History 450
Spring 2011
Professor Chris Endy
(return to my homepage)
Reading Response Questions
HIST 450 Spring 2011 General Instructions on the Response Assignments
** Unless the instructions say
otherwise, please answer all the questions for any given response
assignment in this class. A good answer will consist of about 6-8
thoughtful sentences per question and will draw specific examples from
the assigned readings. Whenever possible, write down specific
page numbers in parentheses. This will help you later with class
discussion and with your own writing.
History 450 Spring 2011 Document Response One (based on Henry, 1-68)
1. According to Henry’s Chapter 1, what have been some of the
legal obstacles standing in the way of reparations for African
Americans? For our purposes, “legal obstacles” refer
to specific legal doctrines or practices.
2. According to Chapters 1 and 2, what have been some of the specific
extralegal obstacles to the reparations movement? In contrast to
narrow legal obstacles, “extralegal” issues refer to
broader social, cultural, or political forces.
3. Do you agree with Henry that the U.S. government should provide
economic reparations for African Americans, either for slavery or for
racism in the post-slavery era? Why or why not? If there
were to be reparations, what form should they take? Should they
come as individual payments? Should they come in the form of
special social or education programs?
History
450 Spring 2011
Document
Response Two (based on Welke, Jones, and Westervelt)
1. According to Welke’s study of railroad accident victims, what
were the various ways in which the legal process treated women
differently than men? Do you think similar gender differences
exist today when it come to men and women who claim injury after an
accident or some other harmful event?
2. According to Jones, how does the Springer show continue cultural
patterns common in early American history? Would you agree with
critics of the show who call Springer decadent and pointless?
3. According to Westervelt, what were the legal arguments and
psychological patterns that lawyers used to establish the
“battered woman’s self-defense strategy”? Why
weren’t lawyers similarly able to establish the “rotten
social background” defense?
History
450 Spring 2011
Reading Response Three (based on Smith)
1. In pages 140
to 151, Smith lays out several different types of apologies.
Which type (or types) do you think best describes the State of
California’s 2005 apology (which Smith also discusses)?
2. Why are some
experts, like H.D. Lewis and even Nick Smith himself, critical of
collective apologies? For this question, focus especially on
pages 190-95 and 245-47.
3. Offer an
analysis of Clinton’s 1997 Tuskegee statement using Smith’s
ideas. In particular, focus on this question: to what extent was
Clinton’s statement a “categorical” apology?
**SPECIAL NOTE:
From Monday through Friday next week (11 to 15 April), a memorial to
U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan will be on display on
campus. The memorial, known as Arlington West, is a project of
the group, Veterans for Peace. You will find the memorial between
JFK Library Palmer Wing and the Biological Sciences building.
Because the memorial focuses on soldiers as victims, it complements our
class themes, and I encourage you all to visit and to chat with
strangers around the memorial site to see what they think and feel
about it.
History
450 Spring 2011
Reading Response Four (Henry & Bhopal article)
1. What lessons
should Bhopal survivors interested in redress learn from the Rosewood
and Greenwood cases? (Be sure to draw on both the Bhopal article
and Henry’s Chapter Three to answer this question.)
2. Based on
Chapter Four’s material, identify what you see as three strong
arguments on behalf of reparations. Then identify what you see as
three strong arguments against reparations. Where do you
stand? (Be prepared to participate in a debate in class on this
subject).
3. Select two
different ideas from different parts of Henry’s Chapter Six that
you found particularly interesting. Explain why you found them so
interesting.