Progress in Political and Social Equality, 1960-1975

"AfricanAmericans," FEastman. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The US Postwar period of the 1950s through the 1970s marks a significant paradigm shift towards inclusion, at the cost of continued segregation and exclusion of African Americans and women from social status. The statement “Between 1960 and 1975, there was great progress in the struggle for political and social equality,” is essentially sound, given the circumstances, with the understanding that the path towards human equality remains a constant issue.

A number of incidents and circumstances between the Civil Rights Movement and the continued fight for women’s liberation share common cause towards equality during this period. Influenced by Martin Luther King Jr.’s influence and the aftermath of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts of the later 1950's, issues of human rights and calls for equality took a higher priority among the general social discussion.

The 1950's also saw, on a more international scale, the shift away from traditional patriarchal social norms towards a more inclusive slant, as nations began to rebuild after World War II. Emphasis on public education, and the desire to utilize all able human capital within the nation state, began to address common issues of unequal opportunity in places like Europe, the US, and Japan.

The 1960's, which contains the bulk of what we refer to as the Civil Rights Movement, further pushed the shift away from a “separate but equal” understanding in the South, with parallels to the 1950's “nuclear ideal” of women as domestic homemakers, excluded from opportunity in the larger social context.

The rise of the Vietnam War in the 1970's, coupled with the continued counter-culture movement against established cultural norms, as well as the climax of total desegregation within the Civil Rights Movement’s efforts in 1969, further influenced the liberation and shedding of many social norms aimed at women. Additionally, the US government under Jimmy Carter moved towards emphasizing human rights as a federal policy, thus addressing lingering issues of inequality among women and African Americans.

Honestly, the work is still continuing in the call for honest reevaluation in equality among people. With the United States being such a pluralistic society, with many ethnic identities and cultural interactions, the issue of what is “fair” and “equitable” will likely shift with current circumstances. Issues of unequal pay still plague women in the workplace, while minorities are still largely over-represented among the population in crime statistics and underrepresented among education statistics. Unfair targeting of specific ethnic groups represents the ongoing battle between crime prevention and invasion of fundamental civil rights. Finding concrete answers to these lingering issues will continue to challenge the people as we move into the next generations.

Recommended Films: American History X, Tony Kaye; Malcolm X, Spike Lee;

Study of History, Online?

One of the intriguing movements within education is the rise of accessible, quality learning resources offered entirely online. Websites like Khan Academy and Coursera provide courses taught by knowledgeable staff and college professors in a wide variety of subjects. These are offered, currently, at no cost to the consumer.

Additionally, junior colleges, universities, and vocational schools are taking advantage of the resources and utilizing distance education to encourage more students to take their offerings.

This is an exciting trend, in part because anyone with a reliable internet connection can now access information on nearly any topic they are interested in, at a cost much more reasonable than a traditional onsite course. More access means more students means more opportunity to succeed in learning the subject material. Another potential benefit is a decreased expenditure for providing the course, since facilities maintenance and other costly overhead is minimized by having much of the content on the web.

Challenges also arise, as with any new emerging technology. The ability to instantly connect with, and adapt the material to the needs of, the students,and establishing the actual needs of the students, becomes increasingly challenging with online coursework, as lecture materials and communication is often done asynchronously. Live feedback is more difficult than onsite courses.

Additionally, the level of comprehension, measurements of comprehension, and motivation is more in the hands of the student, since the professor or teacher is not seeing the students face-to-face each day. Unless the teacher is successful in conveying the material in a meaningful, successful manner, and the student is, or becomes, interested in the course or its completion, unique challenges arise, regardless of the content.

We, then, are led to understanding that there are pros and cons for online education. Is it useful for the student of history? I argue that it has potential for benefit.

History is the exploration of past events, their causes, effects, and reasons why. Additionally, it is tied into modern times and woven into a unique narrative that marries past and present. Finally, history is learning the facts and figures of the past...the dates and events themselves. I believe online education, when utilized effectively, can provide a vehicle for teaching the important aspects of the past to students, specifically for created a foundation in historical events to dispel ignorance of context.

Online resources, a variety of media, readily accessible, can be utilized to drive points home with imagery and content that goes beyond lectures and reading, which is a) most often utilized in onsite courses and b) has been shown to maintain a rather small percentage of students who retain the material. Conversely, a picture can invoke emotional responses, a film can be memorable long past its ending credits, specifically because it utilizes more of the senses, and connects on a human level. This same response can be utilized in history teaching to convey the emotional past.

Though it is not without it's unique challenges, the learning of history can greatly benefit from utilizing all resources available to engage the student in the material, and online education would be a welcome tool to use in the public dissemination of our unique historical heritage.