Reflection

When I first registered for this class I wasn't sure what to expect but the topic intrigued me. I have taken a variety of sociology classes which have discussed race, law, and the effects of capitalism. I also had learned about how race, class and gender always seem to interlock but this class gave me a different perspective on the same topics. When I learned about Scottsboro it wasn’t introduced to me as a movement in the workforce. I was unaware of the solidarity and work movement that this case had enlightened; I only knew it as a racially profiled case. In most classes we would only read articles like the ones that were provided in the reader but I feel that pairing those articles with books of authors who have experienced the events themselves gave me a deeper understanding of what was really going on.

It was interesting to learn about the different struggles that African Americans, Mexicans, Chinese and Japanese had to go through. In the end I learned that they all had similar experiences and they were purposely set up to compete with each other in the work force. The way that they were treated and the laws that were set up to make sure that they remained dependent definitely has an effect on the way certain races are perceived today.

Overall this class was very interesting and I feel that it set up a good foundation for us to understand what is going on today with current events such as the Ferguson protests and will help us better understand future events. There was a lot of reading but all of the articles and books went hand in hand. This was a great class and Christine has a lot of knowledge in the topic she teaches and continuously connected issues that occurred years ago with current events.