Final Blog Post

  

  

 During this semester we were able to go over various cases and periods of time starting with State v Mann in the De Facto Slavery era going into the De Jure Slavery era and we ended with Board v Bakke in the Civil rights era. Throughout the class, we were forced to argue from different perspectives despite these aspects being uncomfortable for some and natural for others. However, in my opinion, the main themes in this class were the difference in perspective and the legal fight for rights. This trend continues during our final discussion within the class about the era we are in currently.

During the discussion, for the most part, we were able to agree on the fact that is hard to name the era we are currently in since for the most part, this is the only era we have truly lived through, however, we had the same understanding that social media would play a big role in this era as time continues. While the big picture was easy to agree on it was interesting to hear the difference in perspective and opinion on certain subjects such as the Britney Grinder case, BLM, and the perspective of minorities in America’s society.

The first major point was BLM, to my understanding Black Lives Matter was a statement or a simple fact of life and this was general information to most people. However, I was surprised to learn that BLM was heavily associated with an organization in the minds of others, and with the discovery of this organization being a fraud came the end of the BLM movement. In my perspective, the BLM movement can never end because it has been a consistent fight and fact of life since slavery, and it gets pushed to the forefront during certain cases. For example, in the Rodney King case in 1992 we saw somewhat similar riots and protests to the BLM movement. BLM has always been around because in the eyes of America Black Lives are negotiable.

The most controversial opinion was the certain privileges that each group of people possesses based on their gender, race, and sexuality. While I can by no means speak on the belief that other groups than mine have privileges since that would be inconsiderate and groundless due to me having no idea about the experience of other minorities.

It is perceived that black privileges include community, culture, and athleticism. Yet I don’t see these necessarily as privileges because they are not advantages or entitlement by any means. Not every black person is blessed with athleticism instead this is a stereotype put on black people, even famous athletes such as Serena Williams or Lebron James must constantly prove themselves because black girls aren’t supposed to play tennis and basketball players should only “shut up and dribble”. Our culture is considered “hood” or “ghetto” until it becomes popular enough to steal and change as others see fit. Finally, community, we have no other choice but to form a strong community if we want to be able to stand a chance against constant brutality and oppression.

On the outside looking in these might seem like privileges however these are a few of the results of the true resilience, determination, and persistence of Black people. In my opinion, I find it hard to understand the privileges that black people may have when we are still fighting to have basic freedoms that are given to others at birth as we constantly discussed in this class. By no means does this go to say we are a tragedy or charity case because we are a group of people with an astonishing number of achievements and perseverance. However, I do believe that from the outside looking in we as a people carry our burdens with an unbelievable amount of stride achievements such as community, culture, and athleticism that are built from hard work and can seem like privileges to others.

 

  In conclusion, these perspectives come from what we surround ourselves with and who we choose to listen to. Currently, with the rise of social media and the 2 years of forced separation, we have been fed by an algorithm that only shows us our own opinion. Therefore we no longer see the middleman because we don’t understand or care to listen to the opinion of people that these things directly affect. If it doesn’t affect you, you will never understand the big picture and be constantly stuck in a bubble of your ideals. While this is the goal of social media because our ideals are comfortable and favorable it is imperative to seek out and truly listen to the opinions of people that are affected by different hardships than you because that is where we gain compassion and where we find our middleman once again.  With this information in mind, my perspective of this era is the social media bubble.

 Additional Music 

   

( Above I've included a song by Solange Knowles from her album A Seat at the Table that I feel greatly details the emotions and experience of being African American in today's society since music was another big aspect of this class.)  

Guess who’s coming to dinner

Guess who’s coming to dinner was a movie released in 1967 and its biggest difference from the movies we’ve seen before is its overall lighthearted themes of love and commitment followed by its sense of doubt and uncertainty. This film stars Sidney Poitier playing John Prentice a black man that has no flaws and Katharine Houghton playing Joanna Drayton a woman that can only see the good in the world. The main conflict of the movie is between John Prentice a black man and Joanna Drayton an interracial couple that wants to get married during a time this is extremely unacceptable. Throughout the movie, we see the main person opposed to the marriage is Joanna’s father played by Spencer Tracy.

 

I found this movie to be the most relatable to some of the aspects we see in race relations and interracial marriage today. Similar to the movie dating outside of your race can seem like a betrayal or an insult to others while in most cases it’s just a matter of personality. Yet the main point the movie discussed was the fact that the couple has not yet thought of the hardships they would face.

First is society's perception of them even today we see a lot of harmful stereotypes for interracial couples. For example, if people were to stereotype John, they would assume he’s with Joanna to take advantage of her privilege and he likes her because she is passive and docile compared to black women. In terms of Joanna people would assume she was with him to disobey her parents for a brief phase in her life or for sexual reasons only. These stereotypes can take a toll on a lot of couples and quickly become a frustration to combat.

The second hardship is raising interracial children, this was a main concern in the movie. Today we see a struggle for some interracial couples to raise mixed children. Joanna could struggle with taking care of the children’s hair skin and overall hygiene, while John could struggle with understanding his children not being able to feel accepted in the black or white community. Interracial children are also heavily stereotyped alone, but this often comes from people forcing them to pick a side as their primary race.  Raising a child is already difficult adding these extra aspects can be detrimental.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie I found it endearing that despite the hardships and consent doubts love still prevailed in the end. However, I did agree with Joanna’s father that this decision was rushed after just meeting there was no possible way substance talk about dealing with stereotypes or raising an interracial child was made. However, I feel that with the support system and immense amount of love this couple possesses that they can overcome the hardships despite their rush to get married.

Additional Links

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/interracial-marriages-now-more-common-but-not-without-challenges/

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/70371/2/Iankilevitch_Maria_201511_MA_thesis.pdf

Klansvillie

 

The rebirth of the Klan was during the 1920s following the huge amounts of progress in arts, voting, and music in many black communities. One of the larger establishments was right here in North Carolina led by Bob Jones. This resurgence of the KKK occurred after the release of the movie Birth of a Nation which romanticized the KKK as heroes. Their belief was also heavily made to be solidified by preaching of the bible interpreted by a racist priest.

In my opinion, I find this resurgence of the KKK irrelevant, unnecessary, and nonsensical. During the five years, they had been in the order they seem to have accomplished nothing but a few gatherings and walking around in costumes. This can be proven by the utter embarrassment of the previous member for even being apart of the group. However, I would like to focus on the effects of TV and entertainment on the resurgence of this group.

First and foremost, the Birth of a Nation is a film that painted KKK members as heroes against the “evil black people that were taking over the town. This movie was loved in the south because it embodied the long-lost southern dream. Instead of being the losers, in this movie the south wins alongside their valent heroes the KKK secret members hidden under a mask. This ideology resonated with a lot of white lower class who were beginning to feel inferior to black people who were consistently progressing. Especially Bob Jones the Grand dragon of North Carolina’s KKK. Bob was a man that had little education, worked odd jobs, and was never deemed popular.

This group became so popular because lower-class white people could live out their fantasy of becoming the heroes of the story. Under their white masks they didn’t have to be poor they could be Grand dragons and saviors of the old south. Klan members felt they had formed a community that made them feel a sense of belonging. They had formed huge gatherings to celebrate the community they had created, yet they did not discuss how they planned to accomplish their goals instead they spewed their hate speech.

I believe nothing was accomplished because this community was created in a south that could never be brought back. This group was led by someone that had no real motive besides wanting to be the main charter of his own story.       

  

Additional Links

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/klansville/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Birth-of-a-Nation

https://weta.org/watch/shows/american-experience/klansville-usa

Hazel Scott

 

Possibly one of the most famous and highest-paid Black entertainers during 1940 was a woman. During a time when women had little respect and when black women had even fewer amounts of respect. She was a woman that had enough power to include in her contract that she would not perform in segregated crowds, she would not play a maid or mammy during a time when that was the only role for black women, and she even became the first African American to have her 15-minute television show. Yet this women’s name isn’t a household name she isn’t as well-known as Duke Ellington or Marilyn Monroe. Hazel Scott is the embodiment of black excellence, yet she is not remembered or celebrated as much as she should be.

Hazel started by being accepted into the Julliard school of the arts at the young age of 8 where she began to hone her musical talent. After school, Scott began performing professionally for her mom’s band and then began performing around the city in ballrooms, radio shows, and on Broadway. It wasn’t until 1939 that she began performing at Café Society a place where both Black and White people could go to listen to music equally without any type of segregation. Hazel impressed her audience with her style of playing, it was described as classical music that easily flowed into improvised classical. This made Hazel become the club’s headliner, but she refused to stop there.

Hazel moved on to movies signing with RKO, but Hazel refused to let her big break into fame be her playing the stereotypical maid or mammy. Hazel only played in movies as herself and demanded she is paid equally to her white counterparts. Some of the movies she played in were I DooD it, the Heat’s On, Broadway rhythm, and Rhapsody in Blue. In each of these roles, Hazel Scott played herself, playing the piano as a respectable young black woman.

While Hazel’s movie career did not last long, she still became a huge activist and superstar in many black households. Before Hazel Scott, a respectable black woman had never been seen on screen before let alone the actor behind that woman is being paid the same amount as their white counterparts. This caught the eye of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. one of the first Black congressmen. Hazel’s life became so intriguing she earned her very own television show the Hazel Scott show airing 15 minutes on television.

However, before everything Hazel was Black, she never sacrificed anything to get to where she wanted to be. She stated, “I've always known I was gifted, which is not the easiest thing in the world for a person to know, because you're not responsible for your gift, only for what you do with it.” Hazel knew she had a gift, and she was going to use her gift to break down as many barriers as possible. Unfortunately, in a world that believed that untalented white men were superior, standing up to oppression was Hazel's downfall. She was made out to be a communist supporter and her channel was listed as a red channel.

Hazel is not talked about today because she accomplished the American dream in without conforming to what white society wanted her to be. Hazel stood for something, she showed African Americans that they too could achieve the American dream and they could demand to be treated equally therefore she had to be stopped.

 

Additional Links 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/hazel-scott 

https://www.thehazelscott.com/filmography

https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/10/13/hazel-scott-jazz-pianist-mccarthy-huac/

EOTO Reflection: Redlining

During the EOTO presentations, we were able to the effects of the civil rights movement along with the civil rights act. We were able to see both sides of the violence outroar against civil rights and the continuous advancements of the civil rights and protections of those rights. We discussed the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” which was a movement to stop the desegregation of schools against Brown v Board, but we also discussed Swann v Charlotte which forced schools to start bringing diversity to their schools. However, this EOTO also put into perspective that these events were not that long ago, my great-grandma and grandma were able to live through these events, experience them, and witness them on TV. Since these events are so recent, we can still see their effects clearly in the way things are run today.

One of the topics that I felt we can see the effects of today very clearly is Redlining. “Redlining can be defined as a discriminatory practice that consists of the systematic denial of services such as mortgages, insurance loans, and other financial services to residents of certain areas, based on their race or ethnicity.” I felt the presentation given on this was very well done because it discussed how redlining doesn’t only affect housing but it also affects schools, health, and the outlook of future generations.

In schools, we can very clearly see the effects of redlining, along with redlining we also have school districts. School districts determine what school you go to based on your neighborhood to make transportation accessible. However, due to redlining, you had a majority of black students go to one school because their parents were all redlined and a majority of white students go to another school because they live in the same school district. This leaves schools in majority-black neighborhoods with lower test scores and lower funding because of the education and economic gap. This creates the modern-day separate but equal within public schooling. As an example, “in Columbus, Ohio two elementary schools – Clinton Elementary and Como Elementary – are just over a mile apart. Cliton elementary students preform very well, with 87 percent proficient in reading. At Como Elementary however that figure falls to 44 percent”.

In terms of health, redlining forces African American or ethnic people into neighborhoods with factories, highways, or areas of high pollution right in their backyard. In areas of high pollution, we can also expect people to have respiratory diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, and lung cancer. Many studies it has also shown that people in these redlined neighborhoods are more susceptible to catching sicknesses like Covid 19 and the Flu. Even life expectancy can be lowered due to redlining “On average, life expectancy is lower by 3.6 years in redlined communities, when compared to the communities that existed at the same time but were high-graded by the HOLC.”

Finally, the outlook of future generations, most people believe you are a product of your environment. Imagine living in a redlined neighborhood going to an underfunded school, living in a house where your backyard is a highway instead of grass, and being at a higher risk of being sick. Growing up in a community like this puts too many hardships on a child from a very young age and they become tired and burnt out by the time they enter adulthood. If the future generation only knows what it’s like to live in a redlined neighborhood, they will then also settle to live in a redlined neighborhood continuing the cycle because that’s all they know.

In conclusion, redlining is a key tactic to maintain systematic racism. While we have gotten rid of separate but equal it is still maintained in our schools and neighborhoods through tactics like these.

The population of people living in the best areas of Greensboro (87% White)

The population of people living in the most hazardous areas of Greensboro (81% Black)

Additional links 

Redlining in your city\

https://www.savi.org/2021/06/24/lasting-impacts-of-segregation/

https://www.heritage.org/education/report/housing-redlining-and-its-lingering-effects-education-opportunity#:~:text=This%20practice%20of%20redlining%20had,often%20zoned%20to%20underperforming%20schools.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/19/911909187/in-u-s-cities-the-health-effects-of-past-housing-discrimination-are-plain-to-see

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/19/911909187/in-u-s-cities-the-health-effects-of-past-housing-discrimination-are-plain-to-s

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke: Economics

Introduction 

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a case decided in 1978. The main argument was based on affirmative action and should a university have a requirement to admit a certain number of black students compared to the overall student population. For example, if there are 100 spots then 90 of those spots can go to white students but those remaining 10 spots must go to a black student. However, Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man had applied to the university twice and had not been accepted, Bakke then argued this was unconstitutional under the 14th amendment because he was not being accepted because he was white and not given a fair opportunity. During our mock trial, we made many different points defending the Regents of the University of California such as Bakke could have made it into any other medical school and how after years of mistreatment it is owed to minorities to have this admission requirement to bridge the educational gap that can still even be seen today. However below I’ve included my argument from an economic standpoint. 

 

Affirmative Action from an economic standpoint

 

As an employer would you hire me with no college education? 

As an employer would you hire me with no high school education?

 

For most employers, someone without a college education would be turned away in favor of someone with a higher education. However, during the 1970s only 22% percent of African Americans had completed one year of college compared to the 40% of white people that had completed college. 

To put the situation into perspective with no education higher than college you expect to work at a minimum wage job at Mcdonald's or Walmart, but during the 1970 minimum wage was 1.60 an hour. This made your annual income about $3,328 per year but this amount is well below the cost of living during the time for a person living on their own. These numbers do not factor in the cost of living for a family or the cost of living for a single-parent household. So, while not earning enough to support yourself or your family you turn to government assistance to help you get food, medical assistance, and housing. The more people need government assistance the more our economy as a whole goes down. This entire cycle all goes back to your job application being turned down to your lack of education.

 

With this situation in mind getting rid of affirmative action would cripple us economically. affirmative action attempts to even out the playing field in terms of education, which also evens out the playing field in terms of jobs. If we were to get rid of affirmative action, we would continue to see a small number of African American people uneducated. Accounting for only black people this means only 22% of 22,000,000 people would earn at least one year of a college education. Representing 78% of those people would end up earning a minimum wage and possibly needing government assistance. By getting rid of affirmative action, we risk having 78% of 22,000,000 people needing government assistance.   

 

After years of slavery, separate but equal laws, and unjust treatment as a government we have been constantly attempting to cripple African Americans socially, educationally, and most importantly economically. This has been done to protect pride, hierarchy, and the silly belief of white supremacy. However, if we hinder 22,000,000 people it still hurts the whole no matter how supreme some people may think they are. The failing economy that peoples like to complain about is self-inflicted because we refuse to help a group of people because of bias. Imagine if 22,000,000 people were able to attend at least one year of college. We would have fewer people relying on government assistance, more people investing in houses or stocks, more consumers buying luxuries instead of necessities to get by, and an increase in doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. 

 

In closing with affirmative action, we can only help the economy grow by having more people with higher education with the ability to earn higher-paying jobs meaning people would be able to afford luxuries instead of just necessities that would then contribute back to our economy.

 

Additional Links 

https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/c.php?g=672281&p=4734237

https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1971/dec/pc-v2.html

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23263010?seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents

 https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1970-1979

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1979/76-811

Brown v. Board Mock Trial Thoughts

 The Brown v Board trial was a court case about the desegregation of schools. This case was argued under the 14th amendment because these schools were not equal therefore, they did not live up to the separate but equal law created by Plessy v Ferguson. Many people saw this as the court’s way to reverse the effects of the extremely poor decision of the Plessy v Ferguson case and end the separate but equal law. I think both teams for the mock trial did a great job at gathering good points and information for and against the trial, however, I found this case interesting because I feel my views on this case changed based on the education system that we see for minorities today.

Originally when I first learned of the case it seemed obvious that schools should be integrated. Schools were not equal; clearly, black students were given less than 1/3 of the same accommodations as white students. However now we get to see the effects of Brown v Board, especially my personally attending a PWI (Predominantly White Institution) and I find myself agreeing with the other side of the argument concerning comfortability or social norms and representation. If we were to look past the fact that schools were not equally funded and instead created equal would there still be an argument?

During the trial, representation was a topic that was slightly mentioned but not brought up enough. From my viewpoint, I’ve seen my dad’s impact as an elementary teacher at a Guilford County Public School. Being a black male teacher has a significant impact on all the students not only the ones that he teaches. The students can see an educated black man and feel comfortable around him because of their mutual respect and understanding. Students of all grades go to him to seek advice because they think their white teachers would not understand their dialect, home life, or background.

For example, there was a student that did not want to go to gym class because they were going to be playing outside. The white teacher did not understand why and tried to force the student to go to the gym. However, the student went to speak to my dad and explained the reasoning was that he was wearing his new shoes and was not allowed to get them dirty. Since this is common in African American households my dad immediately understood and allowed the student to stay behind in his classroom. While it may seem simple and insignificant small understandings like this matter so much at a young age.

Therefore, I can’t imagine in the 1950’s being taught by a white teacher that refused to even see an African American as a person learning a little black child in their formative years. While not all teachers may have not been negative, I guarantee that some teachers refused to teach black students or taught black students extremely unfairly due to the belief that black students were just unable to learn anything at all.

Aside from the representation of teachers, there’s also the representation of your fellow peers. This a problem we still see heavily mention in today’s schooling system. As said during the mock trial Black people make up only 12% of the American population. This means during the time of the trial while attending school African American children will be surrounded by children that were taught to hate them. Even today it can be extremely uncomfortable for African American students to be the only person of color in an all-white class.

However, I still agree with the decision of Brown v Board mainly due to the concept of a marketplace of ideas. Being separated from people that look different than us or think differently from us puts society into a box, we never stop to think that there could be something of value in learning from someone else. Integrated schools help to end racism and biases in the younger generation. For younger kids’ school is one of the only places they have to develop their beliefs and values of the world outside of their parents, therefore children can realize the biases their parents instilled in them are not true. This creates a new generation of people that can communicate effectively with each other because they were no longer separated by biases forced on them by their parents.

Additional Links 

https://www.diverseeducation.com/opinion/article/15109575/diversity-in-the-classroom-why-representation-matters