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| Chapter 5: Civil Rights |
| You Decide |
| The goal of this exercise is to get students to understand past and current racial issues, so they may better understand the reason why affirmative action policies were developed. In the first part of the exercise, listen to short segments of the documentary Remembering Jim Crow on the American Radio Networks Web site to gain a better understanding of how Black Americans were treated during the Jim Crow era. These recollections may help you to understand the racial divide that still exists among many Americans. The final part of the exercise will explore how those different viewpoints affect the current debate on legacy and affirmative action students.
Following are the Remembering Jim Crow segments:
www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering/index.html
* "Our Negroes were Happy" featuring Mary Levaux(on the "Whites Remember Jim Crow" page)
* "Missing Out on Slavery" featuring Leonard Barrow (on the "Whites Remember Jim Crow" page)
* "Sharecropping" featuring Amelia Robinson and Thomas Chatmon (on the "Bitter Times" page)
* "Master had his Way" featuring Jessie Chassion (on the "Keeping the Past" page)
* "Let's Move On" featuring Deanne and Smitty Landry (on the "Whites Remember Jim Crow" page)
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| 1. Why do you think Mary Levaux believes what she does? |
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| 2. Based on the other clips, how would you dispute her argument? |
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| 3. Given the history of discrimination, what are the benefits of affirmative action? |
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| 4. What are the drawbacks of affirmative action? |
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5. Read this New York Times article:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE0D9123FF932A05753C1A9609C8B63 In the last two years, the states of California, Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, South Dakota, and Michigan have voted on antidiscrimination laws. What affect will such laws have on the future of affirmative action and civil rights? |
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6. Watch the following video:
Do you agree with Connerly? Why or why not? |
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