Social Justice Research Papers• Instructions: Write a 5 page (1000 words) research paper on one of the following

organizations: – American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)– National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)– Marcus Garvey’s Back to Africa Movement– The Anti-Defamation League– National Woman’s Party

• You must answer the following questions: • A) Why was the organization founded? What were the problems the organization

was trying to overcome? This section provides the historical context.• B) When was the organization founded? Who formed the organization? What

kinds of people became involved? • C) What specific things did it do to fight racism and prejudice early on? • D) What made it ultimately successful and allowed it to continue to this day? • E) What can we learn from this organization about community organizing and

movements of people for social justice?

Writing a Strong Thesis

• Sum up what your paper is about.• Provide an organized roadmap for the reader:– List the topics of each section in the order you

write about them.– Mention supporting examples without going into

detail.– Have a transition sentence at the end…

Strong Thesis Tips• Stick to your style and be consistent:

– Decide if you are going to use the first person or “we” or “this study/paper” for example.

• Posing the central question:– To what extent did the experiences of the 1920s shape…? This study

explores/hopes to answer/answers/is guided by this essential question…• Active verbs:

– Seeking to understand…– Analyzing…– Examining…

• Try to avoid being passive.– Don’t use passive voice– Lively prose use varied sentence structure (a short sentence followed by a

longer one, or at least not all the same length).

Example Phrases• “The 1920s was a time of cultural conflict. Attacks on people’s civil

liberties seemed to betray the very values the United States has sought to embody. By examining the formation of the [insert organization here], however, we can see how community efforts for social and political change empowered people to fight against injustice and to build what has become a successful and lasting organization….”

• “Beginning with the historical context, we can see just what the [insert organization here] was up against…”

• “Turning then to analyze the early efforts of the [insert organization here] during the decade of the 1920s…”

• “Seeking better to understand the reasons for historical successes, we can usefully draw out some of the reasons this organization was able to continue on…”

• “All history informs the present. Thus, we can usefully apply what we have learned about the [insert organization here] to issues in contemporary America…”

Taking notes when researching• Always write the book or article

and the page number so you can cite your sources!

• Think of which section in your paper the information you are reading can fall into:– Does the information tell you about

how the organization was formed?– Can it be a specific example of how

the organization was successful? (a court case, etc.)

– Does it tell you about the structure of the organization? Or where they got the money?

Using notes and quotes: Paraphrasing

• QUOTE: “A race riot in Springfield Illinois, prompted the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1910. Whites dominated the leadership of the organization early on…” (Zinn, p.348)

WRITING IN PAPER: The NAACP was formed in response to racial violence. Although it was formed to fight for the rights of African Americans, historian Howard Zinn reports that it was mostly white people in charge of the organization early on.

Using notes and quotes: Analyzing Direct Quotes

QUOTE: “The impossibility of the black person’s ever being considered equal in white America was the theme of the nationalist movement led in the 1920s by Marcus Garvey. He preached black pride, racial separation, and a return to Africa, which to him was the only hope for black unity and survival. But Garvey’s movement, inspiring as it was to some blacks, could not make much headway against the powerful white supremacy currents of the postwar decades.” (Zinn, p.382)

PAPER: Historian Howard Zinn sums up the main elements of Garvey’s movement: Black pride and separation from white society (the “back to Africa” movement). But Zinn is rather pessimistic in writing that it “did not make much headway.” It is true that racism and a white power structure were very hard to fight against, but Garvey’s movement did more than just send people back to Africa. It inspired people. Inspiration, however, is difficult to measure in terms of “headway.”

THESIS: opening telling reader main ideas in paper in order you address them (suggestion: write this last)1. FIRST BODY SECTION: describe the historical context (suggestion: use your comprehension check).

A) When (1920s)B) What (cultural conflict)C) Supporting examples:

i. KKK (nativism)ii. Palmer Raidsiii. Immigration quotas

2. SECOND BODY SECTION: your organization. A) When and by whom was it started? What kinds of people were involved?B) What specific things did it do to fight racism and prejudice early on?

i. Specific example (maybe court case)ii. Specific example (protest)iii. Specific example (education)

3. THIRD BODY SECTION: what made it ultimately successful? A) This organization started in the 1920s, but continued to fight for people’s rights throughout

the 20th century.

B) Specific examples (what things did the organizationdo? Winning court cases, etc.)

4. FOURTH BODY SECTION: what can we learn about community organizing and movements of people for social change?

A) Discuss the things the organization had going for them B) How could you apply those things to an issue you care about?

COCLUSION: sum up the main points and point to the future…

Writing the First Section• Use your comprehension checks.• There was a surge of racism and anti-immigrant attitudes and policies in the 1920s. The Great

Migration after the Civil War had brought millions of African Americans to cities in the Northern states. International immigration brought millions of people from Europe throughout the end of the 19th century, and the transportation revolution and increased industrialization added to the growth of cities. Ethnic neighborhoods developed in major cities, but also new cultural conflicts over what it meant to be “American” in a nation entirely made of immigrants (coming from other countries at one point or another in this nation’s past). Conflict over jobs fueled racial tensions, but divisions between rich and poor were particularly striking as billionaires controlled the majority of the nation’s wealth and the class of exploited industrial workers continued to grow. Some people tried to claim they were more American because of the color of their skin or in virtue of the fact that they were born in the U.S. These “nativist” attitudes were also easily aligned with the white supremacist doctrine of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK was revived during the 1920s, and they committed terrible crimes. The worst was a public display of torture called lynching….

• Immigration also spiked after the First World War. The influx of Eastern European immigrants raised fears that “radicals” or “socialists” would try to overthrow the government. Maybe, as Howard Zinn suggests, it was because they strengthened the unions and workers started to ban together and present a “socialist challenge” (Zinn, pp.381-2). Congress passed immigration quotas…

Section Two: Its all about the examples…

Conclusion: Let’s End This Thing Already (jk)

• Restate thesis in slightly different words.• Remind reader of major findings (one or two

examples you analyzed)• Point to the future– Directions for further research– How the lessons learned can be applied in the

modern world.

Example Phrases:• “Although the racism and discrimination of the 1920s exemplified in the actions of

the KKK or the Palmer Raids presented tremendous challenges, the NAACP worked not only to fight for the rights of African Americans but to pressure the United States to fulfill the promise of a ‘more perfect union’…”

• “The ACLU may have lost the Scopes Trial in 1925, but the members did not loose hope and continued to fight to protect people’s civil liberties, especially where violations of the Constitution were concerned…”

• “While the ADL began fighting anti-Semitism and religious intolerance, members quickly recognized important interconnections with other forms of injustice and oppression and their mission as well as their activism expanded its scope. We do not typically speak of being “defamed” in contemporary America, but the fight against discrimination is still very much alive!”

• “It may seem ironic at first that the leader of the famed movement for African American empowerment supported segregation. As has become clear, however, the beliefs of Marcus Garvey could not be further from the ignorant attitudes of bigoted or white supremacist supporters of Jim Crow and other forms of racial segregation in the United States…”

Focus Questions

Using the arguments from the 1920s as well as your own opinions and experiences…

What are the differences between boys and girls?

Where do those differences come from? Are men and women equal today? Why have women only been allowed to vote for

the past 88 years when most men got the right to vote when this country was founded (1776)?