Ahhh... the last blog of the semester. This is simply an opportunity for you to ask and answer each other's questions and discuss anything that you think will be helpful in preparation for the final. I would suggest looking at your class notes, handouts from class, and your reading assignments along with your review sheet. This is primarily an open forum for you so check back often during the week and comment/question/ponder/review as much as you would like.
One request: please take just a couple of minutes to complete your course evaluation if you have not done so already. I would really appreciate it. Just follow this link to go to Campus Connect.
Good luck with all of your studying!
Also you can find a digital version of the prezis here and final review sheet here: http://americanpoliticalculture.wordpress.com/course-documents/
We have addressed American political culture from many perspectives this quarter. We have discussed the evolution of American political culture and several of the important elements that continue to shape it including, immigration, race, ethnicity, religion, education, elections and representation, etc. Although we often find it challenging to view things outside of the modern day perspective, much has changed over time. Consider the following:
2 months ago: you started this class
5 months ago: #MeToo movement begins
14 months ago: Trump signs first of three immigration and refugee bills aimed to curb immigration and refugees from several majority-Muslim nations (all have been stalled in court)
17 months ago: Trump elected president
2 year ago: marked increase in hate crimes in U.S., largely targeting immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and LGBTQ community
4 years ago: Unemployment 6.3% overall, 12.1% for African Americans, 9.1% for Hispanics, 4.8% for Asian Americans, DOW 16,700 (Today: Unemployment 3.9%, 7% for African Americans, 4.7% for Hispanics, 2.9% for Asian Americans, DOW at 24,275)
5 years ago: Black Lives Matter movement begins
6 years ago: Protestants no longer make up majority of American population
10 years ago: the first nonwhite president was elected
11 years ago: Unemployment 4.5%, DOW at 14,000
12 years ago: very few of us had ever heard of Barack Obama
15 years ago: The supreme court ruled that colleges still had legitimate reasons to use race and ethnicity as factors in college admissions
17 years ago: 9/11
27 years ago: the Rodney King Case and racially charged rioting
40 years ago: Regents of University of CA vs. Bakke
45 years ago: Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion nationwide
50 years ago: modern civil rights movement ends (according to most historians), Martin Luther King killed, major riots, peak of troops in Vietnam
51 years ago: third year in a row of major racially charged riots throughout American cities
53 years ago: Voting Rights Act of 1965, new immigration laws dramatically increase immigration (especially from Asia and Latin America), Black Power movement, Malcolm X killed
54 years ago: Civil Rights Act of 1964
55 years ago: March on Washington, Birmingham protests
63 years ago: Montgomery Bus Boycott
64 years ago: Brown vs. Board of Education
73 years ago: end of WWII
74 years ago: Interment of 110,000 Japanese Americans
98 years ago: Women gain the right to vote
111 years ago: peak of Immigration in early 20th century
122 years ago: Plessy vs. Ferguson - separate but equal is constitutional
124 years ago: widespread lynching and intimidation
130 years ago: Chinese Exclusion Act
141 years ago: end of reconstruction, early Jim Crow Era (which lasts nearly 100 years)
148 years ago: 15th amendment - black men given right to vote
150 years ago: 14th amendment
153 years ago: 13th amendment - end of slavery
153 years ago: end of Civil War, Start of reconstruction, black codes
157 years ago: start of Civil War
209 years ago: end of slave trade
231 years ago: Constitution written including 3/5 compromise and slavery
242 years ago: Declaration of Independence
398 years ago: First Pilgrims arrived searching for freedom to practice their religion
399 years ago: first slaves from Africa brought to colonies
411 years ago: first British Colony established
several thousand years earlier: Native Americans living here.
The point: much has changed, and often in a short period of time. Looking forward what do you predict will be the state of American political culture 5, 10, or even 20 years from now? What can and should be done politically to help?
One request: Please take just a couple of minutes to complete your course evaluation if you have not already done so. I would really appreciate it. Just follow this link to go to campus connect.
