Week 13 Reflection

During the 1960s it was a lot going on for African Americans and so many others. These times where very rough for many. I commend and thank them for everything because without them we would not be where we are today. That goes for feminist, Mexican, and native Americans, they walked so we can run. The African Americans did many sit-ins, freedom rides also march to stop the miss treatment of blacks. They fought against segregation, poverty, and unemployment. Due to all the fighting the African Americans did it made the federal government pass the Civil Right Act of 1946. The Act means that they cannot discriminate anymore. Also, the 24^th amendment and the voting rights act of 1965 allowed all African Americans to vote. Women also fought for their own rights for better education, employment opportunities. This help women make their mark in society. The things they did help shape who women are today strong and beautiful, and women can do anything a man can do. Mexican Americans had to work for their education, unionization of farm workers, improved job opportunities, and more say so in the political world. The Mexicans felt as if they were getting left out and not treated with the respect they deserved. The natives also wanted control over their land and resources, they wanted to save their natural culture and their self-government. The native had to work hard for the things they had and would fight hard to keep it.  The gays and lesbians also wanted something out of this, and this was to be treated fairly like the others and not to be discriminated. They are human to and the way they were treated was wrong. I learned that everyone is equal no matter who they are if they black, white, blue it does not matter. We have all humans and should be treated as such and nothing less. Its crazy to think that even though our people did all these things for us Blacks, Natives, Mexicans, Gays that we still do not get treated fairly. Its not as bad as it used to be, but they do it in different ways which have a long way to go and I hope someday we get there. That way everyone would be looked at as equal and not less than.

Week 12 Reflection

The 1950s was a great time for America but also bad due to racism. The economy had amazing growth after World War II.  The industrial production grew due to the cold war. There was a mass production of cars. The standard consumer package of the 1950s was a Home, TV set and car. The bad that was still going on was the racism. 7 million whites left the cities and moved to the suburbs, while 3 million blacks moved into the cities. The whites started the profile where the blacks stayed as ghetto places of crimes, poverty, and welfare. The government provided much more for the whites and the middle class than they did the poor. Which is crazy because those are the ones who need the most help. A lot of things happen such as the gross national product grew by 250% and the baby boom happened before which increased the population by 20%.  Also, America became “Consumers republic” this means all citizens were encouraged to consume because it was good for the nations and its economy. The suburban life was segregated, and it was a black suburb. People of the same income usually lived in the same neighborhoods. Many highways were created during this time 40,000 miles of highway were built in the 1950s to link suburbs and cities. The reason for doing this was to make people get cars and drive. The other reason highways were made was because of President Dwight Eisenhower that way it was easier to move troops and military equipment around. What’s crazy is that it took Eisenhower 62 days to travel unpaved roads from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. today that trip only takes 72 hours. Which is amazing how much the improvements have done. As of today, there are 46,300 miles of interstate highways, which cost a lot approximately good $129 billion to build. I’m happy that this was done because I couldn’t imagine trying to travel without them it’ll be very bad. Things would take forever. The 1950s was a very busy time and a lot went on bad and well.

Week 11 Reflections

after reading about this it was very crazy and sad in other words. How they were treating people was crazy man and so unfair. the way the treated the Japanese really stood out to me. it’s said to be over 30 year that this went on. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the hungry miners, longshoremen and fisherman of the frontier town piled into the greasy spoon. tanaka and others was incarcerated for several months and then sent off to internment camps that were all over the country. There were 120,000 Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans detained in World War II internment camps. This wasn't right at all. they are humans to and should be treated as so just because they were Japanese doesn’t mean anything. The U.S. internment camps had so many people in them and the poor living conditions was unbearable. he is living conditions of Japanese American internment camps were very hard for the Japanese because of housing, food, and the daily experiences Japanese went through. they treated them as if they were so different from other just because of their ethnicity. Tanaka and many others were held at their will at the short lived-camps. when they had to leave, they home they only had 2 days and they could only take a few things. there were so many families that were taken away from each other and people lives were just messed up. I couldn’t imagine just getting taken away from my family for nothing. This made it hard for Asian to live in America. the racism the Japanese faced in America still goes onto today and its sad because many Americans still have that mind set. Many Japanese people came to America for the freedom and a better living for themselves and kids. then you think to yourself is better because they still are looked at is as if their nobodies.

Week 10 Reflection

The great depression was the worst economic downturn in history it was crazy it lasted from 1929 to 1939. I learned that before all this had happen the country was booming. The economy was growing, and the nation’s wealth had doubled between the years of 1920 and 1929. The great depression had begun after the stock market had crashed in October of 1929. This had sent wall street into a panic and took away millions of investors. The next couple of years everything was just going bad. Business wasn’t making enough money, people getting laid off from their jobs it was a nightmare. When it had got to its lowest point 15 million Americans was unemployed nearly half the country. Many people don’t know that during this great time when the everything was booming stock market was expanding. There had already been a decline in production and unemployment had risen. That means that stock prices where higher than they should’ve been. So instead of buying stock for something that’s worth 50$ you’ll now be paying 100$ for it. Once this began to happen people started to go in debt because they didn’t have the money to pay for it and jobs where cutting people so people would have no money. So that’s just debt just growing. While all this is going on the stock prices continued to rise and its nothing was being done. I feel as if the U.S. or the business could’ve paid people more that way, they’ll be able to afford the things and wouldn’t be in debt. Till this day the country is still trying to recover from the depression slowly but surely. I feel as if a lot could’ve been done to if not stop to at least stop it from getting so bad. One thing they did do is create something called the new deal that help recovery from the great depression. The TVA and WPA made a job program the employed 8.5 million people from 1935 to 1943. This was such a big boost it was a start but still had a long way to go. Also in 1935 the country passed a act called the social security Act and this allowed Americans with unemployed, disability and pensions for old age. The county was going in the right direction to get things back on track everything started to go back up and improve.