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Class Discussion Reflection

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Throughout this semester, as a class, we have gone through and looked at how slavery has affected our nation and how the after-effects of slavery affected the way African Americans function in America even to this day. Going into this class I had a basic knowledge of American History. I knew basic events like the civil war, and the 13th amendment but this class opened my eyes to the dark reality of American History and the amount of time that it took for African Americans to gain full legal equality, and the progress still to reach full social equality. My eyes were opened to the number of setbacks and pushback the civil rights era received.  Starting in the early days of America we dove into the argument made by pro-slavery supporters in order to justify the act of slavery. We researched and dove into different arguments made by people from this era. One argument specifically prevalent was the argument justifying slavery through Christianity. Many southerners had their own argumen...
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Klansville USA

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In Raleigh, North Carolina Bob Jones transformed the Klu Klux Klan into a group so big and influential the city itself earned the name Klansville, USA. What started as just a small group of friends, Bob Jones grew the Klan to thousands of members.  Bob Jones was the son of a carpenter who lived in North Carolina. Throughout his life Jones was referred to as "white trash" and it is assumed this is one of the reasons his strong racial feelings developed. He dropped out of high school and joined the United States Navy. He was discharged after refusing to salute a black officer. He stated, "I will salute the uniform all day, but I will not salute a ***."  He started the Klan and grew it tremendously. He was the Grand Dragon of the Klan in North Carolina during the 1960s. By 1965 North Carolina's klan had over 12,000 members making it the biggest klan in the United States.  During his time as Grand Dragon, he was investigated for his involvement with the klan. He ref...
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Bakke EOTO Reaction

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Recently in class, I heard oral arguments made by my classmates for t he case  Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. This case involves a white man named Allan Bakke who sought admission into the University of California medical school. At this time in history, integration was occurring in educational institutions. This influenced the University of California's medical school to create a quota for its admissions process. The school only accepted 100 students and the school created a policy where 14 of those seats would be reserved for African American students.  Because Alan Bakke was denied because of this policy, he contended this policy in court.  In class, arguments were presented from both sides. First, representing Alan Bakke, the argument that stood out to me was the argument being made about how Bakke scored higher than those 14 African Americans that were admitted. This  classmate argued that race should not be a factor at all. Eliminating this f...
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Hazel Scott

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Recently in class, we watched a video reflecting on the life of Hazel Scott. She was an African American singer and pianist. With the peak of her career being in the prime-time of racial segregation in America, not only was Hazel Scott a talented musician but was also a prominent civil rights activist. Hazel Scott paved the way for African Americans in the entertainment industry and in Hollywood.  Hazel Scott started her career after attending Julliard through her broadway primer in the 1938 musical Sing out the News.   After that, she landed a gig performing at a club. By the 1940s Hazel Scott was a known household name. She traveled the country playing for audiences, but Hazel Scott had one condition. She would not play in front of a segregated audience.  Considering the time in America a segregated audience would not be uncommon. This was during the almost five-decade-long period after Plessy v. Ferguson that legalized segregation in America. So Hazel Scott demanding h...
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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door

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  On June 11, 1963, the governor of Alabama, George Wallace stood in front of the door of the Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In his attempt to stop the desegregation of schools, Wallace stood at the auditorium door to prevent two African American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood from entry. His actions were meant as a symbolic response to the desegregation of schools and to uphold his inaugural promise of “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”   George Wallace was elected as a segregationist and made promises to block the desegregation of schools even physically if he had to. After the ruling of Brown v Board of education and academic integration started happening Wallace decided to symbolically back his inaugural promises. He believed that the constitution gave the states the authority over schools and universities, not the federal government.   Earlier that day on June 11 th,  1963 two st...
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Reaction Post Brown v Board of Education

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Today in class my peers presented their findings based on the position they took on the case Brown v. Board of education. Although we know how the court ruled in this case it was interesting listening to different arguments relating to this case. Each side took different stances in this case and presented arguments that strayed from the traditional arguments of this case.  One argument I found particularly interesting was the religious argument in favor of education segregation. Often times moderately to extreme religious people argue in favor of racial segregation. More moderate practitioners argue against cross-racial marriage and reproduction. But more extreme practitioners argue against mixing races in general. Therefore this argument is formed.  I found this argument quite intreating because I have seen religious people make this argument before. With biblical examples on the table, I just find it interesting that some people actually believe in this. Relating this to the...
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Brown v. Board of Education 14th Amendment Argument

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The supreme court of the United States decided that the 14 th  amendment’s equal protection clause guaranteed African Americans equal protection under the law. But  in Plessy v Ferguson it was ruled  that the 14 th  amendment was responsible for the legal equality of African Americans, but not necessarily their social equality. It was decided that racial segregation was not a violation of African Americans' legal equality; segregation as long as each race is receiving equal and adequate facilities did not produce legal inferiority to either white or black people. Educational segregation does not violate the fourteenth amendment’s equal protection clause.  There are schools that are open for black children to attend. There are facilities where these children can learn. There are teachers and mentors who care for these children and want to provide a better future for them. This is not a legal restriction; it is a social norm. For six decades now, there have been s...
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