HISTORY OF THE U.S. IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA HIS 356P (39440) / AFR 374D (30260) / AMS 321 (30670) FALL 2016 UTC 3.102 T TH 3:30 5:00 Professor Laurie Green Professor Laurie Green Bobak Reihani, Teaching Assistant Office Hours: M 1:30-2:30, Th 1:30-2:30, OBA Office Hours: T 1-2, F 1-2, OBA GAR 2.116 Texas Expresso, Texas Exes (Alumni) Bldg. 512/475-7245 2100 San Jacinto across from Stadium lbgreen@austin.utexas.edu breihani9@gmail.com As we grapple this year with difficult questions about racial justice in America, we are also marking important anniversaries of the civil rights movements of the mid-20th century, including some that took place in Austin. Seventy years ago, in 1946, Heman Sweatt applied to UT Law School, a step that led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandating the desegregation of graduate and professional schools. Sixty years ago this month, the first black undergraduates matriculated at UT. Austin public schools remained essentially segregated 45 years ago in 1971, the year when both the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Mexican American Legal Defense Fund filed suit against AISD s desegregation plan, which would transfer Mexican American children to historically black east side schools and vice versa, while leaving historically white schools on the west side intact. This case, which also resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling, disrupts the historical narrative about school desegregation that focuses solely on African American and white children. We use a relational approach to civil rights history in the course, which allows us to consider how different movements for racial justice influenced each other. The Black Freedom Movement forms the backbone of the course; however, we closely examine civil rights and liberation movements among Asian Americans, Native Americans and, especially, Mexican Americans. In addition to looking into corners of the Civil Rights Movement that jog our cultural memories, this course also considers struggles that are not necessarily included in a historical narrative largely focused on desegregation and voting rights, such as the march fifty years ago of striking Texas farm workers and their families from Rio Grande City to Austin, during a summer more likely to be remembered for the fist-raising declaration of Black Power in Mississippi, or the escalation of the war in Viet Nam. As the title of the course suggests, students taking this upper-division lecture course will gain fresh understandings of such turning points by placing them in the broader historical context of the changing American society from World War II into the early 1970s. We look, for example, at how the Cold War, changes in the mass media, economic transformation, and urban migration influenced conflicts over racial justice. Throughout, we pay attention to broad themes: clashing understandings of equal rights, race and racism, gender, labor and class. Although this is a lecture course, it is structured to encourage students to engage critically with course material through discussions and writing assignments. COURSE EVALUATION: Ø Attendance. After 2 unexcused absences, 2 points will be dropped from final grade for each additional unexcused absence. See Canvas, General Information, for further explanation and list of excused absences. Ø Reading handouts (2), due 9/8 and 10/11 (5% each, 10% total). Submit via Canvas.
Ø End-of-unit exams (3), 9/27, 10/27, 12/1 (20% each, 60% total). Essay/Multiple choice. Ø Essay, 1,500 words, due FRIDAY, 11/18 by 4 p.m. (30%). Submit via Canvas. Ø Extra credit: You can raise your final grade by 1-2 points by attending 1 extra credit event related to the course material and submitting a 250-word commentary. Prof. Green will announce these events as they arise, but suggestions are welcome. Ø Make-up exams: In the case of excused absences, offered for full credit. In the case of unexcused absences, must be taken during the next History Dept. make-up exam time, Friday afternoons 2-4:45, with a 10-point deduction. See specific instructions on Canvas. Ø Grade values: + and will be used in this course. Grades ending in.5 or above will be rounded up; grades ending in.49 or below will not. Required readings: BOOKS are available at the University Co-op Bookstore and are on reserve at the PCL. OTHER READINGS will be posted on Canvas. Cone, James H. Martin and Malcolm and America: A Dream or a Nightmare Martin, Waldo E. Brown v. Board of Education: A Brief History with Documents Sellers, Cleveland. The River of No Return: The Autobiography of a Black Militant and the Life and Death of SNCC Strum, Philippa. Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican American Rights Takaki, Ronald. Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II Theoharis, Jeanne. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks CANVAS WILL BE USED FOR THIS COURSE. Further important material for the class will be posted on Canvas, such as class policies; assignment details; grading rubrics; readings; lecture outlines; extra credit opportunities; helpful tips about note-taking, exams, and writing; and more. Office Hours are encouraged. We are available to help you with note-taking, exam preparation, paper writing, and more, and also just to talk about issues that arise in the course. If you cannot make our set hours, email to see if we can work out an appointment at a different time. Lecture PowerPoints will be posted on Canvas following lectures. Each one will include major topics of discussion and Lecture Terms you will need to know. If you miss class, be sure to get notes from another student. Collective Work: We want to provide opportunities for you to work more closely with original historical materials and discuss them with other students. There will be several occasions in which group work will be an element of class and we will be organizing you into groups for the semester. Special Accommodations will be provided, upon request, for qualified students. Contact the Dean of Students office at 471-6259 or ssd@uts.cc.utexas.edu if you need accommodations but are not certified. Submit your letter about approved accommodations early in the semester. Academic Integrity: The University of Texas adheres strictly to guidelines regarding academic integrity, including cheating and plagiarism. These guidelines extend to all material found on the Internet, as well as to all print material. Penalties for violations may include loss of credit for the course and a report to the Student Judicial Services. Please familiarize yourself with the very informative links on this website: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php.
Flags carried by this course: Cultural Diversity in the United States courses increase your familiarity with the variety and richness of the American cultural experience. Your grade comes from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one U.S. cultural group that has experienced persistent marginalization. Ethics and Leadership courses are designed to equip you with skills necessary for making ethical decisions in your adult and professional life. Your assignments will focus in large part on historical situations that involved conflicts over ethics in real-life situations. Legislative Requirement: This course may be used to fulfill three hours of the U.S. history component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, personal responsibility, and social responsibility. CHECK OUT NOT EVEN PAST, the renowned interactive website founded in 2010 by the UT History Department. NOT EVEN PAST offers monthly features focusing on faculty research and teaching, as well as weekly book recommendations, reviews of historical films, and stories about archival, visual, aural, and other documents that illuminate intriguing corners of the past. Week 1 Aug. 25: COURSE SCHEDULE Introduction: Civil Rights History for a New Era UNIT 1: The War at Home, The War Abroad: Race and American Democracy Week 2: World War II: A Watershed? August 30: Defending Democracy and Fighting Inequality in the Armed Forces READ: Takaki, ch. 1, 2, plus ch. 5, only 82-9 Sept.1: Race and Democracy on the Home Front I: Racial Violence READ: Takaki, ch. 5 (only 102-110) Strum, pages 13-34 FILM: American Experience: Zoot Suit Riots Week 3: Interconnected Histories of the Home Front Sept. 6: Race and Democracy on the Home Front II READ: Takaki, ch. 3, plus ch. 5, only 90-101 Sept. 8: Japanese Internment READ: Takaki, ch. 6 (only 111-20), ch. 7 FILM: A Family Gathering DUE: Reading handout on Takaki Week 4: Where Do We Go From Here? Racial Justice after World War II Sept. 13: We Return Fighting : Veterans, Racial Militancy and Postwar Politics READ: Theoharis, 24-53 Sept. 15: Cold War, Civil Rights READ: Mary Dudziak, Cold War, Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy, excerpt
Week 5: Disrupting Racial Structures in Postwar America Sept. 20: Urbanization and Migration READ: Daniel, Rhythms of the Land, Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s. Sept. 22: Race and Popular Culture READ: Green, Our Mental Liberties, Battling the Plantation Mentality Week 6: Schooling and Civil Rights Sept. 27: EXAM #1: Bring a blue book, pencil and pen. UNIT 2: From Civil Rights to Freedom Now! Sept. 29: Education and Civil Rights READ: Martin, 1-2; 76-86 Come prepared to discuss Plessy v Ferguson docs. Strum, chs. 3-4 Week 7: School Desegregation in Comparative Perspective Oct. 4: The Mendez Decision: Race or National Origin? READ: Strum, ch. 5-9 Oct. 6: The Road to Brown READ: Martin, 7-19, 76-86, 91-100, 110-123 Week 8 Brown v. Board of Education: The Historic Decision and Its Aftermath Oct. 11: Overturning Separate But Equal READ: Martin, 137-98 DUE: Reading Handout on Strum and Martin Oct. 13: CLASS WILL MEET AT DOUG ROSSINOW TALK: Painter Hall 3.02 READ: Theoharis, 53-150 Begin this reading in preparation for next Tuesday. Week 9: From Civil Rights to Freedom Now! Continuity or Discontinuity? Oct. 18: Unexpected Compliance, Massive Resistance, and Boycotting Buses READ: Complete Theoharis reading. Oct. 20: Sit-Ins and Stand-Ins READ: Sellers, ch. 1-5 Week 10: A National Freedom Movement Oct. 25: From Freedom Rides to the March on Washington READ: Sellers, ch. 6-8 Theoharis, 159-64 FILM EXCERPTS: Eyes on the Prize segment, Ain t Scared of Your Jails Oct. 27: Exam #2: Bring a blue book, pencil and pen. UNIT 3: Where Do We Go From Here? Week 11: A Crossroads Nov. 1: Voting Rights and Challenges to Liberalism READ: Sellers, ch. 9-11 Nov. 3: From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime READ: TO BE ANNOUNCED (Also begin reading Cone, chs. 3-4, 7-9)
Week 12: Freedom or Liberation? Nov. 8: Black Power READ: Sellers, ch. 12 Theoharis, 201-228 Nov. 10: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.: A Reconsideration READ: Complete assigned King/Malcolm X documents by this class. We will discuss paper assignment in class. FILM: Malcolm X: His Own Story as It Really Happened Week 13: Liberation and the Politics of National Identity Nov. 15: The Chicano Movement and Vietnam NO READING. Work on paper Nov. 17: The Native American Movement NO READING. Finalize paper. Paper due FRIDAY, 11/18, by 4 p.m. Week 14: Historical Memory Nov. 22: On the eve of Thanksgiving... READ: Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, excerpt FILM: Alcatraz is Not an Island Nov. 26: THANKSGIVING Week 15: Civil Rights, Past and Present Nov. 29: Looking Backward and Looking Forward READ: Theoharis, 233-44 Dec. 1: EXAM #3: Bring a blue book, pencil and pen. There is no final exam for this course. Congratulations and happy holidays!