Catalog Description

Advisory: Eligibility for ENGL 1A
Hours: 54 lecture
Description: History of African Americans in the United States since the Civil War; major events in America's development emphasizing the role of people of African descent in the political, social and economic life of the United States; Reconstruction; Jim Crow era; Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois; the Civil Rights Movement; and African Americans in the Reagan-Bush and Clinton eras. (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Differentiate primary and secondary sources and how each are used to make claims relative to African American history since 1877.
  • CSLO #2: Analyze the origins of the American Constitution and its impact on American cultural developments relative to African American history since 1877 with emphasis on race, class, gender and ethnicity.
  • CSLO #3: Compose coherent, persuasive academic historical arguments regarding African American history since 1877 using correct academic citation methods.
  • CSLO #4: Investigate major political, economic and social changes in African American history since 1877 with emphasis on culture, race, class, gender and/or ethnicity.

Effective Term

Fall 2019

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

1. Examine the impact of post-Civil War legislation on African Americans
2. Trace the political and constitutional developments in the U.S. from the time of Reconstruction through the legal disenfranchisement and segregation of blacks in the late nineteenth century.
3. Analyze and appraise the impact of prominent African American men and women on the development of United States
4. Examine the impact of important organizations and movements
5. Analyze and examine the similarities and differences between African Americans and other ethnic groups by exploring the impact of foreign and domestic immigration and the relationships which emerged between African Americans and other ethnic groups
6. Trace and analyze the emergence of the United States as a world power and its relationships with Africa, the Caribbean Islands and Central and South America
7. Examine the constitutional changes that occurred on the state and federal level during the Civil Rights era, beginning with the case of Brown v. Board of Education.
8. Analyze and review the Civil Rights Movement

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Literature & Language
    • AA/AS - Multicultural Studies
    • AA/AS - Social Sciences
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSU - US1 Hist/Const/Amer Idea
    • CSUGE - C2 Humanities
    • CSUGE - D3 Ethnic Studies
    • CSUGE - D6 History
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 3B Humanities
      • IGETC - 4C Ethnic Studies
      • IGETC - 4F History

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Classroom Discussions
      • Example: Discuss the different strategies used by Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois to confront the challenges of segregation in American society in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Answer the following question in your Bluebook. Organize your answers and use specific historical examples from lecture and the textbook to support your thesis. Rubric Grading. Describe the first phase of the Civil Rights Movement. What events led to the organizing efforts of the various different activist groups? How did activists shape their tactics and strategies to the particular characteristics of the southern culture of segregation during the first phase? What were their organizations, tactics, activities and goals? Lastly, what brought about the end of the first phase of the movement?
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: Answer each of the following multiple choice questions on your Scantron form 882: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave: A. Both houses of Congress the power to investigate allegations that a state or county government had interfered with the right of minority residents to vote. B. The attorney general the power to supervise voter registration in areas where less than half of the minority residents of voting age were registered. C. The federal government the power to withhold grant funds from states that attempted to keep minority residents from voting. D. The Supreme Court the power to declare null and void election returns from states that could be shown to have prevented minority residents from voting. Who provided the leadership for the SCLC during the 1950's and 60's? A. Martin Luther King Jr. B. Malcolm X C. Stokely Carmichael D. None of the above
    • Projects
      • Example: During African American History and Culture week students (in pairs) will create a visual presentation to place in the Quad during the week for public view that relates to African American history on 3-Panel Poster Board. Students will be graded on the accuracy and presentation quality of the project.
    • Reports
      • Example: 1. Students choose a category (medicine, science, sports, politics, law, business, etc.) and for 10 points submit a 1 page, single-spaced biography with sources about a significant African American within that category. 2. Students attend an African American history play, reading, talk, or watch an African American history film and, for 10 points, write a 1-2 page report describing the event and its significance.

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. The instructor will assign primary source materials on the Civil Rights movement prior to class. In lecture/discussion format, the instructor will use these materials as a starting point to compare and contrast historical points of view in either classroom/web-based discussions or in writing assignments.(Course Objectives 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14)
    2. The instructor will provide material in lecture format (either oral or written) on "Black Nationalism in the Early 20th Century." Students should take notes and be prepared to discuss the material in class.

    Distance Learning

    1. The instructor will provide a video lecture with close captioning for students focusing on the contrasting strategies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois relative to their advocacy for African American Civil Rights in the late 19th/early 20th Centuries for which students should take notes for a later assessment.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    1. In Hine's, "The African American Odyssey" read section entitled "Meanings of Freedom" and provide a written response to each of the following questions using material from the chapter: How did the Great Depression affect black culture? What role did the New Deal's Works Progress Administration (WPA) play in democratizing black culture? How did religious culture change during this era? How did black artists, musicians, filmmakers, and writers negotiate the dilemma of dual consciousness as articulated by W.E.B. Du Bois? Which parts of black art did white corporate executives find easiest to appropriate and shape for white consumption? How did swing-era big band music lead to bebop? What problems did the bebop musicians encounter? How did black music effect American culture? 2. Read Anne Moody's "Coming of Age in Mississippi" and provide a written response to the following questions: What were Anne Moody's most important early childhood experiences? What was her family's life like? What hardships did she have to endure? Describe Anne's (Essie Mae's) early contacts with whites. How does she learn that whites and African Americans are different? How does Anne learn that "race" is a social construct – that society dictates who is "white" and who is "black?" How would you describe relations between blacks and whites in Mississippi when Anne was a young girl? How did whites in rural Mississippi exercise power over blacks? Who was Emmett Till and why was he murdered? What effect does his death have on Anne? How does she react to it? What are the differences between Anne and her mother? Why does one gravitate toward the Movement while the other fears it? Does Anne hate white people? Does she act differently toward whites than did most blacks in rural Mississippi? Does her attitude toward whites change throughout the book?

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    1. Write a 7-10 page research paper covering a topic in African American history from the end of Reconstruction to the present. The paper project will be comprised of four steps which are explained below: a. Write a prospectus where you explain your topic area of interest, the question you will address, and why you find it compelling. Your prospectus must be approved before you can move on to the research paper outline. b. Write a research paper outline where you structure the paper after completing a significant amount of your research. The outline will include an introductory paragraph with a clear thesis statement. c. Write the research paper, using Chicago Manual of Style guidelines, making sure you include footnotes, a title page and bibliography. 2. Write a critical review of one of the following monographs about the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Your review must include both a summary of the contents and a critical analysis of the text. The review must be double-spaced and at least 500 words in length. John Dittmer, "Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi" Doug McAdam, "Freedom Summer" Julian Bond, "The Civil Rights Movement: An Eyewitness History" David Garrow, "Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference" Taylor Branch, "Parting the Waters"

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Required Materials

    • The African-American Odyssey
      • Author: Hine, Darlene; Hine, William; and Harrold, Stanley
      • Publisher: Pearson
      • Publication Date: 2013
      • Text Edition: 6th
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Freedom On My Mind: A History of African Americans with Documents
      • Author: White, Deborah Gray; Bay, Mia; Martin Jr., Waldo E.
      • Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin’s
      • Publication Date: 2017
      • Text Edition: 2nd
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Stamped from The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
      • Author: Kendi, Ibram
      • Publisher: Nation Books
      • Publication Date: 2017
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Coming of Age in Mississippi
      • Author: Moody, Anne
      • Publisher: Delta
      • Publication Date: 2004
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
      • Author: Garrow, David
      • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
      • Publication Date: 2004
      • Text Edition: 1st
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER:

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.