OF UNIVERSITY MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES/WOMENS STUDIES AASD 314 The Civil Rights Movement Tues/Thur 2:00-3:15 Skinner 0104 Dr. Melinda Chateauvert 2169 Lefrak Office Phone: [phone] Emergency: 202/262-2632 General Description: This course examines four phases of the civil rights movement. In the first half of the semester we will look at the early years when NAACP lawyers Charles H. Houston and his protg Thurgood Marshall challenged jim crow segregation and racial discrimination in the courts and leaders such as A. Philip Randolph and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked AfricanAmericans to put their bodies on the line in the non-violent struggle for civil rights. In the second half of the course, we focus on the movement after the 1963 March on Washington, when the assassinations of Kennedy, Malcolm X, and King forced a reassessment of both strategies and goals. SNCC members left the south to join former gang members in the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, taking the visionary words of Malcolm X for guidance. Black power rhetoric was heard as far away as Viet Nam where African-American soldiers found themselves fighting two wars. The call for Black Power also generated a Black cultural renaissance, manifested in poetry, music, film, and Black is Beautiful fashion statements. African-American women discovered that the rights and freedoms they had been struggling for did not mean their own liberation. By the mid-1970's, the combination of Black Power and new federal voting rights laws helped to establish African-American electoral power, forcing politicians, white and black, to answer to the black community. In response, government adopted affirmative action, minority contract set-asides, school busing and support for the Great Society welfare initiatives as remedies for centuries of legal segregation. Course Objectives: 1. Consider the concepts of citizenship in the United States, and the means by which African Americans have organized to attain civil rights. 2. Recognize several of the protest and organizing methods used in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, including non-violent civil disobedience, boycotts, sit-downs and sit-ins, freedom schools, class action litigation, Congressional lobbying, mass marches, armed defense, and cultural programs. Office Hours: Thursdays 11:00-12:15 and by appt. e-mail: [e-mail] http://www.umd.edu/aasp/chateauvert
Page 2 3. Identify the major civil rights laws and Supreme Court decisions affirming racial equality, and to identify the federal programs enacted to remedy the lingering effects of racial segregation. 4. Be able to critically evaluate popular media narratives of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, and to identify the wishful fictions in these historical depictions. 5. Understand the various roles of African American women in the Movement, and the ways that consciousness of civil rights contributed to the development of second wave feminism, and rights movements for/of Chicanos, Indians, gays and lesbians, Asians, welfare recipients, prisoners, students, and others who saw themselves as oppressed peoples. 6. Understand the interdependence of the U.S. civil rights movement and the decolonization of Africa and the Caribbean (and Viet Nam). Required Books: Total cost for required textbooks: $74.88 (new), with recommended text: $99.83 Please note that I expect every student to have his or her own copy of the Eyes on the Prize reader. You may also wish to have you own copy of the Ella Baker biography (Freedom Bound). To save money, you may share the other four paperback books with another student, or find them at the public library or on your parents bookshelves! 1. Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Movement, 1954-1990, Clayborne Carson; David J. Garrow; Gerald Gill; Vincent Harding; Darlene Clark Hine, editors. New York: Penguin, 1991. ISBN: 0-14-015403-5 Price: $18.00 2. Ella Baker: Freedom Bound. Joanne Grant. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999. ISBN: 0-471-32717-4 Price: $16.95 3. Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans. Wallace Terry. New York: Random House, 1985 ISBN: 0345311973 Price: $6.99 4. Minds Stayed on Freedom: The Civil Rights Struggle in the Rural South - An Oral History. Youth of the Rural Organizing and Cultural Center. Westview Press, 1991 ISBN: 0-8133-1123-3 Price: $20.00 5. Why We Can't Wait. Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Penguin, Signet Classics, 2000. ISBN: 0-451-52753-4 Price: $6.95 6. The Heart of a Woman. Maya Angelou. New York: Bantam Books, 1982 ISBN: 0553246895 Price: $5.99
Page 3 Recommended: This brand new book from www.civilrightsteaching.org, although designed for teachers, is an invaluable resource on the Movement, particularly because it integrates the coexisting struggles of Chicanos, Asians, and American Indians. 7. Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching: A Resource Guide for Classrooms and Communities. Deborah Menkart, Jenice View, Alana D. Murray. Teaching for Change, 2004. ISBN: 1878554182 Price: $24.95 Grading and Assignments: This course combines lectures with discussions of readings. Reading assignments should be done prior to class. Attendance will be taken regularly. Public program response paper, Due March 7 Website review paper, Due April 4 Film review paper, Due May 2 Quizzes (announced and not) Midterm Exam, March 14 Final Exam, May 17 Attendance and participation (28 class meetings) Total 50 points 100 100 100 250 250 150 1000
Grades will be determined on the following scale: 91-100 points = A; 81-90 = B; 71-80 = C; 61-70 = D; 60 and below = F. Extra credit opportunities will be announced in class. As much as an extra 5% may be added to your final grade through extra credit. Public Program Response Paper, Due March 7th: Write a short paper (800-1000 words) responding thoughtfully on one of the many programs that will be held on campus (and in the area) during Black History Month. The general theme of your essay should consider the impact of the Movement on public culture. Website Review Paper, Due April 4th: Critically review one of the websites created to convey information about the civil rights movement. (A list of these websites will be available on the class website.) You may comment on the depth of the information, its accuracy (insofar as you can judge), the ease of navigating the site, its graphic design and/or visual aspects, make recommendations for improvement, or other substantive criticisms. Your review should be between 800-1000 words in length.
Page 4 Film Paper, Review Due May 2nd: Review one of the listed films available in Non Print Media, in a paper of 1000-1200 words. The goal of this paper is to analyze how the producers have structured the film narrative to tell their story: How does the story conform to classic story telling narratives (is it heroic? is it tragic? have we overcome?) Discuss how these narratives demands shape our understanding of the films subject. What events, persons, or other influences are left out of the story? Does this film introduce other themes or explanations for this event or person? If you were showing this film to this class, what do you think students should know? (You may, for extra credit, also discuss other reviewers opinions of the film, and/or supporting websites.) The midterm and final examinations will permit you demonstrate your knowledge of key terms and concepts (see course objectives above), and to apply them in context of new information. These exams will draw on both lectures and assigned readings. Study guides will be provided. Students are also encouraged to form study groups. Study groups may be especially useful for discussing the assigned readings and preparing for exams. However, all coursework must be your own! Academic Honesty and Notes on Grading: *) All assignments are due on the date listed. In-class writing assignments can not be made up. Make-up exams will be given only with proof of a medical or personal emergency. *) You are expected to attend class regularly. Exams will cover material presented in lectures, films and readings. Some reading materials will not be discussed in class; some lectures will not cover materials in the reading assignments. Students who miss class are responsible for obtaining the material. *) The University's policies regarding cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and academic dishonesty will be strictly observed. Academic dishonesty is defined in the undergraduate catalog as cheating, fabrication, facilitation of academic dishonesty, and/or plagiarism. Students who engage in academic dishonesty on a test or an assignment will receive an F for that exercise and may receive an F in the class. All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Student Honor Council for additional resolution. The University has a nationally recognized Honor Code, administered by the Student Honor Council, which includes an approved Honor Pledge: I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination. http://www.inform.umd.edu/honorpledge/ Unless you are specifically advised to the contrary, the Pledge statement should be handwritten and signed on the front cover of all papers, projects, or other academic assignments submitted for evaluation in this course. Use of the pledge is voluntary and those students who object to writing and/or signing it should talk with the instructor.
Page 5 Special Needs: The University has a legal obligation to provide appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities. If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible. Also, if you are experiencing difficulties in keeping up with the academic demands of this course, contact the Learning Assistance Service, 2201 Shoemaker Bldg., X4-7693. Their educational counselors can help with time management, reading, note-taking and exam preparation skills.
Course Outline and Reading Assignments 26 Jan: The Forgotten Years: The March on Washington Readings: Randolph, The Call to March http://www.bsos.umd.edu/aasp/chateauvert/mowmcall.htm Freedom Bound, pp 1-24 OPT: Eyes on the Prize, pp 1-34 OPT: Putting the Movement Back, pp xiii-22, 55-60, 256-259, 371-378, 387-390 31 Jan - 2 Feb: All Deliberate Speed: Legal Desegregation Readings: Eyes on the Prize, pp 61-106 Freedom Bound, pp 25-61 OPT: Putting the Movement Back, pp 106-108, 204-206, 249-255, 260-285, 7 Feb - 9 Feb: The Movement Beg...