C to the 4th represents:
Conflict
Compromise
Change
Continuity
I was very excited when my students came to class this week wanting to know if we were going to be talking about the government shutdown. Their excitement about the issue told me two things; first--they have been paying attention to me, and second they are paying attention the world around them.
I had to tell them that we were not exactly going to be discussing the government shutdown in a direct sense. The reason for that was I had something much more interesting planned for them. My students found this to be very shocking! How could I, the queen of "What is going on in the world today" turn her back on something so large as a government shutdown. I knew that I had them interested, so I began my spill by introducing a story that could even be a legend due to the amount of secrecy that surrounds it.
October 2nd was the 84th anniversary of an event known as the Marion Massacre. The Marion Massacre took place at Marion Manufacturing, or Marion Mills which is just 20-25 minutes from where our school is currently located. Many of my students go to Marion on a regular basis and they drive right by Baldwin Avenue; one of my students had grandparents that worked at the mill before its closure. We examined over 600 newspaper articles from Marion NC, Asheville NC, Charlotte NC, and New York NY. We used audio recordings to listen to the stories of many different groups involved, those of the mill workers, mill village residents, the sheriff at the time, and the mill owner-Mr. Baldwin. We also had a guest speaker who spoke to us about the conflict that arose within families, networks of friends, and within the mill itself.
The Conflict- mill workers were unhappy over their working conditions and the amount of pay that they received for the amount of hours they were required to work. The implementation of the "stretch-out system" added fuel to the fire in the summer of 1929.
The Compromise- there was no compromise and 600 workers walked out of Marion Mill causing the mill to shut down. When the mill owner final agreed to cut the work week back to 55 hours a week and rehire strikers, some were not rehired. The claim was that they were not worth a wage of $13.00 per week, others that were rehired were placed on the night shift with the knowledge that the night shift was being eliminated. This lack of formal compromise is what led to the "Wild Cat Strike" in the early morning hours of October 2nd which resulted in the death of 6 men and the injuries of some 20-30 others.
The Change- there wasn't much change as a result of this disaster. Workers, not knowing what to do, stepped over the blood stained dirt road and walked into the plant and returned to their jobs. Motor Graders came and scraped the evidence of the mornings events away shortly after lunch time and everything returned to the way it was. Those who were responsible for trying to organize the workers were blackballed in the community and could never find work in the area again; one had to move as far away as Detroit, Michigan.
The Continuity- things continued in this sleepy little town much the same for many, many years without the hope of ever getting better. People, lint-heads, went into the mill to work and that is where they stayed until they died. Their homes and their lives were owned by the mill.
I started by saying that my kids wanted to talk about the government shutdown. We did talk about the government shutdown this week, we also talked about the Moral Monday Marches that have been taking place at our state's capital and other places around the state since March; we discussed civil rights, slavery, the civil war came up. All of these things go together, they all fall under the same Conflict, Compromise, Change, & Continuity. I feel certain that we will be talking about C to the 4th a lot this year. Conflict leads to change and change leads to continuity; the one factor that determines how change is implements is whether or not there is compromise. When we compromise change happens in a much smoother manner and when we do not compromise....well, we have seen the results of that. Change is inevitable; change needs to happen in order for society to move forward(continuity). The rest is up to us.
It has been a great week
Conflict
Compromise
Change
Continuity
I was very excited when my students came to class this week wanting to know if we were going to be talking about the government shutdown. Their excitement about the issue told me two things; first--they have been paying attention to me, and second they are paying attention the world around them.
I had to tell them that we were not exactly going to be discussing the government shutdown in a direct sense. The reason for that was I had something much more interesting planned for them. My students found this to be very shocking! How could I, the queen of "What is going on in the world today" turn her back on something so large as a government shutdown. I knew that I had them interested, so I began my spill by introducing a story that could even be a legend due to the amount of secrecy that surrounds it.
October 2nd was the 84th anniversary of an event known as the Marion Massacre. The Marion Massacre took place at Marion Manufacturing, or Marion Mills which is just 20-25 minutes from where our school is currently located. Many of my students go to Marion on a regular basis and they drive right by Baldwin Avenue; one of my students had grandparents that worked at the mill before its closure. We examined over 600 newspaper articles from Marion NC, Asheville NC, Charlotte NC, and New York NY. We used audio recordings to listen to the stories of many different groups involved, those of the mill workers, mill village residents, the sheriff at the time, and the mill owner-Mr. Baldwin. We also had a guest speaker who spoke to us about the conflict that arose within families, networks of friends, and within the mill itself.
The Conflict- mill workers were unhappy over their working conditions and the amount of pay that they received for the amount of hours they were required to work. The implementation of the "stretch-out system" added fuel to the fire in the summer of 1929.
The Compromise- there was no compromise and 600 workers walked out of Marion Mill causing the mill to shut down. When the mill owner final agreed to cut the work week back to 55 hours a week and rehire strikers, some were not rehired. The claim was that they were not worth a wage of $13.00 per week, others that were rehired were placed on the night shift with the knowledge that the night shift was being eliminated. This lack of formal compromise is what led to the "Wild Cat Strike" in the early morning hours of October 2nd which resulted in the death of 6 men and the injuries of some 20-30 others.
The Change- there wasn't much change as a result of this disaster. Workers, not knowing what to do, stepped over the blood stained dirt road and walked into the plant and returned to their jobs. Motor Graders came and scraped the evidence of the mornings events away shortly after lunch time and everything returned to the way it was. Those who were responsible for trying to organize the workers were blackballed in the community and could never find work in the area again; one had to move as far away as Detroit, Michigan.
The Continuity- things continued in this sleepy little town much the same for many, many years without the hope of ever getting better. People, lint-heads, went into the mill to work and that is where they stayed until they died. Their homes and their lives were owned by the mill.
I started by saying that my kids wanted to talk about the government shutdown. We did talk about the government shutdown this week, we also talked about the Moral Monday Marches that have been taking place at our state's capital and other places around the state since March; we discussed civil rights, slavery, the civil war came up. All of these things go together, they all fall under the same Conflict, Compromise, Change, & Continuity. I feel certain that we will be talking about C to the 4th a lot this year. Conflict leads to change and change leads to continuity; the one factor that determines how change is implements is whether or not there is compromise. When we compromise change happens in a much smoother manner and when we do not compromise....well, we have seen the results of that. Change is inevitable; change needs to happen in order for society to move forward(continuity). The rest is up to us.
It has been a great week