This is an introductory level course that seeks to give students an overview of the experience of persons of African extraction in the United States and the Atlantic world more broadly. This course is interdisciplinary in nature, and tries to include African American history, sociology, religion, psychology, literature and urban studies. Ideally this course is intended for freshmen and sophomores, who will take this course first and then may go on to take 200-level and higher level courses in a variety of disciplines, including history, African American studies, sociology and urban studies. However students sometimes take this course "out of order" or "out of sequence," and may still learn something from it (and benefit from it) nonetheless.

This course begins from several fundamental premises and assumptions. It assumes that over the last 500 years or so, European expansion into the Western Hemisphere and the conquest of the so-called "New World" was accompanied by encounters with non-white, non-European peoples such as the Native Americans (Indians) and the Africans. As most of the indigenous Americans died out in catastrophic epidemics the Europeans and Euro-Americans turned to the use of enslaved Africans in the New World as a substitute labor force. Out of these historical circumstances, Europeans invented the idea of biological races based on color and ancestry, and developed a form of racialized hierarchy or stratification. Ideas of essential, innate, immutable difference were developed, and attributed to these "races," and the dogma of white superiority and black and nonwhite inferiority was utilized to justify the unequal distribution of access to wealth, power, opportunity and reward. At the center of the African American experience is the history of a group of people being labeled and stigmatized as inferior, and treated accordingly under a system of racial capitalism that awarded preference and privilege to persons who were deemed "white," and subordinated and marginalized people who were "not white." For nearly 500 years Africans and African Americans have sought to resist and overcome this system of degradation, and to affirm their humanity.

We will proceed both topically and chronologically. Our readings will look at how a white supremacist culture, mindset and ideology were constructed and justified, historically (Winthrop Jordan); how the commitment to white supremacy continued even after the end of slavery and after the Civil War and after World War I (Ellsworth, Death in a Promised Land); and how vestiges of that culture persist even in the present (Rushton). We will examine a work of African American literature (fiction) by Toni Morrison, and explore the life of Malcolm X.

We also will look at the experience of black college students in the aftermath of the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement. When blacks and whites were finally brought together in larger numbers on college campuses, after 1964, as part of "integration," how did it work out? In that context, we will explore the themes of assimilation, cultural pluralism, and black nationalism (sometimes called separatism) in Black Students in the Ivory Tower.

This course will also examine the thesis that the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s has fallen short, because it has failed to deliver what Martin Luther King sought and promised--namely social justice. Stated another way, the movement has not yet achieved its objectives. Instead, legalized segregation required by state and local law has been dismantled, and disfranchisement (denying the exercise of the right to vote) has ended. The legislative successes of the 1960s benefited members of the black middle class who were able to attend college and enter into the doors of newly opened opportunity. They obtained decent jobs and moved to the suburbs, much like the white middle class. However, a segment of the African American ethnic group (at present, one fourth), continues to live in poverty. This segment has been left behind. Some scholars suggest that this impoverished one-fourth now constitutes a permanent underclass or welfare class. This class of persons who are "truly disadvantaged" are largely unskilled, poorly educated, perhaps unemployable, disadvantaged, separate and unequal, and marginalized. They live mostly in the inner cities, and are also described as the "ghetto class." They account for a disproportionate share of black-on-black crime, violence, drug related arrests, and incarceration. The end result is that for the black poor, the quality of life has in some ways actually gotten worse since 1960, not better. And some scholars suggest that the African American community has become bifurcated or split between an upwardly mobile, college educated, suburbanized black middle class and a ghettoized, marginalized segment of the black poor who have been left behind. This intensifies class division and class conflict and resentment between the different segments within the African American ethnic group. In this context, we will look at The Code of the Street, by Elijah Anderson.
 
 

The major readings include:

Winthrop Jordan, The White Man's Burden

J. Philippe Rushton, Race, Evolution and Behavior: Second Special Abridged Edition

Scott Ellsworth, Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

George Breitman, The Last Year of Malcolm X

Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Wayne Glasker, Black Students in the Ivory Tower

Elijah Anderson, The Code of the Street

Also Recommended:

William Julius Wilson, When Work Disappears

Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
 
 

It cannot be assumed that all students understand the culture of a university. In our class we may have freshmen and transfer students from community college, as well as juniors or seniors. Therefore it is necessary to spell out, in writing, what the behavioral norms and expectations are. For the record, attendance will be taken in this class. No more than six absences are expected (which is about one every two weeks). If you are excessively absent it will hurt your grade (10 points, the equivalent of a letter grade). If you have not completed an assignment on time, you should still come to class anyway. I would rather that you attend class and turn in an assignment late, than to miss class because you didn't finish the paper. If you are enrolled in this class, we expect you to be here. If you are not going to attend, you should not be enrolled: In that case, take somebody else's class. This course is reading intensive. If you cannot make a commitment to read on a regular basis, this is not the course that you want.

If you are in a car accident and are hospitalized and are going to be absent for weeks at a time, contact the Student Advising Office. That office will then send a notice to all of your professors, making them aware of your situation. The same procedure should be followed if any type of illness or emergency occurs that will cause you to be absent for an extended period of time. In this class, if you are absent for weeks at a time without notice or explanation, you will be referred to the Student Advising Office, and will not be re-admitted to class or allowed to turn in assignments until the Student Advising Office provides a satisfactory explanation and documentation.

You should not be chatting while I am lecturing. If you need to chat during the lecture, please take your conversation to the lounge. That kind of chatting is rude. It marks you as an uncouth, lower class person who has not been adequately socialized. Such behavior might be tolerated in high school. But all of you should know better by now. If not, be assured that it will not be tolerated here.

THIS WILL BE A WRITING INTENSIVE COURSE. We will read a book, discuss it, and then write a paper on it. The papers will be responses to directed questions, somewhat like a book report or book review, and should be about five to six pages long. If your paper is excessively late (more than four days late), your grade will be reduced (this is a late penalty).* Attendance is also crucial because there will be several videotapes that will accompany the books, and if you miss the video and discussion of the video you will be at a disadvantage in writing your papers.

The papers will count as 85% of the course grade. Class attendance and participation will count as 15%. In order to get an A one will need not only to get As on the papers, but also a good grade for class attendance and participation. It will not be enough just to write well, or just to show up. Come to class prepared to participate in a discussion about the readings.

Imagine that an individual gets a 90 on all of the papers. Ninety x .85 = 76.5. But suppose that this same person has abysmal attendance, and was absent ten times, and gets a D (poor) for class attendance and participation. (D = 60 x .15 = 9). In this case 76.5 + 9.0 equals 85.5. (or B+). However, the penalty for excessive absence kicks in, as a reduction of ten points. Then 85.5 becomes 75.5, and what would have been a B+ gets downgraded (downsized) to a 75.5, or C+. This person will NOT get an A in this class no matter how well they do on the papers if they get a bad grade for class attendance and participation. Don't let this happen to you. Come to class. Class attendance and participation make the most difference in the case of borderline grades.

We probably will not need to use the website extensively for this course. However, on occasion, I might post something if I feel that there is a need for it, and I will inform you of this. You can access the website at crab.rutgers.edu/~glasker. (sometimes it works better if you do not type the www, just start with crab). The ~ symbol is to the left of the number 1, using the shift key. Typing in crab.rutgers.edu should take you directly to the index page. Scroll down ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM, and be sure it says FALL 2002. Click on Intro to African American Studies. A window will open showing the course description. Scroll down to the VERY BOTTOM, and in time some links will be there giving the titles of lectures that you can print out.

W Sept. 4 Introduction

For next class, read Winthrop Jordan, The White Man's Burden, Chaps. 1-6,

Topic: Emergence of stereotypes about Africans. Distribute the Frances Cress Welsing article and first paper topic questions.

W Sept. 11 Jordan, The White Man's Burden, Chaps. 12-15, pp. 165-226

And Frances Cress Welsing, "Cress Theory of Color Confrontation" (handout)

M Sept. 16 First Paper due, in class.

M Sept. 23 Second Paper due (on Rushton). View website www.maafa.org

W Sept. 25 Read Scott Ellsworth, Death in a Promised Land, Prelude & Chaps. 1-2, pp.

W Oct. 2 Third paper due

M Oct. 7 George Breitman, Last Year of Malcolm X, Intro & Chaps. 1-4, pp. 1-51.

Anyone who has never read The Autobiography of Malcolm X should read it.

Also, please be aware of the film by Spike Lee.

W Oct 16 Paper due on Malcolm X

M Oct 21 Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, pp. 1-44 (up through the end of Autumn)

M Oct. 28 Morrison, The Bluest Eye, pp. 103-174. Please be certain to read the Afterword.

W Oct. 30 Paper due

M Nov. 4 Wayne Glasker, Black Students in the Ivory Tower, Preface - Chap. 2, pp.ix-42

W Nov. 6 Glasker, Black Students in the Ivory Tower, Chaps. 3-6, pp. 43-99

M Nov. 11 Glasker, Black Students in the Ivory Tower, Chaps. 7-9, pp. 100-146.

W Nov. 13 Glasker, Black Students in the Ivory Tower, Chaps. 10-12, pp. 147-182.

M Nov. 18 Paper due

W Nov. 20 Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu, "Black Students' School Success: Coping with the 'Burden of Acting White,'" and Elijah Anderson, Code of the Street, Preface, Intro & Chap. 1, pp. 9-65.

M Nov. 25 Elijah Anderson, Code of the Street, Chaps. 2-4, pp. 66-141.

W Nov. 27 No class, Friday schedule, day before Thanksgiving Recess

M Dec. 2 Anderson, Code of the Street, Chaps. 5-6, pp. 179-236.

W Dec. 4 Anderson, Code of the Street, Chap. 7 and Conclusion, pp. 237-325.

M Dec. 9 Also recommended, William Julius Wilson, When Work Disappears and

Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed

W Dec. 11 to be assigned

LECTURES