HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 1 Discussion
Racism and Slavery- The History of African American History
This week we are going to study racism and slavery and some of the history of African American history.  As you may realize, slavery has existed since the beginning of humankind. In the case of the United States, both came here with the earliest settlers and took a firm foothold.
1. Discuss how slavery came from Europe and became firmly embedded in the United States with the first colonists and how this led to its general acceptance.
2.  How is Vincent Harding’s perspective on African-American history different from the perspective of Carter Woodson and Mary McLeod Bethune.
 
HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 2 Discussion
Emancipation and Reconstruction
At the end of the Civil War, the issues that most white Americans had with slaves and slavery in general did not just fade away because the North had won the War. There were those who thought that the former slaves deserved the same rights as other Americans, while others thought that just because slavery had ended that did not make the former slaves equal to whites.
While Reconstruction made it possible for some black people to partake in the political system and establish schools and churches, many lacked land on which to subsist and the Freedman’s Bureau was of little assistance. Despite the passage of the 15th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the Black Codes, Klu Klux Klan and the general attitude of many whites made life very difficult for the former slaves.
1. Discuss the successes and failures of reconstruction and whether you believe that overall it assisted Blacks in their search for real freedom.
 
 
HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 4 Discussion
From Plantation to Ghetto
The period from the 1890s until the mid 1920s was marked by very significant events in the African American community. From the disagreement between Booker T Washington and W.E.B. Dubois concerning education, to the founding of the NAACP and the Urban League, World War I, race riots the Great Migration, the growth of the KKK and the Pan Africanism of Marcus Garvey and others, black lives changed little although there were some very positive developments. Perhaps the most interesting and significant event was the Harlem Renaissance which brought great black talents to the fore.
1. Choose two of these developments and discuss its importance to the black community and their struggle for equal rights. Each of the events must be a minimum of 200 words.
 
HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 5 Discussion
The Great Depression and World War II
Surely two of the most significant events in American history took place between 1932 and 1945; the Great Depression and World War II. While almost all Americans suffered terribly, black Americans suffered more due to their circumstances. Despite the fact that the New Deal brought some relief, blacks were discriminated against as they had always been.
Black participation in World War II was unparalleled. Once they became part of the military, which took some time, they fought aggressively and courageously in most of the military encounters in the both the European and Pacific theaters of the War. This and other actions would eventually lead to the desegregation of the Armed Forces.
Answer both questions below. Each response must be a minimum of 200 words.
1. Discuss how the New Deal both assisted and discriminated against blacks and the effects that this had on them.
2. Discuss black participation in World War II and the challenges blacks faced home and abroad.
 
HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 6 Discussion
The Civil Rights Cycle
Once World War II was over, the nation had to face both international and national issues of pressing importance. The beginnings of the Cold War created a climate that was both hostile and hospitable to what would become the continuing civil rights movement. The movement would continue along the path it had started, yet at the same time pave the way for a “more varied, vibrant, and successful challenge to racism.”* (Hine, Hine, and Harrold, The African American Odyssey, Vol. II, Page 560).
Answer both questions below. Each response must be a minimum of 200 words.
1. Discuss in depth some of the more important aspects of the Civil Rights movement, including their ideologies, objectives and tactics during this time and the importance of some of the major players in it.
2. How did the assassination of President Kennedy and the ascension of President Johnson to the presidency play an important role in the civil rights movement?
 
HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 7 Discussion
Black Power, Cultural Nationalism and White Backlash
The intervention of the federal government effectively ended the “legal underpinnings of segregation and discrimination and set in motion events that would irrevocably transform the political and social status of African Americans”*(Hine, Hine, and Harrold, The African American Odyssey, Vol. II, Page 598). Despite massive resistance by many of the Southern states, including the use of state sponsored violence, the federal government intervened at crucial moments provoked in part by non-violent confrontational strategies pursued by civil rights leaders and covered widely by the national media. At the same time, new leaders were arising in the movement with much less patience and different strategies than the traditional movement. They were in fact much more confrontational.
1. Discuss the “black power” movement including its ideologies, objectives and tactics as well as its leaders. How did they differ from the previous leadership of the civil rights movement?
Here are several well done videos on the Black Panthers
 
HIST 461 6380 African American History 1865 to the Present
Week 8 Discussion
Dawn of the New Millennium and the Election of Barack Obama
3.  The final Research paper is due by the end of the day on March 10, 2019!  NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED!
The period from the 1980s on saw great gains in black political power, but inequality, particularly income inequality, remains great as does the overall sub-standard situation of many African Americans. Racism is frowned upon, but unfortunately is still a part of American life. There is a rising black middle class (many of whom were financially devastated by the Great Recession), while at the same time an increasing number of young black children have no fathers or are being raised by grandparents. Almost one third of young black men are incarcerated. Something is radically wrong with this picture.
Many Americans had hoped that the election of our nations’ first black President, and with him the appointment of high federal officials, would help the situation, but that does not seem to have been the case.
This question is to be answered with no fewer than three (3) outside resources.
1. Discuss your thoughts on the issues mentioned above as well as any others that you believe to be important. What steps do you think need to be taken to solve the racial problems, including those that are financial in nature, that appear to be imbedded in our society?