African Americans and Racial Justice

This course examines African American history from slavery to black lives matter. It will examine their experience as slaves before the Civil War, their treatment as second- class citizens during the "Jim Crow" era, and their struggles through the Civil Rights era. The course will follow their story through individuals such as Anthony Johnson, Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Fanny Lou Hamer.

This capstone course will advance the Marianist value of "promoting the dignity of all human persons." It also advances the Native Hawaiian value of "caring and compassion for other people." Racism is a global problem. Nations such South Africa and the United States experienced blatant forms of racism with their twentieth century apartheid and "Jim Crow" segregation laws. History 405: African Americans and Racial Justice employs project-based learning. It will examine the African American experience by having students write reflective essays on phases of their history in America. Prerequisites: EN 102, COM 101.