Grossmont College 1965 Immigration Act and History Comments Discussion

Just give a comment about the following paragraphs:

1. I chose item 20, the 1965 Immigration Act, the immigration act that set up the system that we base our own system off of today. It removed the national quota system as a part of LBJ’s campaign of changing the country from the older ways to newer ways of thinking, it allowed essentially immigration from anywhere instead of a quota system. The original system of quotas essentially restricted all immigration except from Northwest Europe in order to preserve the founding stock of Anglos, Germans, and Scandinavians. In the era of civil rights this was seen by LBJ’s supporters as racist and unfair and LBJ saw this as a new way to get Democratic voters, and so it happened that way where most of those immigrants coming in from then on voted for the Democratic party. To this day this immigration act is responsible for the flipping of California, New York, and many other blue states from Republican to Democratic, and it is also responsible for the massive demographic shift from 84% white to around 60% today. In short it is one of the most important pieces of legislation in American history, of course behind the Constitution and Declaration.

2. My item of choice is an image of John Lewis who became an activist in the civil rights movement. John Lewis was a student during the civil rights movements and he got involved with activism by organizing sit-ins and marches. He is an original Freedom Rider which was a group of peaceful protestors who gathered in groups to ride buses from Washington D.C to New Orleans to challenge the South’s discriminatory riding policies. Many of the Southern states were segregating buses which violated federal policy and the Freedom Riders were a reaction to the present racism in the South. The racial segregation being imposed onto the black community was not only illegal but immoral and the Freedom Riders were trying to express peacefully their opposition to the racism being tolerated by the States. The peaceful protests often became filled with aggression from white mobs and the police force, often arresting protestors like John Lewis who was fighting for his rights tirelessly. Too often protestors who had a right to protest were met with vicious violence from institutions that were supposed to protect them, unfortunately, this is something you can still see today. This image of John lewis reminds me of the class theme of the promises and reality of American life because he was fighting for equality. Lewis wanted equality that had been written and promised in the constitution but was not enforced by the government..

3. The item I chose was the image of the sign outside of the gas station that read “sold, out to-day”, this image ties in with our class theme of the role of foreign policy in shaping American history. In the 1970s the United States experienced a severe economic down turn, due to the availability of oil and it was tied to our policy towards Israel. In 1947, the United States supported the United Nations in an effort to create a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. To create this country for the Jews in Palestine, land was taken from the Arab Nations and they did not support the creation of Israel. Between 1947 to 1973 a series of wars happened between Arab Nations and Israel, the United States was an ally of Israel and during the latest war in 1973 (Yom Kippur war) the United States wasn’t very involved but they supported and provided Israel with materials for war. Israel ended up wining this war, which lead to the decision of Arab Nations to create a cartel called Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), these were the nations who sold oil across the world. After the 50s and 60s, the United States became very reliant on the Arab Nations and the Middle East for oil. When Israel won the Yom Kippur War OPEC decided to have an embargo on oil to the United States. This was significant because the United Sates began to have an oil crisis, which then led to an inflation crisis.

4. Malcom X was apart of the Nation of Islam which changed the way on how Malcom X would think.He had been in and out of jail when he was younger which taught him that he needed to be a strong black men that stood up to anything.Malcom X was against Martin Luther King turning your left cheek he thought you should hit back.Malcom X was Assassinated my the Islam group when Malcom realized that Islam wasn’t really Muslim.Malcom did fight a lot for civil rights and was a key factor in fighting for civil rights .Malcom X like Martin Luther King played a in changing reform in American life which makes him fit in this theme because he fought for change in American Life.For blacks .