Syllabus

History 220/Black American Studies 220, The American Civil Rights Movement, Fall 2000








Professor Ray Wolters Professor Howard Johnson Mr. Jeff Forret
Munroe 220 Ewing 423 Munroe 128
T 11-12; R 3:30-4:30 TR 9:30-10:30 W 1-3
wolters@udel.edu 50126@udel.edu jforret@udel.edu

This course will be a team-taught, interdisciplinary lecture course on the history of the American civil rights movement.  One professor is a member of the History Department, and the other is from Black American Studies.  In addition to dealing with the crucial years from about 1954 to 1970, the course will also cover a larger span of race relations.  It will go back to discuss the activities of black leaders earlier in the twentieth century, and it will move forward to discuss "second generation" civil rights issues that involve various sorts of affirmative action.

Students in Section 010 must attend lectures and take three one-hour examinations.  Students in Section 011 should do the same and will also receive an extra credit (four credits in all) for their work as part of a team that makes a "problem-based" presentation to the entire class.  The presentation will be either a moot court re-enactment of a landmark civil rights lawsuit or a re-enactment of one of the key debates in civil rights history.

Required Reading

  1. For the first examination:

    2. a.  Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery
    b.  Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany, Having Our Say
  2. For the second examination:

    3. a.  Harvard Sitkoff, The Struggle for Black Equality
    b.  Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  3. For the third examination:

    4. a.  Shelby Steele, The Content of Our Character
    b.  Nathan McCall, Makes We Wanna Holler

Grades will be based on three 100-point examinations, with 90% the bottom A, 80% the bottom B, 70% the bottom C, and 60% the bottom D.  The presentations by students in Section 011 will also be graded according to the 90-80-70-60 system.

Tentative Schedule of Classes

Part One: The Forgotten Years of the Civil Rights Movement

1.  August 29, Antecedents of the Civil Rights Movement
2.  August 31, Disfranchisement and Segregation
3.  September 5, Booker T. Washington
4.  September 7, W.E.B. DuBois
5.  September 12, The Great Migration
6.  September 14, Marcus Garvey
7.  September 19, The Harlem Renaissance
8.  September 21, Philip Randolph and the March on Washington
9.  September 26, Presentation
10.  September 28, Examination

Part Two: The Civil Rights Movement at High Tide

1.  October 3, Background Forces
2.  October 5, Charles H. Houston and Thurgood Marshall
3.  October 10, Brown v. Topeka Board of Education
4.  October 12, Martin Luther King
5.  October 17, Massive Resistance
6.  October 19, The Movement Spreads
7.  October 24, Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965
8.  October 26, Race Riots
9.  October 31, Black Power
10.  November 2, Black Power; Presentation
11.  November 9, Examination

Part Three: Civil Rights in Recent American History

1.  November 14, The War on Poverty
2.  November 16, The Underclass
3.  November 21, Affirmative Action
4.  November 28, Affirmative Action
5.  November 30, Voting Rights Act (1965) and Results Test (1982)
6.  December 5, Presentation and Conclusion
7.  December 11, Final Exam, 1:00-3:00

Study Questions for Final Exam:

1.  The books: What are the main themes of Shelby Steele's book, The Content of Our Character, and of Nathan McCall's book, Makes Me Wanna Holler?  What do you suppose Shelby Steele and Nathan McCall would think about one another's books?

2.  Identify and give the significance of the "guaranteed annual income" and the "negative income tax."

3.  What were the major components of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty?  Why did poverty persist?  What were the unintended consequences of the War on Poverty?

4.  Summarize, compare, and contrast the cultural and the structural explanations for the emergence of the underclass.  Identify and give the significance of Ken Auletta and William Julius Wilson.

5.  Summarize and give the significance of Green v. New Kent County (1968), Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971), and Richmond v. Croson (1989).

6.  Affirmative Action:  Discuss, compare, and contrast the effect of affirmative action on employment in the public and private sectors.  What other groups (that is, other than some African Americans) have benefitted from affirmative action?  Are there any negative effects of affirmative action in the black community?  Do some classes of blacks gain more from affirmative action than others?

7.  Voting Rights:  Identify and give the significance of "preclearance."  Why do at-large elections have the effect of making it hard for blacks to be elected to public office?  Identify and give the significance of Thornburg v. Gingles (1986).  Identify and discuss Lani Guinierr and her idea of the "concurrent majority."  What is "cumulative voting"?  Discuss the unintended effect of packing black voters into predominantly black districts.

Remember, voluntary study sessions will be held at the following times:
Thursday, December 7, 3:00-4:30, Kirkbride 204
Thursday, December 7, 4:30-6:00, Kirkbride 204

Last updated, December 5, 2000