Bella Abzug: Fighting for Civil Rights in the Jim Crow South

Examine the early legal career of Bella Abzug and her defense of Willie McGee, an African American man from Mississippi. The activities in this resource connect the history of the Second Red Scare, the violence of the Jim Crow South, and the courage of Bella Abzug. Students will analyze the racist application of the death penalty and evaluate the relationship between civil rights and Cold War foreign policy. Students will use structured thinking routines to assess how Abzug used her outsider role to confront institutional racism and pave the way for her career as a revolutionary legislator.