The Unfinished Dream: The African American Experience скачать в хорошем качестве

The Unfinished Dream: The African American Experience

What is the history of the African-American experience in America? Why is their representation in places such as the Smithsonian Museum being questioned? How far have we come and what still needs to be done? Why, 250 years after our founders declared that “All men are created equal,” are we still talking about this? Race has been one of the central issues of American life. Although the Founders declared that all men are created equal, they made no effort to live up to that ideal. Many white Americans tend to believe that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s “solved” the problem, or that African-Americans themselves are now responsible for whatever is undone or unresolved in racial equality and racial justice. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 led many well-meaning Americans to declare that we had entered a post-racial epoch in our history. The push for awareness, from kneeling to the movement following the death of George Floyd in 2020, coupled with fundamental problems in American education, policing, judicial systems, and popular culture, shocked many Americans, and reminded us all that achieving a true multiracial society still eludes us. Join award-winning historian and author Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Endowed Professor of Virginia Black History and Culture at Norfolk State University, together with Dr. Julian Hayter, Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond in this Conversations on Controversial Issues moderated by Clay Jenkinson, as they discuss the history and politics of the African-American experience in America, the legacy and current status, and where it could go from here. About the speakers Moderator – Historian & Jefferson Scholar Our moderator is a lifelong historian and Jefferson scholar who has wrestled for decades with the paradox of a nation founded on human equality by men who owned enslaved people. He taught at the University of Nevada, Reno, reads obsessively, and openly shares his own “epiphanies” and blind spots about race, ignorance, and curriculum—using himself as Exhibit A for how white Americans can react, reflect, and then choose to learn instead of shutting down. Julian – 20th-Century Historian of Race & Democracy Julian is a 20th-century historian who studies race, democracy, and the “American democratic experiment.” In this conversation he explains how ideas used to justify slavery—biblical distortions, bogus science, economic interests—didn’t disappear with emancipation but were built into law, housing, and city planning. He breaks down redlining, suburban migration, and how government policy quietly created a white middle class while leaving Black citizens “civically dead” until the Voting Rights Act. Cassandra – Historian of Law, Cities, and Black Communities Cassandra is a historian and educator who focuses on Black communities, law, and urban design, especially in places like Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Drawing on stories from her family and students, she shows how highways, zoning, and infrastructure were used to segregate cities, destroy Black business districts, and underfund Black neighborhoods—while white officials collected rent and redirected public money to the suburbs. She argues that shame, fear of retribution, and deliberate “silences” keep America from facing this truth. Keep learning & keep talking If you’re ready to go beyond “I had no idea,” this video gives you a reading roadmap as well as a historical one. The panel names works like White Rage (Carol Anderson), White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo), James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time and Notes of a Native Son, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, W.E.B. Du Bois’s writings, David Walker’s Appeal, and the narrative of Frederick Douglass as essential starting points. Use this conversation as a launchpad: share it with a friend, start a book group, or pause and journal when you feel defensive. Drop your reflections and questions in the comments—especially the uncomfortable ones. That’s where the real work begins. If this helped you see something new, please like, subscribe, and share so more people can join this hard but necessary conversation. 0:00 Introduction & America’s founding paradox 3:45 Personal confessions about ignorance and race 9:20 Why white people “don’t know” Black history 15:05 David Walker’s Appeal and fear of revolt 21:40 Cities engineered to forget Black communities 28:30 “Racist” vs prejudice: power and systems 35:55 Redlining, suburbs, and stolen Black wealth 44:10 Why Black History Month had to exist 52:40 Reconstruction, the New Deal, and civil rights