Discussion Questions

1. What similarities can be seen in the feeling toward the Vietnam War and the Iraq War? Consider the popularity of both wars and the opposition to each.

2. As Professor Hass introduced in lecture, the Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson put the world-changing event of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on a human scale. Jo Ann Gibson Robinson’s account of the event emphasizes personal struggles and sacrifices. What are the purpose and the effects of her personal narrative? How can we relate this type of story telling to the social and cultural shifts of this time period?

3. We have spent many lectures and discussions examining the idea of national
identity and specifically the problem of “we”. How has standing up to the government helped to form the national “we”? How does the idea of dissent coordinate with our idea of national identity?

4. Preceding the Montgomery Bus Boycott, many stories circulated about the mistreatment of women on the buses. Were women the target of public discrimination? Or were the stories of women more effective in rallying the black population to fight for desegregation of the public transit systems?

5. In comparison to the Black Civil Rights Movement, why do you think that the Chicano Movement was less publicized? Do we have a strong national memory of the Chicano’s fight for equal rights?