homework
    Write three short paragraphs:
    1. 1. What’s the difference between an I-You and an I-It relationship?
       2. Did President Johnson treat Black people with dignity? Why or why not?
       3. How will you always treat others as an I-You?

11. Time Plan: This lesson will take 1 class period (45 minutes).

Materials

• PowerPoint slides (3 slides)
• Sticky notes
• Role-play signs (optional)
• Chart paper or whiteboard
• Excerpt from “Letter from Birmingham Jail”