Bibliography
“Army Termed 95 Per Cent ‘Mixed,” Pittsburgh Courier, 1953. A 1953 article from the Pittsburgh Courier that describes the degree to which the armed forces were racially mixed by that year. A great resource to share with students to exemplify the results that Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP produced during their investigation in Japan and Korea.
BlackPast. (1888) Frederick Douglass On Woman Suffrage, 2007. A hugely important resource in elucidating the dynamics of African liberation and women’s suffrage movement. Douglass was an outspoken advocate of women’s suffrage and this article provides a wealth of detail on his involvement. The speech can be used in class as part of the lessons on race and gender.
Blight, David. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. Blight’s book delves into the collective consciousness of America following the Civil War. He weaves in narratives of former Union soldiers, Confederates, Black soldiers, and more, and shows the differences between their perceptions. This book was very helpful in drafting the section on racial discrimination in the military, and is a bountiful source for classroom activities as well.
Bocian, Debbie, et al. “Race, Ethnicity and Subprime Home Loan Pricing” Journal of Economics and Business, vol. 60, no. 1, 110-124, 2008. This article details the racial dynamics of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Bocian, et al. synthesize personal accounts of the crisis with a quantitative analysis.
Coaston, Jane. “The Intersectionality Wars.” Vox, 2019. Useful as a primer for intersectionality, this article also describes the ideological conflict and debates surrounding the concept in academic and political circles. While this article was used in the narrative portion of the unit, it is well suited for classroom use as well.
Dahl, Robert A. How Democratic Is the American Constitution? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003. Robert Dahl famously asked, “How democratic is the American constitution?” and ultimately found it to be lacking. His book serves as a great resource to show the ways in which the government has forsaken or ignored various groups throughout U.S. history.
Dudziak, Mary L. “Desegregation as a Cold War Imperative,” Stanford Law Review, Vol. 41, No. 1, 1988. This article was enormously helpful in understanding the ways in which desegregation became an essential element in the fight against communist propaganda during the Cold War. Dudziak describes the various ways in which the U.S. was prone to ideological and cultural attacks due to the low-hanging fruit of segregation and racial discrimination in the armed forces.
Graetz, Michael J., and Ian Shapiro. The Wolf At the Door: The Menace of Economic Insecurity and How to Fight It. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020. The Wolf at the Door provides useful context for how different social strata can intertwine and have a number of economic effects. Cited in sections on economic insecurity as well as proposed solutions, this book could also be used in daily lessons for each section.
Hamilton, Darrick. “The Moral Burden on Economist: National Economic Association
Presidential Address” Institute of New Economic Thinking Blog, 2017. Darrick Hamilton’s piece provided useful information on the importance of building wealth, and the long term effects that those who have been historically unable to suffer.
Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Bold Type Books, 2016. Kendi’s massive tome on the history of racist ideas in America is a wealth of information. Following five principal “actors” throughout the history and development of racist ideas in the U.S. there are myriad sections of this book that could be utilized in classroom activities beyond what was cited in the narrative portion of this unit.
Madrigal, Alexis. “The Racist Housing Policy that Made Your Neighborhood,” The Atlantic, 2014. This article details various policies that have shaped racially segregated neighborhoods. Published in the Atlantic in 2014, this article is engrossing and readable, making it a wonderful resource for classroom use as well.
Newkirk II, Vann R. “The Racial Wealth Gap Could Become a 2020 Litmus Test,” The Atlantic, 2020. Newkirk’s article details the far-reaching effects of racial inequality in median wealth and income. The article is cited directly in the unit, however, it frames an interesting debate for what was predicted versus what has since happened, and could be used in class activities.
Pich, Hollie. “Various, beautiful and Terrible: The Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells-Barnett,” Australasian Journal of American Studies, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2015. A hugely foundational article for the section on gender. Hollie Pich’s work on Ida B. Wells-Barnett is a perfect example of intersectionality during common causes such as antilynching, black liberation, and women’s suffrage. Wells-Barnett faced prodigious scrutiny and verbal and ideological attacks from other women and African Americans, and Pich’s article catalogues some of the most important moments in great detail.
Smith, Clint. How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. Little, Brown and Company, 2021. Clint Smith’s 2021 book details his journey across several major landmarks related to the history of slavery in the United States. There are several chapters that could be used as classroom resources, either by using chapters in full or selected excerpts to exemplify the history of racial subjugation and segregation in America.
Rothstein, Richard. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. New York; London: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017. Rothstein’s work argues that segregation in housing is not de facto segregation, but rather de jure segregation that has been created and furthered by government policies since the postwar era. The Color of Law served as an important resource in shaping the historical narrative surrounding wealth and income inequality.
Whitfield, Stephen J. The Culture of The Cold War. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2nd edition, 1996. Whitfield’s book provided useful anecdotes regarding the treatment of soldiers in the armed forces during the Cold War. Particularly useful was his descriptions of the perception of black soldiers by white soldiers and officers.
Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. New York: Random House, 2020. One of the main inspirations for this unit. Wilkerson describes “the origin of our discontents” and the hidden caste system in the United States. She makes comparison to India’s caste system, and fully lays out the various intersecting forms of inequality that Americans face daily.
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