Readings for the Week of October 10

We have read so far about the immigration experiences of some of the many ethnic groups that made up the population of the United States by the early 1900s. Some of these came by choice, as with most European immigrants, and others by force, as with the vast majority of early African immigrants. Still others never, strictly speaking, "came" to the United States but rather were incorporated into its domains through conquest or annexation, as with the Native and Mexican peoples respectively.

Another important aspect of America's ethnic history revolves around the experiences of those groups of people once settled in the United States. How did they grow into their distinctly American identities? How did different ethnic groups relate to one another as they grew into "Americans" over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries? Before moving on with the 20th century in our textbook, let's pause to take a thematic look at the experience of one of those groups, Africans, as they became African Americans. Although the African experience in America has been in some ways as diverse and nuanced as the many African ethnic groups represented here, certain key themes resonate for nearly all who are descendents of the first African immigrants, and particularly so for those who still live in the American South. Among these themes are the legacies of enslavement, racial violence and the long struggle for civil rights.

We've already looked at the Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, a man who experienced slavery in the United States first-hand and wrote about it in 1789 to support the abolitionist movement.

For this week, then, begin by reading this very short bio of Angelina Grimke, a white abolitionist from the American South.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASgrimke.htm

Then, read Grimke's 1838 speech at Pennsylvania Hall. How does Grimke's double status as a "Southern woman," i.e. as both a Southerner and as a woman, strengthen her message in this speech?
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/grimke.html

Eventually, abolitionist sentiment succeeded in the US, but that did not put an end to racism. Southern blacks, in particular, continued to evolve their identities as Americans in an America partially defined by violence and discrimination, in communities subscribing to Jim Crow Laws where the fear of lynching was real and justified. The Abolitionist movement was over, but the Civil Rights movement was just beginning.

Read this (also very short) bio of Ida B. Wells, a black civil rights leader from the American South.
http://www.idabwells.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=53

Then, read Wells' influential 1893 speech and pamphlet, "Lynch Law." The "crime of outrage" Wells refers to is rape... why do you suppose rape is so prominently related to lynching in the context of the American South?
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/wellslynchlaw.html

Finally, watch Billie Holiday perform Strange Fruit, her powerful 1939 song about lynching.
http://dai.ly/edFCOY

Optional: Think lynching is a thing of the past in the American South? Shamefully, it is a practice that has continued to shape the ethnic reality of African-descendent Americans even into the 21st century.

Brandon McClelland 2008
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_5348.shtml

James Byrd 1998
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Byrd_Jr

Anthony Hill 2010
http://www.thegrio.com/news/sc-police-black-man-shot-to-death-body-dragged.php