The crisis in Boston

The eyes of the nation were on Boston in the 1970's. Media coverage of the school segregation crisis was widespread. Cameras and journalists were as common to the students attending school as rioters and protesters. Parents of both the black and white students were extremely outspoken in their efforts to halt or progress the desegregation process.

How do you think the students would have reacted to the busing with out pressure from their parents or the presence of the media? Please answer in the comments section.

Weekly Calendar 3-30

RG09 3-30

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Education, Race and Civil Rights

The civil rights movement is often examined and talked about as if it was only a Southern issue. Yet, the struggle for racial justice occurred all over the country and was especially explosive in northern cities. The conflict of how to resolve racial segregation in Boston's public schools in the 1960's and 1970's resulted in court-ordered busing and subsequent violence and conflicts.

Over the course of the next few days, we will be looking at 1.) Why Boston's Public Schools racially segregated in the 1960's 2.) Court and community responses to this racial imbalance and 3.) Legacies that this crisis has had on the public school system today.

For homework I would like you to read the following article to gain some background information about Boston and racial demographics during this time period. You do not need to comment, but you will be expected to both review the reading and reflect what you have learned during Wednesday's class. To enlarge the document, please click on the box in the right-hand corner.

Education and Civil Rights

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Race and Education

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the landmark case, "Brown vs. the Board of Education", many scholars, writers, and educators published works examining the legacies of the case as well as reflections about the desegregation and integration process.

For concise background information about the case, please read "Brown v. Board: An American Legacy".

"In the field of public education," the justices wrote, "the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

Those words marked the beginning of a long struggle -- a struggle that continues today -- to live up to the promise of equal access to education for all Americans.Then, as now, many people weren't on familiar terms with the names of their Supreme Court justices, but they did know the name of their president. In the days and weeks after May 17, 1954, Americans by the hundreds wrote to tell Dwight D. Eisenhower what they thought about the ruling.

Please click on the link directly above to listen to some of the letters written to President Eisenhower. If you are having trouble listening to the media, please read the transcript found in the bottom of each of the pictures in this photo gallery.

When you are finished, please post ONE thing that strikes you in the comments section.

Weekly Calendar 3-23

RG09 3-23

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Wait a sec! I wanted to say____________________

Is there something that you wish you added to today's conversation? Please reflect, do some research and tell me the one argument/case/connection that you wish you made in the discussion.

This is a mandatory prompt! Everyone should have at least one thing. . .

Thank you!!

A Matter of Perspective?

The film, "The Two Towns of Jasper" opens with Billy Rowles , the Jasper County sheriff and the local funeral directors explaining how they discovered James Byrd Jr. had been murdered. The scene then shifts as individuals in the community describe their responses to the murder and the victim.

Your task is to answer the key question below in the comments section. Please refer to outside examples of hate crimes, harassment. You may use contemporary or historical examples.

How does the idea that a crime is "race-related" shape the way the people react to the crime and its victim?

Also, this is a case of harassment (non-violent), but it is local and may interest you in answering this question.

Weekly Calendar 3-16

RG09 3-16

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Lynching's legacies: The Murder of James Byrd Jr.

Over the past week, we have seen some horrific images in our study of lynchings and the murder of Emmett Till. Looking at the images and postcards in the collection "Without Sanctuary", it is clear that it is hard to envision a time when such photographs were universal and could be used as postcards to be sent to friends.

Before the murder of Emmett Till, only a handful of people in the were able to speak out against these racial motivated murder and lynchings. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other civil rights organizations tried unsuccessfully for many years to get a federal antilynching law passed. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) and Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes (1874-1952), a one-time president of the NAACP’s Chicago chapter, were supportive of the organization’s efforts, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) did not share their enthusiasm and believed that pressing for the NAACP’s demands would endanger congressional support for his New Deal programs. In her March 1936 letter to Walter Francis White (1893-1955), who served as NAACP executive secretary (later director) from 1931 to 1955, Mrs. Roosevelt stated some of the arguments that were used by the president and others against passage of an antilynching bill. It is clear from this “personal and confidential” letter that Mrs. Roosevelt was searching for a tactful means for aiding the anti-lynching cause herself, and she suggested to White various methods for winning the goodwill of members of Congress.

Years later, it is clear that although these violent hate crimes have decreased. They haven't gone away. Next week, we will be focusing on the death of James Byrd in Jasper, Texas. Byrd was who was attached by a chain to the back of a pickup truck and dragged for miles until his body disintegrated and he died. The trial of his murderers was extremely controversial on the community, state, and federal level.


For Monday's class, please explore the links above in order to get both background information about the 1998 case. If you have questions, or find something particularly striking, please post in the comments.

The killers' confession

For those of your interested in the confession of the murderers of Emmett Till, it is available here.

Let me know if you have questions!

Emmitt Till

To listen to Bob Dylan perform the song, please click here.

The Death Of Emmett Till

"Twas down in Mississippi no so long ago,
When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a Southern door.
This boy's dreadful tragedy I can still remember well,
The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till.

Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up.
They said they had a reason, but I can't remember what.
They tortured him and did some evil things too evil to repeat.
There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds out on the street.

Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain
And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain.
The reason that they killed him there, and I'm sure it ain't no lie,
Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die.

And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial,
Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till.
But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime,
And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind.

I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see
The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.
For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free,
While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.

If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust,
Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust.
Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow,
For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!

This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man
That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan.
But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give,
We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.

Copyright ©1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

HW calendar 3/9

To view the calendar, click on the box on the upper right hand of the document below.


RG 3-9

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"Domestic Terror": HW for the WEEKEND

As you saw today in "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow", terror and violence were used to sustain the Jim Crow system throughout its bloody history. We will spend class on Monday learning about the terrible history of lynchings in this country and well as the response to it.

For homework, I would like you to read the document below to gain some background information. Things to think about:
* What, constructively, could have been done to address and to stop the act of lynching in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries? Remember that lynching did not end until the 1960s (though this New York Times graphic suggests otherwise).


Lynching HW Reading

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One more thing. . . .

This post is for Tuesday, because of the snow day. . . sorry for any confusion. 

What do you wish was said today in class about race relations at LHS? Was there anything missing from this conversation?

Look at your notes, think about our discussion, and comment below.

Saying that nothing was missing is NOT an option.

For those of you that are interested, there is an interesting article on Slate.com entitled "How will Obama's presidency change hip-hop?"

The Commons Field Study

Here is the link to the excerpt from Beverly Tatum Daniel's book, "Why are all the Black Kids sitting together in the cafeteria". Please read this as you are embarking on your field study journey.

Reminder: Please post your paragraphs to the comments section of this entry and bring your diagram of commons into class on Monday.

A Nation of Cowards?

NY Times columnist Charles M. Blow explored the topic of implicit predjudice in his column on last Friday.

This article and Blow's opinions should resonate with you at this point in the course.

Please read the article and be prepared to discuss in class on Wednesday. This is your only HW!

The Color of Water: Assessments Monday 2/23 and Tuesday 2/24

I hope everyone had a relaxing break. This is just a friendly reminder that we will be having our in-class essay on Monday and our discussion of James McBride's "The Color of Water" on Tuesday. 

You may bring notes in on Monday, and your book and notes on Tuesday. 

Good luck!

Have a good break!

Remember to prepare for "The Color of Water" assessment and discussion. Relax and I will see you in a week!

Responding to Racism

On January 8, Time Magazine reported on a new study of human behavior that suggests "even people who aspire to tolerance...still harbor unconscious biases powerful enough to prevent them from confronting racists or from being upset by other people's racist behavior." Jack Dovidio, a Yale psychologist and co-author of the study believes that "the most worrying aspect [of the study] is that even if a small proportion of a society is active, old fashion racists" that majority "rationalize away racist behavior and don't intervene or even get upset when it occurs."


Please read the Time article and respond to TWO (it is your choice) of the following questions in the comment section:

• How do you explain why people who believe they are not racist often do not confront people displaying racist behavior?
• What are the implications for a group, community, and nation when people who do not like racism, do not stand up to stop it?
• Is there an ethical or moral difference between conscious and unconscious biases? How do unconscious biases reveal themselves?
• How can people overcome unconscious biases?

-From Facing History and Ourselves

HW: Tuesday, February 10th

On a separate piece of paper, please answer the following question. This will be collected and graded tomorrow:

Why do you think Delpit tells her daughter that “in many ways now is a more confusing time to live”? In what sense is it more confusing today? In her view, how does that confusion shape the way the young African Americans she knows view their identity?

Computer Lab Assignment: 2/10/09

Tuesday, February 10th in Computer Lab 503

Key Q: Who has benefited from the idea that we can sort people from idea that we can sort people by race and that there are natural biological differences between groups?


Objective: examine social and biological traits in races


Agenda:

1.) Click on: http://www.pbs.org/race/002_SortingPeople/002_00-home.htm
2.) go to "begin sorting". this may pop up behind you main window.
3.) complete activity
5.) after concluding, go to "go deeper" and to the activity related to skin color, fingerprints, and blood type.
6.) At main website, please explore "explore traits" under sorting people.
7.) When finished, you may explore other activities on the website, catch up on posting or start your HW.

I will give you directions along the way!

Your HW: finish packet from last night. Answer prompt (on blog) on a separate piece of paper.

"Passing" Homework Prompt

Please read pages 17-18 in the handout you received in class today (this is also part of the pdf file that is available on firstclass). After reading this excerpt from "The Sweeter the Juice", please answer the following italicized prompts in the comment section.

You should have a good idea of what "racial passing" entails at this point in the course. How do myths and misinformation about "race" explain the practice of passing? How does the fact that thousands of "blacks" have successfully passed as "whites" reinforce the idea that "race" is a social invention rather than a scientific description of human differences?

Shirlee Haizlip believes that "passing" was a way for members of her family to deal with the legacy of slavery. To what extent may "passing" also be a mechanism for survival during the years of the Jim Crow laws (laws that isolated and humiliated African Americans)?

Let me know if you have questions.

Recitatif Redux and tonight's HW assignment

*UPDATE* [FOR THOSE WHO COULDN'T UPLOAD THE VIDEO YOU CAN READ THE TRANSCRIPT] Look below the slide show. This should help you with the prompt

A recitatif is a style of music that hovers between song and speech episodes. This story is essentially Twyla's episode.

I was impressed with your discussion of stereotypes of perceived differences of the characters in Recitatif, mainly race, class, and disability in class today. While the characters and text give us clues to the differences, it is impossible to tell which character is white and which is African-American.

For tonight's homework, I would like you to spend some time thinking a bit more about personal racial identity on the "Race: The Power of an Illusion" website section called "Me, My Race and I: What's Race got to do with it?"

Please click on the slideshow menu to learn more how race plays a role in your daily life. Please watch the four "slides" Your comments in class and on the blog have been really honest thus far, please continue the hard work!

When you are finished, please answer the following in the comment section below:

So if Race affects everyone, why is it so hard to talk about? How/Why do people transcend racial categories?

As always, let me know if you have questions!

Calendar Update/ "A Class Divided"

Since Wednesday was a crazy snow/ice day, please disregard your homework calendars as we are now one day off schedule.


After viewing Jane Elliot and her blue eyed/brown eyed simulation in a "Class Divided", we briefly spoke about the privilege that Mrs. Elliot created for her students (like extra recess time, second helpings at lunch. . . ).

For homework tonight, I would like you to spend some time reading the article, "The Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy Macintosh to explore the intersection of race and privilege in the adult word.

Please pay special attention to McIntosh's checklist (1-50) and to use the checklist as self-reflection, asking "Can you count on this?" A "yes" answer scores 1 point. For a "no," subtract 1 point. Score nothing for "does not apply to me." The higher the score, the greater the degree of privilege one has in the context of living in the United States today.

When finished, please post your reflections in the comments section.

Were you surprised by your score, or did it confirm what you already knew? Why is privilege normally invisible and what does it feel like to make it visible?

Your comments are due by class on MONDAY!
Let me know if you have questions.

What do we do with a difference?

Our standards of beauty, ideas about difference, even notions of what is “normal” are shaped to a large extent by culture—the attitudes, values, and beliefs of a society. Where do those attitudes, values, and beliefs come from, and how were they molded? And what role do experts and people in positions of authority play in determining societal standards around beauty and what is considered “normal?”

In viewing "eye of the beholder", you told me who in Janet Tyler's society determines what is normal. Your homework blog prompt is:

So, how did YOU or how do YOU learn HOW a difference matters?

This should be a personal, reflective response.

Please post your answer in the "comments" section below. You should have a login name by now that I can recognize. Please complete this prompt by class on Monday.

Have a GREAT weekend!

First class update!

I'm sorry for any difficulties you may have had finding the "Race and Gender" conference on First Class. 

This has been fixed as of 9:00 AM on Thursday. 

A block will receive hard copies of last night's HW assignment. D/E, please log on and try again!

Let me know if you have questions. 

Welcome!

Welcome to Race, Gender and Human Behavior!

This course will examine ideas of race and gender and the notion of a difference: What do you do with a difference? What has society done with a difference? How has difference resulted in discrimination. We will look at these issues by considering what happens in a society when people are identified and assigned a social value based on these differences. 

You must obtain: a first class login, blogspot login, and notebook/folder/binder for the course. 

First class can be accessed here. 

Log on to first class. Please read the message from me as well as pages 1-3 of the pdf and respond to the prompt in your notebook.