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Jenny Jones
DAlessio
UWRT 1102-006
1 February 2015
Proposal: Race Studies
My group is studying the white and black racial differences in America. Ive chosen to
explore how these issues have changed and improved throughout the past few decades, mostly
during the 1960s to present day. So far I know that throughout the 60s, mostly everything in
America (especially in the south) was segregated so that white and black people were not
together. Movements formed in order to give whites and blacks equal rights. This included being
able to sit wherever they wanted to on the city bus, being able to use the same restrooms and
water fountains, and also merging the school systems in order to bring together both races.
During this time, many riots led to violence and many deaths between both of these races. I
know that in the 1960s, many riots were started over the merging of colored and white schools.
During these riots there were many deaths ad injuries due to the violence. The civil rights
movement was the main event of this decade. Because of this movement, the civil rights act was
passed in 1964. This allowed equal job opportunities, promotions, and firing for all people. This
limited the discrimination in the work field based on race. This act also included that sex,
religion, color, and natural origin could not be discriminated against as well. It also enforced the
right to vote and the desegregation of schools. I also have watched many films on this issue
including The Butler and The Blindside. Both of these films show how racial differences can
impact a families life. Social media also has a big impact in todays society on race issues
because of certain social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Many posts are made on these

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sites in order to bring attention to the racial issues at hand. Today, we still have race issues in our
society. Many people believe in white privilege, which means that white people are still treated
better than black people in general. Another issue in todays society is police brutality amongst
black citizens. I believe that we have improved the issues of race in this country but still have
obstacles to tackle in order to make everyone feel and to be treated equally.
This subject interests me for many reasons. For one, I want to see how we have changed
society over the past few years for the better. I want to know all the details and not just the basic
things that we have learned throughout school. I would like to study the laws that we have
changed in order to make an effort to make things more equal. I also want to study interracial
relationships, (friendships and romantic) since they are so prevalent in todays society. I want to
see how relationships like these have been able to happen, unlike in the 60s. I also want to see
how we can still improve this issue in todays society. It truly bothers me because I do not
understand how someone can judge somebody because of the color of their skin. I also do not
understand why it is taking so long for us to accept people the way they are.
In order to find this information I need to do research. Some important questions I would like to
find answers to are as follows that I expect to find through many different resources:
What laws have changed between the 60s and now regarding race issues?
How can we continue to improve our society and make all things equal?
How has media influenced this issue?
How is this shown in film and literature?
How has film changed and influence society in regards to this issue?
How has peoples behavior changed over the years?

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There are vast amounts of information relating to race issues in the 1960s. I think
narrowing down my information will be the hardest part. I will do this by researching the main
issues and incorporating the details from other issues into the main topics. I think the most
difficult part is going to be able to find what I should make the main topics in this decade
because so many eventful things happened. Social media however can best relate to todays
society because it impacts our everyday lives. I think this part will be easy to narrow down.
Overall, I don't think that I will run out of information to discuss because this is such a broad
topic.