RACISM, FEAR, AND OTHERNESS IN AMERICA Madison Harris Honor’s Portfolio – Spring 2021 Racism, Fear, and Otherness in America TABLE OF CONTENTS…………….…………………………...……… 1 COPYRIGHT INFORMATION…………….………………….……... 2-3 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………… 4-6 ABSTRACTS…………………………………………………………… 7-8 A CLOUD OF CONTROVERSY: GEORGE WASHINGTON AND SMALLPOX INOCULATION DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION…………………………………………...…….……… 9-20 *research paper for Prof. Barbara Headle, History 9400, History of Epidemics **presented at Phi Alpha Theta Regional Historical Conference, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Spring 2018 ***published in UCCS Undergraduate Research Journal, no. 11 (Summer 2018): 6-12 “THE OTHER” IN COLONIAL AMERICA: A STUDY OF FEAR……………………………………...………………...….……… 21-30 *seminar paper submitted to Prof. Barbara Headle, History 3700, Colonial History: 1607- 1763 RACISM AND REGRET: EUROPEAN JEWS AND AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS IN WORLD WAR II …………...……………...…… 31-42 *seminar paper submitted to Dr. Robert Sackett, History 4500, Global World War II THE LAST STATE TO HONOR MLK: UTAH AND THE QUEST FOR RACIAL JUSTICE………………………...………………......……… 43-85 *seminar paper submitted to Dr. Matthew Harris, History 491, Civil Rights in US History **presented at the John Whitmer Historical Association Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, Fall 2018 ***published in the Utah Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (Winter 2020): 5-21 “THE HANDS OF OUR ENEMIES”: BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, 1968-1975………………...……………………………….…86-109 *senior thesis, supervised by Dr. Paul Harvey for History 4990, Studies to Approaching History **will submit to Journal of Church and State, published by Oxford University Press Harris 1 © Copyright By Madison S. Harris 2020 All Rights Reserved Student explicitly grants the copyright permission to UCCS Honors Program to post this portfolio report on the UCCS Honors Program Website, and other selected UCCS platform including UCCS Communique, and at the UCCS Honors Program Symposium Proceedings websites, or both. Signed by Madison Harris on 10 October 2020: Harris 2 This portfolio for the UCCS Honors Program Designation by Madison S. Harris has been approved by the UCCS Honors Program By Portfolio Mentor Name: Dr. Paul Harvey Reader One: Honors Program Faculty: Dr. SK Semwal Reader Two name: Honors Program Faculty: Dr. R Sackett Harris, Madison (UCCS Honors Program: Designation: ML/UH) Honors Program Portfolio mentored by Dr. Paul Harvey Harris 3 Introduction When I walked into my honors class, “Grey Matters,” as a freshman, I didn’t know what to expeCt. It was my first college course, and I was eager to learn as much as possible. I soon Came to appreCiate the uniqueness of the class, an interdisCiplinary approaCh to complex problems through the lens of philosophy, computer sCience, and history. That course impressed upon me the nature of collaborative learning, prompting me to see how various disCiplines fit together. It even motivated me to start the UCCS EthiCs and BioethiCs Bowl Team. As I refleCt on my time in the Honors program, I am grateful for all of the fond memories I have made and the lessons I have learned. This portfolio is a glimpse into my educational endeavors at UCCS. My world has been shaped by my aCademiC journey, studying both History and BiomediCal SCiences with a minor in Leadership CommuniCation Studies. It has prepared me, I believe, for my future Career in mediCine. I plan to attend mediCal sChool after graduation, and I antiCipate speCializing in Emergency MediCine, Oncology, GyneCology, Endocrinology, or GeriatriCs. My portfolio began when I was a freshman, where I took a class studying HistoriCal EpidemiCs. Here I completed my first researCh paper, “A Cloud of Controversy: George Washington and Smallpox Inoculation During the AmeriCan Revolution.” Inoculations, similar to today’s vaCCinations, were feared by skeptiCs who masqueraded as faux doctors. In this paper, I argued that General George Washington defied the skeptiCs and made the controversial deCision to inoculate his troops during the AmeriCan Revolution, thus allowing them to preserve their health during a smallpox outbreak. I was fortunate to get this research published in the UCCS Undergraduate Research Journal in the summer 2018 edition and I presented this original research at the Phi Alpha Theta Regional History Conference in spring 2018. Harris 4 In my sophomore year I focused on Colonial History, where I investigated the United States’ fear of the “other.” The “other” can be broadly defined as those who are not legitimate Protestant white men: CatholiCs, women, Native AmeriCans, bastards, slaves, and others. In my paper I explored this theme, titling it, “‘The Other’ in Colonial AmeriCa: A Study of Fear.” My junior year broaChed the same theme but on a global sCale, in whiCh I investigated ColleCtive regret about raCist poliCies and praCtiCes during World War II. My paper, “RaCism and Regret: European Jews and AmeriCan Immigrants in World War II,” surveyed German and AmeriCan ColleCtive shame, guilt, and subsequent regret for how their nations treated raCial minorities during the war. Additionally, my junior year prompted my study of Civil Rights, where I analyzed the turbulent relationship between BlaCk people and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Commonly referred to as Mormons. Here I researched in the archives at Brigham Young University (BYU), the LDS-sponsored sChool in Provo, Utah. My work Culminated in a published co-authored artiCle in the Utah State Historical Quarterly in the Spring 2020 edition titled, “The Last State to Honor MLK: Utah and the Quest for RaCial JustiCe.” In addition, I presented my work at the international John Whitmer HistoriCal Association Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2018. Moreover, this work served as the basis of a podcast I was interviewed for called “MLK Who? w/ Madison Harris” under the provocative title Naked Mormonism Podcast (OCtober 17, 2018). During my senior year, I spent another chunk of my summer in between working and studying for the MediCal College Admission Test (MCAT) researching in the archives at BYU in Utah. Here I worked on a new projeCt in what would beCome my senior thesis. The previous summer I found a colleCtion of documents about the university’s investigation by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in 1968. HEW’s mission was to determine if BYU Harris 5 was compliant with Title VI of the Civil Rights ACt of 1964, whiCh prohibits “disCrimination on the basis of raCe, color, or national origin in any program or aCtivity that reCeives Federal funds or other Federal financial assistance.” I studied the tension between Church and State, and how private institutions, like the LDS church, justified its raCial poliCies through the lens of religion. Though the HEW investigation Cleared BYU of civil rights violations, Mormon church offiCials still worried that the federal government might intervene in other disCriminatory praCtiCes of the Church in the future. This included forcing LDS leadership to grant Mormon women the priesthood or to aCCept LBGTQ+ Mormons as full equals in LDS worship serviCes and rituals. It is with great pleasure that I share my Honor’s Portfolio. This projeCt has been the Cumulation of archival research, interviews, conference presentations, and publiCations throughout my time at UCCS. I hope you enjoy reading my portfolio and that you might learn something along the way. And finally, thanks to all of my wonderful professors for making my UCCS experience memorable, enjoyable, and stimulating. I have learned so much, and I am very grateful for this opportunity. Harris 6 A Cloud of Controversy: George Washington and Smallpox Inoculation During the American Revolution Smallpox was wreaking havoc on the AmeriCan Army in the fight for Independence against the British troops. As John Adams said in a letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, “I mean, the Prevalence of small Pox among our Troops… This fatal Pestilence completed our Destruction.” John Adams, as a Confidant to General George Washington, understood that this deadly disease was hurting the Army more than the British, Canadians, and Indians combined. ACknowledging this, George Washington made the bold deCision: to have the troops undergo mass smallpox inoculations. This artiCle will explore George Washington’s highly controversial order to inoculate his soldiers at a pivotal point during the AmeriCan Revolution. Drawing from multiple primary sources including soldiers’ aCCounts of their experience with smallpox, John Adam’s letters, and newspapers around the 1770s, this paper will explore the deadly nature of the smallpox disease, the risk and reward faCtors in undergoing the smallpox inoculation, and the overall effeCt on the war. “The Other” in Colonial America: A Study of Fear Fear is a compelling force behind deCision making. It drives immigration, conspiraCy theories, and law throughout early AmeriCa. In short, fear inspires aCtion. Throughout Colonial AmeriCa, human diversity sparks anxiety of those in power. It is easier to control a group who all think alike than those who do not. This is where the idea of fear of the “other” stems from. The “other” can be broadly defined those who are not legitimate Protestant white men. This includes CatholiCs, women, Native AmeriCans, bastards, slaves, and others. Historians can reConcile historiCal faCt through the lens of AmeriCan exceptionalism by analyzing a theme in Colonial AmeriCa: fear of those not in power. This includes the stories of oppressed peoples like Anne HutChinson, Anne Orthwood, Mary Burton, women in the Seven Years’ War, slaves during the New York ConspiraCy Trials of 1741, and Native AmeriCans. Fear of the other transCends gender roles, raCe, and religion Creating a dynamiC environment whereby poor leadership by white men upholds fear mongering in Colonial AmeriCa. Racism and Regret: European Jews and American Immigrants in WWII Few wars in history have aChieved the level of global notoriety as World War II. Though hundreds of millions of civilians and soldiers lost their lives in the global confliCt, the war left more than death in its wake.