we shall overcome summary

To sum up what our group thought. Person 4 quoted from the Constitution where it says: "no person shall be kept from voting because of his race or color." Which means that African American people have every right to vote just like white people do. She also said that the speech was just an "easy, unfair, and illegal way to keep African Americans from voting. Person 5 said that the word overcome had two meanings in this speech, one was the African American people overcoming inequality, and the other meaning was the white people overcoming disallowing African Americans the right to vote. Which I thought was a really cool way of putting it. They also stated that we need to overcome our differences and just get over it because it doesn't matter what color or race we are, the fact is that we are all Americans and have the right to vote and the Constitution says so. Person 1 also said that it doesn't matter what color they are, if they're Americans they have the right to vote like everyone else.

"We Shall Overcome"-Person 2

Our group focused a lot on how the African Americans in our nation have faced a struggle for a long time, and just to add more that that long list of struggle would be to be able to have the right to vote, just as any other white person is able to.

Heather focused on the fact that the government thought it would be a good idea to have black people take a test to have to vote. She made a really good point that most white people wouldn’t be able to pass that test now-a-days. She stated that “This was just an easy, unfair, and illegal way to stop the African Americans from voting.” I think Heather hit it right on the nose by saying it’s just a way to avoid letting them have rights.

Jenni, like Heather, focused on the fact that African Americans have had such a harsh journey to overcome and have also achieved so much along the way. Jenni also focused on how President Johnson said that we have an American problem, not a color problem or a regional problem. Jenni stated that “This really shows us that no matter where we are from, or what color we are, we are all Americans and we need to be able to accept everybody because no matter what we look like we are all U.S. citizens and we all have the same rights. We just need to overcome our differences and accept each other for who we are.”

Chelsea did a good job at summing up the group and also added that African Americans are just as much an American as any other people are and she questioned why should they not be given the same rights as everyone else just because of their skin color?

All in all, our group recognized the fact that African Americans have gone through many struggles but continue to overcome them as a group, sticking together for a common goal.

Person 1

African Americans have had a hard time with getting rights. I feel as if they should have all the same rights that Americans have. They are just as much an American as any other people are. Why should they not be given the same rights as everyone else just because of their skin color? I do not understand why some people feel as if African Americans should not have the same rights. To me it should not be any question that African Americans have the same rights as Americans. I think that African Americans should not have to fight for their rights to vote. If they are an American citizen, then they should be able to vote.

"We Shall Overcome"- Person 5

"We shall overcome" is a very simple but effective statement. African Americans have had such a harsh journey to overcome. They have overcome a lot in the past. They also have achieved many things in the past and I believe are fully successful at doing so. The word overcome has two elements in this speech. One is for the side of the African Americans and them overcoming inequality. The other is for the side of the white population that overcame disallowing African Americans the right to vote.
President Johnson states, "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem." This really shows us that no matter where we are from, or what color we are, we are all Americans and we need to be able to accept everybody because no matter what we look like we are all U.S. citizens and we all have the same rights. We just need to overcome our differences and accept each other for who we are. Also this shows how we as Americans have the power to overcome the fact that everybody deserves to be able to vote.
President Johnson also clearly says, "Many issues of civil rights are very complex and most difficult. But about this there can and should be no argument: every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. There is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right." This was a new concept that the white people had to overcome because it's immoral to deny African American's the right to vote, especially when the Constitution states it.

"We Shall Overcome" speech - Person 4

African Americans have had a long, hard road to be treated as citizens of the United States just like a white person. First, they finally got their rights to not be slaves. Then, we read about their struggle in getting their rights in public places (the Rosa Parks bus incident). Now, in this speech, we read about the struggle African Americans faced for their right to vote.

In the article, it states, "the Constitutions says that no person shall be kept from voting because of his race or his color". This clearly said that African Americans had the same right as white people to vote; however, white people still weren't used to the idea. Because white people weren't used to the idea yet, they would try anything to stop African Americans from voting.

The speech says that we would use a test to try and keep the African Americans from voting, "And if he manages to fill out an application, he is given a test. The registrar is the sole judge of whether he passes this test. He may be asked to recite the entire Constitution, or explain the most complex provisions of state law". I don't know about you, but if I were asked to recite the entire Constitution of the United States of America, I would fail too. I think any white person back then and today would probably fail that test as well. There are too many articles and sections within the Constitution to remember it word for word. If the African American couldn't recite the entire Constitution, the white person wouldn't let them vote because they weren't a "true" citizen. This was just an easy, unfair, and illegal way to stop the African Americans from voting.

Week 2 Blog Post

To summarize what our group though the week is that, the Tuscon shooting is a very big tragedy and that LePage comment was “childish”. It was said by Jennifer that “As a citizen in the legal sense, the Bill of Rights say that we have the right to bear arms and protect ourselves. However, in the moral sense we have a duty to not go shooting people just because we feel like it or don't like someone. If we see our own citizens going around shooting each other, this sets a bad example on all our other citizens in the United States.” I agree that this is setting a bad example. It would not be good for this generation of children to think that going around shooting people would be okay. As a citizen I feel that we should respect the rights that we have. With the comment of LePage, Jess says that it is “tearing people apart” I also think that it is. There are always going to be two sides to a story and not everyone is going to agree. This is where Maine could be “split apart, rather then working together” as pelletierh says.

Questions- Person 5- Position 4

Jess made some important points about the shooting in Tucson and also with the Governor's comment. First, she commented about the Tucson event asking the question "are we banded by tragedy?" I believe that we are normally banded together every day but when a tragic event like 911 or the Tucson shooting occurs we just react together to resolve our issue that has faced us as a country together. I also like how Jess points out the legal and the moral meaning of citizenship. It really does show varying sides of citizenship that somehow work together to make a citizen.
When Jess talks about the Governor she talks about how it tears people apart, which is very true because there are always two sides to everything and it really makes Maine split apart rather than work together. One side supports the governor and his actions like how he has the freedom of speech; and then the other side that believes that what he said is morally wrong and his remark embarrasses us as a state.
Jenni and Aubrey both have some interesting and similar points as well. Jenni talks about how we have the right to bear arms and protect ourselves. They said morally though we can't just go around shooting people if we don't like them or if we disagree with what they are saying. Jenni talked about the Governor and how, again like Jess said, we have the freedom of speech, but she then comments, and I agree, that he is a political figure and a leader that people look up to. When you then look at his comment, which was all over the news, it was childish and very unprofessional. Aubrey also made a good point when she pointed out that "people stretch out rights too far" and the governor most certainly did, in my eyes.