African-American Politics

Fall 2009 Syllabus

Instructor: Professor Roneka Matheny

Course Number: Day/Time: Location:

AAST 300-001 MW 2:00-3:15 006 Robert Scott Small Bldg.

Office Location: 429 JC Long Bldg. Office Hours: By appointment

(That’s 9 Liberty St. across from the cafeteria) Email: mathenyr@cofc.edu
Office Phone: (843) 953-1991 Cell Phone: (843) 709-0393 - (TEXT ONLY)

Politics: Who Gets What, When, How

—Harold Lasswell, noted political scientist
"We must understand the politics of our community and we must know what politics is supposed to
produce. We must know what part politics play in our lives. And until we become politically mature we
will always be mislead, lead astray, or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who
doesn't have the good of our community at heart."

—Malcolm X, political and religious leader

Course Introduction:
The purpose of this course is to give students an in-depth understanding of the relationship
between people of African descent in the United States and the political system. We will begin
with a brief analysis of the ways in which national, state, and local governments in the United
States function. We will then examine how the government and other aspects of the political
system have shaped the lives of African-Americans, all the while keeping the following four rules
in mind:
1. Politics is much more than voting, running for office, and/or holding a picket sign! It
encompasses everything from a person’s political attitudes (and the reasons why they
hold the attitudes) to the political actions that those attitudes may compel.
2. African-American politics is complex! While racial oppression and discrimination often
motivate political activism, they are never the sole cause of the ideological positions and
political strategies used by African-Americans.
3. African-American politics is diverse! All blacks do not vote the same way. Likewise, all
black politicians do not seek to address the same problems. Factors such as religion,
class, gender, sexual orientation, skin color, and ethnicity play important roles in the
political outlook that an individual African-American chooses to adopt.
4. African-American political activism is not new! It has its genesis in the Seventeenth
Century when the first Africans arrived on our nation’s shores. Though they could
neither vote nor hold office, many became activists and many more developed political
attitudes, which have evolved into the political ideas held many African-Americans
today.
This course counts toward the African-American Studies minor. It also fulfills a Humanities
requirement.

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Required Texts:
• Selected readings from various texts

There is no required textbook for this course. All required readings will be available for
download from the WebCT site for the course. The WebCT site will be an integral part of this
course, so make sure that you understand how to access it and use its various function.

Course Grading Scheme:

Your grade is based on a total of 100 points. Assignments will be graded as such. For example,
your Election Paper may be graded as 13/15 points. Extra Credit points will be added to your
final point total, but grades will not be allowed to exceed 100 points. For example, a student
with a point total of 96 and 5 Extra Credit points will still have a final grade of 100. All
assignments must be completed on time. Excused absences are required to make up missed
assignments; however, Extra Credit opportunities can not be made up under any circumstances.
Detailed information about all assignments can be found at the end of this syllabus.

Assignment Due Date Point Value

Class Participation N/A 10 Points
Politicians Paper Sept 23 15 Points
Exam #1 Oct 7 25 Points
Exam #2 Nov 23 25 Points
Political Activism Dec 2 25 Points
Extra Credit N/A 10 Extra Points

The grading scale for this class will be as follows:

100-90 (A); 89-86 (B+); 85-80 (B); 79-76 (C+); 75-70 (C); 69-60 (D); 59 and below (F)

Class Rules:
1. Come to class! Even though there is no formal attendance policy, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to
do well in this course without coming to class. We will mix lecture with discussion, so if you
must miss class, make sure to find out what was discussed.
2. Be on time! We have a lot to cover in only 15 short weeks, so the sooner we can get started
the better. Also, Extra Credit quizzes must be taken during the first few minutes of class. If you
arrive late, you will have missed an Extra Credit opportunity. Remember, these quizzes can not
be made up.
3. Do the reading assignments! Class discussion can not work if you don’t know what you’re
talking about, so review and follow your syllabus each week. My goal for this course is to help
you learn as much from your classmates as you will learn from me.
4. Participate! Class discussion also can not work if you don’t participate in class. Show me
that you have done the readings by engaging in meaningful discussions with your classmates.
Since participation counts for 10 points of your grade, this will benefit you as well as everyone
else.
5. Respect everyone’s opinion! In this course, we will deal with the very sensitive topic of race.
The class will likely be composed of students from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, and class
backgrounds. Each student will thus approach the topic from a unique vantage point. While
comments may be made this semester that are difficult for you to hear and/or understand, it is

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important to respond to them calmly and on intellectual, rather than personal, grounds.
Remember, the goal is to learn from each other, not to attack each other.
6. Ask questions! There is no such thing as a stupid question. If you are thinking it, then other
students are also thinking it; they just don’t have the guts to ask it first. Your questions will help
me to further organize and streamline the course for future semesters.
7. Come to office hours! I have designated time each week to address your needs, so use it. I
am always happy to discuss your progress in the course or any anxieties that you may be feeling
about the readings and/or the assignments. I encourage you to come to me BEFORE you begin
to fall behind in the course. Don’t wait until finals time to tell me that you do not understand
something. If you let me know earlier, then I can help you earlier.
8. Take advantage of all opportunities for learning! Keep up with the news and pay attention to
current events. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by to get involved. Apply the knowledge that
you are gaining through the readings and class discussions to the world around you. What will
you understand better by the end of this course? What have you been taking for granted for
years that no longer makes sense?
9. Turn off your cell phone! We all forget sometimes (even me), but please try to minimize
ringtones and other distractions during class time.
10. Have fun! I will try to make the course as exciting as possible, so try to stay awake!

College Policies:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to
the fullest extent. You are expected to have read and understood the current issue of the
student handbook (published by Student Services) regarding student responsibilities and
rights, and the intellectual property policy, for information about procedures and about what
constitutes acceptable on-campus behavior.
Basically, Don’t cheat, don’t plagiarize, and you will be fine.

ADA STATEMENT: Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities

desiring academic adjustments, accommodations or auxiliary aids will need to contact a
CCSN Disability Resource Center, as the Centers determine eligibility for, and authorize, the
provision of services: Cheyenne: 651-4045; Charleston: 651-5089: Henderson: 651-3086
If you do have a disability, please let me know on or before the first day of class.

Reading Schedule and Course Outline:

I have chosen to organize the readings for this course by week instead of by day, like most other
courses. I believe that this will give us more flexibility and time for discussion. Students should
strive to complete the readings by the BEGINNING of the week, so that comments and class
discussions will be informed and enlightened. All required readings will be available for
download from the WebCT site for the course.
Week 1: What does Race Mean in America?
(Wednesday, Aug 26)
• Omi and Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, pg 53-55
• Transcript of President Obama’s “Race Speech” in Philadelphia

Week 2: What is Politics? How is Our Political System SUPPOSED to Work?

(Monday, Aug 31 and Wednesday, Sept 2)
• Barbour and Wright, Keeping the Republic, pg 6-8, 20-21, 76-77, 80-82, 87-94, 118-119,

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 303-310
• Declaration of Independence
• US Constitution

Week 3: Black Political History: From Slavery to the Civil War

(Monday, Sept 7 and Wednesday, Sept 9)
• Talmadge and Stewart, Introduction to African American Studies, pg 206-208,
“Frederick Douglass” 12-13
• Gurin, Hatchett, and Jackson, Hope and Independence: Blacks’ Response to Electoral
and Party Politics, pg 18-21
• Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court case summary

Week 4: Black Political History: From Reconstruction to Jim Crow

(Monday, Sept 14 and Wednesday, Sept 16)
• Dawson, Behind the Mule, pg 98-106
• Gurin, Hatchett, and Jackson, Hope and Independence, pg 21-40
• Talmadge and Stewart, Introduction to African American Studies, pg 209-214
• Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case summary

Week 5: Black Political History: The Civil Rights Era

(Monday, Sept 21 and Wednesday, Sept 23 – POLITICIANS PAPER DUE)
• Talmadge and Stewart, Introduction to African American Studies, pg 215-217
• Gurin, Hatchett, and Jackson, Hope and Independence, pg 40-54
• Brown v. Board Supreme Court case summary
• Civil Rights Act of 1964, excerpt
• Voting Rights Act of 1965, excerpt

Week 6: Theories of Black Politics

(Monday, Sept 28 and Wednesday, Sept 30)
• Group Consciousness - Gurin, Miller, and Gurin, “Stratum Identification and Group
Consciousness,” Social Psychology Quarterly, pg 30-32
• Solidarity - Gurin, Hatchett, and Jackson, Hope and Independence, pg 75, 80-84
• Linked Fate - Dawson, Behind the Mule, pg 45-47

Week 7: EXAM WEEK

(Monday, Oct 5 – Exam Review and Wednesday, Oct 7 – EXAM #1)

Week 8: Contemporary Black Politics: Voting Behavior

(Monday, Oct 12 – NO CLASS: FALL BREAK and Wednesday, Oct 14)
• Party Identification – Dawson, Behind the Mule, pg 3-11, 108-112
• Political Ideology – Dawson, Black Visions, pg 85-93, 247-258, 281-291, 293-294

Week 9: Voting Behavior Continued

(Monday, Oct 19 and Wednesday, Oct 21)
• Turnout –
o Olsen, “Social and Political Participation of Blacks,” American Sociological
Review, pg 682-684

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 o Magnum, “Psychological Involvement and Black Voter Turnout,” Political
Research Quarterly, pg 41-43

Week 10: Contemporary Black Politics: Black Elected Officials (BEO’s)

(Monday, Oct 26 and Wednesday, Oct 28)
• Talmadge and Stewart, Introduction to African American Studies, pg 224-234
• Descriptive Representation – Tate, Black Faces in the Mirror, pg 3-6, 13-20, 155-156

Week 11: BEO’s Continued

(Monday, Nov 2 and Wednesday, Nov 4)
• Majority-Minority Districts – Cameron, Epstein, and O'Halloran, “Do Majority-Minority
Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress?” American Political
Science Review, pg 794-798
• Political Empowerment – Bobo and Gilliam, “Race, Sociopolitical Participation, and
Black Empowerment,” American Political Science Review, pg 378-380, 387-388
• Political Incorporation – Browning, Marshall, and Tabb, “Protest is Not Enough: A
Theory of Political Incorporation,” PS, pg 576-580

Week 12: Contemporary Black Politics: The Black Agenda

(Monday, Nov 9 and Wednesday, Nov 11)
• “The Black Agenda,” Gary National Black Political Convention Declaration, 1972
• “Black Panther Party Platform”
• President Johnson’s commencement address at Howard University on June 4, 1965

Week 13: The Black Agenda Continued

(Monday, Nov 16 and Wednesday, Nov 18)
• Bakke v. UC Davis Supreme Court case summary
• Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, and Gurin, “Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact
on Educational Outcomes,” Harvard Educational Review, excerpt

Week 14: African-American Politics in the New Millennium

(Monday, Nov 23 – EXAM #2 and Wednesday, Nov 25 – NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING)

Week 15: Course Conclusions

(Monday, Nov 30 and Wednesday, Dec 2 – POLITICAL ACTIVISM PRESENTATIONS)

Week 16:
(Monday, Dec 7 – NO CLASS)

FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE – There will be no Final Exam for this course

Assignment Details:
There are six essential requirements for the successful completion of this Introduction to
African-American Studies course:

Class Participation
Class participation accounts for 10 points of your final grade. All students should strive to

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attend class regularly because attendance will be factored into your class participation points.
However, as the name suggests, class participation will measure your engagement in class
discussions and the amount of preparation that is apparent from your commentary in class.

Politicians Paper
All students must write an 4-6 page research paper about TWO African-American politicians.
They may be either figures from history or current office holders. They may be local, state, or
national politicians. They may be from South Carolina or any other state. The only restriction is
that President Barack Obama CAN NOT be one of your choices. The purpose of this assignment
is to demonstrate that, regardless of all of the complaints from the African-American community
about there not being enough black elected officials, there are and have always been black men
and women serving in elected office and trying to meet the needs of their constituencies.

The paper should include important information about the politicians’ backgrounds. It should
also offer an assessment of the job that they did in office. Did they pass any legislation or
champion an important cause? What did the voters think of them? Finally, the paper should
give me your personal opinion about the politicians. If you had the opportunity, would you vote
for them?

All papers should be typed and double-spaced using Times New Roman 12-point font. You
MUST cite your sources when you use quotations, paraphrase, or cite facts that were found
somewhere other than your own brain. End notes, footnotes, and parenthetical citations are all
acceptable methods of doing this—pick ONE. You must also list all of the references that you
consulted in a reference page or bibliography. I am not picky about citation style, so use the one
that works best for you. Please take the time to check for spelling and grammatical errors
because they WILL affect your grade! The paper will be graded on content, thoroughness in
answering the questions, organization, length, and professionalism. Please see me if you need
any additional explanations of this grading criteria.

Your Politicians Paper will be due by the beginning of class on the Wednesday, September 23. It
will account for 15 points of your final grade.

Exams
All students must take the two course examinations. Exam #1 will be offered on Wednesday,
October 7, and Exam #2 will be offered on Monday, November 23. Both exams will take place in
our classroom during our scheduled class time. You must notify me in advance if you will not
be in class on these dates. All make-up exams must be taken before the scheduled test date, and
will be an alternative version of the test.

Both exams will be comprehensive, covering the totality of information presented from readings,
lectures, discussions, etc., up to the point of the exam. They will combine true/false, multiple
choice, and short answer questions. They each account for 25 points of your final grade.

Political Activism
Politics doesn’t work without individual activism. Individuals must take action to vote, run for
office, organize and/or participate in demonstrations, support politicians that they believe in,
fight for causes that they believe in, etc. With this in mind, this class could not be complete
without requiring you to take some action as well. Therefore, all students must complete 20
HOURS of political activity. While this may sound like a large amount of time, it can easily be
spread across a number of weeks. For example, 20 hours is only 1 hour per day for 20 weekdays

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or 4 weeks. The political activity that you engage in may include, but is not limited to:
• Participating in a voter education campaign – Various voter registration and Get Out The
Vote efforts on campus or in the community are examples of this. Disseminating
information about the candidates that will be running in the 2010 elections and the
issues that will be on the ballot would also be an example.
• Organizing a political rally – This could either be for an individual politician, a political
party, or even an issue, such as the environment, abortion, gay marriage, etc. Helping a
local political organization to do the organizing instead of doing it all yourself would be a
good idea.
• Volunteering/interning in a political office – The offices of mayors, state senators and
representatives, local city and county councils, school boards, etc. are always looking for
volunteers. Nonpolitical offices, like county Census or police stations are also good
places to look for volunteer opportunities.
• Volunteering/interning for a political organization – All political parties will be setting
up their grassroots offices and looking for staff in preparation for the 2010 elections.
Any of their offices would be great places to volunteer. Also, nonprofit organizations that
champion specific issues are a good idea to check out.
The cause that you champion or the political party that you support is not important for this
project. The important thing is that you get some hands-on political experience. Once you
understand what it is like to be an active participant in our political system, I expect that you
will have an even deeper understanding of the topics covered in this course. Remember,
African-American Politics is about much more than simply fighting racism and discrimination.
The African-American community is a part of the larger American community, and is therefore
affected by all political issues!

The Activism Project will be completed individually. While I have no problem with two students
volunteering for the same organization, I expect each student to pursue his own goals and have
his own unique experience. The project will consist of three parts: the activity, the report, and
the YouTube video presentation. Part 1 will be completed once you turn in documentation of
your activity. I will send a letter explaining the project and its goal to your supervisor, and they
will need to complete a form verifying your activity.

Part 2, the report, should be typed and should answer the following questions:
1. What type of political activism did you choose to engage in and why?
2. Why did you choose the location that you did?
3. How does your political activism relate to the content of this course? In other words,
does your cause/politician/political organization address the concerns of African-
Americans?
4. If so, how? If not, why not?
The report should also include detailed explanations of the specific activities that you were
involved in during your volunteer experience. These explanations should convince me that you
actually completed the required 20 hours of volunteer service.

Part 3, the presentation, will give you the chance to share your project with me, your classmates,
and the world. You should create a 3-5 minute video presentation that will be uploaded to
YouTube. The video should explain your political activism experience by answering the same
questions as your journal. You have total creative control; just make it good because the world
will be watching! I will invite other faculty and staff members to an in-class viewing of the video

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presentations on Wednesday, December 2. Attendance on this day is mandatory!

The Activism Project activity and report are to be completed and turned in by the beginning of
class on the day of your video presentations: Wednesday, December 2. The Activism Project,
report, and the presentation will account for 25 points of your final grade. Please see me if you
need any additional explanations.

Extra Credit
There will be 10 opportunities to earn Extra Credit points this semester. These opportunities
will include pop quizzes, short papers in reaction to the readings, and attending events on
campus that are related to the content of this course. Each one of these opportunities will add
one point to your final grade point total.

The pop quiz dates will be a surprise, therefore regular class attendance is strongly encouraged.
Each quiz will pertain to the readings, lectures, and discussion of the week that it is given. The
quizzes will consist of multiple choice, fill-in the blank and/or true/false questions. Many of
these questions will also appear on the Midterm and Final Exams, so it is a good idea to add
them to your exam reviews. The quizzes will be distributed and taken during the first few
minutes of class. Quizzes that are missed as a result of absence or tardiness will result in a quiz
grade of zero, regardless of the reason for the absence or tardiness.