Chapter 4: Rolling Back Civil Rights
In advance of the session
We’ve now reached a historical period where we can conjure our own memories of the events described in the book. Please think on these themes — in and outside of the text — and come to the conversation prepared to share a related memory of your own.
Warm Up Activity
In small groups, share memories relating to these themes:
Reconvening as a full group, share reflections from each small group discussion of those memories.
Text-based Discussion
Pose questions relating to various themes in the chapter, setting up each discussion with a quote to illustrate that theme.
Rolling Back Civil Rights / Weakening Civil Rights Law
Redefining Racism
“America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduce to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.” — Patrick Buchanan, advisor to President Nixon
Criminalizing Blackness
“Thus, nonviolence gave way to an ethos of self-defense, best articulated by the Black Panther Party […]. The goal of integration, so fundamental to the SCLS and the NAACP, was now forced to openly compete with the more sharply articulate demands of Black Nationalism and Black Power.” - Carol Anderson
Moving beyond the text
Discussion of black advancement as a “zero sum game” (i.e., disadvantaging whites)
Final takeaways from each member of the group
In advance of the session
We’ve now reached a historical period where we can conjure our own memories of the events described in the book. Please think on these themes — in and outside of the text — and come to the conversation prepared to share a related memory of your own.
- Redefining racism / Use of race-neutral language
- Weakening Civil Rights law
- Criminalizing blackness
- Black advancement as a “zero sum game” (i.e., disadvantaging whites)
Warm Up Activity
In small groups, share memories relating to these themes:
- Redefining racism / Use of race-neutral language
- Weakening Civil Rights law
- Criminalizing blackness
- Black advancement as a “zero sum game” (i.e., disadvantaging whites)
Reconvening as a full group, share reflections from each small group discussion of those memories.
Text-based Discussion
Pose questions relating to various themes in the chapter, setting up each discussion with a quote to illustrate that theme.
Rolling Back Civil Rights / Weakening Civil Rights Law
- What did the group think about the chapter?
- Frame follow-up questions based on where responses lead the conversation.
- In the wake of the Bakke decision, the author noted that current uses of “diversity” now help white males the most.
Redefining Racism
- The author identifies the use of “race-neutral language” to undermine the idea that certain policies or individual actions were racist.
- Throughout the chapter, there are examples of white policymakers declaring victory to deny the problems of racism and racial inequity. Why was this tactic so seemingly effective?
“America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduce to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.” — Patrick Buchanan, advisor to President Nixon
Criminalizing Blackness
- Early in the chapter, the author notes a shift in the Civil Rights Movement. Was this a trigger for white rage — a reason to associate being black with rioting, guns, violence…and ultimately making blackness synonymous with criminality?
“Thus, nonviolence gave way to an ethos of self-defense, best articulated by the Black Panther Party […]. The goal of integration, so fundamental to the SCLS and the NAACP, was now forced to openly compete with the more sharply articulate demands of Black Nationalism and Black Power.” - Carol Anderson
Moving beyond the text
Discussion of black advancement as a “zero sum game” (i.e., disadvantaging whites)
- Carol Anderson writes that “black gains, it was assumed, could come only at the expense of whites.” Why is this such a powerful and pervasive theme — in the book and throughout American history?
Final takeaways from each member of the group
