Leslie H. Picca

“It Opened My Eyes” Using Student Journal Writing to Make Visible Race, Class, and Gender in Everyday Life

Journal writing is pedagogically appropriate for increasing reflexivity and conscious awareness of one’s environment. The journal assignment discussed in this article promotes recognition of the impact of race, gender, and social class on students’ everyday lives. In pre- and posttest surveys of students engaged in this assignment, students report statistically significant increases in awareness after journaling. These increases in awareness are found for students enrolled in introductory courses at two very different universities (one a private Catholic midsized university in the Midwest and the other a large state university in the Southeast). Students’ qualitative responses further substantiate the effectiveness of this assignment in meeting course objectives. To facilitate use of this assignment by others, we identify a set of best practices to help ensure high-quality journals and discuss challenges and benefits of this assignment, including getting to know one’s students.

“There Were Rapes!” Sexual Assaults of African American Women and Children in Jim Crow

Using data from 92 interviews, this article examines the narratives of African Americans’ experiences as children and young adults during Jim Crow in the Southeast and Southwest. It gives voice to the realities of sexual assaults committed by ordinary White men who systematically terrorized African American families with impunity after the post-Reconstruction south until the 1960s. The interviewees discuss the short- and long-term impact of physical, mental, emotional, and sexual assaults in their communities. We discuss the top four prevalent themes that emerged related to sexual assault, specifically (a) the normalization of sexual assaults, (b) protective measures to avoid White violence, (c) the morality of African American women, and (d) the long-term consequences of assaults on children.

“One Step From Suicide”: The Holistic Experience Of Being Black In America

Many North American writers had been influenced by the Latin American cultural studies work coming out of Chile, Cuba, and elsewhere in the 1960s and 1970s. Jewish families on the East End pooled resources to form the Jewish Association United Brethren, establish the Temple Adas Israel, buy land for a Jewish Cemetery, and sponsored a variety of cultural, social and educational programs. The 19th and early 20th Century European immigrants quickly established formal networks and institutions that resulted in powerful sources of social and cultural capital. The Klanran candidates for local office and tried to fuse its anti-immigrant, racist ideology into mainstream Americanism through its support for popular law and order campaigns, especially around prohibition. The impact of the Coalition resonated throughout the campus and the community: On campus, the College did promote the first African American custodial to the position of Maintenance worker. Keywords:African American; coalition; Jewish cemetery; racist ideology