7 papers essay 1
ETHN 201W: Perspectives on African Americans
Note: All topics should be related to African American Experiences
Paper Topics: Suggestions
- Slavery by another name: peonage, convict leasing, sharecropping, vagrancy statutes (laws made by a state legislative body), 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments.
- Redlining–Housing
- Black Lives Matter—Protest Movement
- What are the implications of racial microaggressions?
- Affirmative Action vs. racial gerrymandering
- Reparations—Slavery—“40 acres and a mule (land)†compensation
- Compare and contrast the leadership styles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
- Black/White Wealth–economic inequality
- Education–Social Inequality, i.e., Historically Black Colleges/Universities vs. White Colleges/Universities (Morehouse College vs. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
- Sports–opportunity costs–play for NFL or go to College
- Inequality in Health Care
- Racial Profiling– “Driving While Blackâ€
- Welfare System–TANF
- Inequality in the Criminal Justice System–Segregation of prison inmates by race
- Tuskegee Airmen
- Implications of Hurricane Katrina: A case study of New Orleans, Louisiana
- Suppression & Disenfranchisement of the Black Vote–15th Amendment & 1965 Voting Rights Act–political inequality
- Environmental Racism–African American Communities—eminent domain impact
- U.S. Military–African American Experiences, for example, General Colin Powell, etc.
- Religious leaders, for example, Bishop Thomas D. Jakes
- Challenges of African American women leaders in the 21st century
- Gains during the Reconstruction Period, i.e., ratification of 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- Challenges of ex-felons (ex-offenders), i.e., reentry (reintegration) transition plan into mainstream society, for example,
- Disenfranchisement, i.e., not allowed to vote
- Expungement, i.e., sealing or destruction of individual criminal records kept by government agencies—social stigma
- De jure (sanctioned by law) and de facto (socioeconomic status) employment discrimination, for example, “Ban the box,†i.e., a question on an employment application form: “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?†Yes answer eliminates applicant from the pool,
- Restoration of voting rights, employment, etc.—clemency granted to ex-felons by some governors, for example, Florida