African American History Exam Notes

John Carroll University - SC 2350 51: African Americans Historical and Contemporary Experiences

Course Information

  • University: John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio (Spring 2022)
  • Course Number: CRN# 11065, SC 2350 51
  • Title: African Americans Historical and Contemporary Experiences
  • Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays, 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
  • Location: St Ignatius Hall – Rm #34
  • Dates: 1/18/2025 - 5/13/2025

Final Exam

  • Date: 05/07
  • Time: 10:00 AM – 11:50 AM
  • Material:
    • Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans
    • Ch 17 - The African-American Odyssey. 7th Edition. Prentice Hall.
    • Ch 19 - The African-American Odyssey. 7th Edition. Prentice Hall.
    • Ch 6 - White Flight (Group #6)
    • Ch 7 - IRS Support and Compliant Regulators (Group #7)
    • Ch 8 - Local Tactics (Group #8)
    • Ch 9 - State-Sanctioned Violence (Group #9)
    • Ch 10 - Suppressed Incomes (Group #10)
    • (1964) Black Like Me James Whitmore (Actor) Carl Lerner (Director)
    • Ch 23 - The African-American Odyssey. 7th Edition. Prentice Hall.

Chapter 23: Black Politics and President Barack Obama 1980–2016

  • Key Topics:
    • Jesse Jackson’s rise to prominence within the Democratic Party.
    • Presidents Reagan and Bush to dismantle the “Great Society” and to diminish social welfare programs.
    • Key roles that black conservatives played in the Republican Party from the 1990s to the present.
    • Major differences between the “old” and the “new” civil rights.
    • Focal points of black activism during the Reagan and Bush presidencies.
    • General white perceptions of young black men affected trends in criminal justice during the closing decade of the twentieth century and the opening decades of the twenty-first century.
    • African Americans support of Bill Clinton’s presidency and sustained loyalty to the Democratic Party.
    • The significance of 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, and the election of President Barack Obama on black political consciousness

Jesse Jackson's Run for the Presidency (1984)

  • Slogan: MAKE YOUR VOICE BE HEARD
  • Key Message: VOTE TO STOP THE ARMS RACE. VOTE TO PUT AMERICA BACK TO WORK
  • Urging people to vote for Jesse Jackson, emphasizing that their voice is their vote.
  • Authorized by The Jesse Jackson for President Committee, Emma Chapelle, Treasurer

Jesse Jackson and PUSH

  • After MLK Jr.’s death, Jackson founded People United to Serve Humanity (PUSH).
  • PUSH induced corporations with markets in the black community to adopt affirmative action programs.
  • Rainbow Coalition: Included people marginalized and underrepresented.
  • PUSH/Excel: Focused on education and ran voter registration drives.
  • Black voters favored the Democratic ticket, but Ronald Reagan won in a landslide.
  • New voters retained the House for Democrats and gained a majority in the Senate two years later.
  • Jackson ran again in 1988 primaries.
  • Won 15 primaries and caucuses and 7 million votes.
  • Campaign strategies were a precursor for Barack Obama in 2008 election.

The Rainbow Coalition

  • Founded by Jesse Jackson in 1984.
  • Sought to unite diverse groups of Americans, including African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
  • Advocated for social programs, voting rights, and affirmative action for marginalized communities.
  • Critical of the economic policies of the Reagan administration.

Key Aspects of the Rainbow Coalition

  • Inclusivity: Unity and solidarity among diverse groups, drawing on the nation’s racial, religious, and economic diversity.
  • Advocacy for Social Justice: Policies that addressed social inequality, including social programs, voting rights, and affirmative action.
  • Focus on Economic Issues: Unemployment, job creation, and the need for investment in urban areas.
  • Impact on the Democratic Party: Mobilized voters and winning delegates influenced the Democratic Party’s platform and policies.
  • Legacy of Social Change: Demonstrated the power of inclusive movements and the importance of addressing social inequalities.

Ronald Reagan

  • Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) - 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
  • Republican: An important figure in the American conservative movement.
  • Reaganomics: Neoliberal economic policies focusing mainly on supply-side economics – aka "trickle-down economics."
    • Tax cuts and economic benefits for the wealthy will eventually benefit everyone else in the economy, through job creation, investment, and increased economic growth.

1980s Politics

  • White conservatives in the 1980s:
    • Mobilized a base of disillusioned southerners, alienated northerners, and wealthy elites.
    • Reversed liberal-progressive policies.
    • Consolidated Republican Party power.
  • By the 1990s, Black voters put their hopes in the Democratic Party.
  • Fractures along class lines in the black community.
    • Urban black poor swelled; middle and upper class gained a greater share of educational, social, and political institutions.

MLK Holiday

  • African Americans saw the symbolic importance of making Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday.
  • Reagan resisted but gave in to pressure.
    • January 20, 1985: First observation
  • 2011: President Obama unveiled a statue of King, the first African-American monument on the Mall.

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

  • Essentially a civil rights watchdog.
  • Issued reports critical of Reagan’s civil rights policies.
  • Reagan responded by replacing the chairman.
  • Vice chair, Mary Frances Berry, a respected civil rights activist, clashed with the president.
  • Reagan tried to remove her, but Berry sued to retain her position and she won.
  • Mary Frances Berry served on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 1980 to 2004, including a period as Chair from 1993 to 2004.
  • She was also a professor of American Social Thought at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Berry is known for her activism, scholarship, and public service related to civil rights, gender equality, and social justice.

George H.W. Bush Presidency

  • George H. W. Bush won the 1988 election as a Republican.
  • The Republican Party was southern-dominated and fought to roll back civil rights progress of the 1950s and 1960s.
  • Civil Rights Act Vetoed
    • President Bush vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1990, stating that the bill would “introduce the destructive force of quotas into our nation’s employment system.”

Bush's Appointments of Black Conservatives

  • Bush hid intentions by appointing black conservatives to key positions.
  • Clarence Thomas, an opponent of affirmative action.
  • Clarence Thomas has a complex and sometimes contradictory relationship with affirmative action.
  • While he has stated that he benefited from it, he has also expressed strong opposition to its use, particularly in college admissions.
  • He has argued that affirmative action is divisive, harmful, and unconstitutional, arguing that it stigmatizes minorities and violates the principle of equal rights.

Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Nomination

  • 1991: George H. W. Bush nominated black conservative Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.
  • Thomas’s credentials were questioned:
    • Only 15 months as an appellate court judge.
  • Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment when she worked for him.
    • She had participated in a confidential investigation.
    • Answers leaked to the press; she agreed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
    • Senators questioned her integrity, and Thomas denied accusations.
  • Despite opposition, Thomas was confirmed with a narrow margin.
  • Justice Thomas is an archconservative and adamantly opposes affirmative action.
  • Black women opposed Thomas’s confirmation to the Supreme Court because of his sexist and racist treatment of Anita Hill.
  • They thought that Thomas’s placement on the Court would create a conservative majority, which would imperil the working class and elderly and possibly lead to the dismantling of affirmative action and social welfare programs.
  • The women were affronted by Thomas’s claim of “high tech” lynching because they felt Thomas had trivialized a painful part of African-American history.
  • They also thought he had used the lynching comment to shelter himself from Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment.

Affirmative Action

  • Affirmative action in the United States is the active effort to improve employment, educational, and other opportunities for members of groups that have been subjected to discrimination.
  • Criteria for affirmative action include race, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, and age.

Debate Surrounding Affirmative Action

  • Centers on whether race should be considered in college admissions and employment.
    • Proponents argue it's necessary to counteract historical and ongoing discrimination, promoting diversity and equal opportunity.
    • Opponents claim it's reverse discrimination, unfairly disadvantaging qualified individuals and perpetuating racial tensions.

1990s and African Americans

  • 1990s: African Americans an indispensable base of the Democratic Party.
  • Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988:
    • Authorized withholding federal funds from an institution if any program discriminated against women, minorities, aged, or disabled.
  • Fair Housing Act of 1988: Housing complaints could be investigated.
  • Civil Rights Act of 1991
  • Reparations:
    • African Americans focused on issues for slavery and the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States and Africa.
  • 2000: Randall Robinson published The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks.
    • Said that African Americans were due financial indemnification for slavery.
    • Some proposed more investment in education for African Americans.

Mass Incarceration

  • Young black men and increased police brutality and racial profiling.
  • 2000 election disputed; made the black community more aware of the adverse consequences of mass incarceration.
  • Many states prohibit felons from voting.
    • 1.8 million felons and former felons in the United States are black and can’t vote.

Perceptions of Young Black Men

  • After George Bush was reelected to the presidency, there was an increase in white people’s perceptions of young black men as criminals.
  • In addition, high-profile cases, such as the Rodney King beating, enhanced white people’s view of the police as maintaining law and order, while black people saw only police brutality and racism.
  • The white perception of young black men as criminals was a factor in an increase in police brutality and racial profiling toward black men and led to an upward trend in the incarceration of African Americans.

Policing the Black Community

  • Rodney King victim of police beating after high-speed chase.
    • Incident captured on videotape; television news broadcast repeatedly.
  • 1997: Haitian immigrant beaten and sodomized in custody at Brooklyn police station.
  • 1999: New York police shot West African immigrant 41 times as he reached for his wallet; thought he had a gun.

The Million Man March

  • A massive gathering of African American men in Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1995.
  • Organized by Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.
  • Focused on promoting African American unity, family values, and responsibility.
  • Estimated 400,000 to 1.1 million participants, making it one of the largest demonstrations in American history.

Welfare Queen Stereotype

  • "Welfare queen" is a derogatory term used in the United States to describe individuals who are perceived to misuse or abuse the welfare system, often through fraudulent means, child endangerment, or manipulation.
  • "Welfare queen" has remained a stigmatizing label and has at times been disproportionately associated with black, single mothers.
  • This stereotype implies that these women intentionally have multiple children to maximize their welfare benefits, avoid seeking employment, and live extravagantly at the expense of taxpayers.
  • As a result, it has been widely criticized as racist by many observers and overlooks the fact that many White, Latino, Asian, and Arab Americans are welfare recipients.

TransAfrica and Black Internationalism

  • Randall Robinson sought to link African-American liberation struggles with those of South Africans and elsewhere.
  • Founded TransAfrica to lobby for black political prisoners in South Africa, such as Nelson Mandela.
  • The antiapartheid movement was a major priority.
  • 1990: South African president ended Mandela’s incarceration.
  • South Africa became a multiracial democracy with Mandela elected president.

Bill Clinton’s Presidency

  • Seen as a friend to African Americans, but their hopes were not entirely fulfilled.
  • 2000 and 2004: Conservative triumph made black political leaders reassess strategies.
  • New generation of black politicians: centrists
    • Barack Obama of Illinois
    • Deval Patrick of Massachusetts
  • Obama’s 2008 victory was a triumph of Rainbow Coalition building.
  • Clinton helped elect Obama to the presidency.
  • Obama successfully mobilized black and Latino voters and was supported by a majority of racial minority, women, and gay voters.

Clinton's Relationship with the Black Community

  • Most black people considered Clinton the best president on race issues since Lyndon Johnson.
  • Clinton appointed many black women to upper-level positions in the White House and federal bureaucracy.
  • Worshiped in black churches.
  • Included his black friends on his transition team and in cabinet.
  • Appointed many African-American officials and judges.

Clinton's Economic Policies

  • Focused on the economy:
    • Increased taxes of higher-income Americans.
    • Pushed for an extension of the earned income tax credit.
    • College student-aid program increased federal loan benefits.
  • Left office in 2001: The country had the lowest poverty rate in 20 years.
  • His economic programs were supported by moderate Republicans and the Congressional Black Caucus.
  • Unemployment dropped from 7.2 percent to 4.0 percent.
  • American businesses created 10 million new jobs.
  • The federal deficit was cut in half.

Cumulative Real GDP Growth

  • Graph illustrating the cumulative real GDP growth % by quarter of the presidency for Carter, Clinton, Reagan, Obama, Bush 43, Bush 41, and Trump.

Impact of 9/11

  • 9/11 had a profound and multifaceted impact on Black Americans
  • Education Reform: The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
    • Aimed to improve education for all students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  • Appointed several African Americans to prominent positions
    • Colin Powell as the first Black Secretary of State
    • Condoleezza Rice, the first Black woman Secretary of State

2008 Financial Crisis

  • Housing crisis had a devastating impact on Black communities, leading to significant job losses and foreclosures.
  • Black and Latino households lost between 44-48 percent of their wealth during this recession, compared to about 25 percent for white households.
  • Opposed affirmative action policies
    • Asserted they were unconstitutional
    • Supported race-neutral programs, such as the "top 10 percent" plan as alternatives to affirmative action

Expanded Surveillance Programs

  • The Patriot Act disproportionately affected communities of color, including Black Americans.
  • Increased police militarization: police forces, often justified under the guise of national security, led to increased police presence and scrutiny in Black communities.
  • "War on Terror": The language and policies contributed to a climate of fear and suspicion that extended to Black communities.
  • Islamophobia and its effects
    • For Black Muslims, the post-9/11 surge in Islamophobia led to increased discrimination, scrutiny, and fear of hate crimes.
  • Misidentification and profiling: Black individuals, regardless of their religious affiliation, may have been subjected to misidentification and profiling due to perceived connections with Arab or Muslim communities.
  • Shared experiences of discrimination: Black Muslims experienced the intersection of anti-Black racism and Islamophobia, adding complexity to their post-9/11 experiences.

Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell

  • Rice: Soviet expert on the United States National Security Council. Bush relied heavily on her advice in his dealings with Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.
    • First female, first African-American, and youngest provost in Stanford’s history.
  • Powell: The 15th national security advisor from 1987 to 1989, and the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993.
    • A professional soldier for thirty-five years, holding a variety of command and staff positions and rising to the rank of general.

Obama in 2009

  • Faced a severe economic crisis: the Great Recession
  • The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, along with the ongoing "War on Terror."
  • Post-Bush administration’s policies
  • The bailout of the banking industry and the auto industry

The Biggest Bailout in U.S. History

  • Image showing that taxpayers have paid nearly 200 billion for the bailout of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.
    • The PATH Act ends the taxpayer-funded bailout of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, phasing them out within five years.

Economic Stabilization Acts

  • "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" and the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)"
  • The 2008 act, also known as the "bailout," involved a 700 billion program to stabilize the financial system and improve liquidity.
  • The ARRA or "stimulus package" was an 800 billion program aimed at saving and creating jobs, providing temporary relief, and investing in infrastructure, education, and renewable energy.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

  • Enacted in 2010 aimed at expanding health insurance coverage and reforming the healthcare system.
  • Mandated most citizens obtain health insurance, with subsidies available for lower-income individuals and families.
  • ACA also prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums based on pre-existing conditions.

Key Features of the Affordable Care Act

  • Expanded Medicaid: Helped states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover more low-income individuals and families, including adult individuals.
  • Employer Mandate: Large employers (those with 50 or more employees) are generally required to offer health coverage to their full-time employees or face a penalty
  • Cost-Sharing Reductions: Provides cost-sharing reductions for individuals with incomes between 150% and 400% of the FPL, which helps lower their out-of-pocket costs for healthcare services
  • Coverage of Essential Health Benefits: Compliant health plans must cover a wide range of essential health benefits, including preventive care, prescription drugs, and mental health services
  • Elimination of Pre-Existing Condition Exclusion: Prohibits health insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions
  • Guarantee of Insurance Coverage: Requires insurers to offer coverage to all applicants, regardless of their health status.

Obama Initiatives

  • Initiative to Improve Educational Outcomes for African Americans
    • President Obama's remarks on the My Brother's Keeper initiative
  • The Middle-Class Tax Cuts’ Impact on African-American Families

The American Jobs Act

  • The American Jobs Act – Obama’s commitment to strengthen the recovery and help increase access to jobs for all Americans
  • African-Americans unemployment rate of 16.7 percent – and 1.4 million African-Americans out of work
  • The plan is to increase job creation, expand opportunities for long-term employment, and provide incentives for businesses to hire via making investments in revitalizing schools, infrastructure, and neighborhoods.