EOTO Reflection

Many of the presentations were very informative. During the presentations I found the Ku Klux Klan(KKK) to be extremely interesting. This presentation gave ample and thorough information all about this topic. The KKK is very fascinating because you could name the “KKK” to almost everybody and they will know of this group. I really tuned in during this presentation because I know many people who have had family members a part of this cult.

I thought it was so fascinating how this single group grew so gigantic. It started in the South and grew all the way to some parts of the North. It is so scary to think about how such a little group became so big and was built upon very influential and powerful people. The KKK was made up of just men. This shows how much power this group has because most of the men in the society were politicians, lawyers, enforcement, and anyone of the upper class.

This presentation stood out the most because this felt like the most relatable, recent, and widespread topic to grasp. The KKK was shut down by congress once they figured out how bad the actions of these men were. The KKK took violence as far as lynching, feathering, tarring, and even sometimes killing. Eventually, the KKK died out, but it took an extremely long time and a lot of enforcement. I believe there were still small groups throughout the North and especially the South that still upheld the KKK.

Apparently this “Klan”, after being shut down, came back together and restored the KKK all because of a movie that came out. This movie apparently showed the “klan” as the best group, saviors, and liberators. When the KKK came back a second time, they were even worse. They not only hated black African Americans but so many more groups in society like Jews, religions, etc.

When I heard this the first thought that came to mind was “Hitler”. This is because this group and this historic figure both assumed only their way, their religion, their race, and ideologies were the right way to live and if you did not follow this you were hazed and killed. I still believe to this day that there are many KKK members still out there. I always have thought about what all these members go and do with their lives without this “klan”. I believe this group has evolved into many other organizations and still is around today.

Personally, I believe the KKK is an awful group and never should have been constructed. It's also extremely upsetting to think about how many influential, powerful, and important people were a part of this group. This led me to think about how many things these people can get away with and go under the radar of the law. It is so sad how we live in a society that has to deal with concepts like these.

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This overall presentation really got my brain stirring questions and making conclusions. I found it so interesting how they also always wore all white, masks, and even the items they held. It almost made me think of a fraternity at college, with the pledges, history, and cult-like actions.

Plessy v. Ferguson

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I will be directly focusing on how social norms, traditions, and stereotypes all play an enormous part in society. Throughout the case, I will dive deeper into how violating norms, traditions, and stereotypical ideas and actions is highly ignorant. Norms are meant to keep order in society and a “black man” has violated this. Homer Plessy broke tradition and stereotypical concepts that caused chaos and led to his being detained. 

Hello, I am John H. Ferguson and today I will be representing the state of Louisiana. New Orleans, Louisiana had very clear, specific, and justified laws. Louisiana recently acquired a law in 1890 that forced all railroad companies to construct racially separated rail carts. Two years later Homer Plessy, a ⅞  Caucasian and ⅛ Black man violated this law. Plessy is being prosecuted for refusing to leave a white rail cart that was specifically constructed only for whites.

Homer Plessy violated not only the law but social norms. Social norms are unwritten rules of behavior shared by people of a group or society. Plessy acted against these social norms, his actions were unacceptable by society and perceived as non-informal. Plessy purposely went and sat in a white railroad cart knowing he would most likely be apprehended for his actions. There was a social order in society, and he violated them.

Although both blacks and white are seen as “equals”, there are still unwritten laws that must be followed. These designated separate carts were made for a reason, to keep peace and to satisfy both whites' and blacks' needs. It is customary for African Americans to keep to their side, their cart, and their “equal” facilities. Louisiana had this law constructed two years ago to allow for equal boundaries between both races. This law reinforced both the 13th and 14th amendments, not violating them. Plessy's actions were reckless and intentional, he knew what the outcome would lead to and put himself into his current position.

This tradition of separate railcars has been around for nearly two years and we have had no major previous issue until Plessy purposely decided to act recklessly and test the limits of this law. He not only tested the law but tested how far he could stretch social norms for African Americans which ended him in jail. Homer Plessy has destroyed the image of African Americans and violated their social norms. The traditions in society have become out of line, therefore why these laws must be constructed and reinforced. In society, African Americans are guided by many different groups and social behaviors.

Plessy's social behavior is out of pocket. His actions will lead to other outbreaks disregarding how society should be run. If we do not deal with his actions now and he does not learn the consequences of breaking the law then this will continue to happen. Without social norms, and people following social norms there will be no order in society, there will be chaos. These traditions keep not only African Americans in check but also all people.

The Louisiana Separate Car Act of 1890 was made to promote the comfort of all passengers, not just Homer Plessy. This state law was made to accommodate both white and colored races for rail lines running in this state. The law is made to support society and social norms for the better. 

On May 18th, 1896 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled against Homer Plessy. The court issues a 7-to-1 decision against Plessy's case. The court concluded and supported the Louisiana train car segregation laws. The court believed they needed to support in Lousiana “equal but separate accommodation for the white and colored races”. Nearly a century later Plessy's verse Ferguson case would be overturned. This major case was overturned because of Brown v. The Board of Education. This case has had a major impact on society and has completely changed norms, traditions, and stereotypical concepts among African Americans. 

Band of Angels Reflection

Band of Angels is a very dramatic romantic movie. I viewed a lot of exaggeration and great perspectives about slavery. It was fascinating to see how a spoiled Southern belle, Amantha Starr, the world fell apart. Starrs world fell apart because she found out her mother was black and a prior slave. Her father passed away very soon during her privileged stages and when he was gone her life went from upper class straight to lower class. She never knew her father was borrowing money to live and have a prosperous life. It was very interesting the film portrayed this part throughout the movie because it showed how life may have been during this time and perhaps a common thing is done. This allowed for a special connection to the film Gone With The Wind.

This movie led to many questions for viewers as to why not tell the daughter about the secret poverty, and why the plantation farm could have been a cover-up. Adding onto this curiosity during the movie as a viewer, I was very curious at the beginning as to why the daughter was not informed her mother had been enslaved. The overall film plotline was a bit unclear until later realized what the producers wanted the viewers to see.

The film was very firm in showing a different perspective of the South before and during the Civil War. Slavery is treated very differently from the last movie watched, Gone With The Wind. I viewed the slavery portrayed as much more enjoyable,       accepted, and lenient in Band of Angels.

 

In Gone with the Wind, slaves were seen as the worst enemies, treated like trash, and walk all over. Slaves were seen as the stereotypical slave that most people know. Much of the movie throughout Band of Angels portrayed the North as the “nicer side”. During Gone with the Wind, the overproduction can be seen as very similar to Band of Angels. Both films were extremely dramatically romantic and portrayed the film mainly around a Southern belle during the civil war and reconstruction era.

                                  

When I dive deeply into the meaning and major lessons in both films, overall love is one of the ideas I've concluded. When I say love I mean, how the films revolve all around love and care for one another. Love can be seen between each of the characters, the slaves, relationships between family members, and even the over sides(North and South). 

EOTO: Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe on June 5th, 1851. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a white woman who was an abolitionist. She wrote this book against slavery. This novel she wrote helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War. She wrote this book based on a slave, “Uncle Tom” and the stories of his time as a slave.

 This was the best-selling novel during this time period, following the bible. Throughout her book, she focuses on this slave's life, which leads her to expose false stereotypes against African Americans. This novel was so powerful it not only helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War but also assisted in forming the new Republican Party which opposed slavery.

This novel was actually first published in a magazine in 1852, and later converted into a novel. When the book first started selling, Stowe sold nearly 300,000 copies in one year. If you think about how many people read that book and told other people a general idea of what the book was about, this is what led to such an impact on society. This novel actually was said to have pushed many Pro-Slavery states away from the Union, breaking off from the pack.

This novel was an extreme part of Abraham Lincoln as well. This book paved the road to Lincoln winning the election for President. There is a story told when Stowe went to see Lincoln, he said to her “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.” Lincoln had said this because of how impactful her novel was. Stowe's writing was influenced by the 1850 Fugitive Act, which inspired most of her ideas. The book of 1849 “The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada” was known as her primary inspiration, and this sparked her entire novel. Store's novel led to a worldwide controversial concept and changed many perspectives of blacks.

Her writing was said to have altered the way many of her readers, pro or against slavery, view society as a whole. Her writing allowed African Americans to have a voice. This novel was one of the first steps for blacks to come out of the shadows. Another concept shown throughout the novel that many readers often misunderstood was, the novel displayed how Christian love can overcome slavery. This is why her novel was such a huge seller because it focused on so many different important ideas. Stowe was able to grasp the anti-slavery, some of the pro-slavery, and even the religious audiences all at the same time.

Throughout her novel she explained many of the hardships slaves went through, this allowed for many eye-openers. This is why it is said that this “little woman” helped cause the Civil War. Throughout the Civil War, many of the slaves often tried to escape. When a slave tried to escape and if they were caught it was their demise. Slaves caught escaping were tortured, beaten, sometimes killed, whipped, etc. Throughout Stowe's novel, she explained many of the hardships they faced like these.

The slave she based most of her novel off of was able to give first-hand insight into how they were treated. Especially throughout the Civil War later on after her novel, it was told many slaves were inspired to escape to freedom. Many of them also were loyal and listened to their masters during the war so they could survive. 

                                                            

Gone with The Wind Reflection

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Gone with the Wind was the most interesting historical romance drama film I have seen to this day. This movie was created way back in 1938, and still is an extremely well-known famous movie. When the producer David O. Selznick released the movie a year later in 1939 the movie went wild. The entire movie was produced around the Civil War, starring Scarlett O’Hara as the main actor.

O’Hara was known as a “southern belle”. Throughout the movie the main actor on goes through ample conflicts with Rhett Butler and Ashley Wilkes regarding issues with love affairs. The purpose of these women's love affairs is to represent what is ongoing in the lives of women during this time period throughout the war. The film director, Victor Flemming, wanted to truly grasp David O. Selznick's idea of romance and war during this time period. This movie was centered around one of the hugest wars to ever occur in America, the Civil War.

This war went on for nearly four years, from 1861 to 1865. The war started on April 12th and finished on April 9th. I find it very ironic how the war almost ended on the same day it started in the same month four years later. This war was so impactful for the United States of America because it was fought between the North and South. The South wanted their independence, while the North wanted to be reunified as a whole with the South. This war lasted so long because of how intense it grew. After the first year, the war began to viciously accelerate. Each side was not only attacked by man to man, but started attacking each other socially, politically, economically, resources, and territory.

Throughout the film, there were ample scenes where the director used the women's love affairs to tie to the war. I found it interesting during the movie how slavery was shown often and very naturally. I would have thought there would have been a bit more scenes against slavery just because of how wrong slavery is. I also understand how these parts were necessary to completely represent what occurred during this time period and during the war. As a result of so much slavery being tossed around throughout the film, this has led to the movie being taken down from multiple media platforms. However, I wondered if it was really necessary to take it down.

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The actors in the movie were all presented as rich white women as well, this could have also been a negative side of the film. Since the film revolved around these women's love life and their husbands going off to war, this was one of the most impactful concepts I focused on. During the film often the slaves were really put to work. I liked how if you viewed the movie correctly you are able to realize the hardships of these slaves as well. The film had a hint of slavery as another low-key concept. The slaves were forced to undress and tuck these women to sleep as their job. The slaves also were forced to collect all belongings of their masters if there was to be a fire. This allowed me to see how rough it was for these African Americans and opened another perspective. 

Town Hall Reflection

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Throughout the Town Hall meeting regarding slavery, there were tons of interesting statements everyone made. I was on the anti-slavery side, which I personally believed was easier to support. It was very interesting to see all the pro-slavery roles. When most of the pro-slavery roles were done speaking you could tell how they were not fully comfortable with what they said. Although we were supposed to take on these roles and express ourselves as if we were in their shoes, it was very hard to fully commit to some people. But how could you blame them? Many kids after the town hall meeting were over even spoke about how they did not fully feel comfortable with what they were saying.

I wondered if people who truly supported slavery took on these pro-slavery roles, would it have changed the expression and message coming from these people? Many of the reasons and support each of the pro-slavery actors used were very similar to each other in a way. I felt like they all ultimately referred back to production and a working system as their reason. The actors always said how without the slaves there would be no cotton, food, supplies, etc.

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I almost felt like pro-slavery people didn't realize how much they actually were dependent on these slaves. Without the slaves, the whole system would turn into chaos. Perhaps slaves were not just argued against because they were black but because they were the only way most people, most white people could function. 

Something I acknowledged being on the anti-slavery side was when we went up to play our role as these historical figures, we said it proudly with passion. This is why I felt like pro-slavery roles were more tuff to take on and fully commit to because it's so hard to even pretend to support slavery. Each of our speeches was tied together for similar reasons just like the pro-slavery roles were. I believe our ultimate connection was that slaves need to be treated equally. The entire anti-slavery side was also able to back most of their statements with actions their historical figures acted on as well.

One major thing I was thinking about toward the end of the Town Hall meeting was, has any of these major historical figures ever turned from anti-slavery to pro-slavery. I know many major historical figures have turned from pro-slavery to anti-slavery, but what caused these major changes? One thing I enjoyed learning throughout the entire Town Hall meeting was a little bit of background of each historic figure. Each person said just enough information for a person to actually retain it all.

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It was also interesting to see how many people after the Town Hall meeting was over would converse with the other side about each other's statements about what they liked and did not like. In our next Town Hall meeting, I would love to see a combination of two things, role-playing with gen-z. It would be very interesting to act out as a historical figure while using modern technology, props, slide shows, etc. This could help really push each person to fully commit to their roles and maximize each individual's ultimate outcome. 

                                           Harriet Tubman says Peace Out!

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