What I learned EOTO #4

 Overall I learned a lot during this last EOTO Mock Trial. One thing that mainly stuck out to me that I learned was all the different television formats.  I never knew there were so many television shows and I thought learning about it was so different and awesome.

The first format was the half-hour long situational comedy sitcom. This format demonstrates some of the greatest films that have been shown among its programs.  This EOTO also taught  me how much sitcoms have evolved. Sitcoms have grown from being a simple theatre to being more documentary style shows like Parks and Recreation.

Modern Sitcoms then began to stop focusing on their social commentators. This was a power that was used in older sitcoms like Chinco and All in Family. We then talked about the main character named Archie Bunker  who was very loud and not that educated. We were also told that Archie believed every single stereotype that he has ever told. 

Differently we also then learned about The Fair Housing Act of 1968 which was that African Americans as well as other minority groups were being denied basic housing  rights. Minority groups struggled when it came to buying and renting homes. In my opinion I felt like this was such a shame that these people weren't allowed to have housing when everyone else in the world was able to. The landlords as well as the sellers would raise prices as well as so many other horrible things to refuse people from being able to live in avaible housing just being of their sex, race, or religion. 

Lastly, we learned a lot about the civil rights act during this. It was discussed how The Fair Housing Act of 1968, was rejected by congress. This made people think that they would continue getting rejected whenever trying to pass other laws. 

"The March"

 The film, The March, relating back to what happened in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. brought an immense amount of change to America. Martin Luther King Jr., a famous civil rights activist who relayed a speech in front of thousands of people for equality and freedom. His famous speech is known as the “I have a dream” speech that allowed people to reflect on what was going on in America and helped bring freedoms to black people that they did not have before. 

In 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abe Lincoln to help black people gain freedom, however, that did not happen. For instance, many black people were unemployed, the black people who did work had very low wages, were not allowed to vote, and there was much segregation in their communities. Because it was Lincoln who put this document in order, MLK chose to present his speech in front of his memorial to bring attention that black people should already have freedoms as of 1862. 

As expected, many people did not agree with what MLK spoke about in his speech as well as all the things he did for this movement. Unfortunately, on April 4th, 1968, he was assassinated by a white supreimast named James Earl Ray who did not agree with what MLK stood for. This

broke my heart finding out about this because MLK truly did nothing but try to help the world become a better and more fair place. 

Something that stuck out to me was the fact that a mafia group wanted to get MLK killed so badly that the reward was $50,000. This is a large number and absolutely crazy that people would influence someone to kill another person with such a large number for the time period. 

For the most part, I feel as if racism and inequality has gotten much better because of people like MLK. However, there sadly are issues with it in our world today.

FINAL BLOG POST

 The first amendment in the US Constitution forbids the limit to freedom in regards to religion, expression, peaceful assembly, and for the people to petition against the government. In America, the first amendment is extremely crucial to society and used very often. Americans use the first amendment by allowing all different religions to be welcomed and accepted in our world. In addition, we the people are also allowed to speak our minds and feelings in a peaceful manner. All of the events in the civil rights era have played a role in the change socially and politically in America. 

One event that has changed America today with the use of the first amendment, specifically the part regarding speech and assembly, was the women's rights movement. This movement trying to allow women to be able to vote like men began in the 1850s. By 1869, a group called the National Woman Suffrage Association led by Elizabeth Staton and Susan B. Anthony began to try to make change. As time went on, groups began to merge and form one power group named the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This group fought til the very end by having peaceful marches to get their voices heard. By doing this, the women eventually got the approval to vote officially on August 18, 1920 after using their first amendment to fight for their rights. Without this movement, women might not have been able to vote still today. 

Another event in history that used the first amendment, in particular the ability to petition against the government, was during the Brown vs. Board case.This happened in March of 1966 when a black man tried sitting in the Audubon Regional Library with four of his friends. As time progressed, a librarian and a sheriff approached Brown and his friends ordering them to leave the library, but they refused. Shortly after, the men were arrested for violating Louisiana's breach of the peace statute, which is disturbing a public peace and quiet in a space. Clearly, the men did not violate this law and were kicked out because of their color. In response to this, the men petitioned to the US Supreme Court using their first amendment rights. In conclusion to all of this, the Supreme Court ordered that the men did not violate the law by a 5-4 vote. The court ruled that the men were protesting against segregation by sitting in the library which was supported by the ability of the first amendment’s freedoms. 

Not only have events affected the civil rights era, but people have as well. One specific person that has changed the way we live today by using freedom of speech and assembly is Martin Luther King Jr. MLK gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 in regards to ending racism. Roughly 250,000 people came to the assembly outside of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. In his speech he goes over his desire for black people to be able to be free and no longer hated as they should have been in 1863 from the Emancipation Proclamation, which he references. As shown, MLK used his rights of the first amendment to change the world in a positive way for race helping lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing discriamation based on race, color, relgion, sex, etc. 

All in all, many things have contributed to the social and political change of the US using the first amendment. These moments in history will never be forgotten and used as learning lessons for future generations.

EOTO Bakke VS Board of Regents

To begin, In the Regents of University of California V Bakke the court had ruled that the Court ruled unconstitutional. As proven by a  university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process, but held that affirmative action programs could be constitutional in some circumstances. This started to occur in the year of 1978. When found out about the schools use of racial “quotas” there ended up being a use of the affirmative actions and accepted more minority applicants in some circumstances. This case also had to involve the practices at the Medical school of the University of California at Davis as well. The medical school had sixteen out of a hundred students that were either African American, Asian, or American Indians. 

Allan Bakke, who was a white applicant, was denied by this medical school twice. His MCAT scores , GPA , and benchmark scores were higher than some of the other people who had applied and gotten into the school. Bakke ended up suing the University of California in the state court when not agreeing with their admission policy.  He thought it did violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Clause. Bakke ended up feeling very down and discouraged after finding out this news. He thought that he was able to be a part of this medical school due to all of his hard work and high test grades, when really he didn't even get in when having some of the highest scores. 

 The California Supreme Court ended up agreeing that the quota system had discriminated against some racial groups. Their court had stated "no applicant may be rejected because of his race, in favor of another who is less qualified, as measured by standards applied without regard to race."  The medical school then  ordered to shut down their quota system as they appealed to the Supreme court during the Case of 1978. 

The Supreme Court then had Justice Lewis Franklin Powell write something that ruled that the state may constitutionally consider race as a factor in its universities admission to promote education diversity, but that was all. California's use of racial quotas did not meet these requirements and went against the constitution's equal protection Clause.  As previously mentioned the medical school racially discriminated against whites because it excluded them from its sixteen to a hundred spots by the virtue of race. 

Bakke Vs the Board of Regents established a means of reconciling well intentioned quotas as well as an affirmative action program with the constitutional protection of equality. Some racial quotas  are always unconstitutional. Although, affirmative action programs may be constitutional if race is considered as one of many admission factors and used to past findings of discrimination and to promote diversity. In the 30 years since this ruling, public and private universities have crafted affirmative action programs consistent with Bakke's requirements. These affirmative action programs still affect many people today as they teach us so many new things. All in all, Bakke VS Board of Regents has taught us a lot about different affirmative action programs and different ways to protect equality.

Reconstruction Video

Throughout the reconstruction video it is clearly stated throughout that the Reconstruction period in the US is the period in 1865- 1877 which occured right after the Civil War. This was during the time when there was a lot of moves were made to fix the inequalities of slavery as well as the political social and economic legacy to try and fix these problems that were arising. 

While watching American After the Civil War as a class we saw a lot of events that occurred during the Reconstruction period. From watching this video we learned a lot about the background of this time period. Reconstruction was to help the Social advancement for the African Americans but it tried to help and solve these problems that were occurring. There were many legal decisions that had to be put into part to help enforce that these laws were coming into place. The thirteenth ameendment then came into palce which was forbidding slavery. This was beneficial during this time period because it helped enforcing that slavery shouldn't be allowed. 

The fourteenth amendment came out which allowed there to be help getting Grants from Due process, equal protection and Privileges or immunities. This amendment also helped the African Americans by giving them support when in court. 

Also, during class we always create timelines on different time periods. Thus just gave me a preview of the Reconstruction period. After watching American After the Civil War  it gave me such a greater image of this time period and allowed me to get a visual of all that we had learned in class.  I was able to see the emotional side of this period and got to see closer into this time period by watching this video.