Obama Sings: The Other Benefits of Television

In the 1950s, the television helped create support for the Civil Rights Movement as people witnessed the racism for themselves. 

In the 2000s, television allows us to gather clips of Obama's speeches and compile them into popular songs, as the youtube channel barackdubs does.

Uptown Funk

Shake It Off

Call Me Maybe

Oklahoma Thinks AP US History is Unpatriotic

In October 2012, College Board revised the curriculum of AP US History to implement Common Core ideas that utilize critical thinking that has been put into effect this fall. These changes asked teachers to go more in depth in fewer topics, and ask students to think more deeply about this topic. They want students to consider all sides to make an argument, rather than learning a specific pointing view. Before College Board had a list of recommended topics, but others not listed would be on the exam, so teachers would try to cover everything. Now, they introduce wider topics and teachers should focus on specifics in the topic. 

This a chart of Common Core skills that should be taught in APUSH as advised by the College Board.

This revision caused opposition from certain states such as Georgia and Oklahoma. 

Georgia 

Earlier this month, the Georgia Senate threatened that if College Board did not revise the material taught, then the state would cut funding for AP US History, for they claimed that the course wasn't teaching material that would promote patriotism like it should. 

Oklahoma

A more recent action involved 11 Republicans on an Oklahoma legislative committee approving a bill over four democrats to cut funding of teaching APUSH. Dan Fisher started the bill saying that APUSH focuses on “what is bad about America.” 

Above, you can see the breakdown of the amount of time College Board believes should be spent on each topic. When reading the new curriculum, Larry Krieger, a retired high school teacher, said he “saw a consistently negative view of American history that highlights oppressors and exploiters,” and took it upon himself to become an opponent of Common Core. Specifically, he finds the depiction of Manifest Destiny as the belief of cultural superiority, rather than an expansion of democracy, to be upsetting. He also highlights the emphasis on minorities as an unpatriotic historical interpretation. 

States, such as Georgia and Oklahoma, feel that Common Core and College Board are imposing an unpatriotic curriculum in their education system. On the opposite side, many students and teachers feel that it is unfair for the state to deny the right to learn, and that learning the history of our country, even the bad is actually beneficial, and not harmful. In fact, a petition, started just a week ago already has over 20,000 signatures and can be located here: https://www.change.org/p/oklahoma-lawmakers-don-t-ban-ap-courses.

As Mr. Stewart always makes sure to do, history classes primary present the facts. Teachers and the College Board are not imposing their opinions on us, that is for us to decide. I think Matt Holtzen sums up it up perfectly when he says:

“[APUSH] teaches about America. Both the good and the bad. It teaches the parts that we like to focus on, that we can be proud of, but it also shows areas where we stumbled and, importantly, where we’ve been able to correct mistakes of the past,” - Matt Holtzen

I want to know what you guys think about the APUSH controversy.

If you are more interested in the consequences of these actions, you should read about the student response as well as the claims some in favor of the ban are making against College Board and the founder of Common Core.  

Sources: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/02/why-oklahoma-lawmakers-want-to-ban-ap-us-history.htmlhttp://hechingerreport.org/new-ap-u-s-history-really-anti-american/http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-us-history-course-and-exam-description.pdfhttp://www.newsweek.com/oklahoma-teachers-are-not-too-pleased-about-bill-ban-ap-us-history-308129

Interview with John Lewis on 60 Minutes

Here is an interview with John Lewis on 60 Minutes.  Lewis was featured in the Civil Right Clips from today's class and was a key member of the Civil Rights Movement.

If interested.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-lewis-reflects-on-selma-marches/

The Baby Boom

The documentary that we watched in class mentioned the post World War II Baby Boom, but didn't go into a whole lot of detail.

The Baby Boom was possibly the greatest population changing event in American history, and began almost exactly nine months after the war ended (you can probably figure out why). 1946 saw the most babies born in American history: 3.4 million, which was a 20% increase from 1945. The trend continued upwards, and at least four million babies were born every year from 1954 to 1964. The beginning of that phase just so happens to correspond with the end of the Korean War. The year that the Boom peaked, 1957, saw over eight babies born per minute. The influx of young people was so large that by the end of 1964, 40% of the population (over 76 million) were Boomers.

The Boomers, aside from being known for their numbers, are known for their achievements in advances. Socially, the headed up much of the Women's Liberation movement, were the main protestors of the Vietnam War, and were a big part of the hippie movement (but we'll get to all of that later in the year). Technologically, Baby Boomers are credited with most of the innovations regarding computers and digital technology; it's thanks to them that Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley.

In the end, we'll spend many weeks later in the year learning about what those born in the Baby Boom did as adults, but it's interesting to realize how great a change they were part of just by being born.

Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/baby-boomers
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/baby-boomer-generation-fast-facts/

Sexism in the 1950s

The documentary we watched in class today described the 1950s as a "couples society," with very few women in the workforce and 97% of all marriageable men and women (meaning they were in their 20s and finished with their education) married. This era was perhaps one of the most sexist in American history, with an emphasis on women's roles as housewives who existed solely to clean the house, prepare food, bear and look after children, and keep their husbands happy. In researching the culture of this era, I came across the following print ad, which I think encompasses both the extreme sexism and the avid marketing and consumerism that dominated the fifties:

Ads like this would cause an uproar today, but I think they tell us a lot about the society in which they were produced, because real people in the fifties probably came across them without batting an eye, and they actually went out and purchased this and similar advertised appliances! 

The following link includes nine other ludicrously sexist print ads from the 50s, if you're interested:

http://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-sexist-print-ads-from-the-1950s/?img=21450

Recently Deceased Veterans

If of interest!

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ken-moore-20141225-story.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-leon-kent-20150219-story.html

And this guy is actually from the D-Day Documentary...

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-richard-hottelet-20141218-story.html#page=1

Syngman Rhee

The Korea documentary made some brief mentions of Syngman Rhee, the first president of South Korea. It noted that he wasn't as benevolent as his genial appearance made him out to be. Based on what the documentary said, it seemed like Rhee was heavy-handed in his tactics, so I was curious about what kind of government he led in South Korea, the supposedly democratic half of Korea.

Rhee was most definitely anti-communist, but he was also a strongman who ruled for three terms, lasting from August 1948 to April 1960. He was born in 1875 and moved to the US in 1904. He returned to Korea in 1945. By this time, he had already led a very eventful life, such as being arrested in plots to assassinate the Korean emperor and empress and becoming president of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai.

After World War II, Rhee was the only Korean leader known by Americans, so he returned to Korea before the other members of the new Korean government. Once there, he campaigned for immediate independence and unification of the country. He built up a massive political organization that was supported by strong-arm groups and a following among the police. The assassinations of the major moderate leaders made Rhee the most influential leader remaining and allowed him and his party to win the elections in South Korea. He was elected President of the Republic of Korea in 1948.

Soon after assuming the presidency of the new Republic of Korea, he enacted laws that curtailed political dissent, setting the tone for his authoritarian regime. He did not tolerate opposition to his program. Not only did he curb criticism, he also allowed the detainment and torture of suspected communists and suspected North Korean agents, as well as several massacres.

He used his dictatorial powers to purge the National Assembly of members who opposed him; outlawed the opposition party; and controlled the appointment of mayors, village headmen, and chiefs of police.

There was widespread discontent in the National Assembly with his corruption and political repression, so to ensure his re-election in 1952, Rhee pushed through an amendment that would allow the president to be elected by direct voting instead of by members of the National Assembly. Actually, the National Assembly had rejected it at first, but Rhee ordered a mass arrest of opposition politicians and then got it passed.

Despite his authoritarian policies, Rhee was ousted in 1960 over claims of election fraud. Student-led demonstrations, heavy casualties, and the unanimous vote by the National Assembly and by the United States all contributed to his removal from power. The United States snuck him and his family to Hawaii, where he lived in exile until his death in 1965.