history buffs help me

[lightningbugirl 0]

'McCarthyism'-

I am supposed to come up with at least 20 or more like instances of ostracism of different groups of people in the United States. It's not a regular assignment so I am not cheating and I have to research and present facts on each one I come up with so I would still be doing my own work, I just need topic ideas to list and begin working on... [It is for extra credit though.]

Can you help me?

[mr2mk1g 10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism is a good place to start.

[wmw999 2,514]

Well, in WW1 there was a lot of ostracism of Germans -- instead of freedom fries, we had freedom cabbage. A lot of German-named people changed their names.

WW2, with the Japanese and internment camps.

Gulf war, with the French.

2nd half of the 19th century, and much of the 20th, with black people.

A couple off the top of my head.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[ccowden 0]

Heck, I think the Patriot Act of this administration applies.

[mr2mk1g 10]

Yeah I suppose you could actually go off on a pretty good rant about the Bush admin. Is your teacher a Republican or a Democrat?

You could just bang on about Plame and some of the other theories out there and depending on their political pursuasion you could be looking at instant A grades or instant expulsion for something that suddenly materialises in your permanent record you knew nothing about.

Didn't Nixon have a black list of people he used to sick the IRS on?

[ccowden 0]

The Salem Witch trials.

[NickDG 23]

Talk to anyone who flies face to earth at the drop zone.

I call it lawndartism . . .

Sometimes, the entire world is in your own backyard.

NickD BASE 194

[Remster 30]

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I call it lawndartism . . .

Yeah.... The discrimination us belly fliers feel everyday is nothing short of shamefull.. We're never asked to the cool parties, or hanging out with the cool kids... We even have to park our trailers in the far end of the park....








Oh! You mean the fact that we dont like the freeflyers? Yeah! Thats right buddy! these freaks should get banned from the DZ with their long hair, tats and peircings!

Remster

[racer42 0]

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Heck, I think the Patriot Act of this administration applies.

Good one.

Look at immigration policy in the 19th century i.e. the Chinese Exclusion acts.
Also exclusionary legislation aimed at Native Americans

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[PLFXpert 0]

You could almost pick up an American History book and read the chapter titles. It's littered with examples

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[lightningbugirl 0]

Thank you everyone, that puts me at around 12 or 15 though. I am hoping for more, this is great.

[gemini 0]

Hey Wendy you forgot the Irish and Italian immigrants during the late 1800's and early 1900's on the East Coast and the Chinese on the West Coast during the same period! Cheap labor, but never invited to the parties.

Blue skies,

Jim

[NWFlyer 2]

Well, for one thing it is ostracism, not ostraciziation.

Historical examples...
Women being denied the right to vote/own property ...
Blacks being denied the right to vote / own property...

Current example... bans on gay marriage

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[AlexCrowley 0]

Changes in the political climate within the US post 911 and how elevating fear makes people act like children, then rattle off stuff about religious intolerance, sexism, homophobia, racism, nationalism, jingoism, creationism yadda yadda.

TV's got them images, TV's got them all, nothing's shocking.

[waltappel 1]

Quote

McCarthyism, I am supposed to come up with at least 20 or more like instances of ostracization of peoples in the United States. It's not an assignment so I am not cheating and I have to research and present facts on each one I come up with. It is for extra credit though.

Can you help me?

That's a really easy one. It happens all the time:

- MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) persecuting drunk drivers.

- PETA spraypainting expensive fur coats.

- "Pro-lifers" picketing "abortion clinics" and harassing their clients.

- Various attempts to deny freedom of speech to KKK

- The loads of negative attention being heaped upon convicted sexual predators.

- Any number of misguided attempts to eliminate "racists"

- Senate investigations of organized crime.

In retrospect, the McCarthy hearings and "Commie-hunts" are viewed as unfair and unreasoned politically-based persecutions of people with unpopular views.

While most of the examples I listed were not carried out by the government, the common thread is a group of people forcefully coming down on someone whose ideas are unpopular at the time. History will be the best judge of whether those unpopular ideas were indeed bad even though it may be obvious to nearly everyone at the time that the people being persecuted are evil.

Walt

[ccowden 0]

I personally don't think that the protesting examples that you cited qualify, but that is just my opinion. You could make a list of thousands of things people protest against, and I don't really think that a Pro-Life rally or a PETA rally fit into examples of McCarthyisms.

I do agree that it doesn't always have to be the government, but just groups of people protesting a view don't cut it for me.

My understanding of McCarthyism is that it is the government or like body that creates a frenzy in the public eye to persecute or stop a group of people whos opinions and views threaten them, without really having any hard evidence or even making "facts" up to support that governing body's view.

Some of your examples are great, but the simple protests don't really fit, IN MY OPINION.

Now the battle of Roe vs. Wade, THAT is a classic example of the government and the administration currently in power trying to keep a group of people from threatening their views. It doesn't matter if the administration is Pro-Life or Pro-Abortion, when that administration tries to stifle the group who opposes them, it works either way.

[kallend 2,099]

An interesting example is the treatment of Oppenheimer en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[JohnMitchell 16]

The treatment of Chinese immigrant workers in the late 1800's.

The Jim Crow laws of the South.

Poll taxes.

The persecution of the Native Americans.

People making fun of Texans 'cause they're jealous of us.

[popsjumper 2]

High-school chess club members

Overweight people

(tie)Alabamians
(tie)Texans

Carter Administration

Viet Nam vets

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[gemini 0]

Overweight people
(tie)Texans
Viet Nam vets

Damn, I'm screwed!

Blue skies,

Jim

[lawrocket 3]

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My understanding of McCarthyism is that it is the government or like body that creates a frenzy in the public eye to persecute or stop a group of people whos opinions and views threaten them,

I agree with the new daddy, the good Mr. Cowden. Inherently, it includes the government taking action against groups of people or organizations. However, I would also add the thought that McCarthyism attaches a feel of government fervor to it. Thus, while the internment of Japanese during WWII would fit my definition of McCarthyism, the prohibition against homosexuals in the military - or prevention of women from being in the combat arms - would likely not fit "MaCarthyism" because it's not an affirmative policy that changes the status quo to victimize a group of people.

Admittedly, this makes examples of "McCarthyism" far more difficult to find. But that's actually how I like it. I don't want every little injustice to be viewed as "McCarthyism," since it strips the meaning of "McCarthyism" and tends to inflate smaller injustices while deflating the larger ones, i.e., what McCarthy did.

On the other hand, examples are mroe readily available if you expand the definition to be more encompassing. You can always find a couple of factors that are in all such things. I think the first factor is an intensification of societal stress. Then, there has got to be some easily identifiable group to vilify.

This would expand the incidence greatly. A good example of this would be California's passing of Proposition 187, which sought to cut off medical and educational funding for illegal immigrants. There was a crisis of funding, and illegal immigrants were easy to blame - there was even a rational basis for the blame and the new policy. Gays in the military would fit into this.

In fact, I'd say that the neohate directed against "corporations" would fit this example, too. Stuck in a nowhere job with stagnating wages? Your money doesn't get you as far as you think it should? Blame "Corporations" for it.

McCarthyism can also be community centric (actually, it has to be. Communists didn't support McCarthy). Inner city residents villifying "The Man" would qualify under a more lenient definition.

Point? Start off your paper by showing different definitions for McCarthyism. Then compare and contrast them. Just doing this will make the paper much more interesting to write and read, and will do well for your grade because you can make an underlying current of,

"What must the definition of McCarthyism be to find 20 or more like ostracisms of people that would qualify as 'McCarthyism?'" Then cite your examples.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[ccowden 0]

You nailed it! I couldn't agree more with everything you write here. Under a true definition of McCarthyism, I think one is hard pressed to come up with 10 examples, let alone 20. But if you expand the definition to "McCarthyism-like" examples, then you can find more that fit, but are stetching the definition in a way that would make lite of true McCarthyism examples. To me, true McCarthyism is produced by the government, using it's own governed people against a group who opposes the views of that government.

What Hitler did in Germany is a true example. He and his government created a frenzy against a group of people to the point where people believed in what he was preaching and joined in the very fight to kill off those who opposed his views. Granted, that doesn't help for finding examples in America, but it just shows the huge difference between a PETA rally and what Hitler did in Germany.

I just don't think that both of those examples can fit the same definition of McCarthyism.

[freeflyflunky 0]

Ostracism
n 1: the state of being banished or ostracized
2: the act of excluding someone from society by general consent

Dis•crim•i•na•tion
1. The act of discriminating.
2. Treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice: racial discrimination; discrimination against foreigners.

Just thought clarification was necessary. Some posts were spot-on with their understanding of the term and some were just a bit off. I would also add that if McCarthyism is given as the primary example, then the inclusion of “vilification” of an individual or group into the definition is totally acceptable.

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Oh, and one more thing...Ninjas ARE way cooler than pirates.

[freeflyflunky 0]

Here are some ideas
Victorian era norms that excluded from “proper” society women who had (or were perceived has having) sexual encounters outside of marriage.

Until fairly recently, any individuals of “mixed-parentage.” Think of terms like Quadroon, Octoroon, Mestizo, Mulatto, or the infamous “half-breed.” Individuals with a diverse heritage often faced ostracism from the larger society.

In the 1950s, the time of McCarthy and a time where likeness and conformity were next to godliness; women who chose to find a place outside of what were considered “traditional” roles. (although it is important to note that, if anything, the postwar period was an anomaly. Prior to the war, women’s roles had been expanding. This continued a trend of greater freedoms for women – the very brief blip-on-the-radar that was the 50’s was a reversal of those trends.)

While it may fit better under the umbrella of “discrimination,” I suppose you could say that the many African Americans who braved all-white environs to challenge Plessy V. Ferguson (the first AA male integrated into a white law school, the first white students in Little Rock, etc…) faced both discrimination and ostracism.

As far as the vilification part of ostracism – you couldn’t go wrong with discussing how Chinese Americans were vilified prior to the Exclusion Act of 1882. Or, (this is a pretty good one) how various immigrant groups throughout our continuum have been vilified as “stealing” jobs from real Americans. Most exceptionally, recent immigrants from Mexico and Latin America.

Okay, so those might not exactly be the best suggestions, I hope they help at least a little! I’m actually much better at doling out grades than I am at coming up with ideas on my own. Sad, huh? If you want to PM me what you have and tell me what level of class you are taking, I might be able to help a little more. However, it looks like you have a bunch of fantastic assistance already. Good Luck!

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Oh, and one more thing...Ninjas ARE way cooler than pirates.