What Is Truth?

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The confrontation left five dead and at least ten others wounded. Klan and neo-Nazis, some of whom were filmed by news cameras as they shot into the crowd, claimed self-defense and were twice acquitted of criminal charges by all-white juries. In a subsequent civil lawsuit, the shooters and the Greensboro Police Department were found jointly liable for one of the five deaths. Many in the community felt that justice was not served.

In 2004, the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission was convened to examine what has came to be known as the “Greensboro Massacre” in order to “heal relations between opposing sides by uncovering all pertinent facts, distinguishing truth from lies, and allowing for acknowledgment, appropriate public mourning, forgiveness and healing.” Toward those ends, the Commission reviewed information from the trials, records from law enforcement, newspaper and magazine articles, academic literature and some 200 interviews and personal statements given in private and at public hearings. The Commission’s final report, issued on May 25, 2006, pulled from all of these diverse resources to uncover a “collective truth” about what happened on that fateful day in Greensboro.

Objectives
Working individually, in pairs and in groups, students will:

  • Examine eight different perspectives commonly used by the media to describe what happened on November 3, 1979, and why.
  • Craft newspaper headlines representing those perspectives.
  • Contrast those perspectives with the facts and findings uncovered by the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
  • Understand that different perspectives of the same event can sometimes be true and that different perspectives of the same event are sometimes not equally accurate.
  • Apply what they learn by writing a definition poem about the nature of “truth.”

Materials

Essential Questions

  • Can different perspectives of the same event be true simultaneously?
  • Is the truth defined by facts alone?
  • Does perception shape the truth?
  • Can the truth ever be fully known?

Glossary

truth |troōθ|
(noun) That which is in accordance with fact or reality; a fact or belief that is accepted as true

reconciliation |rekən silē ā sh ən|
(verb) The establishing of an ability to coexist in harmony after a conflict

communist | kmjənəst|
(noun) A person who believes in a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating a society in which all property is publicly owned.

Ku Klux Klan |koō kləks klan|
(noun) The Ku Klux Klan is a racist, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant and anti-gay movement. The groups goal is to achieve racial segregation and white supremacy.

Neo-Nazi groups | nätsē| |groōps| 
(noun) Although they disdain other minorities, Neo-Nazi groups are hate groups that perceive "the Jew" as the cardinal enemy. They trace nearly all social problems to an imagined Jewish conspiracy that supposedly controls governments, financial institutions and the media.

white supremacist |(h)wīt| |sə preməsist; soō-|
(noun) One who believes that white people are racially superior to others and should therefore dominate society.

extremist |ik strēmist|
(noun) a supporter or advocate of extreme doctrines or practices

Procedures

  1. Write down how you would define “truth.”
  2. Take a quick look at the image projected at the front of the room. (Optical illusion 1, above. Display it only for a few seconds.) Write down what you see.
  3. If you saw a duck, please come to the front of the room. If you saw a rabbit, please move to the back of the room.
  4. Which group is right? What is the truth here? (Display the image again.) What does this exercise tell us about truth? (Sometimes, different perspectives of the same thing can be true simultaneously.)
  5. Find a partner to work with. (Provide student pairs with a copy of the second optical illusion.) Color this image in; be sure to stay in the lines.
  6. How does this activity relate to truth? (Sometimes our perception of reality or the truth is inaccurate.)
  7. Find your partner again. Take 10 minutes to read The Eight Media Perspectives on the Events of Nov. 3, 1979 and brainstorm a newspaper headline representing each viewpoint.
  8. Share some of your headlines with the class.
  9. Based on the opening activities, do you think it’s likely or unlikely that all of these views will be true simultaneously? Write down which perspectives you believe are most likely to be true.
  10. Count off by the numbers one through eight and form a group with peers who have the same number. (Distribute several copies of the Greensboro Facts and Perspectives Matrix to each group.)
  11. As you watch the public reading of the Commission’s findings, write down key facts and conclusions that support your group number’s perspective. (Or, students can read pages 5-13 from the executive summary the Commission’s report, as identified above.) Take a moment to compile your individual notes into a list of group findings.
  12. When I call your group’s number, a representative should move to the sheet of paper on the wall with the corresponding number. Briefly restate and write down the relevant perspective and then list any Commission findings supportive of that viewpoint.
  13. Take a moment to look at the eight sheets. Which perspectives were supported by the Commission’s finding of facts? Which were not? What does this tell us about the nature of truth?

Assessment
Refer back to the definition of “truth” you wrote at the beginning of this lesson. Refine that definition by exploring one or more of the following lesson themes:

  • Can different perspectives of the same event be true simultaneously?
  • Is the truth defined by facts alone?
  • Does perception shape the truth?
  • Can the truth ever be fully known?

Extension Activity
Craft a definition poem for the word “truth.” A definition poem defines something using metaphors or imagery, painting a picture for the reader, and generally are crafted in free verse, which means that they have no regular rules for rhythm or meter. For an example, see http://www.literacyworkshop.org/plslam07-1/maddox1/2007/04/definition_poems_1.html. As you craft your poem, be sure to draw from both your refined definition of truth and the events surrounding the Greensboro Massacre.

Standards
Behavioral Studies

Standard 4. Understands conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and institutions

Civics

Standard 11. Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse American society

Standard 14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life

ESL

Grades 4-8 and 9-12.

Goal 2, Standard 1: To use English to achieve academically in all content areas: Students will use English to interact in the classroom

Goal 2, Standard 2: To use English to achieve academically in all content areas: Students will use English to obtain, process, construct, and provide subject matter information in spoken and written form

Language Arts

Standard 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Standard 5. Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process

Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media

Standard 10. Understands the characteristics and components of the media

Life Skills: Working With Others

Standard 1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group

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