Civil Rights Discussion Board
Assignment:
1. Compare and contrast \u201cLetters From the Birmingham City Jail\u201d by Martin Luther King Jr. and the documentary I Am Not Your Negro featuring the words of James Baldwin.
2. What can they tell us about contemporary race relations in the United States; in particular, how is racism a “white problem” rather than a “negro problem”?
3. As with all of our discussion boards, you are required to thoughtfully reply to at least two of your colleagues.
Recommended Length: 5-8 paragraphs
Note: I am using the language of the source material here (Negro, Black, etc.). If you care to, you may address this in your post.
To help you get started, here are a sample of possible topics. You do not need to address these specific questions directly:
The degree to which racial inequality has been ingrained in television, movies, music, etc. and the resulting effects.
The role of the White moderate who is apathetic and\/or ignorant of racial inequality.
How or why Whites need racial injustice and how this ultimately affects both the Negro and Whites.
The tradeoff between freedom and oppression.
The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial injustice both in the 1950s and today.
Various tactics used in the struggle for civil rights.
Source Material: <\/p>\n
I Am Not Your Negro documentary. Available on Netflix and elsewhere.Here are some argument-based questions from the Baldwin documentary that may help focus your thoughts. You do not need to address each of these specific questions directly in your essay:
(12:30) What experiences did Baldwin have as a child that prevented him throughout his life from hating white people? How would you paraphrase this conclusion that he draws: \u201cWhite people don\u2019t act the way they do because they are white, but for some other reason\u201d? What does he mean here? (18:00) What argument is Baldwin making in the clip we see from a debate he took part in at Cambridge University in 1965? What is his claim? What support does he provide for it? (44:00) What do you think Baldwin is getting at when he says that the problems of racism in America is actually not a racial problem? What kind of problem is it, then? What is Baldwin\u2019s support for this claim?(47:00) Summarize Baldwin\u2019s complex argument premised on the distinction between white America\u2019s public face and its private self, as it pertains to their relationship to black people.(49:00) Baldwin explains that when white and black people hate each other, there is a different underlying, root emotion behind the hatred. What is the root of black people\u2019s hatred of whites? What is the root of white people\u2019s hatred of blacks? How does the imagery from the late-1950s film \u201cThe Defiant Ones\u201d comment on these views?(1:04:00) What does the video montage of apologies, along with Baldwin\u2019s words underneath them, say about apologies and American immaturity or childishness?(1:11:00) What is Baldwin\u2019s argument when the film shows images of happy and affluent white families?(1:22:00) Baldwin declares, \u201cThe story of the negro in America is the story of America. It is not a pretty story.\u201d Is this the main argument of this documentary? Explain and substantiate your response.(1:28:00) Baldwin states, \u201cNot everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.\u201d What significance does this statement have in the context of race relations? Why does Baldwin say that this principle gives African-Americans a \u201cterrifying advantage\u201d?(1:30:00) Baldwin concludes: \u201cThe future of the negro of this country is entirely the same as the future of this country.\u201d What does the future of the country depend on, in the film\u2019s closing words from Baldwin? <\/p>\n
Chapter 4, American Government Examined Reader, \u201cLetters From the Birmingham City Jail\u201d by Martin Luther King Jr.
Chapters 3 and 4 of your Open to Debate e-text
References of your choice to contemporary race relations. Spike Lee’s Will History Stop Repeating Itself 0:94 sec. https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpikeLeeJoint\/status\/1267269978320826368?s=20 (Links to an external site.)
Here is a link to a New York Times review of The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee that addresses some of the ways in which racism imposes a cost to all of us: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/02\/23\/books\/review-sum-of-us-heather-mcghee.html?.?mc=aud_dev<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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