African American Studies Research Paper

1059 Words3 Pages

Katie Sroufe
Thomas Edge
Ethnic Studies 1200
September 8th, 2016
African American Studies Essay 1 “The history of American looks very different viewed from a cotton patch.” (23, Cole) African American Studies, also known as Black Studies, is a way for us to learn about the culture, history, literature, economics, and everything in between about African Americans. Growing up in a mostly white school we actually learned a lot about African Americans. Not only about slavery, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., but also about the achievements in arts and literature. We learned about what they had achieved in their hard times, rather than what was done to them. Yes, we learned about what happened to them as well, but we didn’t focus on that. …show more content…

While reading chapter “The Intellectual and Institutional development of Africana Studies,” something that Harris says is, “One goal for the fourth stage of Africana studies should be to broaden and deepen the field of inquiry” (19, Harris Jr.) This can relate to current events. Such as Black lives matter, and the police brutality happening. These opened the eyes of many people and showed us of on going race issues in America. This makes us wonder, and research other issues going on in America. We are broadening our knowledge on African American history. Something’s that were taught were: “1. ‘All Negros were ignorant,’ 2. ‘All negroes were lazy, dishonest, and extravagant,’ and 3. ‘Negroes were responsible for bad government during reconstruction.’” (711-713, Du Bois). This is the way a lot of people grew up learning about African Americans. Back then people were taught based on opinion, not facts. This is relevant today. My grandparents still talk about African Americans in a negative tone, and sometimes my dad stops himself from saying these things, because he knows better, but it was how he was raised. Our generation has changed these views because we live in a time were more things are accepted and everyone is getting viewed as equally. Our generation will be the next to teach children about African American history and having more of an equality sense in the world now, will help our world in the future. We have a new perspective on things and will hopefully carry that on for future

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