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. Think of it as an online study group. You can get credit up until midnight, the night before the exam. 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.
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 4 months ago: 2018 midterms elect the most diverse Congress ever 1.5 years ago: #MeToo movement begins 2 years 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) 2 year, 4 months ago: Trump elected president 3 year ago: marked increase in hate crimes in U.S., largely targeting immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and LGBTQ community 5 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 3.6%, 6.1% for African Americans, 4.3% for Hispanics, 3% for Asian Americans, DOW at 25,333) 6 years ago: Black Lives Matter movement begins 7 years ago: Protestants no longer make up majority of American population 11 years ago: the first nonwhite president was elected 12 years ago: Unemployment 4.5%, DOW at 14,000 13 years ago: very few of us had ever heard of Barack Obama 14 years ago: The supreme court ruled that colleges still had legitimate reasons to use race and ethnicity as factors in college admissions 18 years ago: 9/11 28 years ago: the Rodney King Case and racially charged rioting 41 years ago: Regents of University of CA vs. Bakke 46 years ago: Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion nationwide 51 years ago: modern civil rights movement ends (according to most historians), Martin Luther King killed, major riots, peak of troops in Vietnam 52 years ago: third year in a row of major racially charged riots throughout American cities 54 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 55 years ago: Civil Rights Act of 1964 56 years ago: March on Washington, Birmingham protests 64 years ago: Montgomery Bus Boycott 65 years ago: Brown vs. Board of Education 74 years ago: end of WWII 75 years ago: Interment of 110,000 Japanese Americans 99 years ago: Women gain the right to vote 112 years ago: peak of Immigration in early 20th century 123 years ago: Plessy vs. Ferguson - separate but equal is constitutional 125 years ago: widespread lynching and intimidation 137 years ago: Chinese Exclusion Act 142 years ago: end of reconstruction, early Jim Crow Era (which lasts nearly 100 years) 149 years ago: 15th amendment - black men given right to vote 151 years ago: 14th amendment 154 years ago: 13th amendment - end of slavery 154 years ago: end of Civil War, Start of reconstruction, black codes 158 years ago: start of Civil War 210 years ago: end of slave trade 232 years ago: Constitution written including 3/5 compromise and slavery 243 years ago: Declaration of Independence 399 years ago: First Pilgrims arrived searching for freedom to practice their religion 400 years ago: first slaves from Africa brought to colonies 412 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 2, 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.
