Politics of Race, Class, Gender, and Religion   

Political Science Discussion Topics- 2007

Topics:

 

  1. African Americans- slavery legacy, 13th  Amendment, 14th Amendment, 15th Amendment, Reconstruction, Booker T. Washington, NAACP, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Philip Randolph, School Desegregation, Brown v. Board of Education, Martin L. King, Jr., Civil Right Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton , membership in Congress

 

 

  1. Latinos-  Size, Diversity, Mexican war, League of United Latin American Citizens, members in Congress, Chicano movement, boycotts, Cesar Chavez, Mexican American Legal Defense fund, immigration problems, participation, Puerto Rico, Statehood, citizenship, voting patterns, Cuban Americans, history, location, political participation, bilingual education, diversity

 

 

  1. Asian Americans- diversity, Chinese, history or citizenship struggle, Japanese, history, struggle for acceptance, Koreans, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Philippines, political participation

 

 

  1. Native Americans-  History, reservation system, end of the frontier, citizenship, problems, Dennis Banks, AIM, Wounded Knee, gambling, casinos, participation in government, controversies today

 

      5.  Class-  Workers, Knights of Labor, Violent strikes for rights, Haymarket Square,

            Pullman Strike, Eugene Debs, FDR, Social Security Act, NRA-National Recovery 

            Act, WPA- Works Progress Administration, AFL-CIO, UAW, Labor and the  

            Democratic Party,  Poor, Middle Class, Rich, Tax Policies,

 

 

  1. Women and Gender- Seneca Falls, early leaders, morality and social reform, Jane Adams, Ida Tarbell, Carrie Nation, Women’s Temperance Union, right to vote in States, National American Women Suffrage Association, Women’s Bureau in Labor Department, Equal Pay Act (1963), NOW, Roe v. Wade, Phyllis Schlafly, Gender gap, Sexual Harassment issue, Title IX, Equal Rights Amendment

 

 

  1. Religion-  religious freedom, Protestant values, public school prayer, Bible reading, Moral Majority, Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, Christian Coalition, Christian right, role in elections, participation in and politics, 2004 election importance

 

Outline and Discussion Assignment

 

 

1.      Using your book, library and/or the internet create an outline or bullets about a minority group in America and their struggle for political participation.

 

 

2.      Include in your paper items listed and answers to the following questions for the next class meeting.  Your information will be used in a group discussion of each topic:

a.  Describe general characteristics of the group- history,

     political involvement, famous leaders, laws, amendments,

     etc.

b.  How did the group gain participation in the political

     process?  Discuss the history of the groups struggle or

     methods to gain participation.

c.  Has the group been successful in gaining full participation

     in the political process?

   d. What tactics did the group use to gain full access in our

       system?

 

 

3.      Additional question for discussion- Is America more like a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl?  What will our population and nation be like in 50 years?