Describe challenges to traditional practices in religion, race, and gender

1. Describe challenges to traditional practices in religion, race, and gender NCSCOS 9.04

2. Macro Concepts Equality-the concept that citizens should be treated the same under the law. Conflict-problem or troublesome issue needing to be solved. Identity-the characteristics of a person or nation that helps describe what makes him/it unique. Culture-the way of life and behaviors of a group of people. Diversity-characteristics that make people different such as age, gender, language and beliefs. Micro Concepts • Suffrage-the right of a citizen to vote in elections. • Segregation-the policy of keeping people separate based on gender or race in public facilities. • Fundamentalism-the strict, core religious beliefs embraced by people that affects the way they behave in society. • Gender-sex identity such as male and female.

3. Race and Racial Conflicts • After the Civil War the K.K.K. [Ku Klux Klan] was formed by Southern whites angry over the federal government’s reversal of slavery. • The KKK was a white supremacist group that used terror to strike fear in the hearts of Americans. • The KKK terrorized blacks throughout the South and Midwest.

4. Harlem Renaissance • During the 1920s and 1930s Harlem, New York City became a majority black neighborhood. • Several artists [musicians and writers] became well known such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurstonand Duke Ellington. • Ellington was Jazz pianist and composer who gained world fame and acceptance from whites. • Hurston had been a house maid and janitor but was later recognized for her famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. • Hughes an openly gay man became a well known poet and transcend many of the stereotypes of his day. • The popularity and skill of these artists brought great attention and praise to the Harlem, NYC community.

5. Race and Racial Conflicts • In 1905 the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] was established to fight for the legal rights and protections of black people in the United States. • Jim Crow laws limited the freedoms and opportunities of blacks and this organization wrote articles and lobbied legislatures to rid the nation of institutional racism. Many federal laws eventually passed that helped the condition of blacks in the United States. • The well known black intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois, who was the first person to receive a Ph. D from Harvard University, was a founding member of the group.

6. Race and Racial Conflicts • An immigrant form Jamaica named Marcus Garveywas trained as a printer in his homeland and later traveled throughout Latin America and worked for different newspapers. • When he lived in New York City he became a successful businessman and started the Black Star Line in 1919 [black owned cruise ship company] that lasted only 3 years because of poor financial management and F.B.I. sabotage. • He was well known for starting the Back to Africa Movement that encouraged blacks to unite and return to a more free Africa in countries like Liberia. • He also created a group called the U.N.I.A. [United Negro Improvement Association] that encouraged blacks to become better trained, better educated so they could be self-sufficient. • Garvey was later convicted of mail fraud by the federal government and deported to Jamaica in 1927 where he later died.

7. 1924 Native American Suffrage Act • Voting rights were granted by the federal government to Native Americans in 1924. • However, many states passed laws to deny Native Americans suffrage. • It wasn’t until 1948 that full suffrage rights were granted to all Native Americans. • This law was very ironic because many people believed the 15th Amendment addressed the same concerns as this law making it redundant.

8. The Tragedy of Sacco and Vanzetti • Two Italian immigrants who lived on Massachusetts were arrested for the armed robbery and murder of two men. • Bartolomeo Venzetti and Nicola Sacco were the suspects arrested. Both men were admitted anarchists. • Local police had long investigated anarchists and their anti-government activities and arrested Sacco and Venzetti on May 5, 1920 both were armed with pistols. • Tremendous existed doubts about the evidence against the 2 men but they were convicted of all charges. All subsequent appeals went against the men [they lost]. • Sacco and Venzetti were executed on August 23, 1927 despite popular protests. • Many, many people believed these men were persecuted solely for their beliefs and because they were Italian immigrants not because of their actual guilt.

9. The John T. Scopes “Monkey” Trial • In 1925 a high school biology teacher in Tennessee was encouraged to teach a lesson on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution based on a chapter in the science text book. • He was arrested for breaking the Butler Act which prohibited teaching evolution. The law was an example of legislation based on religious fundamentalism. • Scopes took the charges to trial and he was “prosecuted” by former U.S. Senator William Jennings Bryan. His defense attorney was famous lawyer Clarence Darrow. • After lots of court room theatrics Scopes was convicted and fined $100.This trial exposed many people’s religious and academic prejudices.

10. Controversial Religious Figures • Former Major League Baseball player Billy Sunday was the most popular evangelist [someone who travels and preaches] during the 1910s and 1920s. • He preached Hellfire and Damnation to crowds of thousands of people throughout the nation. • He earned millions of dollars preaching at a time when most Americans were flat broke. • The expansion of radio and its programs decreased his popularity.

11. Aimee Semple McPherson • Aimee Semple McPherson ne of the most popular female evangelists in U.S. history. • From California she founded the Four SquareChurch that focused on the Rapture. • Through radio programs McPherson warned people they needed to be prepared for Jesus’ return.

12. Gender Controversies • During the 1920s many women throughout the United States decided to challenge established acceptable behaviors. • Women who dressed in skimpy, short skirts revealing most of their legs became known as Flappers. The term is related to prostitution. • These women were often considered “slutty” because of their fashion choices and loose attitudes about sex, smoking and alcohol consumption.

13. Margaret Sanger • Sanger was a devout Catholic woman from New York state in during the late 1800s and early 1900s. • She was an advocate of sex education and birth control. She was a founder of the American Birth Control League which sought to provide women with information and options for pregnancies. • She was met with extreme opposition by the government and religious fundamentalists. • She was always imperiled by the strict Comstock Laws of 1873.

14. Image sources • http://www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/naacp/Images/DuBois_NAACP.jpg • http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DhwcCqGFPe4/TN2VZ87nQuI/AAAAAAAAAZo/dgb1E2d092U/s1600/kkk.jpg • http://www.manikmag.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/marcus_garvey.jpg • http://www.afropoets.net/langston25.jpg • http://sweetblackberry.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Zora-Neale-Hurston_s.jpg • http://www.allaboutjazz.com/media/large/a/4/0/65ec271297e71ee8e333736565ae6.jpg • http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZFRusSt6anQ/SPz2LVRIZII/AAAAAAAABl0/nTQtL0uxV0M/s400/hedog.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_t_scopes.jpg • http://honorsushistory.wikispaces.com/file/view/monkey_cartoon.jpg/47018887/monkey_cartoon.jpg • http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qskaSRkns8A/TBw42CFKzHI/AAAAAAAAPn0/GbBmRgCSs6o/s320/darrow-bryan.jpg • http://www.slantmagazine.com/images/house/film/sacco.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Sunday_1921.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Sunday_1921.jpg • http://www.ecstudents.net/10spring/meredithwallace/images/flappers.jpg • http://legacythumbs.weheartit.netdna-cdn.com/20080406113759.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Save_Sacco_and_Vanzetti.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Preaching.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Foursquare.png • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MargaretSanger-Underwood.LOC.jpg