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Journal Beyond Tolerance
Journal Beyond Tolerance
Classroom.
Chimamanda warns up to be careful with the idea of the single story. Yet, the concept of 'white privilege' has grown out of the
prevailing racial narrative embedded in American History. So have other concepts like "Driving/walking/flying while
Black/Hispanic/Iraqi or even the tension between racial profiling, abuse of power, and what constitutes an appropriate use of
force. How can we address racial privilege while honoring the individual's narrative, if we can at all?
Read the following article from the League of Women's Voters and answer the following questions:
1. Describe the relationship between the Commonwealth of Virginia and local governments, including a determination as to whether
we have Dillon's Rule or Home Rule. (2.5 pts)
2. Compare and contrast how much power Fairfax City vs Fairfax County has in taxation and expenditures. Why might this be
important to our discussion of promoting tolerance? (In other words, does the way in which Fairfax City/County taxes citizens and
spends those tax dollars impact racial disparities?) (2.5 pts)
12.5 Million total Africans captured and 10.7 million total Africans survived the 388,000 total Africans delivered to the
forcibly removed for enslavement middle passage English colonies for the purpose of
enslavement
3,953,761 Enslaved persons counted on the 12.6% of the population 1833 representation: 98 of 240 to southern
1860 census states; would have had 73 without 3/5ths
compromise
$3,059,000,000 1860 valuation of enslaved $10,200,000,000,000 valuation of 1860 $2,579,822 value of a single slave in 2011
persons, in 1860 dollars enslaved persons, in 2011 dollars dollars
$15,000,000 cost of the purchase of the $729,000,000 value of the Louisiana $30,000,000,000,000 total value of
Louisiana Territory Territory in 1803 dollars Louisiana Purchase territory in 2011 dollars
The southern states (referred to by their northern peers as the slavocracy) did not want to surrender their political power. However,
several Border States like Maryland were willing to consider manumission. A prevailing solution for ending the slavery system involved
compensating slave owners for the remittance of the property through manumission, and then the exportation of the newly freed persons to
Liberia.
Warm-up: Working in small groups, you will be answering the following questions.
1. Think of a couple of places (not specific, but general) where you might expect to find poverty. Here, we are looking for general
trends. What might be located next to or near these communities? (2.5 pts)
2. Why do you think these communities are located where they are? (2.5 pts)
Group Activity: In pairs, you will work to answer the following questions. Each student should record their own answer in the
You will be given a series of maps that detail the geography of racial inequality. They will include the following maps:
Your task is to analyze how geography influences racial inequality. Answer the following questions as a small group in your journal.
3. Describe how climate and resources influenced 1850s industry in five states in America: Connecticut, Virginia, South Carolina,
Louisiana, and Missouri. (2.5 pts)
4. Did these industries influence the prevalence of slavery in these states or territories? Why or why not? (2.5 pts)
5. What cultural and societal changes were happening that influenced migrations in black populations around the country? (2 pts)
6. How were regional, economic, governmental, or cultural barriers erected to obstruct these movements around the country?
Include concepts from state (think Dillon's rule, structure of local governments, Virginia government) and federal government in
this response. (2 pts)
7. Consider the following addresses where these five Black men were killed by the police. Find them on city-data. Do you see any
correlation between these neighborhoods and Baltimore? (2 pts)
Freddie Gray Tamir Rice Mike Brown Laquan McDonald Walter Scott
1640 Balmor Ct 1910 West Blvd 9101 Florissant Blvd 4100 South Pulaski Rd 1945 Redmont Rd
Baltimore MD 21217 Cleveland OH 33102 Ferguson MO 63136 Chicago, IL 60632 N. Charleston, SC 29406
Do you see evidence of geography and geographic barriers that reinforce racial disparity in your local community? Why or why not? What do
you think would be necessary to overcome these barriers? Take an Instagram pic of a barrier that reinforces racial disparity and caption it
to explain why you come to the conclusion you do.
Homework:
Read the article, A Brief History of Jim Crow. Answer the following question in your journal.
8. What was the impact of nationalizing policies on civil rights and liberties in America? Have they been successful? (5 pts)
In small groups, you will examine the sources and sort them. Then answer the following questions.
1. Prior to the civil war, how did the economic and geographic factors effect local, state, and federal treatment of slavery? (2 pts)
2. What were the pros and cons of improving racial disparity for formerly enslaved persons? (2.5 pts)
3. What features of American government and politics frustrate or facilitate addressing the issue of racial disparity in America
today? (2 pts)
Journal:
How does our understanding of economics, geography, history, and government inform our understanding of America's political
landscape today? Find an article from the past three years that you feel is shaped by this unit, and explain how it relates to racial
disparity. Your article does not have to examine black/white tensions; it can explore experiences of any and all races, religions,
and genders, socio-economic status, means-tested programs like welfare, federal spending on things like education,
transportation, security, health care and immigration. (10 pts)
Homework: Listen to the following short audio file on St. Louis, MO.
4. How has state government policy in Missouri contributed to problems of racial inequality? Use terms like unincorporated cities,
Dillon's Rule, Home Rule, etc. (5 pts)
We will watch the Pruitt-Igoe Myth, which is a documentary on housing projects in St. Louis, MO. Please pay attention to the discussion,
thinking about how the geography, economy, history, and governmental interactions between the local, state, and federal government
influenced these events.
Throughout the movie, you are confronted of how segregation caused legal and cultural separation between whites and Blacks in America.
Here are some other cultural separations that trace their origins back to disparity of access between Blacks and whites in American history.
Can you think of three more? (2 pts)
Journal:
Do you believe that the following events are random or that they illustrate a larger pattern of something? Explain what makes it random or
not random. Do you think that this impacts individual's trust in government? (10 pts)
Treyvon Martin, Sanford, FL Philando Castile: Falcon Heights, MN
Michael Brown: Ferguson, MO Duquan McDonald: Chicago IL
Tamir Rice: Cleveland, OH Dylann Roof: Charleston, SC
Freddie Gray: Baltimore, MD Timothy Russell and Malissa William: Cleveland, OH
Final considerations: Look at four stories: the story of the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, the story of Emmett Till, Dr. King helps Mr. Zellner, and the
1968 Race Riots. Do you see evidence of privilege in these stories? Why or why not?
1. Redefine privilege. Take a picture with your definition and put it in your journal (2.5 pts) It can be new or the same as it was.
2. With a friend, discuss why this has or has not changed. Record your answer in your journal. (2.5 pts)
3. At the end of class, you will work together in small groups to create a tweet that is encouraged,. but not required to be put on
Twitter discussing our wishes for addressing disparity, racial and otherwise. Your 'tweet' should be composed in some way and
put in your journal. (5 pts)
Journal:
How should we as citizens seek to address disparity (can be race-related, religious, gender, socio-economic, etc.) as private
individuals. What should we expect from the local, state, and national government? Why? (10 pts)