Blog #2

For my inquiry blog I am considering a few different topics. The first topic I am considering is political parties and how they evolved throughout time. The second topic I am considering is the War On Crime and how it has impacted African Americans. In the past I have studied both topics but would like to gain a deeper understanding. Political parties and the War On Crime are topics that will be covered throughout the school year at my placement. Being able to research either of these topics will allow me to prepare better lessons and pick primary sources that encourage literacy and literary practices.

In the past I have studied political parties and the ideological shifts that have taken place. Many people are aware that president Abraham Lincoln and president Teddy Roosevelt belonged to the Republican party but are unaware of the ideological shifts. The Republican party was the progressive party while the Democratic party was the conservative party. During the 1920’s both parties went through a massive shift in ideological perspectives. If I chose this topic for my inquiry blog I would like to explore how these changes came about. Why did the parties shift ideologies, what happened during the 1920’s specifically that shifted ideologies, where do the parties stand today, and what can the past tell us about the future of political parties? These are all questions I would want to explore.

In the past I have also studied the War on Crime. Many people associate the War on Crime with the War on Drugs. Both ideological wars stemmed from the Great Society carried out by president Lyndon B. Johnson. The War on Crime was originally intended to lower crime but ultimately ended up subjugating African Americans and people of color. The War on Crime militarized American police forces while creating a system of federal prisons that now house unequal numbers of minorities. If I chose this topic for my inquiry blog I would like to explore why the War on Crime was instituted and how it ultimately lead to the subjugation of many minorities. Why did the program shift to militarize police forces, why were massive prisons created, how were minority communities targeted, and why does the War on Crime continue? These are all questions I would want to explain.

Both topics present interesting challenges that would allow me to further explore primary sources. Being able to decipher which sources are the most valuable for my students would be highly beneficial. Many sources exists for both topics. Listed below are a few that I have found.

Political Parties
https://www.livescience.com/34241-democratic-republican-parties-switch-platforms.html
https://tedtheeconomist.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/when-exactly-did-the-political-paradigm-shift-happen/
Smith, Jean Edward. FDR. New York, NY, Random House, 2008.

War on Crime
Vorenberg, James . “The War on Crime: The First Five Years.” The Atlantic. May 1972. Accessed September 22, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/politics/crime/crimewar.htm.
“Disasters.” NYCdata: Harlem Race Riots of 1964. Accessed September 22, 2017. http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/disasters/riots-harlem_1964.html.
Flamm, Michael W. Law and order: street crime, civil unrest, and the crisis of liberalism in the 1960s. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.