Author: James Wu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic

“Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” (Wikipedia)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-young-people.html?algo=top_conversion&fellback=false&imp_id=625462567&imp_id=465074382&action=click&module=Most%20Popular&pgtype=Homepage

Research as inquiry is your inquiry.  What do you want to know about the readings, Hannah-Jones, and Wilentz?

One main thing is the difference between the two positions:  Hannah-Jones says the U.S. was based on, founded on, racial inequality.  Wilentz says that the abolition of slavery was not guaranteed, that it took a lot of conflict, effort, and circumstance that could not be predicted, yet it slavery was abolished.

You can start with a review of each article.  Break down each article to 3-4 sections and summarize the main point of each.

What questions do you have that come from your reading of the two articles?  Start a research group with another person or persons in the group, if you’d like.  Do an open source web search on your questions.

I for instance wanted to know more about Frederick Douglass, and I found the text where he described his meeting with President Lincoln in order to discuss the recruiting of the African-American brigades in the Union army in the civil war.  From there, I found about the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the Wikipedia article, and the film, Glory, form 1989.

This does connect back to Hannah-Jones; Douglass, who escaped enslavement himself, advocated and fought politically for abolition of slavery and racial equality.

But Douglass’ work to recruit African Americans into the war against the confederates also shows how unpredicted events made this necessary, and that it didn’t just happen on its own.  This is an example of “relentless unforeseen.”  In history, as in life, we improvise to achieve our goals.  We don’t know what is going to happen in the future as a result of our actions.  Yet we must push for our goals.

Lincoln was trying to win the war and preserve the country.  Many people thought African-Americans would not be able to be effective fighting men against the confederates; many had escaped from enslavement in the south.  But the war was not going well, and morale in the north was weakening, and Lincoln had a shortage of new “white” volunteers to join the U.S. army.  Frederick Douglass was a emphatic voice for abolition of slavery and for African Americans to join the U.S. armed forces and fight the confederates.

This was the context of the 1863 war-time Emancipation Proclamation–see the wikipedia article.  This created havoc in the south.  At the same time, the African-American brigades went into action and defeated confederate forces.

Imagine the effect on the public.  The idea of equality was advanced by these actions and events–that no one could have predicted earlier.

This article was published today on the Washington Post website.  An excellent introduction on how viruses work.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/23/coronavirus-isnt-alive-thats-why-its-so-hard-kill/

Feel free to comment using best practices for online writing.  What is a virus?

Go to:  https://bmcc-cuny.zoom.us/j/483752794

Also please note, I have changed the “Assignments” page to agree with the restatement of the Research as Inquiry project #2.

 

For those of you interested in the ongoing health crisis, it’s absolutely necessary to understand the biology of the virus.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/03/biography-new-coronavirus/608338/

Feel free to comment and reflect, perhaps on language that clarifies and states precisely the nature of a virus.  What you knew and didn’t know and how clear language helps us understand scientific information.

Note this article was not written by a scientist, but by a journalist who writes about science.  You could reflect on the genre of science writing/journalism as a reader and as a writer.  Notice that this information would be very difficult to communicate in slang.

Total word count 2200-2800 words.  Due April 7, before your spring break.  This project will be a part of your final  6000 word portfolio.   Note however due to emergency circumstances of this semester, I will grade accordingly and give you as much credit as possible for all work you do.  So don’t worry about the exact word count.

Write a review of Hannah-Jones, Intro to 1619 Project, “The Idea of America.”

https://pulitzercenter.org/builder/lesson/reading-guide-quotes-key-terms-and-questions-26504

Also available here:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html

and Wilentz’s

American Slavery and ‘the Relentless Unforeseen’ _ by Sean Wilentz _ NYR Daily _ The New York Review of Books

Review two additional sources.  As a student researcher and inquirer, you find your own articles.  You can share sources on the blog.  The blog is also for bringing up discussion points and questions.  Here are the articles, I’ve found as a result of my “research as inquiry,” two of which we’ve discussed already.  You can use these articles or research and ask questions and look for the sources that will inform you on what you want to know.

Magness.

https://www.aier.org/article/fact-checking-the-1619-project-and-its-critics/

Lindsay.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2019/08/30/after-all-didnt-america-invent-slavery/#20161df37ef6

Here’s an excerpt from Frederick Douglas writing about advising President Abraham Lincoln that shows us what the situation was during the Civil War for free African Americans.  Question to ask is: how does this relate to Hannah-Jones’ view.  This whole website is worth looking at for the role of African Americans in the Civil War.  You can also read the wikipedia entry on Frederick Douglass.

Douglass, Frederick. “Secession and War.”  (The date on the website must be a mistake, as the text discusses events during the war. Douglass’ “Autobiography” was published in several editions, each time the author adding discussion of recent events.)

http://www.learningabe.info/Douglass_article_3.html

And here is a super interesting entry to Wikipedia on the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Color Brigades in the Civil War.  The wikipedia entry can be discussed itself, but also can serve as a source for your own further research/inquiry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Infantry_Regiment

The movie, Glory depicts this regiment.  If you want to see it on Youtube or Netflix or Amazon, you can use it in your research as inquiry project.  Perhaps write a review of the movie, and discuss the historical accuracy, or simply a reflection on it and what you did or did not know about this topic.  And of course, relate it back to Hannah-Jones and Wilentz.  You’ll note that Frederick Douglas in the article above is discussing recruiting African Americans into these special brigades.

Here’s a video, it’s long, of 3 professors, discussing the Reconstruction Period after the Civil War.  Very interesting and probably necessary to understand racism in the U.S. today.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?404528-1/150th-anniversary-reconstruction

And here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry on the Civil Rights Act of 1968, arguably the 3rd founding of the U.S.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1968

Lastly, I want to link an outline of the U.S. Constitution.  We should especially look at the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.  Researchers and inquirers should do a wiki search on each and also compare to the wartime “Emancipation Proclamation.” We will discuss this in the blog and on Zoom.

https://www.fortheteachers.org/File%20Cabinet/United%20States%20Constitution%20Outline.pdf

 

 

 

We can discuss and write about the ongoing health epidemic, so please feel free to write about your experience and concerns.  This is obviously part of the social context of this writing, and you may include reflection writings on this ongoing situation in your portfolios.

What are you doing and what are you observing?  Please use effective writing style for online display!

You will get credit for your participation and you can use your reflection posts, revised and slightly repurposed in your 6000 word final portfolio.  So please remember to keep a file of all your writings and graphics and images and video and audio files that you can use in portfolio!

Please follow this blog, as we will do the rest of the semester online.  You will of course be able to pass the class if you turn in your portfolio.  I will take into account the unusual and unanticipated interruption of the semester and grade accordingly.  So don’t worry.

Probably the main thing we can do is practice our effective writing in this genre, a very important one, the online blog and response.

We can discuss and write about the ongoing health epidemic, so please feel free to write about your concerns.  This is obviously part of the social context of this writing, and you may include reflection writings on this ongoing situation in your portfolios.