WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) was thrown off the House floor Wednesday after wearing a hoodie and sunglasses in protest of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.
The 'rules' about clothing, place and social context are culturally and politically institutionalized. Where can you wear what clothes, and when does that change? Should it change? The clothes literally made this particular speech, since it was about the criminalization of cultural clothing norms within racial and economic groups. Should he have been thrown off the floor? What would you have done?
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the United States entered a war in Europe and the Pacific, the nation was overcome by shock, anger, and fear—a fear exaggerated by long-standing anti-Asian prejudice. Ten weeks later President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, under which nearly 75,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry were taken into custody.
"Jazz is often viewed as a uniquely American genre, frequently considered one of our nation's greatest artistic gifts to the world. The Rhode Island College course 'Jazz & Civil Rights' intensely traces the roots of Jazz from the dark times of slavery throughout the Civil Rights Movement. As a story map & timeline, this guide attempts to cohesively lay out key events in Jazz and the movement while incorporating the curriculum of the Jazz & Civil Rights course."
Seth Dixon's insight:
This Story Map was created by one of my students, exploring the history of Jazz from the times of slavery in the United States to the Civil Rights movement.
"Cartoon shows a young woman carrying buckets on a yoke, looking up at ladder ascending up to the sky, bottom rungs labeled 'Slavery,' 'House Drudgery,' and 'Shop Work.' Top rungs labeled 'Equal Suffrage,' 'Wage Equity,' and 'Presidency.'
Seth Dixon's insight:
An alternative title for this political cartoon that was published in August 1920, was "Enfranchisement now means the sky's the limit, in woman's sphere." Nearly 100 years later it seems quite likely that the presidency (the symbolic top rung on this ladder) will be reached next month. However, the election of President Barack Obama in 2008 did not signify that the United States entered a post-racial era where full racial equality is not a matter of fact. Similarly, the election of a woman, while still being a monumental achievement, won't mean that full gender equality has been achieved. I look at the rungs on the ladder and see that "Wage Equity" was seen place about 3/4ths of the way up. While women certainly make more than they have in the past, they don't earn as much money as their male counterparts in the workforce. Who would have guessed in 1920 that full wage equity would be more elusive than the presidency?
"Few African Americans have excelled at Olympic swimming, which makes Manuel’s gold medal in Rio de Janeiro that much more powerful."
There is a reason why 70 percent of black teenagers, like those who died in Shreveport, and 60 percent of Hispanic teenagers can’t swim. But it isn’t due to some genetic disorder, as some actually believe. It is because of abject irrational racism and Jim Crow and its vestiges.
'There is a reason why 70 percent of black teenagers, like those who died in Shreveport, and 60 percent of Hispanic teenagers can’t swim. But it isn’t due to some genetic disorder, as some actually believe.'
The Rio Olympics is the 28th Summer Olympic games. The first one took place in Athens in 1896 and since then the games have been held in 19 different countries.
"The story of the 25th Infantry's bicycle trip from Missoula, Montana, to St. Louis, Missouri in 1897. The African American infantry took the trip to test a theory that the bicycle would replace the horse in transporting men for the army. The program also examines the life of the African American soldier at the turn of the century, in particular First Sergeant Mingo Sanders." http://www.upworthy.com/the-black-soldiers-who-biked-2000-miles-over-the-mountains-and-out-of-american-history?g=2&c=reccon1
This week, after severe criticism, Scholastic pulled a newly published picture book entitled A Birthday Cake for Mr. Washington. The book, which was written by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, focused on George Washington's enslaved cook, Hercules, and his daughter Delia, as the two overcome obstacles to make a cake for Washington's birthday.
Many critics argued that it displayed an overly rosy view of a slave's life, and the book was deluged with one-star on Amazon reviews.
Many children, and, sadly, their parents, still need to learn that slavery wasn't idyllic, a boon to their family lives, or an improvement over remaining in their homelands. In fact, slavery was often brutal and dehumanizing even when owners exhibited basic kindness. Slaves were often sold away from their families and loved ones with no notice, destroying what little domestic life they were allowed to have; and the severing of black Americans from their ancestors and heritage in Africa is an irreversible trauma.
These are tough facts to confront kids with, especially young kids, but it's better to start with small doses of truth rather than sowing the seeds for "smiling slave" mythologies. Here are 13 (mostly) honest books for young readers that will help them confront the unpalatable truth of slavery, and celebrate the ingenuity and strength of those who resisted, escaped and survived.
Are you on the wrong side or the right side of history? Is there even a "wrong side" or a "right side"? What do those terms mean and why do politicians and pundits use them? Nationally syndicated columnist and best-selling author Jonah Goldberg explains
Seth Dixon's insight:
Just some context for how the phrase is used in the United States and the ideological assumptions about history.
It's fascinating the diverse places which people came from when entering the US through Ellis Island. I think its pretty odd that someone from the Caribbean region would enter the US through NYC. The diversity demonstrated by these pictures is also impressive, considering that four continents are represented.
It is amazing the lengths to which people will go when faced with the desire and need for a symbol to rally behind. Especially when the search simply ignores so much of the history which happened int the intervening years. One can only wonder what the differences would have been in modern American symbolism if a Native American figure had been chosen.
It’s a big day in American history as September 25 marks the moment that Congress approved a Bill of Rights with 12 amendments to the Constitution. So how did we wind up with only 10?
Globalization has been in process for centuries, and has had a huge effect on Big History, and on Collective Learning. This week, Emily is investigating early globalization through three things that moved around the world and shaped collective learning in the early decades of globalization: Printing, Potatoes, and Plagues.
Printing, Potatoes, and Plagues. Even without being an historian or watching the video, there is no doubt these 3 things had an impact on the whole wide world.
"Here’s a collection of totally ridiculous vintage postcards and posters dated from around 1900 to 1914 warning men of the dangers associated with the suffragette movement and of allowing women to think for themselves. I think my favorite is the postcard where the woman is pinching the man’s ear and forcing him to clean the home. The nerve of her to request such a thing!"
It isn’t enough for a commander in chief to invite friendly academics to dinner. The U.S. could avoid future disaster if policy makers started looking more to the past.
"The adult coloring book fad is not allowed to be dead, not until you’ve gotten your hands on Gretchen Peterson’s delightful little project, City Maps.(And actually, the trend seems to show no signs of abating, if the global colored pencil shortage is any indication.) Peterson (whose career I recently profiled) is a renowned GIS and map design consultant who took a break from writing cartography textbooks to make the book. For your coloring pleasure, she assembles 44 aerial city maps, which are reduced to black outlines at different scales and levels of detail. Familiar urban patterns include Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, Venice’s Grand Canal, New York City’s Central Park, New Delhi’s Lotus Temple, and the Great Pyramids of Cairo."
200 years of America deciding who should be an American.
Seth Dixon's insight:
Understanding the immigrant experience is critical to understanding U.S. history, and in charting out the changing way that we have redefined what it means to be an American.
The student's answers went into an unexpected topic.
Seth Dixon's insight:
This is some good food for thought to consider when making assignments for a class as well as how we treat certain subjects such as slavery in the classroom.
Segregated public facilities, including beaches, were commonplace, but even today, the inequality persists
There are few words more closely associated with 20th-century South African history than apartheid, the Afrikaan word for "apartness" that describes the nation's official system of racial segregation. And though the discriminatory divide between whites of European descent and black Africans stretch back to the era of 19th-century British and Dutch imperialism, the concept of apartheid did not become law until 1953, when the white-dominated parliament passed the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, which officially segregated public spaces such as taxis, ambulances, hearses, buses, trains, elevators, benches, bathrooms, parks, church halls, town halls, cinemas, theaters, cafes, restaurants, hotels, schools, universities—and later, with an amendment, beaches and the seashore.
GeoInquiries are designed to be fast and easy-to-use instructional resources that incorporate advanced web mapping technology. Each 15-minute activity in a collection is intended to be presented by the instructor from a single computer/projector classroom arrangement. No installation, fees, or logins are necessary to use these materials and software.
Seth Dixon's insight:
These GeoInquiries from ESRI are excellent resources for history teachers looking for ways to bring online maps to life in their classrooms. The are designed for mapping novices, so don't worry if you don't have an GIS background.
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