Civil Rights

Choose one of the topics below and write an essay of 3-4 pages (no more, please) in response to it. Be careful
to respond to all of the questions for your chosen topic.
Describe and explain at least two elements of the Civil Rights Movement(s) of the period from the 1960s to the
2010s (groups, events, writings, individuals, etc.). You may focus on the struggles of African Americans or you
may focus on another group that was striving for equality in American society during this period. Which of these
elements of the group that is your focus do you think had the greatest significance? What do you regard as this
group’s greatest success? What do you still think of as “unfinished business” for this group or for the cause of
Civil Rights generally? Why do you think so?
The Vietnam War was and remains one of the most controversial conflicts in this country’s history. Why and
when did the U.S. get involved in Vietnam? How did U.S. military and diplomatic policy differ from that of the
previous big war, World War II? What were at least two of the features of the Vietnam War that made it
controversial in the United States? What do you think has been the most important legacy of the Vietnam War?
Why do you think so?
Richard Nixon was both a symptom and a cause of some of the most important features of the politics of the
postwar United States. Discuss in some detail at least two events, ideas, political changes, policy innovations,
or controversies associated with Nixon’s public career. Of all of the moments in his career, which one do you
think was most characteristic and significant to the history of the postwar (post-WWII) U.S.? Why do you think
so?
The 1980s and 1990s marked a powerful return of Conservative politics in the U.S. What were some of the
events of the 1960s and 1970s that helped generate what was often called a Conservative “backlash” or
resurgence? What were at least two of the policies or politicians that stood out as symptoms of this
transformation in domestic and foreign policies that halted the dominance of postwar Liberalism? Of your
examples of the Conservative movement, which one do you think was the most significant? Why?
One of the most important changes in public life since World War II is the political impact of media in the form
of television, computers, films, the internet, and more recently, social media. Describe and explain in detail at
least two specific examples of events or social changes that show how one or more of these newer forms of
public media has affected politics in the decades since WWII and explain their significance. Which of your
examples do you think is most important? Why? Do you find the role of public media in postwar politics to have
been more positive or more negative? Why?