AFR 459
Jim Crow: American Apartheid
Last Offered Spring 2009
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed AFR 459 / HIST 459
This course is not offered in the current catalog or this is a previous listing for a current course.

Between 1865 and 1965 white Americans developed and deployed a set of practices that sanctioned racial discrimination. Jim Crow–as this American system of apartheid was called–is one of the least studied aspects of U. S. History. This course explores the law, cultural, economics, and politics of Jim Crow; the dynamics of racialized power; and the roles of media and history in sustaining racial inequality. Informed by how segregation operated to construct and sustain differences, it qualifies as an Exploring Diversity Initiative course by linking the issue of diversity to the issue of power relations, investigating how American institutions enabled and maintained racial disparities despite constitutional guarantees, and considering how the legacy of racial discrimination affects current domestic issues like public education, affirmative action, and the persistence of poverty. In addition to covering race theory in historical context, the course suggests that current scientific ideas about race–that there are no consequential biological differences among humans–is a recent discovery. Finally, the course examines the discrete development of black communities, institutions, politics, and racial destiny.