BLOG # 10

What evidence does LBJ offer as proof of the widening economic gap between black and white Americans? How does he explain this gap?How are the sentiments he expressed represented in the cartoon?
In President Lyndon B. Johnson's Commencement Address at Howard University: "To Fulfill These Rights" on June 4, 1965, he gives proof of the widening gap between black and white Americans in the unemployment rate. "Thirty-five years ago the rate of unemployment for Negroes and whites was about the same. Tonight the Negro rate is twice as high." Another example he gives is the comparison of income. "Between 1949 and 1959, the income of Negro men relative to white men declined in every section of this country. From 1952 to 1963 the median income of Negro families compared to white actually dropped from 57 percent to 53 percent." He explains the gap as first due to Negros being trapped in inherited poverty. He also explains the gap as "the devastating heritage of long years of slavery; and a century of oppression, hatred, and injustice" for Negros. In the cartoon he shows that after the white man walked all over the black to get a good postion in society, the white man claims to have achieved this on his own and says the black man should be no different. LBJ realizes that the african Americans need help if they are to pull themselves out of poverty.

Silent Women

Why were the Korean Comfort Women “silent” so long? To answer this question, one thing you will need to think about is how much women’s “worth” is tied to their status as virgins or “sexually pure” and how women who are not “pure” are shamed in societies. You also need to reflect on how rape has been characterized as simply an “unfortunate consequence” of war—this is not true, of course; rape does not “just happen.”Why could the words and actions of Japanese officials and government be interpreted as attempts to further silence them?

The Korean women were silent for so long because they didn't want the word to get out that they had been "tainted". It was seen as a huge disgrace to have either sex before marriage or sex with one other than your husband. Rape was once claimed to be "inevitable, so you might as well lay back and enjoy it" but in todays society we know that that is not quite the case.

Reaction #2

Question: "It’s 1892 and you, Esther Klein, are a 17-year-old textile mill worker in the American northeast. You are new to the country and to industrial work, having worked previously on your parents’ farm in the old country. As much as you longed to come to America, your life as a poor Jewish industrial worker in the United States makes you have second thoughts. And life at the mill—why you and some of the other girls dream of organizing and standing up to the mill owners, but what you’ve seen of other labor organizing worries you. So tell me, Esther, what are the sources of your dissatisfaction as a poor woman, a worker, and a Jewish immigrant?"

Response:
As a poor woman I have a very difficult time finding a job due to sexism. And being a woman, no one listens to me. We still don't have the right to vote. Poverty is everywhere and the gap between rich and poor is growing even more.

As a worker I am having to work under the worst conditions. Due to industrialilzation, I have a boring monotonous job with potential hazards everywhere. These machines can rip your arm off if you're not careful. And now there is less personal contact between my employer and I. I'm forced to work long hours with no actual break and very low pay.

As a Jewish Immigrant I came to America because my country was struggling and we all heard the wonderous rumors of the prosperous"Land of the Free" and now, steamships allow less expensive and safer travel. But now that I am here, I see that it was all a lie. We're working harder than ever to provide for ourselves. And due to Nativism, we face discrimination on a daily basis.

Me and the other girls from the factory want to say something. We want to stand up for ourselves and refuse to allow such outrageous working conditions and low wages. But i've heard of what has happened for workers trying to change working conditions. They were fired and replaced by people who were willing to work for less. How can we compete with that? There's nothing I can do but continue to deal with these horrible conditions.

BLOG...

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