Monday, April 30, 2007

Could You Handle It?

Aston was wondering:

I am wondering what the African American kids that went to school in the white school system felt before the Brown vs. Board?

What would you have felt if you were discriminated against during school? Do you think you could handle what they went through?

Saturday, April 28, 2007

What Would Kennedy Have Done?

Colleen was wondering:

Kennedy only had his "1000 days" as President and he was able to accomplish a lot. What do you think he could have achieved if he hadn't been assasinated? Could he have achieved more than what Johnson did as his successor or less? Do you think it would have been better for the U.S. if he had continued being president, or was it better his time in the White House ended?

Editor's Note: when answering this question, think about what Johnson was able to accomplish (CR and Voting Rights Acts, War on Poverty, Great Society) and what he failed to do (Vietnam). Was Johnson able to succeed and fail b/c he was who he was? Would JFK have succeeded better or worse based upon his own personality, strengths and weaknesses?

Malcolm or Martin? Too much? Too little?


This week we talked about the segregation problems we had back then. We talked about how the civil rights leaders fought injustice not just for blacks but for every minority. Examples of leaders are MLK, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X.

Black Americans continued to protest and the fight against injustice in a non-violent way until Malcolm X came. The situation escalated to the point of black madness of Malcolm X. Do you think Malcolm X went too far? If so, why?
Do you think MLK did too little? Why or why not ?
What are some similarities between the two of them?
Gil C. - 5th Hr.

Build the Dream - National MLK Monument in D.C. - http://www.mlkmemorial.org/

The Official Website of Malcolm X - http://www.cmgworldwide.com/historic/malcolm/

Inequality in schools - what can be done?

Jeff K. asks:

Is it fair today that just like back then (before segregation) when the white schools were better than the blacks school to have the Private schools in the nation be better than the Public schools in the nation?

Is it fair that parents with more money or a higher standards of living can send their children to a school that offers maybe more classes, than parents with less money who can't afford to send their kids there?

Should all schools be the same as to what they offer for classes and what they teach? Should we get rid of the differences between these schools and give everyone a fair chance to succeed What do you believe should be done?

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Questions about the Emmett Till case

I think its interesting that we are learning beyond Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. They are cool and all but we have been taught that since second grade.
With the civil rights video, "The Rage Within"... why did the grandfather (Mose Wright) let the white people take his grandchild from Chicago (Emmett) from him? (Emmett was later found dead in a lake).

Why did the jury find the obvious killers innocent? Was it to put even more of a message to blacks not that they should not break the rules of segregation? Or was it because the jury didn't really pay attention to the case and just sided with the white men?
Leah
_____________________________________________________________
One more from Mariah:
So many incidents occurred that were similar to the Emmett Till case in that the verdicts were injust and unfair. Why is it that most of the cases and occurrences that we have heard about and been taught about are only involving blacks when other minorities were also fighting for their rights? Was it because the other minorities didn't want to have to do the dirty work because they knew when the African-Americans recieved the rights they deserve all the other minorities were also entitled and would recieve then as well?

Jackie Kennedy in Dallas - what would you have done?

Why didn't Jackie try to protect her husband the first time he was shot?

Also why was her first instinct when he was shot the second time to try and jump out of the car and grab his skull?

Wouldn't everybody's first instinct (without thinking if their loved one was shot) to be to grab them and try to protect them?

What would you do?

Christina L.


An assassination conspiracy page (from Germany!?) http://www.jfk-assassination.de/index.php

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Where is there discrimination today?

Through our study of civil rights so far, we have seen how many laws have been put into place such as the 15th Amendment: “no voting discrimination allowed based upon race" and also the 14th Amendment: “provided for equal protection under the law" and citizenship for freed slaves. All theses laws were put into place to make sure that all races have equal rights.

So, my two questions for you are: What is your view on discrimination today? Do you think that we still need to pass laws to make sure that all races get an equal right? (Think about Proposal 2)

Here is a great website that answers common questions about Proposal 2.
http://www.michigancivilrights.org/media/MCRI_FAQs.pdf

Editor's note: the following two paragraphs come from the link Emily provided above. Proposal 2 was passed by Michigan voters in November 2006, and to its supporters, it was supposed to end discrimination based upon race. To its critics, Proposal 2 would end affirmative action. The link is a pro-proposal 2 site.

"PROPOSAL 2 - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Proposal 2 will amend the Michigan Constitution by adding a new Section 26 to Article I that would prohibit state and local government from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the areas of public employment, public contracting and public education.

What would this proposal affect?
Public employment, public education, and public contracting by the state government and all of
its subdivision -- including the state itself, any city, county, public college, university, or
community college, school district, or other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of or within the State of Michigan."

Emily B. - 6th Hour

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Journal #6 - 40 Ways to Look at JFK

After reading and listening to the different views of President Kennedy's life as seen through different biographers' eyes, it's time for your opinion/assessment.

John Kennedy's biographers are usually broken into two groups: one group works to reinforce the image of Kennedy as icon, as the ideal president. They tend to gloss over the difficult stuff in his life with the idea that it's not important to know that kind of info about him. These biographers also stress his good qualities and downplay his bad qualities.

The second group of biographers are iconoclasts; they are trying to poke holes in the JFK myth by finding evidence to refute many of the cherished (and false) stories about the Kennedy family, clan, and presidency. These biographers are like realist authors - they give you the gritty details of a person's life; the fact that this person was the president doesn't seem to phase them.

The American people have consistently voted JFK (along with Lincoln) as their greatest American President, yet historians have given him the title "Most Overrated" in American Heritage magazine. When looking at his Congressional record, he didn't do much. Almost the same thing can be said for his Presidential record; how significant were the Peace Corps and the race to the moon in the long run?

Your job: answer the following questions
1. Share your assessment of the man and his job as president by looking back at your notes on the 9 sections of the book. Explain your reasoning with specific examples.
2. Where should biographers draw the line on their subjects? How much is too much and how little is too little?
It really boils down to what the main job of a biographer is. 250 words minimum.
http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Great link to a tribute website to a JFK archivist, Mary Ferrell.