Tolerance in America is a discussion forum on the topics of the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Moderator Carol Mandoph brings together lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Pepsi CEO Bruce Llewellyn, Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin and students in Orlando, Fla. to try to make sense of violence and discrimination, and how we, as a society, can prevent its further occurrence. Topics include Godin's experience in the ghettos and death camps of the Holocaust, the Rodney King beating, the 1963 March on Washington, and a general discussion of intolerance in America.

Tolerance in America would be useful for classes on American History, European History, African-American History, Cultural History, Ethics and Civics. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

• admissible
• advocate
• atrocities
• carnage
• colleague
• complacency
• connotation
• extremist
• grievance
• horrific
• integrated
• judiciary
• maligned
• perpetrators
• pervasive
• predicate
• relegated
• residual
• sequestered
• sync

1. The Civil Rights Movement sought to abolish what were known as "Jim Crow" laws. What were Jim Crow laws and how did they affect African Americans?

2. What is the historical significance of the 1963 March on Washington?

3. If the Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal," why then were African Americans denied their civil rights until the second half of the twentieth century?

4. If you ask people if murder is wrong, most would reply yes. Yet, in instances such as the Holocaust, millions of people were murdered while millions of people did nothing to stop it. How does a society let such things as the Holocaust happen? How can evil laws be implemented in a society?

5. One of the methods Martin Luther King, Jr. employed was civil disobedience. What is civil disobedience and how did Martin Luther King, Jr. use this technique?

6. Why is the entire world responsible for the Holocaust?

7. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April, 1968. Many feel that, had King lived, relations between African Americans and white Americans would be different today. How might America be a different place if Martin Luther King, Jr. was still alive?

8. H. Rapp Brown once said that "violence is as American as apple pie."What does this statement mean. Do you think it is an accurate description of America? If so, what can we do to change the proliferation of violence in America?

1. Create a poster that advocates racial and religious tolerance in America. How would you illustrate harmony between peoples on your poster? What message would you want your poster to convey? How would you convey that message?

2. Imagine that you are an African American in the South during the 1950s. Keep a diary or a journal for a week that recounts your everyday life and experiences under segregation.

3. Imagine that you are a victim of the Holocaust. Keep a diary or journal that recounts your experiences and feelings.

Air Dates

• February 08, 2000