Jessica Nadel

Discussion Questions for PHOUS ch 17 &23

1. According to Angelo Herndon, the communist party “knew no difference of race or color” (Zinn 447). Was it strategic for the communist party to include black folks or was it just part of their party values?

2. In class we have talked about whether intentions behind moral decisions impact the value of the decision. Zinn addresses how Truman’s committee on civil rights made recommendations to stop lynching, voting discrimination and other discrimination. They acknowledged that these recommendations were made because of moral reasoning but mostly they were made because of the economic cost of discrimination and the countries’ terrible reputation with the international world as violating civil rights. These recommendations were very valuable but should they seem as less valuable because of the committees’ selfish intentions?

3. Zinn describes the sit-ins at Woolworth’s lead by SNCC as one of the first active initiatives as opposed to the usual reputation of black folks as passive and accepting of their oppression. Did these sit-ins break the stereotype of the Uncle Tom that we talked about during class?

4. Is the Black Lives Matter movement possibly the manifestation of the explosion that Langston Hughes describes in his poem “Lenox Avenue Mural”?

5. The revolution that Zinn talks about in his final chapter is about representing the 99% who have a lot of commonality. He talks about breaking down the establishment that controls our nation. Was Bernie Sander’s platform and call for revolution like the revolution that Zinn was essentially calling for?