White Socks Only by Evelyn Coleman

Coleman, E., Cohn, S. B., & Geter, T. (1996). White socks only. Morton Grove, IL: A. Whitman.

Whites only. 

This statement seems like a daunting two words if posted anywhere in society today.  There was once a time where this was the norm, and any African American in the United States could walk somewhere in their town and have these written rules dictating their life. 

In this children's picture book, named White Socks Only, a grandmother is telling a story to her grandchild on the hot steps of her front porch in a quaint town located in Mississippi.   One day, when grandmother was a young child, she snuck in to town, and behaving rather innocently as any child would venturing out in the world.  She finds herself thirsty, stopping at a water fountain to take a drink of water.  There is a sign, that same daunting sign hanging on the water fountain. 

Whites only.  

This young child assumes that she must remove her shoes to reveal her white socks to be able to drink from the fountain.  This ruffles feathers of some white folk who are around the fountain at the time, where one man even threatens to beat the child with his belt if she doesn't comply with him.  Many other African Americans react to this, and all begin removing their shoes to drink from the fountain to show that they believe they have rights just as anyone else to drink from the fountain. 

This story shows us that even the smallest of individuals can change the course of history. 

http://www.storylineonline.net/white-socks-only/

This story would ideally be for children between the ages 5-9. 

Coleman's piece is a truly moving piece, especially for children who were brought up in an era where they may not know about segregation to such an obvious extent.  Segregation is still being seen in today's society and I think that it is important to continue to teach pieces like this to use as an example of how even children as young as first grade can use their actions to change the world.  This is a diverse story, perfect for a classroom in either a literacy block, or even a history block to teach about how this country has been segregated and will continue to be segregated unless we change.  

What's Inside?
Themes:

Racism
Segregation
Civil Right's Movement
Family
Bravery


These themes are prevalent and important to learn in your classroom, not only during the unit in history, but just as a whole.  Racism is a topic that needs to be talked about in your classroom, and this book can be a good lead in to a topic so important in a younger classroom.

Dialogue: 
"Wasn't planning on doin' no good."

The characters speak to each other and keep the authenticity of the setting of the story.   There is dialect from these characters that children can learn about if they aren't familiar with the language. 


Onomatopoeia: 
I watched her turn toward her spit can -BING

The author uses this device to have the reader hear the noise of the grandmother spitting into the metal can. 


How can we teach this?There are many other books that can be paired with this one to help teach the theme of racism and the Civil Right's Movement such as:
“Rosa Parks: My Story”

by Rosa Parks, James Haskins
“The Red Rose Box” by Brenda Woods The Bus Ride That Changed History”
by Pamela Duncan Edwards “Goin’ Someplace Special”
by Patricia McKissack 

Pose this question to your classroom:
What could you do to help stop discrimination?

Allow them to free write, write poetry, or even a personal reflection on how to answer this question making sure they have textual evidence from the books shared in class.