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A serious and professional presentation of the background and pros and cons of major issues that affect the lives of African Americans:

The major issues for African Americans today, such as poverty, low graduation rates, high rates of out-of wedlock births, and high rates of incarceration, are of critical importance. This volume provides a solid basis for students to understand and debate 9 crucial issues in the context of both the past and present. These issues are slavery reparations, crime and punishment, cultural assimilation, affirmative action, school vouchers, standardized tests, welfare-to-work, stereotypes, and election reform. The history of slavery, segregation, and racism continue to impact African Americans and the rest of American society. For the students of today, born after the major gains of the Civil Rights Movement, this book will reveal how much more progress is still needed. They will find an historical overview of the issues, learn about the main players, and read about the different sides. Under the topical chapters, readers will be able to consider the fuller spectrum of news items, such as whether Bill Cosby's famous comments about African Americans are on target, and what can be done about the voting disenfranchising that exists in practice in the current US political system. Hardback (185 pages). Author: Kevin D. Roberts

Level: A/Interdisciplinary projects/Library-Depot

This collection of essays explores the way race-ethnicity, class, gender, locale, historical background and sexuality interact in shaping the diversity of modern American family life. The essays are written by many of the most important scholars of our time. There are chapters about African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Filipinas, Vietnamese, Chinese, immigrants, lesbians, motherhood, the poor, teenage mothers, and class consciousness in various times and places. This is an academic book, but there is lots of inspiration for the teacher and excerpts will be usable at the top end of the gymnasium. Editor: Stephanie Coontz. (475 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/2nd and 3rd years of the gymnasium

This is the life-story of Barack Obama in comic book form, following him from infancy to the first 100 days of his administration as the 44th President of the United States of America. It contains, in fact, 3 separate comic books:
Presidential Material follows him from childhood to winning the Democratic nomination. This best-selling comic book was quite a media sensation.
The Road to the Whitehouse follows Obama and his campaign from the Democratic National Convention through his election as President on November 4th, 2008, and then on to the inauguration.
The First 100 Days continues the story with the most relevant details of his first 100 Days in office, documenting the facts without bias.
Excellent language is used throughout, including many of Obama's own words.
Author: Jeff Mariotte. Artists: Tom Morgan and J.Scott Campbell. Hardback. (80 pages)
Level: Gymnasiet etc.

When Black Culture and Black Consciousness first appeared thirty years ago, it marked a revolution in our understanding of African American history. Contrary to prevailing ideas at the time, which held that African culture disappeared quickly under slavery and that black Americans had little group pride, history, or cohesiveness, the author uncovered a cultural treasure trove of African American oral tradition, including songs, proverbs, jokes, folktales, and long narrative poems called toasts — work that dated from before and after emancipation. The fact that these ideas and sources seem so commonplace now is largely due to this book and the scholarship that followed in its wake. It profoundly influenced an entire generation of historians and continues to be read and taught. Author: Lawrence W. Levine. (522 pages)
Level: Inspiration for the Teacher/3rd Year of Gymnasium/Papers/Projects

This is an accessible but thorough introduction to the Civil Rights Movement. The civil rights movement was probably the most important reform in American history. This book tells the extraordinary and often bloody story of how tens of thousands of ordinary African-Americans overcame long odds to dethrone segregation, to exercise the right to vote and to improve their economic standing. Organized in a clear chronological fashion, the book shows how concerted pressure in a variety of forms ultimately carried the day in creating a more just society for African-Americans.

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir (written even before Barack Obama had won his seat in the Senate), the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. The story begins in New York, where Obama receives a phone call from Nairobi: his father — a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man — has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey for Obama, determined to learn the truth of his father's life and his divided inheritance — first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother's family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father's life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Written at the age of thirty-three, Dreams from My Father is an unforgettable read which illuminates not only Obama's own journey, but also our universal desire to understand our history and what makes us the people we are. (442 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/Interdisciplinary projects/SRP

Both Elisha (Ellie) and Jeremiah (Miah) attend Percy Academy, a fancy private school in Manhattan, where neither quite fits in. Ellie is wrestling with family demons, and Miah is one of the few African American students. He feels good inside his skin in his own Brooklyn neighbourhood but is not so sure he fits in at the academy. It’s a surprise when he meets Ellie during the first week of school. In one frozen moment their eyes lock and after that they know they fit together — even though she’s Jewish and he’s black. Their worlds are so different, but to them that’s not what matters. They fall in love and their relationship begins to blossom — but they are hesitant to share their newfound happiness with their friends and families, who will not understand. Finally, life makes the brutal choice for them: Jeremiah is shot and killed for not stopping when the police call him back, and Ellie has to cope with the consequences. Author: Jacqueline Woodson. (181 pages)
Level: C/1st Year of the Gymnasium

Maya Angelou's autobiography, in which she tells of her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. She learns the power of a white skin and suffers the trauma of rape by her mother's lover. (288 pages)
Level: B

Has the racism debate outlived itself? Or do racial minorities in the United States still face serious problems of racial discrimination? Editor: Aarti D. Stephens. (126 pages)
Level: Mainly Second and Third year Gymnasium

Contents: Introduction; Prejudice Is a Natural Tendency That May Be Overcome (Mark Buchanan); The Perception of Racism Has Eclipsed Actual Racism (Shelby Steele); Diversity Cannot Be Mandated to Communities (James Q. Wilson); Environmental Harm Disproportionately Impacts the Poor and Minorities (Leyla Kokmen); Racism Is a Significant Problem in the Penal System (Stuart Taylor, Jr.); African Americans Are Disadvantaged Due to Poverty and Inequality (Michael B. Katz and Mark J. Stern); Latinos Face Discrimination Based on False Health Concerns (Geraldo Rivera); The War on Terrorism Has Increased Bias Against Muslims (Peter W. Singer); School Desegregation Needs Improvement (Gary Orfield, Erica Frankenberg and Liliana M. Garces); Affirmative Action Should Be Changed (Peter H. Schuck); Science Is Sometimes Used to Justify Racism (William H. Tucker); Reparations for African Americans Must Move Forward (Crystal L. Keels); Organizations to Contact; Bibliography; Index.

Sample Pages (PDF)

Now in a cheaper edition! The Oxford Companion to Black British History is an essential resource for understanding the long history of black people in the British Isles, from African auxiliaries stationed on Hadrian's Wall in the 2nd century AD to Mary Seacole, the “Black Florence Nightingale”, Walter Tull, footballer and First World War officer ... and our own day. 400+ articles consider key concepts such as Racism, Emancipation, and Reparations; historical events; literature; music; organizations; leading figures; publications; politics; religion; slavery and much more. This book provides a fine overview of the black presence in Britain and its contribution to British society. (562 pages)
Contents: Introduction; Editors, Advisory Editors, and Contributors; Note to the Reader; Thematic Contents List; A-Z entries; Timeline; Select Bibliography
Level: Library/Depot (partnership with: Historie)

How has the U.S. dealt with poverty throughout its history? Responses to it have been very varied. Poverty in America has its own turbulent history of causes, effects, and remedies, from Debtor's Prison and Social Darwinism to Food Stamps and the War on Poverty. This encyclopedia covers the history of American poverty from all angles — historical, social, cultural, political, spiritual, and literary. How has poverty been defined in America? What has been done to prevent it? How have minority groups been affected? How has the church reacted? And what, if anything, can be done to eliminate it? These issues are covered in vivid detail, from the colonial period to the global economy of the 21st century. Authors: Russell M. Lawson and Benjamin A. Lawson. Hardback. (223 + 26 pages)
Level: Library/Depot/Gymnasium/SRP/SSO

Examples of entries: Affirmative Action — American Indians and Poverty — Clinton Welfare Reform — Drugs, Alcohol, and the Poor — Equal Employment Opportunity — The Grapes of Wrath — Head Start — No Child Left Behind — Protest Movements — Welfare State.

Primary document excerpts from key periods throughout American history are also included, providing firsthand accounts from all sides of the issue.

Examples of documents: Poor Whites in the Mid-Nineteenth Century South (Emily Burke); How the Other Half Lives (Jacob Riis); Jane Adams's Autobiography (Jane Adams); Fireside Chat 1937 (Franklin Delano Roosevelt); Great Society Speech 1964 (Lyndon B. Johnson); Speech at the Republican National Convention 1984 (Ronald Reagan);  State of the Union Address 1997 (Bill Clinton).

This is the story of Precious Jones, a sixteen year old illiterate black girl who has never been out of Harlem. She is pregnant by her own father for the second time, and kicked out of school when that pregnancy becomes obvious. Placed in an alternative teaching programme, she is urged to write down her thoughts in a book. This is Precious' diary, in which she honestly records her relationships and her life. This is an uncompromising novel of power, vitality and wit. It covers many social issues:  the consequences of incest/rape; teenage pregnancy; living with HIV/AIDS; education. Author: Sapphire. (177 pages)
Level: (1st) and 2nd years of Gymnasium

Based on the novel by “Sapphire” (originally called “Push”):
The tale of an abused African-American teenager's struggle to change her life in 1980s Harlem. 16-year-old Clareece 'Precious' Jones has been abused from an early age by her now absent father, and is pregnant with his second child. With a venomous mother Mary who treats her like a servant and her school life blighted by illiteracy, Precious struggles to cope with her seemingly hopeless life.

In the first decades of the twentieth century, virulent racism lingered from Reconstruction, and segregation increased. Hostility met the millions of new immigrants from Eastern and southern Europe, and immigration was restricted. Still, even in an inhospitable climate, blacks and other minority groups came to have key roles in popular culture, from ragtime and jazz to film and the Harlem Renaissance. This volume has a decade-by-decade organization to help students understand the crucial race relations of the recent past. It provides comprehensive reference coverage of the key events, influential voices, race relations by group, legislation, media influences, cultural output, and theories of inter-group interactions. The volume covers two decades — coverage for each decade includes Timeline, Overview, Key Events, Voices of the Decade, Race Relations by Group, Law and Government, Media and Mass Communications, Cultural Scene, Influential Theories and Views of Race Relations, and a Resource Guide. This format allows comparison of topics through the decades. The style and layout are clear and accessible. Historical photographs, a selected bibliography, and index complement the text. Author: John F. McClymer. Hardback. (173 pages + Introduction)
Level: Library/Depot — a great resource especially for 2nd and 3rd years of the gymnasium

Race relations in the 1920s ranged from an epidemic of lynchings of African Americans, race riots, and the execution of Italian immigrants Sacco and Vanzetti to citizenship for American Indians but not for Mexican immigrants. As the 1930s unfolded, there was more discrimination of Latinos and a legal lynching in the Scottsboro Boys trial, and German Jewish children were refused refuge from Hitler's Germany. This volume has a decade-by-decade organization to help students understand the crucial race relations of the recent past. It provides comprehensive reference coverage of the key events, influential voices, race relations by group, legislation, media influences, cultural output, and theories of inter-group interactions. The volume covers two decades — coverage for each decade includes Timeline, Overview, Key Events, Voices of the Decade, Race Relations by Group, Law and Government, Media and Mass Communications, Cultural Scene, Influential Theories and Views of Race Relations, and a Resource Guide. This format allows comparison of topics through the decades. The style and layout are clear and accessible. Historical photographs, a selected bibliography, and index complement the text. Author: Leslie V. Tischauser. Hardback. (173 pages + Introduction)
Level: Library/Depot — a great resource especially for 2nd and 3rd years of the gymnasium

The 1940s and 1950s were decades of far-reaching change and mobilization in the United States. White culture strove to make nonwhites invisible with segregation and discrimination as Southern blacks continued the Great Migration north and the government brought in Mexican labor via the Bracero Program to take up labor slack while U.S. troops were overseas. The rise of the civil rights movement and Brown v. Board of Education (which struck down segregation in schools 1954) were some results. This volume has a decade-by-decade organization to help students understand the crucial race relations of the recent past. It provides comprehensive reference coverage of the key events, influential voices, race relations by group, legislation, media influences, cultural output, and theories of inter-group interactions. The volume covers two decades — coverage for each decade includes Timeline, Overview, Key Events, Voices of the Decade, Race Relations by Group, Law and Government, Media and Mass Communications, Cultural Scene, Influential Theories and Views of Race Relations, and a Resource Guide. This format allows comparison of topics through the decades. The style and layout are clear and accessible. Historical photographs, a selected bibliography, and index complement the text. Author: Thomas J. Davis. Hardback. (173 pages + Introduction)
Level: Library/Depot — a great resource especially for 2nd and 3rd years of the gymnasium

Few decades in American history were as full of drama and historical significance as the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s, a revolution in race relations occurred, seeing the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, the American Indian Movement, and the Latino labour movement. The focus in the 1970s was on carrying out the reforms of the previous decade, with the resulting white backlash. This volume is a source to help students understand the crucial race relations of the recent past. It provides comprehensive reference coverage of the key events, influential voices, race relations by group, legislation, media influences, cultural output, and theories of inter-group interactions. The volume covers two decades — coverage for each decade includes Timeline, Overview, Key Events, Voices of the Decade, Race Relations by Group, Law and Government, Media and Mass Communications, Cultural Scene, Influential Theories and Views of Race Relations, and a Resource Guide. This format allows comparison of topics through the decades. The style and layout are clear and accessible. Historical photographs, a selected bibliography, and index complement the text. Author: Thomas Upchurch. Hardback. (180 pages + Introduction)
Level: Library/Depot — a great resource especially for 2nd and 3rd years of the gymnasium

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens who has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four. She not only has her own memory of holding the gun, but her father's account of the event. Now fourteen, she yeams for her mother, and for forgiveness. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father, she has only one friend: Rosaleen, a black servant whose sharp exterior hides a tender heart. South Carolina in the sixties is a place where segregation is still considered a cause worth fighting for. When Rosaleen insults three of the town's fiercest racists and is arrested and beaten, Lily is compelled to act. Fugitives from justice and from Lily's harsh and unyielding father, they follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three eccentric black beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world and the transforming power of love, as about the mystery surrounding her mother. Author: Sue Monk Kidd. (374 pages)
Level: 2nd and 3rd year of the Gymnasium

Seventh-grader Maleeka Madison is miserable when a new teacher comes to her American inner-city school. Miss Saunders is self-assured in spite of the white birthmark across her black skin, and gets into kids' faces about both their behavior and their academic potential. Although Maleeka is bright, she is swamped by her problems. Maleeka's mother has just emerged from two years of mourning for her dead husband. In that period her daughter had to provide her with physical and moral support with no adult assistance. At school, Maleeka has to put up with mean-spirited teasing about the darkness of her skin and her unstylish clothing. She finds escape in creative writing (encouraged by Miss Saunders) and also in the company and protection of a powerful clique of nasty girls, who exploit her. She understands too well that her brains aren't as valuable as the social standing that she doesn't have. In the end, she is able to respond positively to Miss Saunders and she also becomes socially accepted through the affections of the most popular boy in the school. This message rings true in spite of the fact that Maleeka's salvation isn't exactly politically correct. Students will appreciate Flake's authenticity and perhaps learn from her struggle for security and self-assurance. Author: Sharon Flake. (188 fairly short pages)
Level: 9.-10.kl./D-C/1.g/1.HF

This collection of primary sources presents a view of America's history as seen through the eyes of African Americans and helps students relate to the experiences of ordinary people by offering a vivid snapshot of their lives in different historical periods.
Level: Gymnasiet/Library/Depot/Interdisciplinary projects with History

This book looks at the new generation of white supremacists who seem respectable in their business suits but are reaching a dangerously wide audience – especially through their exploitation of the popular fear of immigration. Two articles also look at the situation in Europe. Editor: Mitchell Young. (119 pages)
Level: Mainly Second and Third year Gymnasium

Contents: Introduction; White Americans Must Build Separate Communities (John Hunt Morgan); In an Era of Racial Revolution, Whites Need to Regain Group Solidarity (Sam Francis); Nationalist Parties Defend European Culture Against Immigrant Attack (Kyle Rogers); The Belgian Nationalist Party Promotes Extremism and Xenophobia (Angus Roxburgh); Whites Feel Threatened by the Booming Hispanic Population (Roberto Lovato); Hardcore Racists Exploit Concern Over Immigration to Gain Recruits (Chip Berlet); Whites Should Work Together to Advance Their Interests (Jamie Glazov and Jared Taylor); The New White Supremacists Mask Racism with Pseudo-Intellectualism (Dennis Roddy); Women Play a Subordinate but Vital Role in White Supremacist Groups (Kathleen M. Blee); Women are Gaining Leadership Roles in White Nationalist Organizations (Lisa Turner with Russ Nieli); Behind an Innocent Facade White Supremacist Singers Spread Hate (Earl Ofari Hutchinson); Christian Identity’s Bizarre Beliefs Lead to Extreme Violence (Anti-Defamation League); White Racialists Should Lead Honorable White Lives (Robert S. Griffin); Organizations to Contact; Bibliography; Index.

Sample Pages (PDF)