Sixties Documentary: Asian American Movement

Asian American Movement from Timon Hume on Vimeo.

Joseph McCarthy: The Red Scare

     Joseph McCarthy was an unknown senator who, overnight, came to great fame after stating that the U.S. government had been compromised on the inside by more than 100 Soviet spies. That accusation spread across the country and rallied peoples' dislike of comunism as McCarthy gained power in the senate. 

     The quote, "Joe McCarthy got it all wrong and yet was still closer to the truth than those who ridiculed him," refers to McCarthy's rise in power, but then exploitation of that power to create fear and anxiety within American politics. McCarthy was wrong to use his fame for reckless means of hunting down comunism, however in the end he was right about the existence of Soviet spies within the government. When intelligence cables between the K.B.G. and Soviet Union were decoded in the 1990's, it was apparent that spies within the U.S. government had been sending information to the Soviet Union about America's atomic weapons program and diplomatic strategies. Looking back on the event, McCarthy does deserves some gratitude for his shocking insight, but could also have handled the situation in a less dramatic matter.  

Historical Fiction: 4 - World War 2

May. 4, 1939

Good morning. It is a beautiful sunny Saturday today so my mother can't believe I'm not already out with my friends, but I couldn't wait to write in this thing. She told me this journal used to belong to my grandfather during World War One, so I'm going to make an entree about, what my Dad calls, the next big war. 

I've seen many news clippings in the theater lately about what's been going on back in Europe, and many people figure these rising tensions will soon result in open conflict. Not that the conflict in the Pacific wasn't terrible enough between Japan stealing territory from China and the League of Nations stepping in to stop it in 1937, but to me Germany just seems to be more dangerous than Japan.

For one thing, Germany's new supreme dictator Adolf Hitler has changed a lot about the country. Even before he was named dictator in 1933, Hitler had gained political power by exploiting Germany's hate for the Treaty of Versalles and The League of Nations. Both were responsible for Germany's post-war debts of 33 billion dollars, extreme inflation, and crumpled economy and government. Hitler also blamed all of country's economic woes on the Jews as he joined the Nazis political party in 1919. There he gave the Nazis the swastika, and formed his own private army. 

But the most disturbing thing that's happened, is that Hitler didn't stop there when building an army. After he became the dictator he began to secretly rearm Germany and created alliances with Italy, Russia, and Japan. This allowed him to attack and conquer Rhineland. However neither Britain nor France have done anything about it. My Dad tells me they probably think Germany will stop there and not take any more territory, but we don't believe that this is the end. Now that Germany is a fascist state with full government control over the politics, economy, and culture it seems like Hitler will continue to use military force in the future. 

But all of this speculation of a new war has been years in the making. Many parents in my neighborhood have been suspicious of foreign crusades since World War One, making their kids paranoid and constantly reminding me how the war was a mistake. I also personally know three men in my neighborhood who are members of the Veterans of Future Wars, and have demanded for 1,000 dollar bonuses since 1936 thinking they will fight in a future war. My mom is  even a member of the Future Gold Star Mothers, who demand government pensions to visit their son's graves who would die in a future war. This makes me scared of what will happen to my older brother Chris if a war broke out; my mom would probably force him to go for the pensions. 

Talking about my mom, she just said my friends came over to look for me. But I'll keep this book under my bedside so I can write in it again, that is if my mother doesn't find out I stole it from her closet to make an entree. See you tomorrow!

Chapter 12: Mexican Emigration in the early 20s

1. Thousands of Mexicans in the early 1900s came to America because of multiple push and pull factors. One factor leading to their emigration was the fighting currently transporting in the Mexico from the Mexican Revolution. Making families wish to the leave the more dangerous conditions in Mexico. A pull factor was the increase of pay and the possibility to start a new life in the States. To help with the emigration, the finished construction of the Mexican railroad leading to America brought more Mexicans more easily to the states than ever before. Jobs were also much more plentiful, and with American-working Mexican representatives urging Mexican men to come work up north, there was a lot of opportunity seen for those who eventually immigrated. These jobs ranged from working on farms to the railroads and even in car factories, however were all manual labor occupations. And with time, allowed many men to bring their families up north as well. 

1920s Film and Entertainment:

This is a link to the video:
https://vimeo.com/160892434


Works Cited:

"HISTORY and OU." HISTORY and OU. History Channel. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Dirks, Tim. "Film History of the 1920s." Film History of the 1920s. AMC Filmsite. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

"MACHINE." Movies, America in the 1920s, Primary Sources for Teachers, America in Class, National Humanities Center. America in Class. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

"Changes in American Culture and Society." BBC. BBC. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. 

"Radio Fever." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.


Music;

Me and the Man In the Moon by Ambassadors 

You Tell Her-I Stutter by The Georgians

The Great Migration: panel 19 - "There had Always been Discrimination"

     In Jacob Lawrence's collection, the Great Migration Series, I thought the picture "There had Always been Discrimination" was particularly impactful. The image of a river separating a black woman, with her child drinking from a water fountain, and a white woman, drinking at a different fountain, was largely based upon actual segregation present in public facilities in the 1930s. During this time, the wish for racial purity among whites led to the segregation of not only water fountains but also beaches and pools. A specific event that was created by this paranoia led to the death of a black teenager in the summer of 1919, and can show how serious the segregation of public facilities was. The painting also shows the white woman above the river, which could represent the North, with plentiful grass and blue skies, and the black mother and child below, with little greenery. This describes north of the river as a plentiful and beautiful place, and allows the viewer to see why blacks would want to migrate there eventhough there was racial segregation. 

Historical Fiction: 3 - WWI and the Progressive Era

March 2, 1918

Hello, I am Henry Schmidt, and am writing in this very old journal that I found in the attic of my childhood house because my lovely wife used the last few sheets of paper we have to finish her report for the local paper. It is almost scary how much paper she has actually gone through in the past few years. 

Thinking back to it, I now truly regret loosing my job at our local bakery, thus forcing my wife into her current occupation. It wasn't my fault; one day it just closed down. I really didn't know why for a wile until I made the connection between its closing and the current German Immigrant mistreatment in the States. Not only a year ago did our German Breads store close, but manny other German institutions were closed as well. A month later, I was walking down Frankfort street to find work when I noticed its name was changed to Charleston on a street sign. Perplexed I walked around a few more blocks to find multiple other streets' names had been altered; all of them used to be German names. 

My wife has concluded that this quite sudden dislike of Germans is most likely due to the war, but even more so due to the war propaganda circling the U.S.. Starting in 1917, the new Comity on Public Information has been increasingly promoting the war. You can't go one day without coming across advertisements, newspaper articles, posters, or Four Minute Men giving speeches and drawing attention to the war. My wife says that there are close to 75,000 volunteers currently acting as Four Minute Men in the U.S. She also told me I should join sense I have so much free time and can't get a local job now due to my nationality, but I refuse to do so if the war is what started all this maddened sentiment towards Germans. 

The problem is, no one is able to say anything against the war or government right now. After the creation of the Espionage and Sedition Acts less than a year ago, people have been jailed for openly criticizing the U.S. and the draft. I can't believe the government would restrict civil liberties so severely, especially when the U.S. is characterized by the freedoms of its citizens and the peoples' power to manage the government. My wife believes the Acts are unconstitutional and violate our freedom of speech, but I'm not sure how they were passed if that's so. 

It's funny I keep paraphrasing my wife, who has not even made an entry in this journal yet. It makes me seem so inferior, which is true in knowledge of politics, but I don't think it will be the ruin of my reputation as I will never share this journal to keep the confidentiality of my anti-war views hidden. However it is late, and I am ending this entry tonight before my wife scolds me with more talk of current affairs.