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African Americans Their History, t heir Culture, and How to Teach it. Summary and Reflection by Michael Foster. Early History. Starts with helped establishment of St. Augustine, Florida. Bondage became more common for West African captives. -The Armistad -The Middle Passage.
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African AmericansTheir History, their Culture, and How to Teach it Summary and Reflection by Michael Foster
Early History • Starts with helped establishment of St. Augustine, Florida. • Bondage became more common for West African captives. -The Armistad -The Middle Passage
Slavery • 1619, first Africans arrived as indentured servants. • Slavery more profitable • Dehumanized and convinced of being inferior. • Reinforced White supremacy • Plantation life was hard and painful. • Worked sunrise to sundown under overseer • Africans still developed sense of community. • Family was important
Early Rebellion • Harriet Tubman was a leader the Underground Railroad. • Guided by the North Star to freedom • Poisoning their masters’ food • Actual Rebellion • Most successful, Nat Turner, 1831. • Armed crew killed about 60 whites, went on for about 48 hours.
Abolitionists • 1800s, these groups denounced slavery harshly. • American Anti-Slavery Society • Most militant, but headed by whites and used blacks just as symbols. • Frederick Douglass • African Abolitionist, edited and published the North Star despite objections from white abolitionists.
Civil War and Reconstruction • For Africans, it seemed God-sent, but in reality it was a fight to preserve the Union, not to end slavery. • Emancipation Proclamation • Slaves were never actually freed, but gave moral uplift. • 13th and 14th Amendments • Abolished Slavery and recognized Blacks as citizens. • Reconstruction Act • Confederate states need to ratify 14th before allowed back into Union.
White Supremacy • Hayes becomes President • Federal troops removed from South • Whites reestablish control in Government • Grandfather Clause, literacy tests, poll taxes. • Ku Klux Klan • Lynching • Jim Crow Laws • Segregation of public facilities • Plessy v. Ferguson • Stripped 14th and 15th Amendments of meaning and declared poll taxes and literacy tests constitutional.
Organizations to fight Racism • Niagara Movement • W. E. B. DuBois, militant spokesman. • NAACP • Concentrated on improving African American legal status. • UNIA • Marcus Garvey, preached Black Pride and urged them to return to Africa • Aimed at lower-class African Americans.
Harlem Renaissance • 1920s and 1930s, African American artists, writers and musicians bloomed. • Emphasized Black pride and protested racism and discrimination. • Some of the best novels and music was written and composed. • Langston Hughes • Development of Blues and Jazz
Harry S. Truman • Took steps to improve race relations. • Desegregated the armed forces. • Ended discrimination in industries working with the Federal Government • Set the expectations and racial tolerance for African Americans.
Brown v. Board of Education • Ruled school segregation as inherently unequal. • Proved against the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. • This was the biggest case in bringing forth the Civil Rights Movement.
Civil Rights Movement of 1960s and 1970s • Montgomery Bus Boycott • Rosa Parks was high point • Stayed boycotted until desegregation of the busses. • SNCC, head by Martin Luther King Jr. • Used civil disobedience tactics. • March on Washington for Freedom • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • African Americans still felt poor and without power. • Carmichael and Rap Brown provide examples into militaristic approaches. • Black Panther Movement
Today • Census facts state progress in education, economy, and politics. • Still have challenges in income, housing, and social mobility. • Large amount remains in the inner-city, low-income communities. • Female headed households are common. • Less than half, 47%, of households are of married couples. • 45% of them being headed by females. • Median Household Income is highest ever, but is still the lowest among all racial groups. • 34% of African American children still live in poverty.
What to make of this • Blacks are a community oriented racial group, and as a teacher, we need to understand that. • These children are also largely poverty-stricken, so materials and supplies used in your classroom may need to be supplied yourself. • Also, African American children tend to defend themselves from others verbally. • These children also have the idea that their “future holds little hope”, and that their enthusiasm may be low or unmotivated. • They also have self-esteem issues because of they white-oriented schooling they have been through, which leads to low motivation. • But you can not forget, these are generalizations.
Teaching Strategies • To help teach African American history and culture, here are some ideas: • Tell students stories of slave mutinies and ask them to act them out in role-play situations. Then question them on what you believe they should have learned. • Have students understand African American Organizations by studying a selected organization, writing a paper, or comparing organizations and what they believed in.