In class, there was a mock trial covering the 1978 Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and following that there were the EOTO presentations. A variety of topics were covered included the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Fair Housing Act, Shirley Chisolm, the Boston Busing Violence and many more. While all the presentations were extremely informative, there were a few topics that stood out to me in particular.
One topic I was entirely unfamiliar with that I learned about was the 1974 Boston Busing Violence. During this time, schools were beginning to desegregate, finally allowing both African American and White students to go to school together. In putting students together in schools, the districts had to establish a bus system to get students of all demographics to and from school from wherever they lived. This sparked an outrage amongst White parents who wanted their children to continue to go to segregated schools. On the first day of school, buses were attacked with bricks, glass and other destructive items. African American children were targeted by White parents who spat in their face and screamed racial slurs at them. Police were forced to intervene due to extreme violence, where protests and riots were growing to be very violent. Children were terrified to go to school, fearing immensely for their safety. Even through the violence and the hatred that originally surrounded this situation, the desegregation of schools was a key part of our nation’s history. I had never even heard about this issue so I was really interested to learn about it and saddened to know that this was not the only case of violent, racially motivated riots.
Another specific topic discussed that I found interesting was learning about Shirley Chisholm. She was a very powerful, influential African American woman who was highly invested in benefitting the communities of both women and African Americans. She was one of two African American women who served for the legislature in Albany, New York. In 1969, Chisholm was elected as the first African American congresswoman. She served for seven consecutive terms. She also ran for president, unfortunately not being elected, though that did not surprise me, especially with the societal norms of the 60s and 70s. Her strong stance and political voice helped pave the way for those two communities at the time, both seen as still extremely disadvantaged. Her determination to speak up and be heard to help the people around her was both admirable and important in history. I had never prior heard of Shirley Chisholm nor was I aware of all that she did during her time. It was really interesting to me to see a woman of color so confidently leading during this time, blatantly pushing aside any oppositions or negativities she may have faced. All in all, she was an extremely commendable individual.
While there were many informational topics discussed, these were the ones that I was completely unaware of that I found to be most interesting. In learning about all of these topics, the forefront of my thinking relied upon Martin Luther King Jr. A lot of the things happening in society during this time were all things he was ferociously working towards avoiding and achieving. I wonder just how much would be different if he were still alive. I firmly believe he would not be as proud of society as he had hoped, and believe he would have made a world of a difference alongside all of the influential leaders he worked with.
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