history of america

Alexander reading 

This reading is by Michelle Alexander, from her book The New Jim Crow, pp. 26-35. It's posted here on Moodle. It's about the backlash to the era of Reconstruction, and a brief glimmer of hope that the Populist Party offered at the time. Reconstruction was the policies and institutions (and troops) that the federal government put into place in the South right after the Civil War and the end of slavery (1865-1877) in order to ensure the transition to political, economic and social equality for Black people who were newly emancipated and had just gained citizenship. Bear in mind that the backlash to emancipation had everything to do with the identity of superiority the US had cultivated among whites, especially the poor ones, vs. Blacks that at that point had been enslaved for almost 200 years.

1.) What's your gut reaction to this reading?

2.) What was achieved during the era of Reconstruction?

3.) Describe  the backlash that occurred toward Black people after Reconstruction in terms of policies, laws and practices.

3.) Explain the radical philosophy of race relations that the Populist Party organized around? Why didn't it succeed?