“To demand that your country be what it says it is, is actually the height of patriotism. It is the willingness to fight for your country”. — Sherrilyn Ifill, civil rights attorney
Directions:
Watch this A Democracy Minute video by Life Stories without taking any notes and reflect on one or two key points that stood out to you (for more background on Ifill, click here). Then watch it again and write down your response to the following question:
How do you define patriotism?
You can make your response as short as the quote above or feel free to expand more. Discuss your excerpt with a partner or together as a class noting the commonalities and differences in students' responses.
Share your response under Life Stories' Instagram post and tag @NewsHourExtra, so we can see it, too!
Check out the following list of topics released each Thursday leading up to the presidential election here:
Life Stories is a nonprofit media organization that creates documentary films and educational resources about people whose lives inspire meaningful change. The interview clip was from the HBO documentary series, Obama: In Pursuit of A More Perfect Union.
Additional resources:
- Watch this PBS NewsHour interview (2018) with Sherrilyn Ifill and David Brooks who provide different takes on the role of local government.
- In this NewsHour piece (2013), Ifill and Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation share differing opinions on the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, to remove the discrimination history provision from the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
- For more information on the Voting Rights Act, click here.
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