Quantitative Reasoning

        In 1967 the status of  black Americans and their place in white America was constantly a topic of heated discussions. One proponent of the black mans right to equality was Martin Luther King Jr. King considered the place of the black american throughout the country's stained history. King mentions the Constitution of the United States in his book Chaos or Community stating that when it was written "the Negro was only 60 percent of a person"(King 6). King also discusses the infant mortality rate of blacks citing that it is twice that of white infants. He also states that 1 African American attends college for every 20 whites that do. These are numerical representations of institutional racism. I think by mentioning the 3/5ths compromise King shows where African-Americans were placed in terms of importance at the beginning of the United States. By citing the other numbers he shows that blacks have not really had the opportunity to advance in nearly 200 years. Although America no longer legally considered blacks to be of less value than whites they were clearly voicing their opinion on the matter by way of institutional forms of racism.
       In the present day it is all too easy to make the argument that not much has changed since the 60's. An article in the New York Times from May 17th 2012 brought some statistics to light  that although they may be improvements to the state of things in 1967 they still show an institutional favoritism towards the white community. 

Incorporating the Black Power Mixtape

Stokely poses the idea that the U.S. has no conscience. A young man whose news interview appeared in Swedish filmmakers documentary Black Power Mix Tape may think the same thing. The man sees that all of the important people who wanted who wanted to help the blacks in America were being killed. The man specifically mentions RFK, JFK, MLK. The boy hints at his views that the killings may have been a conspiracy, which if true could definitely support stokelys claim. (black power mixtape)

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King v. Carmichael

           In Martin Luther King's book  Where Do We Go From Here he makes a strong point about the power of non-violence as a means of black Americans taking a stand and participating in their government. Martin Luther King considered non-violence to have a place in the progression of society, non-violent acts such as mass marches were a way for Black Americans to be a part of the change that needed to take place in their lives. Adversely, Stokely Carmichael felt that non-violence was a buzzword used to stop black people from defending themselves against  the prevalent violence used against them by the white man. Carmichael expresses that violence is a domineering factor in our society whether it is being used at home or in wars overseas. He says that non-violence seems to have no place in white america until they themselves are faced with violence. Although Carmichael brings up a good point in talking about the use of non-violence as a buzzword, I am more inclined to agree with Martin Luther King in his ideas that non-violence can be utilized to make change in our society. I do not disagree with Carmichael's thoughts on the amount of violence used against black Americans but I do feel he is wrong in his implications that the notion of non-violence can only exist as a means of  further oppressing African-Americans.

A trip to the Archives

        Yesterday I visited the LaGuardia and Wagner archives. The Archives are located within the college; they house many of the written and physical artifacts of New York Cities history. Our class visited these archives in order to gain a better understanding of how to utilize research facilities. We were shown a historical document as well as many artifacts that had to do with past mayors.
        The document we examined was a written version of a speech former mayor Robert F. Wagner made to address the Harlem riots of 1964. This was useful and relevant to our class because it gave us an idea of the aftermath of the riots. We have been studying the causes of the riots and what actually occurred, but we have heard no input on the riots from an authoritative perspective. As a group we analyzed the document and drew conclusions on what we thought Wagner was trying to say. He mentions touring Harlem after the riots and finding much of it untouched and unaffected. He also mentions the obligation of local government to maintain law and order. When we went over this part I felt as though he was trying to justify the brutality performed by the NYPD. My classmate Elvia felt he was trying to minimize the severity of the event. Our guide to the archive, Tara, used our differing perspective to exemplify the effect of secondhand sources. Although the speech itself was a firsthand account, anybody could put their own ideas into Wagner's words. This is why she stressed the importance of checking facts. I found the tour of the archive very useful. For one, it showed me a place within the college i could go to access real historical documents. These documents may prove useful while i am writing any of my three research papers this semester. The trip to the archive was also useful in that i was given a lesson on reading and analyzing documents.

Revised Diagnostic

                Malcolm X, being the amazing speaker and thinker that he was, presented many innovative ideas to the black community in his time. His words evoked strong emotions in everybody who listened. In addressing the issues faced by black Americans he eluded to an oncoming explosion, a revolt perhaps. He implicitly urged blacks to take up arms against the continuing oppression they faced at the hands of a racist and fascist government. Malcolm X was well aware of the scrutiny African-Americans faced at the hand of police who were allegedly working to serve and protect. He also realized the spread of lie that led whites to believe that blacks were more animal than human. Although obviously concerned with the state of blacks in his homeland, Malcolm X also had his scope on international matters. He felt that there was no voice for black people on an international scale; world leaders saw little good in allowing a sense of unity to form in the minds of blacks throughout the world. The words of Malcolm X were inspiring to African-Americans everywhere; the imminent explosion he spoke of was soon at hand as anger could not and would not be contained. Black people throughout the country would heed the words of this revolutionary thinker and fight back at the power that tirelessly worked to hold them down. Malcolm X knew there would be a revolt because he could clearly see the way a government full of racists and fascists oppressed so many of its own people.
            It is crucial to talk about this oppression because it was so prominent in the everyday functions of the country. In Malcolm X’s speech on “The Police State” he speaks of how officers of the NYPD were given permission to utilize whichever strategies they felt necessary to keep African-Americans “in check”. Whites were informed of the constant police activity in Harlem as a way to demonize blacks and make Harlem seem as though it was a breeding ground for crime and violence. This could only fuel the anger of blacks; even though freedom had been technically granted, they had not been granted most basic human rights.

Blog #1

         In this blog i will be discussing the introduction to Walter Mosley's piece Workin' on the chain gang. This summary should be viewed without bias, Workin' is a piece meant to show people that regardless of race, color, or creed we are all struggling in the world. In his introduction Mosley says some very powerful things concerning our capitalistic society and its negligent attitude towards basic humanity. He speaks of how Black Americans are demonized so many years after the end of slavery and even after civil rights had allegedly been granted to them. Though he focuses on black struggle, he conveys the idea that we are all experiencing this struggle. A keyword which can be used to describe the ways he discusses our society is apathetic. He speaks of our capitalistic society which places value on every human life. It is careless towards those deemed to have no value. In one part of his intro he talks about decisions that are made by those we elect to govern us. These decisions rarely are made to promote happiness among the people of the world. These decision are usually influenced by the possibility for monetary gain. Mosley makes many important points in his intro, one point he made i believe to be important was when he said "Our abilities far outmatch our actions. This is because our actions, and the actions taken in our name, are truly not ours to govern"(Mosley 5). I find this quote to be crucial  to one of Mosley's main points. He brings up the point that although we expect politicians voted into office to represent our wants and needs, they frequently do not. Mosley expresses that business and government have blended to a point where political actions are taken for financial gain and no longer for the good of the common man.