Description:

This course surveys the major themes and developments in African-American culture and history from the colonial period to the present. The course is divided into three five-week segments. Each segment relates to a historical period; slave, post-emancipation and contemporary. Each segment also permits a flexible, interdisciplinary approach that will include literature, fine arts and the social sciences. 3 hrs. lecture/wk.

Supplies: Refer to the instructor's course syllabus for details about any supplies that may be required.

Prerequisites: NONE

Textbook(s): For information see - http://bookstore.jccc.net

Course Fees: NONE

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Evaluate the legacy of African religion, mores, and social customs in African-American life and culture, and show their connections in the global African Diaspora.
2. Understand the impact of slavery on African-American families and communities, both historical and contemporary, and explain that impact as reflected in arts, music, and literature.
3. Defend an interpretation of U.S. History that shows a continuing tension between theoretical rights-- as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution--and the actualization of those rights in real practice, as seen in those significant laws, court rulings, and social conventions that affected African Americans.
4. Analyze the origins, character, and defining ideologies of the twentieth-century civil rights movement, and discuss the movement’s successes and limitations in contemporary life.
5. Assess the contributions that African Americans have made to contemporary popular culture.
6. Demonstrate understanding of different disciplinary methodologies, e.g. literature, art, anthropology, etc., as a way of comprehending the past, and be able to examine that past from the perspectives of multiple racial groups.

Content Outline & Competencies:

I. Slave Era
   A. Develop an understanding of the geographical context in which the
Atlantic slave trade originated. Identify and explain the significance of
the major subregions of West Africa, North America, the Caribbean, and
South America.
   B. Contextualize the history of slavery within the broader experience
of European expansion in the western hemisphere, and distinguish ancient
slavery from the modern system practiced in the Americas.
   C. Explain the significance of the major ethnic groups and empires of
West Africa, and trace their cultural legacies in African-American
communities of the New World.
   D. Compare and contrast the ways that slavery differed in colonial
North America, Brazil, and the Caribbean islands.
   E. Discuss how colonial Americans socially constructed their views of
“race,” and how corresponding concepts of “whiteness” and
“blackness” have evolved since.
   F. Defend an interpretation of U.S. history that places slavery at the
center of important events and movements prior to 1865.
   G. Develop an appreciation for the ways in which African Americans
maintained stable families and communities during the slave experience.
   H. Discuss the development of free black communities in the United
States during the colonial and antebellum eras.
   I. Develop an appreciation for the roles that free blacks and slaves
played in the antislavery movement, and in the emancipation process.
   J. Compare and contrast the ways that slavery ended in the United
States as opposed to other slave owning nations in the western hemisphere,
and analyze how those differences continue to affect race relations in
each.

II. Post-Emancipation Era
   A. Evaluate the efforts of the U.S. government to assist freedmen
during Reconstruction, and explain the successes and failures of
Reconstruction policies.
   B. Analyze the leadership strategies of the black middle class during
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
   C. Contextualize the “Jim Crow” segregation laws within the broader
historical tension of state vs. federal authority, and explain the legal
acts and public policies that kept segregation in place.
   D. Develop an appreciation for the successes of African Americans in
the post-emancipation era with regard to increasing literacy, building
communities and institutions 
building, and maintaining their culture in the face of segregation and
racial violence.
   E. Explain the reasons for the Great Black Migration to the North, and
how urbanization and industrialization changed African-American society.
   F. Compare and contrast the teachings of Booker T. Washington and
W.E.B. Du Bois as different paths toward equality, and explain the class
and regional origins of both.
   G. Develop an understanding of African Americans’ cultural
achievements in art, music, and literature during the Jazz Age and Harlem
Renaissance.

   I. Contextualize African Americans’ growing activism and demands for
racial reform within the experiences of the two world wars, and of changes
in the social sciences.
   J. Explain the ideologies of black nationalism and the Pan-African
movement, and their significance for African Americans.

III. African Americans and the Contemporary World
   A. Evaluate the roles of the leading institutions, e.g. legal,
religious, educational, that shaped the black civil rights movement.
   B. Explain the significance of global affairs during the post-WWII era
and how these created a favorable climate for racial reform in the United
States.
   C. Discuss the meaning of civil disobedience and how Martin Luther King
and other activists applied the concept during the 1950s and 1960s.
   D. Compare and contrast the moderate phase of the civil rights movement
to the later, more radical phase, and explain the origins and ideologies of
both.
   E. Assess the accomplishments of the civil rights movement, e.g.
significant laws, policies, etc., that abolished legal segregation, as
well as the movement’s limitations with regard to poverty and economic
segregation.
   F. Develop an understanding of the ways that African-Americans have
impacted post-1960s popular culture, e.g. films, television, music, books,
journalism, etc.
   G. Recognize the legacies of slavery and segregation in continuing
patterns of racism and racial discrimination.
   H. Evaluate the efforts of government policies such as affirmative
action to reverse historical trends toward racial inequality, and explain
the political context in which such policies have operated.
   I. Gain an awareness of recent growths in the U.S. multiracial
population, and how interracial marriages and families challenge
conventional racial categories.
   J. Explain the efforts of literary scholars and authors to create a
“black aesthetic” in fictional works and poetry that touch on the
African-American experience.

Methods of Evaluation of Competencies:

Evaluation of student mastery of course competencies will be accomplished using the following methods:

Three examinations, ten graded in-class discussions, written work in
the form of book reviews, personal journals, or research assignments.  At
least one-half of the final grade will be based on the written
examinations.

Caveats: NONE

Disabilities:

If you are a student with a disability, and if you will be requesting accommodations, it is your responsibility to contact Access Services. Access Services will recommend any appropriate accommodations to your professor and his/her director. The professor and director will identify for you which accommodations will be arranged.

JCCC provides a range of services to allow persons with disabilities to participate in educational programs and activities. If you desire support services, contact the office of Access Services for Students With Disabilities (913) 469-8500, ext. 3521 or TDD (913) 469-3885. The Access Services office is located in the Success Center on the second floor of the Student Center.