American History Textbook Analysis and Comparisons - Dissertation Example

?AMERICAN HISTORY TEXTBOOK ANALYSIS AND COMPARISONS Research Aim and Objectives It is often said that to every effect, there is a Indeed, certain major events that happened in American History certain have their own causes as to why they started. There are also recorded history on how some of these events went about and the motives that backed them. More importantly is the results that some of these events yielded when they were eventually ended. This research work seek to find answers to some of these basic why, how, and what questions with reference to the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). Particular emphasis in the course of the research study shall be based on the perspective of the Southern American dwellers and that of British perspectives regarding the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). These perspectives shall be taken from textbooks from these two locations namely South United States of America and Britain. The researcher is therefore interested in finding answers to the following specific objectives at the end of the current research study: 1. What were the causes of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)? 2. What are the specific events that were recorded during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)? 3. Who are the major protagonists who led the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)? 4. How do the British educational curriculums through its textbooks perceive the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)? 5. How does the American educational curriculum through its textbooks perceive the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)? 6. What were the eventual results of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)? 7. How do the differences in the American and British perspectives of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) reflect the nature and belief of the people involved? Research Goals The present goal for pursuing the research is to conduct a comprehensive textbook analysis of various textbooks from two major settings. These settings are the American setting and the British setting. It is often said that people from these two locations do not seem to perceive the African American concept from the same outlook (Herring, 2009). This assertion is the general hypothesis underlying the current research, which the researcher is going to compare and contrast ten different textbooks from America and Britain to draw a conclusion on the assertion. Most often than not, the kind of ideas that people from these two setting have of the African American depends on the encounter that they have personally had with them in history. The researcher’s goal for the research will therefore be accomplished if at the end of the day a conclusion is drawn on whether or not Americans and British perceive the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) from the same perception. Significance of the Study There are major academic and practical justifications that back the importance of the current research and why it is worth undertaking. In the first place, the successful conclusion of the present research work is going to be a major tool for the establishment of historical accuracy. This said against the backdrop that different textbooks from different setting such as America and Britain seem to portray the same case from different perspectives. In some cases, such a practice tends to distort and bend some of the facts behind history. With this text analysis research, a line will be drawn between the contrasting facts to establish historical accuracy. Another importance of this research work will be to enhance personality awareness creation. This will be done from the viewpoint where the true identity of the African American will be understood through their history. Indeed, the history of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) establishes a lot about the identity of the African American population because it brings to bear their dreams and aspirations for the future, including how they would want people to perceive them. It is therefore right to say that this research is important in creating personality awareness of the African American population. What is more, this research is important in formulating direction path for the future as far as the African American race is concerned. It is said that if you do not know where you are coming from, you will not know where you are going. This means that once we are able to establish the identity of the African American from their origin, the path will be paved for formulating policy direction for the future. Some of these policy directions would include how the African American will want to be integrated into mainstream politics in the United States of America. Research Questions and Research Problem It is often said that history cannot be distorted. This is a general ideology in academic circles but the fact remains that the same stories in history has not always been told in exactly the same way. In some cases where the core events and ideas of the piece of history remains the same among writers from different settings, the views and opinions and in some cases the judgment of writers behind the piece of history becomes different. A similar situation is what happens in the case of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). It has been realized that even though the American educational curriculum through the American textbooks may report the same set of events as the British educational curriculum through British textbooks, the commentary and judgments of writers behind the reports have not always been the same. The major question to be addressed in this research and text analysis would therefore be to find out why the differences exist. It is the hope of the researcher that at the end of the assignment and research, the basic fact and reasons behind why the American textbooks present a different perspective of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) from British textbooks will be established. Having established the reasons, the researcher would want to take a step ahead to look into the effect that these differences has on history as a global subject. This is an important problem to look into because as much as subjects like physics and chemistry have basic facts that are unchanged all the world over, it is important that the perceptions held behind certain basic historical events become one and empirical. Research Plan The research plan for this work shall be a secondary data collection plan, whereby literature log shall be the major data collection instrument. Secondary data research basically involves the collection of data from already existing sources such as books, articles, websites and journals (Busch, 2005). Particular emphasis shall be given to the use of books and specifically textbooks from America and Britain. In this secondary data research, there shall be the adaption of a co-relational study between textbooks from America and those from Britain. Because the topic emphasizes on the African American, the researcher shall use more American textbooks than British textbooks. This plan shall be used to ensure that it is the American perspective of African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) that is being compared to the British perspective. In a typical scientific research therefore, it could be said that the American perspective is the experimental group whiles the British perspective is the control group. In order to have a comprehensive secondary data research, the researcher shall make use of a literature log. This literature log shall basically aid in the inclusion and exclusion of entries. As part of the research plan, the researcher shall include only books in the subject area of social studies. Then after, the researcher shall review the contents of the selected books to ensure that they carry topics on the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). After this, a first stage of scanning shall be done to reduce the quantity of the books. Further skimming shall be done to reduce the textbooks to six (6) American textbooks and four (4) British textbooks. Current Theory at Hand Searching through literature, there are a number of theories that can be found on the personality of the African America. Most of these theories are formulated because of the history that surrounds the African American, one of which has to do with the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). As a matter of fact, the reasons that surround the movement, which was the need for freedom and justice makes a lot of theorists hold the view that within the American set up, the African American is considered the weaker side. This is like saying that the African American are of inferior power and authority to the Whites. Such believes and ideas have led to a theory such as the deficiency theories of inequality put forth by Herring (2009). According to Herring (2009), “deficiency theories of inequality suggest that African Americans occupy inferior social and economic positions in the U.S.” This is one theory that the text analysis to be conducted will be dedicated to identifying its factuality in today’s contemporary social discussions. The researcher would therefore seek to investigate whether the freedom that the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) sought to establish has really been granted and that the African American is today seen as a person with equal class and status as the White American. With current political developments in the United States such as the fact that the current president of the United States is of African descent would perhaps be a major point in changing the deficiency theories of inequality after the research. Research Design With the secondary data collection approach, this research is mainly going to be a qualitative research approach. This means that most of the data analysis process is going to be based on the researcher’s personal judgment and assertions. These judgments and assertions are however going to be backed by facts from existing literature. The research design shall be based on content analysis. The content analysis qualitative research shall be based on the explanation given by Busch et al (2005), which is noted that “content analysis is a research tool used to determine the presence of certain words or concepts within texts or sets of texts.” Basically, the content analysis research is going to help the researcher in answering the research question posed earlier and also help in achieving the overall research goal. By the content analysis, the researcher shall quantify and analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of key words that has to do with the African American community and the civil rights movements they pushed for in the period of 1955 to 1968, then make inferences about the messages within the texts, the writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of which the facts of the civil rights movement are a part (Busch, 2005). It is very important to emphasize that much of the qualitative approach will be dedicated to analyzing the meanings and implications the various writers from the two major settings, which are the American setting and the British setting give to the various acts and inactions involved in the civil rights movement of 1955 to 1968. This will be against the consideration of the presentation of mere facts on the movements as perceived by the writers. This is because the researcher admits that the basic historical facts behind the movement may much be similar in both setting but differences may possibly arise in the context in which the writers give their own opinions and ideas on the issues. Ahead of this, the researcher is convinced that the from the perspective of British writers, there is a very high tendency that because of the Negro system the country experienced from 1850 to 1860, which led to massive freedom for the Black community in the United Kingdom, writers and commentators from that part of the world are more likely to support the course of the African-American community for the need to stage the uprisings which were recorded during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). Inclusion and Exclusion Procedure There were several factors considered in the selection of textbooks for the present research. The complexity of the present content analysis research led to the creation of an inclusion and exclusion criteria. In the first instance, the researcher settled on using only textbooks that were in circulation and use in various schools. This was done against other options such as using articles, literature books and internet sources. Secondly, the textbooks were selected from two entirely different settings in terms of educational curriculum. These settings were the American setting and the British setting. These two settings were chosen because of the perceived differences that exist between them in terms of Black Race ideologies. What is more, in the selection of the final textbooks that were used for the researcher, the researcher intentionally ensured that are more books were selected from the American setting than the British setting. The reason for doing this was that the actual topic under discussion has to do with America as a nation. However, it is just prudent to bring in a second force to test the authenticity and ideological perspective that exists in the American textbooks as against other writers. Furthermore, the researcher selected textbooks in Social Studies that treated topics on African-American history. In the British context however, Social Studies as a subject is referred to as Citizenship Education but this did not make any difference in the objectives that the researcher wanted to achieve. Finally, the researcher settled on ten books out of a total of over fifty books that were first considered. The exclusion of some of the books was based on the details with which they treated the topic of African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). Content Analysis American Textbooks Author: Dolphus Weary, William D. Hendricks; Book: I Ain't Comin' Back; Publisher: Tyndale House I ain’t coming back is an American textbook written by Dolphus Weary and Willaim D. Hendricks and published by Tyndale House. In essence, the book visits the civil right movements by addressing issues of the movement that had to do with the zeal of the Black fighters who were so poised for change that at the time of eventually getting the change, they vowed never to look back or go back into the kind of bondage they belonged to. The writer used a simple method of presentation of his research by highlighting on the issue of ‘faithfulness of course’. This is an issue or subject that tends to praise the leaders of the movement for their roles in ensuring that the freedom fight that they began did not tend to be a selfish fight for popularity or fame; that turned up to be a nine day wonder. Author: Dharathula H. Millender; Book: Martin Luther King, Jr.: Young Man with a Dream, Childhood of Famous Americans; Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks The book Martin Luther King, Jr.: Young Man with a Dream, Childhood of Famous Americans is another American textbook written by Dharathula H. Millender and published by Aladdin Paperbacks. The content of the books typically focuses on the early years of Martin Luther King Jr. The writer outlines some of the major actions and programs undertaken by Luther that gave signals that he was surely growing to fight a good course of the Black race in America. The perspective of the writer on the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968 however seem to be one that does not favor the role played by some of the key leaders of the movement. With Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned, the writer was of the opinion that the leaders were fighting for a group of people (The African-Americans) who were not ready to justify the through content of behavior that they indeed deserved the freedom their leaders were fighting for. Author: Walter A. Hazen; Book: African American History, Eye on History; Publisher: Instructional Fair Writing on the title of African American History, Eye on History, Walter A. Hazen who is the writer brings out some key highlights in the African-American movement that eventually resulted in long lasting reforms that saw to it that the African-American would be given a place in history where their true identify would be taken from a perspective that has to do with their abilities rather than their color. The textbook, which was published by Instructional Fair, was however critical of the issue that while leaving a permanent mark on history, the Black race in the United States did not portray collective bargain for the freedom that was being fought by their leaders. This means that the writer did not think that the movement came at the right time. The research method used by this writer to arrive at this conclusion had to do with the fact that even as the civil-rights groups were pursuing freedom, there were counter demonstrations by African-Americans who felt that some of their leaders were being extremists. Author: Callie Smith Grant; Book: Free Indeed; Publisher: Barbour Publishing On her part, Callie Smith Grant’s textbook, Free Indeed, which was published by Barbour Publishing welcomed the civil rights freedoms with in no uncertain terms. According to the writer, the African-American race that lived in the United States were only victims of circumstances such as the slave trade that went on in Africa. The writer was emphatic of the fact that but for the slave trade, some of these people would indeed be kings and queens in their own home soil. For this reason, if circumstances that were not caused by them had landed them in foreign land, they deserved every bit of freedom that was given to the Native American. The writer’s perception of the civil-rights movements might probably had informed the title she gave to her book, which was “Free Indeed”. Author: Russell Freedman; Book: Freedom Walkers; Publisher: Holiday House In the textbook titled Freedom Walkers and published by Holiday House, Russell Freedman builds on the meaning of his own name, Freedman to pay attribute to the leaders of the civil-rights movements from 1955 to 1968. This was however not done with some level of criticism to their weaknesses an falls. For instance whiles admitting that the leaders were visionary in demanding freedom that is enjoyed even today, it would have been more prudent if they included the collective body of the African-American population in the fight. This point was made in the light of the fact that the actual population of the African-Americans, apart from their leaders was only playing passive roles in the movement. Author: Ellen Levine; Book: Freedom's Children; Publisher: Avon Books Ellen Levine on her part look at the beneficiaries of the freedom fight after it was finally declared. After 1968, the Black race in America was going to enjoy massive involvement in all political and social events and activities. They were also going to benefit from all national interventions that had to do with their education and health. The writer was however not convinced if the so called Freedom’s Children could be rightly integrated as true sons and daughters of the United States. In an unequivocal manner, the writer was emphatic that the move to see the African-American as an American was only a pretense movement and not the actual situation on the ground. As far she was concerned, the first determinant of who an American is should be descent and not just place of birth. British Textbooks Author: David Dabydeen: Book: Black British History David Dabydeen writes on the topic, Black British History by comparing the freedom given to Black British in British history to that of the Black freedom given to the African-American in the civil-rights movement from 1955 to 1968. All in all, the writer was emphatic that the American society had long delayed in granting a deserving freedom. The writer refers to the British society as seeing the light quite early: indeed a decade before the civil-rights movements in America started before America thought of giving freedom to the Black race. The research approach used by the writer was therefore to emphasize on how long the White community in America had taken undue advantage of the Black community in America for a very long time. Author: Bola Agbaje: Book: Not Black & White This was also a writer who defended the civil-rights movement in no uncertain terms. The writer made his stand known right from the beginning of the textbook by emphasizing that Black and White are only a color and description and not a cause for any person to be treated inferior or superior to the other. To a large extent therefore, the writer was been very clear that the freedom cry by the African-American community in the civil-rights movement was highly justified. The writer further makes advocacy for a replication of the civil-rights fight in all parts of the world were traces of discrimination against the Black race was detected. High school students who use this textbook would also come to terms with how the American government played delay tactics in granting the African-American the much awaited freedom they needed. Author: Mike Gayle: Book: Brand New Friend  Gayle Mike in writing Brand New Friend uses a typical story of everyday male and female relationship. This time round however, Gayle portrays a scenario where by a brand new friend found by a male of a female would not work because the male forced himself unto the female. In relation to the Civil Rights Movements from 1955 to 1968 started by the African-American society in the United States, the writer makes an incursion that the African-American would not be welcome as a true friend of the White American because the freedom was not granted out of freewill. This textbook was therefore a criticism against the American government. Author: Caryl Phillips: Book: A Distant Shore  In a typical high school textbook fashion, Caryl Phillips uses a story of a woman who would no longer stay in her marriage because she felt she could no longer bear the pain and hardship she was experiencing. Out of the fight for freedom, she comes to discover a new paradise in a distance shore where her freedom would start the pace for absolute development and progress. This was a well selected research strategy by the writer to revisit the issue of the African-America civil rights movements from 1955 to 1968. Comparatively, the days before the movement were the days when the woman was in the marriage. The days after the movement also represented the distant shore after the marriage. This is therefore a textbook that clearly supports the freedom fight that was started in the United States. Conclusion From the content analysis undertaken among the two settings namely America and Britain, there is a very clear indication of that most American writers did not support the civil-rights movement and therefore found causes to blame leaders of the African-Americans who led the movement. The larger African-American population was also blamed by the various writers for acts such as lack of participation and counter demonstrations on the freedom fights that were being undertaken. It is not surprising therefore that some of the writers held the view that African-Americans should not be considered a true Americans because they do not have their descent from America. On the contrary, the British writers on their part felt that the civil-rights movement was an act in the right direction. They even go on to argue that the freedom fight was actually delayed to the African-American population. REFERENCE LIST Agbaje Bola. Not Black & White. Methuen Drama. Stock City. 2009. Print. Busch et al, Content Analysis. 2005. Colorado State University Department of English. Online May 30, 2012 Caryl, Phillips. A Distant Shore. Secker: Manchester. 2003. Print.   Dabydeen, David. Black British History. OUP Oxford: London. 2007. Print. Freedman, Russell. Freedom Walkers. Holiday House: Texas. 2001. Print. Gayle, Mike. Brand New Friend. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd: London. 2005. Print. Grant, Callie S. Free Indeed. Barbour Publishing: Chicago. 2004. Print. Hazen, Walter A. African American History, Eye on History. Instructional Fair: Washington. 2002. Print Herring, Charles. Theories of African American Disadvantage in the Labor Market. 2009. Online May 27, 2012 Levine, Ellen. Freedom's Children. Avon Books: Washington. 2006. Print. Millender, Dharathula H. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Young Man with a Dream, Childhood of Famous Americans. Aladdin Paperbacks: New York. 2004. Print. Weary, Dolphus and Hendricks, William D. I Ain't Comin' Back. Tyndale House: New York. 2009. Print. Read More