a struggle for social, economic, and political visibility

The fight for civil rights is often a struggle for social, economic, and political visibility. By maintaining negative stereotypes built around minority groups, the hegemonic structure (usually, white heterosexual men) creates an alternate image of these groups. As Pascoe and Canaday have demonstrated, legislation and its enforcement have a way of making certain groups invisible to the broader society. Through this process, exclusion of minority groups is seen as the product of nature rather than politics. In order, to gain visibility, and through a kind of “decloaking” process, these groups must work to reframe social ideas and prejudices. How groups choose to do this seems to offer different types or rates of success. Why do some groups receive first-class citizenship quickly—for example, the Irish, Italians, Greeks—while other groups seem to labor so long to lift off the weight of prejudice and second class citizenship? Throughout this course we have looked at the barriers to first-class citizenship and the strategies used in the attempts of minority groups to achieve equality. For this final exam essay, you have two options for examining the strategies used in fighting for and gaining civil rights.

Please answer one following questions. The length of each essay should be between 8-10 typed double-spaced pages (Times New Roman, 12-point font; one-inch margins all around, and page numbers). Not complying to this exact formatting will result in a 10% penalty.

Question:
Looking at the barriers faced by three particular groups (blacks, Latinos, Asians, women, or gays) compare the strategies they used in the attempt to gain first-class citizenship. Discuss the issues that kept them invisible and what strategies they employed to demand social, economic, and political visibility (equal rights). Did these two groups have equal success? What might have been the cause of their success or failure? Is there a strategy (legal gradualism, nonviolent confrontation, militant activism, etc) used that you think was more effective? What makes that strategy more valuable than others that they used?

Evidence:
This will require comparing the strategies as well as the barriers to the groups’ visibility. You must pair your chosen groups with previous readings that discussed the barriers to second-class citizenship (for example, Japanese Internment, and At Americas Gates for Asian Americans) with the rights movements readings.

Question:
Examine and compare one strategy type (legal gradualism, nonviolent confrontation, militant activism) used by each of the groups (Blacks, Women, Asians, Latinos, and Gays). Did each group use this strategy in the same way? How did they frame it to meet their group’s particular needs? What are the commonalities in the language and actions of the groups’ use of this strategy? What do you think are the limitation of such a strategy? Did the strategy offer the same success for each group?

Evidence:
This will require comparing the way the strategy was used by each group, as well as, the barriers to the groups’ visibility. You should consider how the way the group was framed by the hegemonic structure made this strategy more or less likely to work. You must pair your chosen groups with previous readings that discussed the barriers to second-class citizenship (for example, Japanese Internment, and At Americas Gates for Asian Americans) with strategy you chose.
FORMAT FOR YOUR ESSAY: In outline form, the essay should look like this:

-Intro (1/2 page maximum, with a thesis statement that answers the assigned question)
-Supporting paragraph #1 (start with an argumentative topic sentence that summarizes the main argument of that paragraph; fill in the rest of the paragraph with analysis and evidence, especially brief quotations from the primary sources.)
-More supporting paragraphs (same format as the first supporting paragraph; aim for six to eight supporting paragraphs in an essay of this length)
-Conclusion (1/2 page max; summarize your thesis in a sentence, and then take some liberties and speculate on the broader implications of your argument.) For instance, what do the struggles of these groups tell us about how far the country has come or needs to go. What are the implications for groups that are still experiencing invisibility or discrimination. In this class, conclusion ideas do not require the same clear evidence that the arguments in the earlier parts of the essay require.

Citations: Do not worry about a bibliography or about formal footnotes or endnotes. Instead, use parenthetical citations (with page numbers). Common-sense abbreviations are fine: for example, Gay Rights Movement (GRM, 12). It is ok to simply use the PDF page numbering.

As a general rule, you do not need to provide a citation for information so generic that someone could find it almost anywhere.

OTHER TIPS
*Avoid editorial commentary in the body of your essay: for instance, “I think it is horrible that African Americans have been subjected to such treatment.” Or “American is a horrible place for ignoring the rights of people.” Stick evidence and dispassionate argument.

* Remember to review the rules on plagiarism. Always put the words of other writers in quotation marks and provide a page citation. You can also paraphrase (that is, put the idea into your own words) and provide a parenthetical citation. It is not enough to just change a few words of someone else’s writing; this is still plagiarism. When you paraphrase, make sure you write entirely in your own words. Under no circumstances should you present other people’s writing as something that you created.

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