Seven Questions/Reflections From Class

1. Historically, how has the NAACP been instrumental in the African American experience? Please be specific.
The NAACP has been fighting on the frontlines for blacks since day one, they've conducted sit-ins, boycotts, and fought some of the nation's most important supreme court cases (i.e Scott v. Sandford, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., Roe v. Wade, etc.) They have not waivered one bit on their passion for maintaining our civil rights and making sure they aren't infringed on. They have done all they can to level the playing field in a sense.

2. How has the Oklahoma NAACP contributed to the history of civil rights movement?
As stated in the question prior to this and the questions preceding, the NAACP took on many of the nation's most important cases and either one them or created a national buzz about them. Oklahoma alone played a major role when they fought in the case of Sipuel v. Board of Regents, eventually allowing african americans to attend public universities like the University of Oklahoma.

3. What are some ways in which the legal movement contributed to the Civil Rights movement? Please be specific.
The fact that many people were taking situations, where their civil rights were being infringed upon, to court is a major testament to the relationship shared by the legal movement and the civil rights movement, the two go hand in hand. Many cases like Brown v. Board and Plessy v. Ferguson were instrumental in gradually solidifying african americans' civil rights

4. What were some similarities between the NAACP's relevance to the African American experience and the legal movement?
The fact that the NAACP helped spear-head the vast majority of these cases shows that the NAACP was pivotal, to say the least, in the legal movement and protecting civil rights. Although not all cases were won, the vast majority were put on the national stage as major decisions, drawing tons of attention.

5. Explain Reconstruction and was it successful?
The reconstruction was America's way of attempting to re-integrate freed slaves into society. reconstruction was a failed period mainly because of america's feeble attempts re-integrate them. The government proposed giving the freed slaves 20 acre plots of land, which turned out to be a lie. Most slaves were forced to go back to working on the same plantations they occupied before because they could not afford to take provide for their families, this made for major animosity between the whites and african americans in the south. This was not limited to just the south though, many freed slaves who migrated north were faced with racism still, as white professionals frowned on their black counterparts as they became the competition for finding work. All in all, the government did not make a thorough enough attempt to make sure african americans were able to join society smoothly, thus this period failed.

6. What are some current ways in which the NAACP has been active in maintaining societal civil rights?
The NAACP continues to take on court cases as they had in the decades before, in an attempt to protect our civil liberties. As well as continuing to raise awareness about the constant fight for equality.

7. Personal reflection: After listening to both of our recent visitors, what are some of your thoughts in reference to African and African American studies and the African American experience.
One quote that stood out to me came from Dean Evans, "The return of hate energizes nothing." I strongly believe this was the mindset for many African Americans during the civil rights movement and now. If our goal is to continually strive for equality and essentially change in the system, we must not become frustrated, as we encounter hate or strife, that should just drive us that much more to find equality. If during the civil rights movement, all the hate crimes by whites were returned with hate crimes from african americans, nothing would have been accomplished. In fact we would STILL be seeing these same hate crimes, thus no evolution or change would have come.