
Blackdom: Black Communities in NM
Following the catastrophic effects of the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Southern backlash against reconstruction (1865-1877) efforts to politically and economically empower the newly freed slaves, the U.S. Supreme Court supported the right of states to deny Black Americans and other People of Color the rights granted to American citizens. This period is known as the Jim Crow Era (1896-1954), and it marks a period in U.S. history in which political leaders justified the separate, unequal, and often inhumane treatment of Americans simply based on the color of their skin. This unit explores the larger U.S. narratives of the Great Migration and Jim Crow laws through the lens of the Black community in New Mexico, and the counternarratives of Black Americans throughout the country.
Unit Lessons
- Select, analyze, and critique three primary sources for biased or prejudicial language in popular or dominant media and challenge those perspectives through the counternarratives of interviews, personal stories, and independent media. Give three reasons why a counternarrative is needed and explain how your sources challenge the shortcomings of the traditional or dominant histories we are taught.
- List three statements that argue for the need to create a town based on individual, family, community, and cultural requirements. Create a poster layout or 3D model for a town that will fulfill the imagined needs of the various cultural groups in terms of schooling, government, commerce, housing, utilities, and infrastructure.
- Use three newspaper clippings, articles, news episodes, or short documentaries, explain how similar themes continue to inaccurately or incompletely describe various groups and the reasons why people leave their homes and communities to move to another place.
- Create an artistic representation that commemorates the town of Blackdom using symbolism that honors the identities of this community. Explain your reasons for your use of symbols in a verbal presentation or in written narrative.
Questions
- Compelling Question: What is the cultural and political significance of Blackdom and Vado in the US and the borderland region ?
- Staging the Question: How do you celebrate Juneteenth ?
- Supporting Question 1: Who was Frank Boyer ?
- What is the history of Black Americans in the Southwest ?
Supporting Question 2:What is Reconstruction and what is its significance to the modern-day United States ?
- Supporting Question 3: How did environmental factors affect the future of Blackdom ?
New Mexico Social Studies Standards
- 9-12.Civ.3. Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.
- 9-12.Civ.4. Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.
- 9-12.Civ.10. Critique the use of claims and evidence in arguments for credibility.
- 9-12.Civ.14. Develop claims about the purpose, processes, strengths, and weaknesses of the U.S. government.
- 9-12.Civ.25. Evaluate sources to determine how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.


