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Volume 40 Number 2 2013 NATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Official Journal of the National Social Science Association Name of Publication: NATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Issue: Volume 40 # 2 ISSN 2154-1736 Frequency: Quarterly Office of Publication: National Social Science Association Mailing Address 2020 Hills Lake Drive El Cajon CA 92020 Association Office 9131 Fletcher Parkway, Suite 119 La Mesa CA 91942 On Line journals: http://nssa.us e-mail address: [email protected]; [email protected] The National Social Science Journal is being abstracted in: Cabell's Directory; Eric Clearinghouse; EBSCO, Economic Abstracts; Historical Abstracts; Index to Periodical Articles; Social Science Source; Social Science Index; Sociological Abstracts; the University Reference System. We wish to thank all authors for the licensing of the articles. And we wish to thank all those who have reviewed these articles for publication This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Editor, Alfonso Nava EDITORIAL BOARD Editorial Board: Nancy Adams., Lamar University Mark Bellnap, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Richard Bieker, Delaware State University Benita Bruster, Austin Peay University Jose da Cruz, Armstrong Atlantic State University Robert Dewhirst, Northwest Missouri State University Amy Shriver Dreussi, University of Akron Jack Covarrubias, University of Southern Mississippi Talitha Hudgins, Utah Valley University Calvin Meyer, Dalton State College James Mbuva, National University Barbara Peterson, Austin Peay University Pegly Vaz, Fort Hays State University NATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Volume 40 #2 Table of Contents Speaking Through Multiple Voices: The Congressional Black Caucus and the Obama Presidency Kimberly S. Adams, East Stroudsburg University 1 Hidden Feelings or Change of Heart? A Look at Former Slave States and Their Preference for Barack Obama in the 2008 Election David Branham, Sr., University of Houston-Downtown 10 A Tale of Two Elephants: Ethical Obligations in the United States and China Chaohua Chen, Liuzhou City Vocational College Rex Wirth, Central Washington University 19 African American Students Abroad: History, Language, and Personal Development in France Evelyne Delgado-Norris, Chicago State University 30 Ten Myths and Ten Strategies: The Search for Underrepresented Faculty Scott Finnie, Eastern Washington University 34 Stories Of K-12 English Language Learner Teachers Developing Through Informal Collaboration Within Occupational Communities Nissa Ingraham, Northwest Missouri State University 41 Academic Freedom for Teachers Larry L. Kraus, Robert L. Stevens, The University of Texas at Tyler 50 Social Work for Elderly Living in the Community Peter Kwok Chei Li, The University of Akron 55 The Development and Implementation of an Integrated Curriculum at an Elementary Math, Science, and Technology Magnet School: A Case Study Corey McKenna, Point Loma Nazarene University 62 Finding the Beast in the Beauty: Resistance as a Rape Prevention Strategy Phillip M. Norrell, Shelley H. Bradford, University of South Alabama 74 Anti-bullying Programs for Middle/High Schools Sharon Padgett, Charles E. Notar, Jacksonville State University 88 An Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Bilingual Acculturation, Cultural Heritage to Identity, and Self-Esteem Scott A. Reid, Virginia Voltaggio Wood, University of Texas, Brownsville 94 Going Global: Preparing College Students for Travel Abroad Mark A. Seals, Alma College 100 Book Review Special Education in Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Exceptionality Debra Lockwood, Marshall University 108 Speaking Through Multiple Voices: The Congressional Black Caucus and the Obama Presidency Kimberly S. Adams East Stroudsburg University I’ve lived in Mississippi all of my life. I had a lot of dreams as a youngster and as an adult, but not in my wildest, most blessed moment did I ever think I would live to see a black American elected President of the United States. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) March 9, 2011 Introduction During the 2008 presidential elections, much of the commentary that surrounded then Democratic nominee, Barack H. Obama focused on his race. Countless political pundits, news reporters and political junkies, pontificated about America’s potential selection of her first African American president. While the conversations of race permeated the news on a daily basis, often focusing on Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s Kenyan father or his white grandparents, political commentators downplayed and in some cases, downright ignored Senator Obama’s membership in Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Was this omission deliberate, did they consider it irrelevant or minute, did this information get lost in the overall message of “change”? Had the Congressional Black Caucus become so marginalized that when one of their own won the Democratic nomination, his ties to the organization was rarely highlighted? Did the failure of the Obama campaign to highlight his membership in the CBC signal tension among members in their support for his candidacy? Did Obama seek to distance himself from the group who had tirelessly fought for decades to ensure that African Americans have a seat at tables where great decisions were made? Using elite interviews with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, this paper provides an insightful, first-hand account of the creation of the CBC and the diversity of interests among individual CBC members. Further, this research explores individual member’s relationship with and support for the Obama Presidency. This paper is part of a much larger work on the topic. The personal interviews conducted with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, took place from March 2011 through July 2011, in their respective Washington, DC, offices. Brief History of the Congressional Black Caucus Initially referred to as the Democratic Select Committee in January 1969, the Congressional Black Caucus was officially founded in 1971 by thirteen black members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The founding members include: Shirley Chisholm (NY), John Conyers (MI), William L. Clay, Sr. (MO), George W. Collins (IL), Ronald Dellums (CA), Augustus F. Hawkins (CA), Ralph Metcalfe (IL), Parren Mitchell (MD), Robert Nix, Sr.,(PA) Charles Rangel (NY), Charles Diggs (MI), Louis Stokes(OH), and Walter Fauntroy (DC). Despite the media’s portrayal of the group as “militant, aggressive new leaders determined to make changes in the way black members of Congress had been viewed in the past," the newly formed group believed that it was their task “to fight for justice and to raise issues too long ignored and too little debated” with regard to African Americans (Clay, 1992; 116). Founding member William Clay contends that, “The consensus of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1970 was that a ‘deep and dangerous alienation’ of the country’s 25 million blacks existed and we needed to take the matter up with the president, then Richard Nixon” (Clay, 1992; 129) 1 The group was founded at the height of racial unrest in America. Culminating events that necessitated the founding of the CBC was the inequality that existed in a nation that holds as one of its preeminent virtues---equality. The murder of countless civil rights activists such as King, Evers, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney, the fight for racial equality in education that led to rioting and at the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama; the brutality that African Americans endured at the hands of Eugene “Bull” Connors, Byron De la Beckwith, and the likes, when pursuing their fundamental right to vote, compelled the urgent formation of an African American legislative caucus. While small in numbers and with few powerful leadership positions, the CBC pioneers had much to be ‘militant and aggressive’ about. In 1970 President Nixon rejected a request to meet with the Democratic Select Committee/ Congressional Black Caucus. For over a year, Nixon refused to meet with the Caucus to discuss the plight of black citizens in the United States. He referred to the group as a “bunch of publicity seekers” and consistently issued statements that demeaned the group’s purpose and intent (141). The members, in retaliation, boycotted Nixon's 1971 State of the Union Address. This bold move received a lot of attention and became international news. According to Clay, “we felt it was necessary to call the president to task because of his own inflammatory, race-baiting rhetoric and insensitivity towards the adverse effects his program funding cuts were having on the black and the poor” (139). President Nixon finally agreed to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus on March 25, 1971. The CBC members urged the President “to set a high moral tone of racial tolerance for the nation to follow” (148). They presented Nixon with a report that included sixty recommendations, supported by research data that articulated the Caucus’s position. Clay contends that “never before had a president of the United States been presented with such a professional, thoroughly studied case for addressing the complexity of needs and concerns facing black Americans” (144). The meeting ended nearly an hour later than expected, with Nixon stating that “he did not consider the document a laundry list, but rather an expression of serious concerns requiring proper responses. Further, Nixon told the members that “I appreciate the candor with which you have expressed your concern” (147). The Congressional Black Caucus had succeed