Modern American History in Film

Modern American History in Film

I. INTRODUCTION

            This curriculum unit begins with two basic premises:

1. Films can be powerful educationally, but they must be chosen carefully and selectively.

2. The objectives behind the use of films should be integrated into a unit’s overall objectives. While films can be used to reinforce the objectives of a teacher’s lectures, discussions, or print materials, it may be more effective to use films to complement other objectives.

The topic of this unit is ethnicity and race. I will discuss film selection and the integration of film into a two semester course based on Thomas Sowell’s 1981 classic Ethnic America. Movie reviews for each film will be provided, along with a set of discussion questions. My target audience is a college audience.

II. FILM SELECTION

There are several criteria to consider when selecting films for classroom use:

1. The films should have educational value. Educational value is not the same as entertainment value. A film which is entertaining but has minimal educational value is not appropriate for classroom use.

2. The film’s educational value fits in with the overall objectives of your curriculum unit. Many of the films in my ethnicity and race unit deal with cultural and familial themes. Far and Away (Irish-Americans), Avalon (Jewish-Americans), A Bronx Tale (Italian-Americans), The Long Walk Home (African-Americans), and Mi Familia (Mexican-Americans) are examples of this approach to ethnicity. They complement Ethnic America, which is basically a social, political, and economic history of ethnicity. Yet all five films are set in an historical context, which means they also reinforce the themes of Dr. Sowell’s book.

3. Students will become involved and engaged with your films. The five films previously mentioned all meet the criteria. Students do not put their heads on their desks when these films are shown. In other words, these films have entertainment value as well as educational value.

4. The great majority of your students have not seen the films before. I prefer small films instead of Hollywood blockbusters for this reason. I also lean toward films which were released several years prior to their use in my classroom. That way even students who have seen the films before will remain interested. Interesting plots and thought-provoking themes - as opposed to expensive special effects - are another criteria you may wish to use when selecting your films.

            III. ETHNIC AMERICA

Thomas Sowell’s Ethnic America (New York: Basic Books, 1981) remains a most profound and provocative response to the liberal view of ethnicity and race. In his introduction, Sowell provides a chart which ranks ethnic groups in terms of average family incomes (p.5) Average is 100, but several ethnic groups exceed the average:

Jewish 172

Japanese 132

Polish 115

Chinese 112

Italian 112

German 107

Anglo-Saxon 107

Irish 103_________

Other groups do not fare as well:

Filipino 99

West Indian 94

Mexican 76

Puerto Rican 63

Black 62

Native American 60

Liberals, Sowell explicitly and implicitly asserts throughout the book, believe these differences are due solely to discrimination. But, Sowell wonders, how can this be if several ethnic groups which have experienced discrimination rank above and even far above the U.S. median income?

The reason, Sowell claims, is something which in his other books he calls cultural capital. Cultural capital includes a strong work ethic, a stable family structure, and a propensity to save and invest rather than to consume. But cultural capital also involves an understanding of the four paths to the upper middle class and above.

The first of these paths is politics, especially urban politics. This involves electing members of your ethnic group to offices, such as mayor, that can provide access to government jobs in police and fire departments, schools, and municipal services. Irish-Americans have historically excelled in this area, while African-Americans have been using this path since the 1960’s. Political jobs offer security and good benefits, but they are seldom very remunerative.

Business ownership may be more risky, but the potential benefits greatly outweigh the costs. High percentages of Jews, Japanese, and Chinese have excelled here, although Sowell is well aware that members of all ethnic groups have succeeded in business.

Higher education, the third area, is perhaps the most dependable path to success. Again it is the Jews and the Asian-Americans who have excelled the most here. Both Sowell’s supporters and his critics call these groups the model minorities, a term which Sowell himself does not use.

There is a fourth area - sports, music, and entertainment. Here the results can be spectacular, but the odds for success are not good. Often this is the area first available to ethnic Americans. Sowell knows this, but he issues a caveat anyway. Put your eggs in this basket, he is saying, and most likely they will break. Sowell is clearly delivering a message to members of his own ethnic group - African-Americans.

By now Sowell’s argument is clear: the liberals are wrong. All ethnic groups have faced discrimination - some more than others- Sowell acknowledges, but it is really cultural capital which accounts for the income differences among ethnic groups. Sowell clearly suggest entrepreneurship and higher education are the best paths to success. It is not surprising that he sees reliance on the federal government as the worst of the legal paths to success. While he in no way supports discrimination, he believes that pooling resources with members of your own family and ethnic group is a better way of starting a business than going to court and claiming you were denied a loan due to your ethnic or racial background. Even better, start your own bank within your own ethnic group. Eventually you can start your own country clubs if the WASP country clubs will not accept you.

Naturally liberals find Sowell’s ideas anathema. While most liberal would not quibble with the importance of cultural capital, liberals believe European and Asian ethnic groups have faced far less discrimination than other ethnic Americans. Assertive affirmative action policies and strong federal government action, liberals believe, are necessary to assure ethnic equality.

IV. THE ROLE OF FILM IN TEACHING ETHNICITY AND RACE

My goal is to use films to complement the objectives of teaching Ethnic America. When we begin studying each ethnic group, we look for answers to these questions from the book:

1. When did most members of the group come to America?

2. How did they come?

3. Why did they come?

4. Where did they settle?

5. What are the divisions within the group?

6. What is the dominant religion?

7. What successes have members of the ethnic group attained in politics, business, higher education, and sports, music, and entertainment?

Ethnic America says little about what might be called cultural contributions, such as foods. Thus the study of each ethnic group begins with each student writing anonymously on a sheet of paper what comes to mind upon hearing the name of the ethnic group. All responses which reappear at least once are recorded on the board.

Now is where the films come in. Family and cultural dynamics are still missing from our study of ethnicity and without them we will have a rather sterile unit. These two critical aspects of ethnic experience are best taught through films. It is one thing to read about Protestant-Catholic tension among the Irish and about Irish-Italian tension in Boston in the mid-19th century. It is another thing to watch these themes develop in the movie Far and Away.

It is one thing to read about Jewish Americans remarkable business successes. It is another thing to watch this happen in Barry Levinson’s Avalon.

Telling students about stereotypes of Italian-Americans is easy to do, but seeing the character of Lorenzo the bus driver brilliantly juxtaposed against that of Sonny the local mob underboss in A Bronx Tale is far more powerful.

Lecturing on the African-American struggle for civil rights is important, but watching that struggle unfold in The Long Walk Home may have an even greater impact.

Finally the statement: different members of the same family succeed in different ways takes on real meaning through Mi Familia.

Films do have pitfalls. The reviews which follow will point out both the weaknesses and he strengths of these and other films.

V. FILM GUIDELINES AND REVIEWS

Before presenting the film reviews, some guidelines for the use of films should be proposed. There are several actions that teachers can take to make sure that the films used in our classrooms will have optimal educational value. Here are my guidelines:

1. Preview the film yourself. This is absolutely essential. You know your students better than anyone else does. You will be able to determine not only if the film fits into your curriculum, but also whether it is appropriate for your students. Furthermore, you will be able to prepare a set of discussion questions in advance.

2. Prepare discussion questions which will enhance students viewing of the film. I recommend a set of questions which are organized day by day. You may wish to have students write out the answers to the questions each day to assure that they are watching carefully and comprehending the film. But when discussing a film after its conclusion, I usually begin with these three questions:

 

a. How would you rate the film on a 1 to 10 scale?

1-terrible

2-poor

3-well below average

4-below average

5-average

6-above average

7-good

8-very good

9-excellent

10-superior

 

b. Describe each of the film’s main characters.

c. What are the film’s main themes?

 

The first of these questions seems very popular with my students. We go around the room and each student gives their rating and their ratings and their reasons. I give mine last in order not to bias the students.

3. Make sure the film and your tv/vcr are in proper working order.

4. Time your films so you won’t have a class period end with a few minutes of film left. FAR AND AWAY Irish-Americans,1992, 140minutes,PG-13

Far and Away is not a great film, but it will hold your students interests and with a skillfully-led discussion will result in most students learning more about the Irish-American experience than they would learn from the more scholarly yet somewhat tedious PBS special on Irish-Americans. Film critics Mick Martin and Marsha Porter give four stars to director Ron Howard’s sweeping tale of Irish immigrants who come to America in the late 1800s. This entertaining saga features Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a bickering couple from different social classes who find themselves adrift in the New World. Video Movie Guide 1996 (New York: Random House, 1995), p.527. 

The film’s ending is ending, however, is pure Hollywood, which is one reason why critic Roger Ebert, usually generous with both stars and upward pointing thumbs, gives Far and Away only two stars of a possible four. 1998 Pocket Video Guide (Kansas City: Andrew McMeel Publishing, 1997), p. 16. My students give this film an average rating of 7 - right between Martin-Porter and Ebert. They realize that the film features a number of improbable coincidences, but still has a lot to say about the Irish-American experience.

Day 1 questions

1. What did Joseph learn from his father?

2. What happened at the Christie home?

3. Describe Joseph and Shannon.

4. What happened when Joseph and Shannon arrived in Boston?

5. How does the film show religious and social class differences among the Irish?

Day 2 questions

1. Who probably destroyed the Christie home?

2. Who found it harder to adjust to America- Joseph or Shannon? Why?

3. How successful was Joseph’s boxing career?

4. How did Joseph and Shannon’s feelings for each other change during the movie?

5. What discrimination did Irish-Americans face?

6. Describe Irish-American relations with Italian-Americans.

Day 3 questions

1. How does the race for land in Oklahoma symbolize America?

2. Was the ending realistic or Hollywood? Why?

3. What were the main themes of the film?

4. Evaluate the film in detail, giving reasons for your comments.

AVALON Jewish-Americans, 1990, 126 minutes, PG

Avalon comes close to being a great movie. Armin Mueller-Stahl is memorable as a first generation Jewish grandfather whose first image of America is a Fourth of July celebration. Mueller-Stahl, a German actor, makes his character seem totally Jewish. The same can not be said of Aidan Quinn, who plays Sam’s assimilated son Jules Kay.

Roger Ebert sees this film as a tale of how a strong extended family degenerates over time into an isolated nuclear one. 1998 Roger Ebert’s Video Companion (Kansas City:Andrew McNeels Publishing, 1997), p. 44. I like to emphasize the risk-taking and creative thinking necessary for success in business.

The story is slow-moving, which is why my students rate the movie higher for educational value than for entertainment value.

Part 1 questions

1. Describe Sam Krichinsky.

2. What do we learn about the Krichinsky family from their Thanksgiving dinner.

3. How did Jules Kay and his cousin Izzy Kirk do in the television business?

4. What problems did moving to the suburbs bring for the Kay/Krichinsky family?

Part 2 questions

1. How did Sam Krichinsky feel about his son changing his last name to Kay?

2. Give at least one example of Jewish humor in the film.

3. How did Thanksgiving dinner help create a split between Sam and his brother Gabriel?

4. Why were Sam and Eva Krichinsky upset about their son playing golf?

5. Why did Sam resign from the Family Circle?

Part 3 questions

1. The burning of the store was presented with much symbolism. Discuss this symbolism.

2. What made Eva’s death so painful to her husband?

3. What were the movie’s main themes?

4. Rate the movie on a 1 to 10 scale for both educational and entertainment value, giving your reasons.

�A BRONX TALE� Italian-Americans, 1993, 122 minutes, R for violence and profanity

Year after year my students rate �A Bronx Tale� higher than any other film we see. It is easy to see why. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter call the movie an �atmospheric, exquisitely detailed character study of a youngster torn between his hard-working bus-driver dad (played by director Robert DeNiro) and the flashy mobster (played superbly by screenwriter Chazz Palminteri) who rules their Bronx neighborhood. (p.482)

Roger Ebert gives the film four stars, praising its subplot of interracial romance, which seems just a bit out of sync to me, while claiming the film�s importance is that �it�s about values. About how some boys grow up into men who can look at themselves in the mirror in the morning, and others just go along with the crowd, forgetting after a while that they ever had a choice.� (p. 115)

The educational value of this film may not match its entertainment value, but there are a number of good themes to discuss. The sound track and the cinematography are also exceptional.

Day 1 questions

1. Where and when does the story take place?

2. Describe the Anello family: Lorenzo, Rosina, and their son Calogero.

3. Describe Sonny and his friends.

4. After the shooting, what should Calogero have done? Why?

5. If you had been Lorenzo, would you have taken the $150/week from Sonny? Why or why not?

6. How did Sonny influence Calogero?

7. How did Lorenzo react to Sonny�s influence on �C�?

Day 2 questions

1. Describe C�s friends.

2. List two pieces of advice Sonny gives C. How does this differ from Lorenzo�s advice?

3. Describe C as a young man.

4. Describe Jane and her relationship with C.

5. How did C react when his friends attacked the young black men?

6. Describe Sonny�s �door test.�

7. What prevented Jane from having her first date with C?

Day 3 questions

1. What happened to C�s friends? What happened to Sonny?

2. What were the movie�s main themes? Rate the movie on a 1 to 10 scale.

�THE LONG WALK HOME� African-Americans, 1991, 97 minutes, PG

�The Long Walk Home� is a story of courage and salvation. Whoopi Goldberg plays Odessa Cotter, a maid who quietly supports the Montgomery bus boycott and inadvertently converts her employer Miriam Thompson, played by Sissy Spacek, to the cause. This film was not a huge box office success, but I get the feeling that many teachers around the country are showing it to their students. It is a moving story which shows ordinary people in an extraordinary time period. Roger Ebert suggests that by making Miriam�s daughter Mary Catherine the narrator, director Richard Pearce is making it clear that this film is intended for white audiences. (p. 473) My experiences suggest otherwise. My students are almost all African-American. When Miriam�s moderately racist husband punches his totally racist brother at the end of the film, whoops and hollers fill the room. Mr. Ebert may have missed the bus here, but he and virtually every other film critic love �The Long Walk Home� as much as my students and I do.

Discussion questions

1. When does the story take place? How can you tell?

2. Who are the main characters? Who is the narrator?

3. What does the first scene in the park symbolize?

4. How did the boycott affect the following?

a. Odessa?

b. Miriam?

c. Odessa�s family?

d. Miriam�s family?

e. the city of Montgomery?

f. the rest of the U.S.?

5. Did any characters change during the movie? If so, how?

6. What was the meaning of the incident with the three white boys on the bus?

7. Discuss the importance of the scene where Odessa announces her intention to quit.

8. Discuss the significance of the movie�s final scene.

9. What was your reaction to the movie? Rate the film on a 1 to 10 scale, giving reasons.

Short essay topics:

1. Write a character sketch of Odessa, Miriam, Herbert, Norman, or Tucker.

2. Describe the philosophy behind the Montgomery bus boycott.

3. Tell how both Odessa and Miriam became stronger individuals during �The Long Walk Home.�

4. Compare �The Long Walk Home� with other films dealing with Black-White relations.

�MY FAMILY� (�MI FAMILIA�) Mexican-Americans, 1995, 122 min., R for violence, profanity, drugs, and nudity

My students give this family saga mixed reviews - and so do the movie critics. Roger Ebert, describing the film�s final scene, says, �Rarely have I felt at the movies such a sense of time and history, of stories and lessons passing down the generations, of a family living in its memories.� (p. 554) Ebert�s four star rating, his maximum, contrasts sharply with that of Martin and Porter, who give �My Family� three of a possible five stars because the narrative is �spread too thin.� (p. 734)

Everyone seems to agree that the acting is superb. All this makes the decision to include the film as part of my curriculum an easy one. Many of us on the east coast know very little of Mexican-Americans and their culture. �My Family� thus has great educational as well as entertainment value. Ebert is on target in calling this �the great American story�.(p. 553) I would add that the great American story is more about commonalities than about differences, especially where ethnicity is concerned.

Day 1 questions

1. Who is the narrator?

2. Describe the narrator�s father and mother, Jose and Maria Sanchez.

3. Describe the narrator�s brother Chucho and his sister Toni.

4. What significant events took place at the wedding?

5. Why was Chucho put out of the house?

6. What happened at the dance?

Day 2 questions

1. Why do you think the director showed Chucho�s death along with scenes of baseball and �I Love Lucy�?

2. How did Toni surprise the family?

3. Why did Jimmy get married? How did his marriage turn out?

Day 3 questions

1. What happened to Jimmy after Isabel died?

2. What happened to Memo (William)?

3. How would you describe the Gillespies� visit to the Sanchez home?

4. Describe Jimmy�s relationship with his son Carlito.

5. Did the Sanchez family achieve the American dream? Why or why not?

6. What were the film�s main themes?

7. How would you rate this movie? Why?

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VI. RACE AND FILM

Race seems to be America�s albatross. Not surprisingly, race seems to be Hollywood�s albatross too. While one might claim that Hollywood has come a long way from �The Birth of a Nation� (1915), the silent Civil War saga which glorified the Ku Klux Klan, the majority of the films which deal with race still seem to become controversial for one reason or another.

Sidney Poitier films in the 1950�s were criticized for presenting �the perfect Negro,� even though his roles were a direct response to the criticism that Blacks only appeared in Hollywood films as maids, railroad car porters, chauffeurs, and entertainers. The �Blaxploitation� films of the 1970�s - featuring characters such as Shaft and Superfly- were blasted for depicting Blacks as violent pimps and drug dealers, but the films did make money. So did �The Color Purple� (1985), which also was attacked for promoting negative images of Black males.

Films which deal with racial issues present us with several themes. White racism clearly is one of those themes. Racism appears in almost every film dealing with race. But it is far from the only theme in films about race. The struggle against racism is another major theme. I think there is a possibility that White and Black directors tend to handle the interplay between these themes differently, with black directors emphasizing the struggle against racism at least as much as the racism itself. This may be because black and White directors have different audiences. White directors often use racial themes to convince other Whites that racism is wrong. Black directors, who gear their films more toward their fellow Blacks, assume their audience knows that racism both exists and is wrong, so the struggle against racism gets more attention.

Other themes include interracial relationships and what might be called community and family studies. This all adds up to a growing number of diverse films about race. So how is a classroom teacher to choose what to show? I believe the guidelines presented earlier about ethnicity are equally valid here. Let me present reviews of several films with racial themes. The films are listed in descending order of quality, from my perspective. This time readers will need to preview the films and provide their own questions.

�HOOP DREAMS� 1994, 171 minutes, PG-13

�Hoop Dreams�, a lengthy documentary about high school basketball in Chicago, is my all-time favorite movie about race and race relations. Roger Ebert calls it one of the great moviegoing experiences of his lifetime (368). I concur completely. It would not be possible to write a story as inspirational as this six year odyssey of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two of the best 14 year old basketball players in Chicago when the film begins. The struggles of Arthur, William, and their families will remain with the viewer forever.

�DO THE RIGHT THING� 1989, 120 minutes, R for nudity, profanity, and violence

Ebert also champions this community study by Spike Lee, and again I agree completely. This may be Mr. Lee�s best movie. A tragicomic study of a Brooklyn neighborhood, this film raises many issues about race and race relations - never providing pat answers but always raising more and more questions. The main characters- Sal, Mookie, Radio Raheem, Buggin� Out, and Da Mayor- are as memorable as the film�s final violent and tragic scenes. This is a powerful film. Teachers should preview it carefully before showing it.

�JUNGLE FEVER� 1991, 135 minutes, R for nudity, profanity, and violence

Martin and Porter only give this film three stars out of five, largely because of its excessive length (561), but Roger Ebert is much more positive, noting that the crackhouse scene is amazingly powerful, as is the frank discussion of sexual attraction between the races.(418) Ebert criticizes the depiction of the interracial romance because the characters are not fully developed. I liked the way it was handled because I believe Mr. Lee was trying to portray merely a physical attraction, not a relationship.

The film fully deserves its R rating. The nudity is so pervasive that I have not shown this film in my classroom - although I wish I could.

�A RAISIN IN THE SUN� 1961, 128 minutes, B&W, unrated

This screen adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry�s classic play is of great interest to my students, who usually have little use for black and white films. We watch the film before performing several of the scenes. Sidney Poitier is terrific as Walter Lee Younger, but it is Claudia McNeil�s performance as his mother Lena which really impressed me.

There is a 1988 version which features Danny Glover as Walter Lee and Esther Rolle as Lena. I liked this one too, but it is unnecessarily 43 minutes longer than the original.

�MALCOLM X� 1992, 193 minutes, PG-13

Spike Lee directs, Denzel Washington stars, and the result is a great screen biography. The film may have disappointed those who hoped Mr. Lee would provide a new interpretation of Malcolm X, but I believe Mr. Lee accomplished more by remaining faithful to the Autobiography. Once again, there are no easy answers, but race in America has never been an issue with easy answers.

�BOYZ N THE HOOD� 1991, 111 minutes, R for profanity, violence, and nudity

Martin and Porter wisely note that this is not the exploitation film about gang violence it appears to be.(133) It is probably the best of the central city dramas of the early 1990�s. A high percentage of my students had already seen it, which is why I have not shown it .

�AMISTAD� 1997, 160 minutes, R for violence and brief nudity

Steven Spielberg received a fair amount of criticism from historians for this powerful discussion of an 1839 incident which led to one of the first legal challenges to slavery. Yet if America is to confront its racial past, Amistad seems to be one of the best films available. Yes, the film is long, and yes, there are some tedious legal scenes, but the portrayal of the Middle Passage is as powerful as the death camp scenes in Schindler�s List.

�GUESS WHO�S COMING TO DINNER� 1967, 108 minutes, unrated

�Guess Who�s Coming to Dinner� may be somewhat outdated, but it remains a fine middle of the road film about interracial marriage. This classic stars Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn as liberal White parents who become conflicted when their daughter becomes engaged to a Black doctor played - surprise!- by Sidney Poitier. Martin and Porter correctly note that this once controversial picture seems �rather quaint today,� but that has not bothered my students.

�DRIVING MISS DAISY� 1989, 99 minutes, PG for profanity

Film critics loved �Driving Miss Daisy,� which stars Jessica Tandy as an elderly Jewish widow and Morgan Freeman as her Black chauffeur. Roger Ebert sees it as a film of �great love and patience�(234). Martin and Porter give it the maximum five stars (309). The only dissenter seems to be Spike Lee, who blasted the Best Picture of 1989 for portraying Blacks in stereotypical roles. Mr. Lee�s �Do the Right Thing,� also released in 1989, was unfairly denied a Best Picture nomination. But that is not the fault of �Driving Miss Daisy,� an especially fine film for students unfamiliar with the history and dynamics of American race relations.

�THE COLOR PURPLE� 1985, 130 minutes, PG-13 for profanity, violence, and suggested sex

Is it Steven Spielberg�s fault that Alice Walker�s novel was none too kind to Black males? Or did Spielberg deliberately exacerbate the novel�s sexism? However you feel, it is obvious that Spielberg�s problem may have been that he entered the landmine-filled gender wars within the Black community as an outsider. Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Danny Glover are all sensational, so this film receives my strong recommendation despite a few flaws, such as occasionally romanticizing life in the South under Jim Crow.

�A TIME TO KILL� 1996, 145 minutes R for violence, profanity and rape

Martin and Porter give this film only two and a half stars, but John Grisham�s tale of a Black man in Mississippi who kills the two racists who raped and assaulted his daughter has been very popular with young people of both races. The story is Hollywood at both its best and its worst, depending on your point of view. If you want to be entertained, this is a winner. If you want to be educated, try something else.

�ROSEWOOD� 1997, 140 minutes, R for violence, profanity, nudity, and torture

Rosewood purports to be an historical film about a racist attack on a prosperous Black community in Florida in 1923. The film is quite powerful. It seems a bit too long to me, but its real problem is that the last half hour is, as Martin and Porter suggest, more Indiana Jones than historical drama.(914) Even so, I have no problem recommending this film, although I too wonder about the authenticity of the main character, the �man with no name,� played quite well by the underrated actor Ving Rhames.

�A FAMILY THING � 1996, 109 minutes, PG-13 for profanity and mild violence

No film with James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall can be a bad film, even though it is hard to imagine them as long-lost half brothers. I agree with Martin and Porter that Irma P. Hall as Jones� aunt nearly steals the film (347), which may go to show that fine acting covers up a lot of loose edges in the script. An average film.

�ZEBRAHEAD� 1992, 102 minutes, R for profanity, violence, and sexual situations

This low-budget film is about a Jewish boy and a Black girl in inner-city Detroit who find themselves in a state of lust. Zebrahead is intriguing. It is filled with profanity, modern music, and symbolism. The story will hold your students� interest, but the ending of the film may be seen as confusing rather than ambiguous. At least one character - a middle-class Black militant- is not only hopelessly stereotypical, he isn�t even given a name.

�MISSISSIPPI BURNING� 1988, 125 minutes, R for language and brutal violence

I am more forgiving than most when it comes to historical inaccuracies in historical films. Some academics� criticisms seem pedantic to me. But the criticisms of �Mississippi Burning� seem on target. This film was very popular with both film critics and moviegoers. But Robert Rosenstone, an historian of film, notes that the movie marginalizes Blacks and makes heroes out of an FBI which acted very slowly when three civil rights workers were murdered in 1963. Visions of the Past (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995), pp. 72-73.

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VII. CONCLUSION

Obviously I am convinced that films are very useful in teaching about ethnicity and race. But what about historical and sociological inaccuracies? Doesn�t Hollywood present a false reality that may actually miseducate rather than enlighten?

Sometimes this charge is completely valid. Sometimes this charge is not valid at all. Most of the time this charge is partially valid.

How do we, first as viewers and then as teachers, determine validity? First we see the film, next we read the critiques, and finally we may do research of our own. Then we decide if the film is appropriate for our students. If so, we may still come up with a few disclaimers - or we may require our students to do research to discover their own disclaimers.

Minor disclaimers usually involve minor errors of fact. For example, Professor David Brion Davis, Pulitzer Prize winning historian at Yale University, lectured to our film seminar on the Amistad affair on May 26, 1998. When asked about the movie �Amistad�, his minor disclaimers were that �Men didn�t wear beards� and �People didn�t ride bicycles.� If these were �Amistad�s� only inaccuracies, the film would be home free as far as I�m concerned. While historical errors should not be excused completely, it is unrealistic to expect Hollywood directors and screenwriters to meet professional standards of scholarly accuracy.

Professor Davis made another, more far-reaching criticism. He said that �Amistad� grossly underrepresented the racism found in the Northern United States in 1839. This is a major disclaimer, an important topic for critical discussion.

Note that the major disclaimer is not merely a question of an error of fact. It involves an error of omission, a question of emphasis. These types of errors are much more important than the inevitable minor historical and sociological errors which crop up in all films.

Documentary filmmakers must be especially aware of questions of emphasis. Ken Burns, our leading documentary filmmaker today, was criticized for focusing too much on the battlefield in The Civil War. A rather obscure general received fifteen minutes screen time for successfully defending a hill during the Battle of Gettysburg. Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist leader, received four minutes of screen time. I am one of those who sees this as nearly a sacrilege.

Mr. Burns took some of the criticism rather hard. But he listened to his critics. His epic �Baseball� place greater emphasis on matters of wide societal, rather than baseball, significance. The Negro Leagues, Jackie Robinson, and the other Black baseball pioneers received three hours of screen time, which I believe reflects the tremendous importance of baseball segregation and eventual integration.

Of course baseball purists attacked Burns. An irate caller to WFAN in New York ranted and raved about the disproportionate amount of time given Robinson, implying that this came at the expense of Stan Musial, who was merely a blip in the fourteen hour documentary. The caller kept reading from baseball�s record book, which he claimed proved Musial was a better player than Robinson.

The caller may have been right about Robinson and Musial�s playing abilities (actually it is a close call), but it was Ken Burns, not the caller, who made the right call. Jackie Robinson is the most significant historical figure in baseball history. Musial has virtually no wide historical significance, although he may be the best left fielder of all time.

I am not going to draw the line between minor and major errors, because this is an extremely subjective undertaking. I do like the line drawn by Robert A. Rosenstone in Visions of the Past. He acknowledges that there will be a certain amount of invention in all historical films. He goes on to distinguish between true and false invention, asking only that historical films not violate the overall data and meanings of what we already know of the past.(79) This may be a relaxed standard, but it is a sensible one when we evaluate films to determine if they are suitable for our students. We can�t expect filmmakers to be academic researchers, although we can expect them to use academics as consultants when it is necessary. But we certainly have a right to expect filmmakers not to alter or embellish the past to gain viewers.

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VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

1.Ebert, Roger. Roger Ebert�s Video Home Companion and pocket Video Guide (Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1997).

2. Martin, Mick and Porter, Marsha. Video Movie Guide 1998 (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997).

3. Rosenstone, Robert A. Visions of the Past (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995).

4. Sowell, Thomas. Ethnic America (New York: Basic Books, 1981).

---

Films:

1. �Amistad� (1997).

2. �Avalon� (1990).

3. �Baseball� (1994).

4. �Boyz N The Hood� (1991).

5. �A Bronx Tale� (1993).

6. �The Civil War� (1990).

7. �The Color Purple� (1985).

8. �Do the Right Thing� (1989).

9. �Driving Miss Daisy� (1989).

10. �A Family Thing� (1996).

11. �Far and Away� (1992).

12. �Guess Who�s Coming to Dinner� (1967).

13. �Hoop Dreams� (1994).

14. �Jungle Fever� (1991).

15. �The Long Walk Home� (1991).

16. �Malcolm X� (1992).

17. �Mi Familia� (1995).

18. �A Raisin in the Sun� (1961).

19 �A Raisin in the Sun� (1988).

20. �Rosewood� (1997).

21. �A Time to Kill� (1996).

22. �Zebrahead� (1992).

 

Michael Scheuer and Related Titles

Scheuer

Watter's World Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Obama Russia Collusion

inside-obamas-secret-outreach-to-russia

Podcasting for the Beginner

Podcast

Manchester Islamist Reported Teacher for Islamophobia

manchester-jihadi-reported-teacher-islamophobia

Geller vs. Islamist Sarsour

hd-video-afdi-cancelsarsour-protest

Greg Allman, RIP

gregg-allman-dies-dead-69-southern-rock

Geller vs. SUNY Sarsour

.israelnationalnews.com

Caroline Glick

Evergreen State College: Snowflakes vs. Progressive Professor

students-demand-firing-of-college-professor-who-objected-to-event-that-kicks-white-people-off-campus

Brzezinski Carter

zbigniew-brzezinski-dead-national-security-adviser-to-carter

Resume Verbs

Resume

Yale Kills 1st Amendment

1st Amendment

No Safe Spaces

Campus

AI Bot Dylan

Researchers-create-computer-writes-folk-music

FDR and the New Bill of Rights

Overview:

Thoroughly educated in Progressive principles, Franklin D. Roosevelt believed that the task of statesmanship is to redefine our rights “in the terms of a changing and growing social order.” While the Founders thought the truths they celebrated in the Declaration of Independence were self-evident and so also timeless and unchanging, FDR argued for a new self-evident economic truth. His proposed “Economic Bill of Rights” lays out the means by which our new economic rights are to be secured, thereby achieving social equality and social justice.

Lecture

Obama Knowingly Imported Gangs

whistleblower-dhs-knowingly-let-ms-13-gang-members

Interview God

God

Obama Illegal Spying on Americans

-obamas-team-secretly-disclosed-years-of-illegal-nsa-searches-spying-on-americans

Obama at Notre Dame Changed Everything

vortex-obama-at-nd-changed-everything

Most Asked Religious and Philosophical Questions

most-searched-questions-on-google

Islamist Sarsour Attacks Student Questioner

/2017/05/sarsour-attacks-student

Ian Hunter, 9/11 Songs

Soul of America, 4:46

Twisted Steel, 3:10

Tampa Murders as Roommates Insult Islam

2017/05/tampa-convert-roommates

Ian Hunter, Kill the Messenger, trailer

Kill

About halfway through the movie a character asks: "Where is Ian?" Then, "Sea Diver" begins to play.

Trump vs. King Salaman

2017/05/king-salamans-lies

Academic Journal and Absurdity of Gender Studies

/fake-academic-paper-published-in-liberal-journal-hilariously-exposes-the-absurdity-of-gender-studies

Avalon Lesson Plan

Film
2:07:44  

MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY AND FILM

 

a. How would you rate the film on a 1 to 10 scale?

1-terrible

2-poor

3-well below average

4-below average

5-average

6-above average

7-good

8-very good

9-excellent

10-superior

 

b. Describe each of the film’s main characters.

c. What are the film’s main themes?

AVALON Jewish-Americans, 1990, 126 minutes, PG

Avalon comes close to being a great movie. Armin Mueller-Stahl is memorable as a first generation Jewish grandfather whose first image of America is a Fourth of July celebration. Mueller-Stahl, a German actor, makes his character seem totally Jewish. The same can not be said of Aidan Quinn, who plays Sam’s assimilated son Jules Kay.

Roger Ebert sees this film as a tale of how a strong extended family degenerates over time into an isolated nuclear one. 1998 Roger Ebert’s Video Companion (Kansas City:Andrew McNeels Publishing, 1997), p. 44. I like to emphasize the risk-taking and creative thinking necessary for success in business.

Part 1 questions

1. Describe Sam Krichinsky.

2. What do we learn about the Krichinsky family from their Thanksgiving dinner.

3. How did Jules Kay and his cousin Izzy Kirk do in the television business?

4. What problems did moving to the suburbs bring for the Kay/Krichinsky family?

Part 2 questions

1. How did Sam Krichinsky feel about his son changing his last name to Kay?

2. Give at least one example of Jewish humor in the film.

3. How did Thanksgiving dinner help create a split between Sam and his brother Gabriel?

4. Why were Sam and Eva Krichinsky upset about their son playing golf?

5. Why did Sam resign from the Family Circle?

Part 3 questions

1. The burning of the store was presented with much symbolism. Discuss this symbolism.

2. What made Eva’s death so painful to her husband?

3. What were the movie’s main themes?

4. Rate the movie on a 1 to 10 scale for both educational and entertainment value, giving your reasons.

 Butler's Program Notes: Avalon (1990), 1:58 Trailer, 1:32

President's Transcript vs. Islamism

Trump made a great speech. He clearly distanced himself from craven Obama and clearly called out Islamism in the heart of Islam. He mentioned Orlando, San Bernardino, Boston, and 911 and said how Americans were victimized. He clearly identified the attacks on America. It was interesting to watch the body language of all the Muslims he was addressing. They were restrained but respectful. Those Muslim leaders recognize that Trump and America are powers to be reckoned with and he is a no nonsense powerful president . In addition, the reception was completely different than Obama's bowing and scraping beneath the dictator. Trump was met on the tarmac and the red carpet was rolled out for him. In addition, think of how significant the optics are: Melania didn't wear a hijab, women were present the entire time, the dictator shook hands with women, and they had a Jew, Trump's son-in-law, right with Trump the entire time. Even the venue is of interest; Trump has done what the last administration did not do which was to come up with a new site of negotiation. It is proof positive of the failure of the United Nations to be a sight of actual negotiation, discussion, and efforts that might lead to peace. Out of this deal we got an Islamist opposition center in Saudi Arabia, key arms deals, and jobs, jobs, jobs. Trump hit it out of the ballpark.

I want to thank King Salman for his extraordinary words, and the magnificent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting today’s summit. I am honored to be received by such gracious hosts. I have always heard about the splendor of your country and the kindness of your citizens, but words do not do justice to the grandeur of this remarkable place and the incredible hospitality you have shown us from the moment we arrived.

You also hosted me in the treasured home of King Abdulaziz, the founder of the Kingdom who united your great people. Working alongside another beloved leader – American President Franklin Roosevelt – King Abdulaziz began the enduring partnership between our two countries. King Salman: your father would be so proud to see that you are continuing his legacy – and just as he opened the first chapter in our partnership, today we begin a new chapter that will bring lasting benefits to our citizens.

Let me now also extend my deep and heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of the distinguished heads of state who made this journey here today. You greatly honor us with your presence, and I send the warmest regards from my country to yours. I know that our time together will bring many blessings to both your people and mine.

I stand before you as a representative of the American People, to deliver a message of friendship and hope. That is why I chose to make my first foreign visit a trip to the heart of the Muslim world, to the nation that serves as custodian of the two holiest sites in the Islamic Faith.

In my inaugural address to the American People, I pledged to strengthen America’s oldest friendships, and to build new partnerships in pursuit of peace. I also promised that America will not seek to impose our way of life on others, but to outstretch our hands in the spirit of cooperation and trust.
Our vision is one of peace, security, and prosperity—in this region, and in the world.
Our goal is a coalition of nations who share the aim of stamping out extremism and providing our children a hopeful future that does honor to God.

And so this historic and unprecedented gathering of leaders—unique in the history of nations—is a symbol to the world of our shared resolve and our mutual respect. To the leaders and citizens of every country assembled here today, I want you to know that the United States is eager to form closer bonds of friendship, security, culture and commerce.

For Americans, this is an exciting time. A new spirit of optimism is sweeping our country: in just a few months, we have created almost a million new jobs, added over 3 trillion dollars of new value, lifted the burdens on American industry, and made record investments in our military that will protect the safety of our people and enhance the security of our wonderful friends and allies – many of whom are here today.

Now, there is even more blessed news I am pleased to share with you. My meetings with King Salman, the Crown Prince, and the Deputy Crown Prince, have been filled with great warmth, good will, and tremendous cooperation. Yesterday, we signed historic agreements with the Kingdom that will invest almost $400 billion in our two countries and create many thousands of jobs in America and Saudi Arabia.

This landmark agreement includes the announcement of a $110 billion Saudi-funded defense purchase – and we will be sure to help our Saudi friends to get a good deal from our great American defense companies. This agreement will help the Saudi military to take a greater role in security operations.

We have also started discussions with many of the countries present today on strengthening partnerships, and forming new ones, to advance security and stability across the Middle East and beyond.

Later today, we will make history again with the opening of a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology – located right here, in this central part of the Islamic World.

This groundbreaking new center represents a clear declaration that Muslim-majority countries must take the lead in combatting radicalization, and I want to express our gratitude to King Salman for this strong demonstration of leadership.

I have had the pleasure of welcoming several of the leaders present today to the White House, and I look forward to working with all of you.

America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens. We are not here to lecture—we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership – based on shared interests and values – to pursue a better future for us all.

Here at this summit we will discuss many interests we share together. But above all we must be united in pursuing the one goal that transcends every other consideration. That goal is to meet history’s great test—to conquer extremism and vanquish the forces of terrorism.

Young Muslim boys and girls should be able to grow up free from fear, safe from violence, and innocent of hatred. And young Muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves and their peoples.

With God’s help, this summit will mark the beginning of the end for those who practice terror and spread its vile creed. At the same time, we pray this special gathering may someday be remembered as the beginning of peace in the Middle East – and maybe, even all over the world.

But this future can only be achieved through defeating terrorism and the ideology that drives it.

Few nations have been spared its violent reach.

America has suffered repeated barbaric attacks – from the atrocities of September 11th to the devastation of the Boston Bombing, to the horrible killings in San Bernardino and Orlando.

The nations of Europe have also endured unspeakable horror. So too have the nations of Africa and even South America. India, Russia, China and Australia have been victims.
But, in sheer numbers, the deadliest toll has been exacted on the innocent people of Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations. They have borne the brunt of the killings and the worst of the destruction in this wave of fanatical violence.

Some estimates hold that more than 95 percent of the victims of terrorism are themselves Muslim.

We now face a humanitarian and security disaster in this region that is spreading across the planet. It is a tragedy of epic proportions. No description of the suffering and depravity can begin to capture its full measure.
The true toll of ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead. It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams.

The Middle East is rich with natural beauty, vibrant cultures, and massive amounts of historic treasures. It should increasingly become one of the great global centers of commerce and opportunity.

This region should not be a place from which refugees flee, but to which newcomers flock.
Saudi Arabia is home to the holiest sites in one of the world’s great faiths. Each year millions of Muslims come from around the world to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Hajj. In addition to ancient wonders, this country is also home to modern ones—including soaring achievements in architecture.

Egypt was a thriving center of learning and achievement thousands of years before other parts of the world. The wonders of Giza, Luxor and Alexandria are proud monuments to that ancient heritage.

All over the world, people dream of walking through the ruins of Petra in Jordan. Iraq was the cradle of civilization and is a land of natural beauty. And the United Arab Emirates has reached incredible heights with glass and steel, and turned earth and water into spectacular works of art.

The entire region is at the center of the key shipping lanes of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and the Straits of Hormuz. The potential of this region has never been greater. 65 percent of its population is under the age of 30. Like all young men and women, they seek great futures to build, great national projects to join, and a place for their families to call home.

But this untapped potential, this tremendous cause for optimism, is held at bay by bloodshed and terror. There can be no coexistence with this violence. There can be no tolerating it, no accepting it, no excusing it, and no ignoring it.

Every time a terrorist murders an innocent person, and falsely invokes the name of God, it should be an insult to every person of faith.
Terrorists do not worship God, they worship death.

If we do not act against this organized terror, then we know what will happen. Terrorism’s devastation of life will continue to spread. Peaceful societies will become engulfed by violence. And the futures of many generations will be sadly squandered.

If we do not stand in uniform condemnation of this killing—then not only will we be judged by our people, not only will we be judged by history, but we will be judged by God.

This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations.
This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it.
This is a battle between Good and Evil.
When we see the scenes of destruction in the wake of terror, we see no signs that those murdered were Jewish or Christian, Shia or Sunni. When we look upon the streams of innocent blood soaked into the ancient ground, we cannot see the faith or sect or tribe of the victims – we see only that they were Children of God whose deaths are an insult to all that is holy.

But we can only overcome this evil if the forces of good are united and strong – and if everyone in this room does their fair share and fulfills their part of the burden.
Terrorism has spread across the world. But the path to peace begins right here, on this ancient soil, in this sacred land.
America is prepared to stand with you – in pursuit of shared interests and common security.

But the nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them. The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries, and for their children.

It is a choice between two futures – and it is a choice America CANNOT make for you.
A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and extremists. Drive. Them. Out. 

DRIVE THEM OUT of your places of worship.
DRIVE THEM OUT of your communities.
DRIVE THEM OUT of your holy land, and
DRIVE THEM OUT OF THIS EARTH.

For our part, America is committed to adjusting our strategies to meet evolving threats and new facts. We will discard those strategies that have not worked—and will apply new approaches informed by experience and judgment. We are adopting a Principled Realism, rooted in common values and shared interests.

Our friends will never question our support, and our enemies will never doubt our determination. Our partnerships will advance security through stability, not through radical disruption. We will make decisions based on real-world outcomes – not inflexible ideology. We will be guided by the lessons of experience, not the confines of rigid thinking. And, wherever possible, we will seek gradual reforms – not sudden intervention.
We must seek partners, not perfection—and to make allies of all who share our goals.
Above all, America seeks peace – not war.
Muslim nations must be willing to take on the burden, if we are going to defeat terrorism and send its wicked ideology into oblivion.
The first task in this joint effort is for your nations to deny all territory to the foot soldiers of evil. Every country in the region has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil.

Many are already making significant contributions to regional security: Jordanian pilots are crucial partners against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and a regional coalition have taken strong action against Houthi militants in Yemen. The Lebanese Army is hunting ISIS operatives who try to infiltrate their territory. Emirati troops are supporting our Afghan partners. In Mosul, American troops are supporting Kurds, Sunnis and Shias fighting together for their homeland. Qatar, which hosts the U.S. Central Command, is a crucial strategic partner. Our longstanding partnership with Kuwait and Bahrain continue to enhance security in the region. And courageous Afghan soldiers are making tremendous sacrifices in the fight against the Taliban, and others, in the fight for their country.

As we deny terrorist organizations control of territory and populations, we must also strip them of their access to funds. We must cut off the financial channels that let ISIS sell oil, let extremists pay their fighters, and help terrorists smuggle their reinforcements.

I am proud to announce that the nations here today will be signing an agreement to prevent the financing of terrorism, called the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center – co-chaired by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and joined by every member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is another historic step in a day that will be long remembered.

I also applaud the Gulf Cooperation Council for blocking funders from using their countries as a financial base for terror, and designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization last year. Saudi Arabia also joined us this week in placing sanctions on one of the most senior leaders of Hezbollah.

Of course, there is still much work to do.

That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires. And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians.

Religious leaders must make this absolutely clear: Barbarism will deliver you no glory – piety to evil will bring you no dignity. If you choose the path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief, and YOUR SOUL WILL BE CONDEMNED.

And political leaders must speak out to affirm the same idea: heroes don’t kill innocents; they save them. Many nations here today have taken important steps to raise up that message. Saudi Arabia’s Vision for 2030 is an important and encouraging statement of tolerance, respect, empowering women, and economic development.

The United Arab Emirates has also engaged in the battle for hearts and souls—and with the U.S., launched a center to counter the online spread of hate. Bahrain too is working to undermine recruitment and radicalism.
I also applaud Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon for their role in hosting refugees. The surge of migrants and refugees leaving the Middle East depletes the human capital needed to build stable societies and economies. Instead of depriving this region of so much human potential, Middle Eastern countries can give young people hope for a brighter future in their home nations and regions.

That means promoting the aspirations and dreams of all citizens who seek a better life – including women, children, and followers of all faiths. Numerous Arab and Islamic scholars have eloquently argued that protecting equality strengthens Arab and Muslim communities.

For many centuries the Middle East has been home to Christians, Muslims and Jews living side-by-side. We must practice tolerance and respect for each other once again—and make this region a place where every man and woman, no matter their faith or ethnicity, can enjoy a life of dignity and hope.

In that spirit, after concluding my visit in Riyadh, I will travel to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and then to the Vatican – visiting many of the holiest places in the three Abrahamic Faiths. If these three faiths can join together in cooperation, then peace in this world is possible – including peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I will be meeting with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Starving terrorists of their territory, their funding, and the false allure of their craven ideology, will be the basis for defeating them.
But no discussion of stamping out this threat would be complete without mentioning the government that gives terrorists all three—safe harbor, financial backing, and the social standing needed for recruitment. It is a regime that is responsible for so much instability in the region. I am speaking of course of Iran.
From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms, and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region. For decades, Iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror.

It is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of Israel, death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this room.

Among Iran’s most tragic and destabilizing interventions have been in Syria. Bolstered by Iran, Assad has committed unspeakable crimes, and the United States has taken firm action in response to the use of banned chemical weapons by the Assad Regime – launching 59 tomahawk missiles at the Syrian air base from where that murderous attack originated.

Responsible nations must work together to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria, eradicate ISIS, and restore stability to the region. The Iranian regime’s longest-suffering victims are its own people. Iran has a rich history and culture, but the people of Iran have endured hardship and despair under their leaders’ reckless pursuit of conflict and terror.

Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran, deny it funding for terrorism, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they deserve.
The decisions we make will affect countless lives.

King Salman, I thank you for the creation of this great moment in history, and for your massive investment in America, its industry and its jobs. I also thank you for investing in the future of this part of the world.

This fertile region has all the ingredients for extraordinary success – a rich history and culture, a young and vibrant people, a thriving spirit of enterprise. But you can only unlock this future if the citizens of the Middle East are freed from extremism, terror and violence.
We in this room are the leaders of our peoples. They look to us for answers, and for action. And when we look back at their faces, behind every pair of eyes is a soul that yearns for justice.

Today, billions of faces are now looking at us, waiting for us to act on the great question of our time.

Will we be indifferent in the presence of evil? Will we protect our citizens from its violent ideology? Will we let its venom spread through our societies? Will we let it destroy the most holy sites on earth? If we do not confront this deadly terror, we know what the future will bring—more suffering and despair. But if we act—if we leave this magnificent room unified and determined to do what it takes to destroy the terror that threatens the world—then there is no limit to the great future our citizens will have.

The birthplace of civilization is waiting to begin a new renaissance. Just imagine what tomorrow could bring.

Glorious wonders of science, art, medicine and commerce to inspire humankind. Great cities built on the ruins of shattered towns. New jobs and industries that will lift up millions of people. Parents who no longer worry for their children, families who no longer mourn for their loved ones, and the faithful who finally worship without fear.

These are the blessings of prosperity and peace. These are the desires that burn with a righteous flame in every human heart. And these are the just demands of our beloved peoples.

I ask you to join me, to join together, to work together, and to FIGHT together— BECAUSE UNITED, WE WILL NOT FAIL.

Thank you. God Bless You. God Bless Your Countries. And God Bless the United States of America.

Trump Unconstitutional Ban on Islamist Honor Killings

com/2017/05/hawaii-trump-honor

Every Student Succeeds

Bill

Iceland Leftist Poisons Robert Spencer

/icelandic-leftist-poisons-robert-spencer-robert-spencer

Democrats & Muslims Oppose Female Genital Mutilation Legislation

democrats-muslim-legislators-oppose-fgm-legislation

Times Square Vehicular Attack

2017/05/times-square-vehicular-attack

No Bow Trump, Women, No Hijab, Shake Hands with Women, and Jews Greet Saudi Dictator

unlike-obama-trump-doesnt-bow-saudi-king

Donald-Trump-lands-Saudi-Arabia-big-foreign-trip

Dealing with the Police

Tips

Harvard Reveals Huge Bias Against the President

culture-wars/harvard-study-reveals-huge-extent-of-anti-trump-media-bias

Georgetown University Islamist

/muslim-convert-georgetown

Ronald Reagan A Soldiers Pledge Listen Learn Remember, 3:31

Pledge

I Fought for You, 4:14

Active Shooter Training

Fight

Jack Welch on Trump Impeachment

/jack-welch-impeachment-of-trump-would-blow-the-market-away

Frank Sinatra, That's Life, 1966

Frank

High School Administration Shuts Down Ben Shapiro

Shut

FBI: Obama Tried to Rig Election

government-corruption/bombshell-nyt-report-fbi-believed-obama-was-rigging-u-s-election

Gay Activists Stop Capitalism on Catholic Campus

chick-fil-a-banned-on-another-catholic-college-campus-after-lgbtq-group-rejects-plan

Ernst & Young Religious Diversity Training

news-ey-launches-religious-literacy-training-program-for-organizations

Immigration: Tucker vs. Univision

Immigration

Western Washington University Snowflake Sees Trump & Jesus

Snowflake

Economic Theory and the Mediterranean

Theory and Mediterranean

Happy Mothers Day!

Day

Ian Hunter, 10 May 2017, The Music Box, Cleveland OH

Truth, The Whole Truth, Nuthin' But the Truth

(Give Me Back My) Wings, Cleveland Rocks

ATWFM

Dandy

ATYD

Long Life/Life/Dudes/Goodnight Irene(Leadbelly Cover)

Ian Hunter, 12 May 2017, Northern Lights Theater, Potawatomi Casino, Milwaukee WI

IWIWYM

New Jersey Promotes Child Marriage

/sharia-nu-gov-christie-vetoes-child-marriage-ban

Portland State University Student Fired Over Critical Islam Video

student-shares-video-critical-islam-gets-fired-college-newspaper

Islamist Violence in Liberia

Violence

Roman Libraries

Inside

Founders vs. Progessives

Overview:

Progressivism represents a radical departure from the Founders’ understanding of the purpose and ends of government. Comparing and contrasting the arguments of the Founders and of the Progressives regarding six key principles of government—the meaning of freedom; the purpose of government arising from the meaning of freedom; the elements of domestic policy; the extent of foreign policy; the centrality of the consent of the governed; and the size and scope of government—shows decisively that Progressivism is not a logical outcome of the Founders’ principles, but rather a conscious rejection of them.

Lecture

Islamization of San Diego Public Schools

angry-dad-calls-out-sand-diego-school-board-islam

Immigration Equals Islamism

/csis.carto.com/builder

Christian Marxists

many-practicing-christians-agree-with-aspects-of-marxism-new-study-reveals

Detroit Muslim Girls Discrimination Against Americans

culture-wars/detroit-school-to-hold-muslim-girls-only-prom

The Future of Education, Rod Murray, The Pulse

• Read on Medium
• Apple Watch
• Apple AirPods
• Ring Doorbell
• Amazon Drone 
• GM - Lyft
• Google Luxotica
• Google Translate
• Coursera Credit Badges
• Ultrahaptics
• Toshiba Customer Service Robot
• The Great A.I. Awakening (Google Machine Learning)

RPP #152: The Future of Education: A Scenario

• Rod illustrates a scenario he wrote as part of a strategic planning process on the future of education at the University of the Sciences.
• The scenario illustrates one future of education. As we all know, technology is increasing at an exponential rate. Self driving cars, facial recognition, virtual-reality, augmented reality and 3D printing are extant today, but will be integrated into everyday life within 5 to 10 years, whether we like it or not. The interesting thing about the scenario is that each one of the technological advances illustrated here can be demonstrated in isolation today. Who knows where we will actually be in 5 to 10 years!

Podcast

Rubber Soul Penis, Beatles

Penis

Anonymous Us

Alana

Dancing Drones

Drones

Islamist Washington, D.C.

2017/05/bullets-marine-race

Las Vegas Islamist

/video-muslim-set-mulitple-synagogues-ablaze-arrested-las-vegas

Obama Surveillance

/obama-administration-underreported-number-of-americans-who-were-unmasked-by-nsa-in-2016

Nebraska Abortion Mill

.operationrescue.org/archives/video-bizarre-pick-up-of-aborted-babies-at-carharts-nebraska-abortion-mill

Middletown, Delaware Islamist Cop Killer

devout-muslims-shot-state-trooper-death-quoting-quran-killing

Islamist Minnesota

/two-arrested-for-weekend-shooting-on-busy-rochester-road

Vikings

Vikings

EMP North Korean Attack

exclusive-congressional-expert-north-korea-prepping-emp-warfare-aimed-u-s-

New York Public Education Sympathize with Islamist Suicide Bombers

/n-y-promoted-covered-up-lesson-plan-teaching-students-to-sympathize-with-islamic-suicide-bombers

Ian Hunter, Boulton Center for Performing Arts, Bayshore, N.Y., 6 May 2017

ATWFM

Life/ATYD/Goodnight Irene

ATYD

Ian Hunter, 7 May 2017, Havana Moon, New Hope, PA

Wings

Ghosts

The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nuthin' But the Truth

AAAB

Just Another Night

Morpheus

Sweet Jane

ATYD

Encore:

ATWFM

Gilded Age

Gilded

Waterloo, 1815

Waterloo

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

1750-1820

Ian Hunter on Tour: 6 May - 30 June 2017

USA:

Sat 06 May 2017 – Boulton Center for Performing Arts, Bay Shore NYSun 07 May 2017 – Havana, New Hope PA Tickets

Wed 10 May 2017 – The Music Box, Cleveland OH Tickets
Sat 13 May 2017 – Park West, Chicago IL Tickets
Mon 15 May 2017 – The Ark, Ann Arbor MI Tickets
Wed 17 May 2017 – Jergel’s Rhythm Grille, Warrendale PA Tickets
Fri 19 May 2017 – The Stone Pony, Asbury Park NJ Tickets
Sat 20 May 2017 – FTC Stage One, Fairfield CT Tickets
Fri 02 Jun 2017 – Infinity Music Hall, Norfolk CT Tickets
Sat 03 Jun 2017 – City Winery, New York NY Tickets
Sun 04 Jun 2017 – City Winery, New York NY Tickets

Scandanavia:

Thu 08 Jun 2017 – Sweden Rock, Solvsborg Sweden Tickets
Fri 09 Jun 2017 – Liseberg Taubescenen, Gothenburg, Sweden Tickets
Sat 10 Jun 2017 – Rjukan Rock Festival, Rjukan Norway Tickets
Sun 11 Jun 2017 – Oslo Konserthus, Oslo, Norway Tickets

UK:

Tue 13 Jun 2017 – Harpenden Public Halls, Harpenden UK Tickets
Wed 14 Jun 2017 – Old Fire Station, Carlisle UK Tickets
Fri 16 Jun 2017 – Waterfront, Norwich UK Tickets
Sat 17 Jun 2017 – Cheese & Grain, Frome UK
Sun 18 Jun 2017 – Arts Centre, Bingley UK
Tue 20 Jun 2017 – Hangar 34, Liverpool UK Tickets
Wed 21 Jun 2017 – Stables, Milton Keynes UK Tickets
Thu 22 Jun 2017 – Welly Club, Hull UK Tickets
Sun 25 Jun 2017 – Town Hall, Birmingham UK Tickets
Mon 26 Jun 2017 – Guild Hall, Preston UK Tickets
Wed 28 Jun 2017 – Student Central (formerly ULU), London UK Tickets
Thu 29 Jun 2017 – Plug, Sheffield UK Tickets
Fri 30 Jun 2017 – Engine Rooms, Southampton UK Tickets

Additions, corrections and further ticket information will be updated in this post.

Islamist University of Iowa

05/iowa-muslim-threat

Islamist Minnesota Crime

muslim-refugees-arrested-olive-garden-shootings-minnesota

Philadelphia Startups

philadelphia-startups-entrepreneur-expo

Orai News

/small_business/Um-A-Microsoft-contest-could-earn-this-Drexel-speech-coaching-start-up

UCLA Bias, Keith Fink

www.campusreform

Cuban Missile Crisis

Crisis

1975 Quiz Trivia

1975

Digital Story Telling Tools

/google-free-tools-digital-storytelling

Ian Hunter: Mick Ronson, Beside Bowie

.regentstreetcinema.com/programme/beside-bowie

Obama Spied on Thousands During Election

obamas-team-sought-nsa-intel-on-thousands-of-americans-during-the-2016-election

Researcher, Optimizer, Visionary

Researcher

Gathers data and information to assist in better designs and decisions.

Are you:       Detail-oriented and structured in all your work efforts.

Can you:      Assess and locate the right information and resources needed to complete a project.

Do you:        Enjoy getting things organized and building routines for consistency.

Researcher	25 %
Optimizer	15 %
Visionary	15 %
Builder	10 %
Mentor	10 %
Educator	10 %
Warrior	10 %
Super Connector.    5%

Optimizer

Assesses, analyzes, and maps out improvements that directly save or make money.

Are you:    Someone people rely on to make sound financial decisions.
Can you:   Assess a business or project and immediately see ways to save or make money.
Do you:     Gain satisfaction from knowing your work makes the business more profitable.

Visionary

Thinks big-picture and conceptualizes ideas to motivate others to action.

Are you:    Capable of shaping a vision for those that can’t see the possibilities.
Can you:   See the end before the beginning. Able to assess from a bird’s eye view.
Do you:     Have a long-term mindset and plot your course accordingly.

Obama Sex and Drugs Biography

Obama-s-sex-drugs-past-laid-bare-new-biography

Under Caesar's Sword, University of Notre Dame

Caesar