Course Outline for History 63
The African American Experience in U.S. History From Reconstruction

Effective: Fall 2022
SLO Rev: 10/06/2021
Catalog Description:

HIS 63 - The African American Experience in U.S. History From Reconstruction

3.00 Units

(See also ES 63 )
This course presents a survey of the history of the United States from the perspective of African Americans. It presents that perspective in the contexts of the experiences of Native peoples, European Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos/Latinas after 1865. A critical and comparative analysis of the impacts of race, racialization, white supremacy, gender, class, colonialism, imperialism, war, social inequity, and migration on African Americans. Special emphasis will be placed on labor, citizenship, community, social and political resistance, solidarity, and the intersection of race, gender, and class. The course explores the economic, cultural, institutional, political history of African Americans from the post-Civil War period to the present. The African American relationship with national, California state and local governments will also be covered. May not receive credit if HIS 21, ES 21 or ES 63 has been completed.
2205.00 - History
Optional
Type Units Inside of Class Hours Outside of Class Hours Total Student Learning Hours
Lecture 3.00 54.00 108.00 162.00
Total 3.00 54.00 108.00 162.00
Measurable Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies.
  2. critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities.
  3. critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies.
  4. identify the origins of African-American history as a field of academic investigation and study;
  5. identify and analyze historic anti-racist struggles engaged in by African Americans and their connection to present-day social, economic, political and cultural policies and practices;
  6. examine the relationship of African Americans to the Federal, state and local governments in the post-Civil War era (1865-present);
  7. evaluate the relationships between the development of African American communities and the evolution of the California Constitution and state and local governments;
  8. analyze the political, economic and social consequences of Reconstruction;
  9. critically analyze the rise of Jim Crow segregation, disenfranchisement, and racist violence in the context of late-nineteenth federal Native American policies and the Chinese Exclusion Act
  10. explain the rise of industrial capitalism and its impact upon men and women of all races;
  11. analyze the rise the of nationalism and U.S. imperialism in the context of migration, immigration and changing notions of race, ethnicity, citizenship and war, particularly the Spanish American and Philippine American wars;
  12. trace the rise of political participation and organization on all levels, including the woman’s suffrage movement, the labor movement and modern black rights organizations (e.g. NAACP, NACW) and the intersectionality of race, class, and gender in these efforts;
  13. describe and analyze the rise of a modern black aesthetic, particularly expressed through the blues and jazz, and the impact of its popularization and commodification in the 1920s;
  14. explain the causes, pattern and consequences of the mass migration of African-Americans from the southern states to cities of the North, Midwest and West; specific discussions include the Harlem Renaissance and the rise of African American communities in California;
  15. explain causes of the collapse of the nation’s economy and the particular impact this collapse has upon the diverse communities of the U.S.; specific discussions include workers and the labor movement, Mexican-Americans and African Americans in California and throughout the nation;
  16. discuss American participation in World War I, World War II and Vietnam and the impact the wars have upon notions of political, social and racial inclusion;
  17. analyze the economic, demographic and cultural shifts that occur between and after the World Wars and their effects upon diverse communities throughout the nation;
  18. analyze the impact of post-World War II anti-colonial movements in Africa and Asia on civil rights movements in the United States;
  19. discuss the development of tactics and strategies in the anti-racist social movement for civil rights on a local, California State, and national level;
  20. explain the radicalization of diverse social movements and the emergence of rights movements advancing the interests of all on the gender and sexual spectrums;
  21. analyze the rise of conservatism and its responses to African American anti-racist struggles on a national and California state government and local government level;
  22. evaluate the rise and fall of Affirmative Action and school integration on a national and California state level;
  23. describe the race, class, gender and cultural politics that emerge and intersect during the seventies that affect discussions of, movements for and legislation impacting rights and access;
  24. describe the rise of Hip Hop culture as a national, regional and local culture;
  25. analyze the election and presidency of Barack Obama.
Course Content:

  1. Introduction to study of African American history as a field of study and its evolution.

  2. The re-organization of rural and urban work through industrialization and incorporation, examining sharecropping and the rise of factory labor.

  3. The changing relationship of African Americans to local, state and federal governments during and after Reconstruction.

  4. Immigration, migration and urbanization and their impact upon notions of race, nation and citizenship, emphasizing the expanding diversity of the nation.

  5. The rise of Jim Crow segregation, disenfranchisement, and racist violence in the context of imperialism and war, particularly the Spanish American and Philippine American wars

  6. The redefining of citizenship, race and rights in the context of laws such as the Dawes Act and the Chinese Exclusion Act and Supreme court rulings in the Plessy, Ozawa, and Thind cases

  7. The expansion of political organization and participation: the women’s suffrage movement; the response to disfranchisement (NAACP, NACW).

  8. The emergence of consumer culture and its impact upon gender relations.

  9. The rise of nativism and simultaneous vogue of the new Negro during the 1920s.

  10. The rise of modern black culture and its popularization and commodification in the first decades of the 20th century.

  11. The migration of African Americans from the U.S. South to the East and Midwest during WWI and the 1920s and to California and the West during WWII. 

  12. The causes of the collapse of the nation’s economy and the particular impact  this collapse has upon the diverse communities of the U.S.; specific discussions include workers and the labor movement, Mexican-Americans and African Americans in California and throughout the nation.

  13. U.S. involvement in the Second World War and the mobilization of American society; the rise of the defense industries, the bracero program; internment of Japanese-Americans, the Zoot Suit riots; and the emergence of African-American political activism.

  14. The end of World War II and the roots of the Cold War; Cold War culture; anti-colonialism movements and their link to early Civil Rights movement.

  15. The multicultural history leading to the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling in 1954.

  16. The emergence of non-violence and civil disobedience as mass movement forms of protest.

  17. The rise of student activism and the emergence of more confrontational, non-violent resistance tactics to achieve civil rights.

  18. Vietnam War and the social and political dissent in the nation.

  19. Political divisions within student social movements and the emergence of student radicalism; the emergence of the women’s movement and the gay and lesbian movements.

  20. The rise of conservatism nationally and within the state and its impact upon African American communities.

  21. Affirmative action and the racial politics of social and cultural diversity on national and California State level.

  22. African American anti-racist activism and national, California state and local governments response to it.

  23. The rise of Hip-Hop culture as a national, regional and local practice.

  24. The election and presidency of Barack Obama.

Methods of Instruction:
  1. Lecture/Discussion
  2. Class and group discussions
  3. Written assignments
  4. Distance Education
  5. Presentation of audio-visual materials
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
  1. Read the 13-15 Amendments to the United States Constitution and enumerate rights of citizens as put forth in those amendments. Discuss how State and federal governments either enforced or failed to enforce those rights. How has that enforcement (or lack thereof) evolved?
  2. Write a 5-6 page paper linking the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement. How are both cultural movements searches for African American cultural identity? How are divisions within African American communities revealed in these searches? How is each movement both a reflection of its historical moment and long-standing tensions?
  3. Analyze the California Constitution and California direct legislation efforts (referendum and initiative) and their impact on racial minorities within the state. How are historical shifts and contemporary attitudes reflected in the law?
  1. Papers
  2. Exams/Tests
  3. Class Participation
  4. Attendance
  5. Final Examination
Upon the completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. analyze the causes and consequences of political, economic and social change.\;
  2. synthesize factual information and historical evidence from a variety of sources and identify the connections between them;
  3. demonstrate a body of knowledge about and critical understanding of historical eras, their key events and ideas, and the process of change over time.
  4. Compare and contrast the struggles and contributions of African Americans in the formation of the United States and California, with other major groups like European Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Chicanx/Latinx.
Textbooks (Typical):
  1. Clark Hine, D (2021). The African-American Odyssey (7th). Pearson.
  2. White, D. G (2021). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans Bedford St Martins.
  3. Carson, C (2019). The Struggle for Freedom: A History of African Americans (3rd). Pearson.
  4. Murch, Donna (2010). Living for the City: Migration, Education, and the Rise of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California University of North Carolina Press.
  5. Brilliant, Mark (2012). The Color of America Has Changed: How Racial Diversity Shaped Civil Rights Reform in California, 1941-1978 Oxford University Press.
  6. Brown, L (2014). African American Voices: A Documentary Reader from Emancipation to the Present (1st). Wiley-Blackwell.
  7. Lerner, G (1992). Black Women in White America: A Documentary History (Reprint). Vintage.
Abbreviated Class Schedule Description:
A survey of the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the African American experience within the context of U.S. history from Reconstruction to the present. May not receive credit if HIS 21, ES 21 or ES 63 has been completed. May not receive credit if HIS 21, ES 21 or ES 63 has been completed.
Discipline:
History*, or African American Studies*