Intro to African American Studies Paper
Summary of Paper Guidelines:
Length: 5-6 pages (min. 1300 words/max 1600 words, including references)
Topic: Current events from an African American perspective
Format: Applying class material, readings, and outside sources to an analysis of a current event.
Citation Format: I do not prefer a particular citation style. Just make sure all citations are consistent and clearly identified.
Some of the class topics we've discussed: the africana paradigm, pre-colonial africa, jim crow, civil rights movement, Great Migration, Harlem Renaissance (Don't write about all just include a few)
Description:
This paper was originally geared towards more open-ended historical research but, given some of the events of the past, this paper is now focused more on current issues. Simply put, I want you to use this space to apply the lens of the Africana paradigm to contemporary racial themes in American society. For this assignment, you are to choose up to two sets of weekly readings (it can be just one if you wish) and apply insights and knowledge gleaned from those readings to a current-racially oriented issue-in the United States.
The imminent inauguration of Donald J. Trump as our next President is racially charged throughout. What does this say about racial inequality in America?
How will Trump's stated policy goals, the reinstatement of stop-and-frisk, for example, affect African Americans? The readings from this course offer a powerful perspective of the current state of American politics. Alexander, you'll recall, might describe this as another example of a long-running pattern of race-based politics that's been a characteristic feature of the American system more so than maybe its two-party dynamic (2010). This election may signal a shift from an era of color-blind racism back to a climate of more socially acceptable overt racism. But the importance of this event-whether one looks to its importance for the past, present, and future-is also highly complex. Therefore a paper just generally about ‘the election' would be too broad of a topic for a 5 page paper (no more than 1400 words, including references). The same would true, coincidentally, if one were to write about Black Lives Matter, or Black Twitter, or gang violence in Chicago, or the Black middle class. The narrower the analytic focus, the deeper the analysis can be.
Look to class material to be your guide. In your paper you should cite-in a reference list as well as the body of the paper--class material from at least one week's worth of readings. Because your readings will probably not explicitly mention current events (I think Alexander (2010) might briefly mention Trump's efforts to apply the death penalty to the Central Park 5), you will also need to cite at least 3 other sources to put current events in conversation with our readings. This can be anything from newspaper or magazine articles to books or peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles (ideally it would be a mix of sources). Once again, make sure to include a reference list at the end and in-text citations within your paper.
Make sure your in-text citations match your reference list, and vice versa. When citing, always include the author's last name and date of publication. Always do this. Web-sources may be difficult to date but most online news articles include a date of publication somewhere on the screen. Proper citing is not so much about following the rules as it is about giving credit where credit is due. In effect it silences the ideas of others. Du Bois, to name one prominent Black thinker you're all familiar with, has been a victim of this for well over 100 years (Morris, 2015). In fact, according to Steinberg, " Early in his career, when his pioneering Atlanta studies were ignored, W.E.B Du Bois actually left sociology and assumed the editorship of the NAACP's journal The Crisis where he thought he might be more effective as an agent of change (2007, pg. 76)." So, let's be sure to correctly and diligently cite sources throughout the paper. If you'll notice, I've done a bit of that in this paragraph and just below to show you what it should look like in your paper. You also visit Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) for help with citation formatting.
You do not have to write about the election. Your choice of topic has no bearing on your grade. But your approach to it does. Whatever topic you choose, its needs to facilitate an active engagement between our course material and contemporary racial themes in America. How political is Beyonce? Why would Kobe Bryant make fun of Steph Curry for being light skinned? Maybe you want to discuss Obama's legacy instead of Trump's future, for example. This would be taking a current event and looking toward the past. Which readings for the course would help you go about addressing that?
What might Du Bois say about the Black Lives Matter Movement? This would be using a historically based perspective and applying it to the present day. These are just possible options, I've also mentioned others in the course of this description and you'll be able to identify others based on course material. Please let me know if you have any questions or want to ask about a potential topic idea. I look forward to reading your papers.