"All [people] are equal, but some [people] are more equal than others" -George Orwell (Animal Farm)

After I read the article about the students in Jena the only thought that kept running through my mind was the quote from Animal Farm. The situation in Jena, Louisiana was just completely ridiculous, malicious, and incredibly unfair. What really bothered me was how when six black kids hurt one white kid the whole town goes crazy. Yet when nooses are hung from trees, implying the lynching of blacks, no one seemed to care. As I read the article I kept thinking back to the nine students at Little Rock. Essentially it was the same situation as the one in Jena, Louisiana. Black students are treated with cruelty for doing something that was/is frowned upon, while white students can act how ever they want, where ever they want and not get reprimanded. This recurring theme in history can only be changed one way. Not by passing equal rights bills or protesting, but by simply looking at one another as humans. Not whites, blacks, hispanics, or any other race; because essentially when everything is stripped away we are all just people.

MLK vs Malcolm X

Whose methodology was more effective Matrin Luther King vs Malcolm X? That is a question that will forever be controversial, but in my opinion MLK had a much better idealogy/methodology than Malcolm X. Violence is never an effective method, because by becoming violent one lowers him or herself to the attackers level. This non-violence method by MLK was more effective because it was more difficult to stop the protests. By not being violent the people who followed MLK could not be convicted with as many charges compared to Malcolm X's followers who did become violent. After reviewing both Malcolm X and MLK's quotes I can make the inference that when Malcolm X spoke he wanted to riel up the people he was speaking to and encourage them to fight for equal rights by any means necessary; while MLK empowered the people he spoke to and encoureged them to the change that could be done without resorting to violence.

I am part of the lunch counter sit-in

I am a part of a lunch counter sit-in.

I wonder why they are judging me by my skin tone rather than my character.
I hear people yelling cruel and derrogatory terms at me.
I see people fighting arround me.
I want to be treated like everybody else.
I am a part of the lunch counter sit-in.

I pretend that my feelings are not hurt.
I feel the hot coffee running down my back.
I need to stay focused for what I am fighting for.
I worry about my survival.
I cry, but only on the inside.
I am a part of the lunch counter sit-in
I understand that I might die.
I believe that everyone should have equal rights.
I dream that one day my children will not be judged based on the color of their skin.
I try to keep calm and block out the violence happening around me.
I hope that we will win.
I am a part of a lunch counter sit-in.

Image Source: http://www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rodney_Powell_Nashville_sit-ins_1960.jpg

Topic 11 Concept Guide

MLK and Civil Disobedience

MLK fought for equal rights, but he did this using non violence

- Organized Civil Disobedience

-Lunch Counter Sit-ins

-Montgomery Bus Boycott; 381 days.

-Boycotted riding on the bus

- Result: colored people were allowed to sit where they wanted and pay the same for bus fare as whites

- Assassinated in 1968

Power of the “Mob”

- Mob Mentality

- The bigger the mob of people working toward one common goal, the more effective they would be

Plessy v. Ferguson

-Separate but equal: water fountains, restaurants, restrooms ect.

-Reminds me of the concept in Animal Farm "All [people] are equal, but some [people] are more equal than others"

Civil Rights Goals

-Equal rights for colored people.

- Desegregation

-Peace between Blacks and Whites

-No violence

Eisenhower’s Role in Little Rock

-sent in troops to assure the nine black children safe passage

-Segregation was against the law so he had to show the country that he would enforce this law, especially in that difficult situation

Rights of the Accused

-Gideon vs. Wainwright

-6th amendment requires counsel for defendants who are unable to afford their own attorneys

-Escobedo Vs. Illinois

-Criminal suspects have the right to counsel during police interrogation

-Miranda vs. Arizona

-Miranda Laws

-Criminal suspects must be informed of their right to counsel prior to interrogation. If anything is said before they are read their rights it is considered invalid and cannot be used against them

-Brown v. Board of Education

-Integrated School Systems

-Wanted equal schooling opportunities for Blacks

Chavez and the United Farm Workers

-Founded United Farm Workers

-Pretty much the Hispanic version of MLK

-Helped immigrant workers earn rights

-Organized Civil disobedience

- Delano Grape Strike

-Against pesticides: thought to make the migrant workers ill

- Anti-Immigration

FHA and ADA

-Federal Housing Administration

- improve housing standards and housing conditions

-provide and adequate home financing: insurance of mortgage loans

- stabilize the mortgage market

Americans with Disabilities Act

- enacted by the US Congress in 1990.

-Prohibits discrimination based on disability.
Purpose of Filibusters

- Prevent the opposing side from talking

-Used in House of Representatives and Senate

-Used to stop Civil Rights Legislation
Sit-Ins and Other Protests

- Organized groups would go into restaurants sit down try to order food

-When they were denied they would stay at the counter even if they were being beaten or ridiculed

-Always peaceful, never retaliated

-Usually were removed by police and arrested

-After first group was done, another group would take their place at the counter

-Group after group would continue to go to prove that they were tenacious and would not give up under any circumstances

A women's worth

The first thing that caught my eye in this article was the big bold words that told the “lady” to “Take it Easy”. This advertisement is sexist because when I zoomed in on the advertisement it talked about how a woman’s day is filled with cleaning and cooking which can cause her to become stressed. This is why the giant slogan read, “Take it Easy”. The product, pork and beans, was meant to ease the woman’s day because it could be served as a quick meal for the family. By placing the image of a woman relaxing on the cover it insinuated that women didn’t have many responsibilities and could simple relax all day as soon as their housework was done. What irritated me about this advertisement was that it made it sound as though women are only good for housework, this is clearly not true, women can do much more than that. Women such as Clara Barton, Condoleezza Rice, and Marie Curie are just a few of the many women whose effects can still be seen in the world.

Source Cited: http://www.adclassix.com/a3/37vancampbeans.htm

Topic 10 Concept Guide

McCarthyism impact on society:
-House Committee of UnAmerican Activities is created
-Fear of Communism in the US rises drastically
-McCarthy charges Hollywood writers, directors, and producers with Communist propaganda in films: He also goes after the famous “Hollywood Ten”
-The Department of State is accused by McCarthy of harboring communists
-many people and leaders are falsely

Communist "witch hunt" and impact on those accused:
-Unnecessarily intruded on the lives of many innocent Americans
-supported by anti-Communist groups because they were scared of communists
-imprisoned hundreds of innocent people
- thousand of people lost their jobs as a result of speculation
-homosexuals were also targeted and falsely charged with communism

Space Race impact on government policies:
-Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1
-This means that USA is not the first country that goes into space. Russia beat them. This is unacceptable
-USA responds by putting more money into education
- In 1969 a man from USA lands on moon
- US created space programs to ensure that we continued to beat Russia
-This sparked tension and began the Cold War competition

Cold War mindset for the US government and public:
-Soviet Union beat US to space in space/technology race
-Soviet Union racing USA in technology
-US fears communism, afraid it will destroy their country
-Led to the Cold War

Relationship of suburbs, automobiles, and roads:
-Suburbs away from cities, quieter, easier to raise families
-Because there farther away this means more reliance on cars
-1956 Interstate Highway Act-

Baby Boom:
-Men came home from war to their wives, which got pregnant and had kids
-1946-1960
-caused by ending the 20 year Depression and Wartime
-removal of social and economic restraints that kept people from having families
-causing current social security issues

Urban-Suburban pattern:
-Business District
-Inner City = low income families
-Suburbs = middle income families
-Further suburbs = high income families

GI Bill:
-provides college or vocational education to returning veterans
-one year unemployment compensation for returning soldiers
-supported those who served
-gave loans so that returning soldiers could start businesses

Expansion of the middle class (why things were affordable):
-More consumers due to baby boom
-New families, caused by baby boom, moved to suburbs
-suburbs were less expensive than city living
-Levittown: 1949, houses only $8,000
-new form of money: credit cards increased spending

Media Influences Society

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/heroic-boy-tells-how-he-saved-sister

Media influences everything. It can be used in extremely negative ways, or it can be used in extremely positive ways. All of this depends on what type of ideas the media tells us and who listens to these ideas. Teens are usually the demographic that television stations attempt to reach because there are so many of them. At times teen’s actions are influenced by television. A teenage mind is like a blank open book, whatever and whoever can go in and write on it. This can be media, friends, television, music and many other things. The link above is to an article that talks about how a boy saved his little sister who had drowned in the pool by performing CPR, which indecently he had learned how to perform by watching tv. Television has done many things in society a few of which are informing teens about the world around them, caused childhood obesity, and provided entertainment. Not all of these effects of television are good things, but it cannot be denied that television has influenced today’s society.