Quan Tran

APUSH

18 June 2012

APUSH Summer AssignmentPart II

Currently, the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East has been going on for over a year, involving protests, strikes, civil disobedience and in extreme occasions, armed conflict, such as Syria and Libya. People have been protesting against their governments because of the current economic situation and the repression that has been put forth by the dictatorial regimes ruling those countries. These events in the Middle East can be compared to the Revolutions of 1989, as people from Eastern Europe were upset at their governments as well, and demanded change from their governments. From the way information was spread, to the repression that was put in place as well as being inspired from previous events, the Revolutions of 1989 and the Arab Spring share many similarities. The way that the 1989 revolutions took place can be compared to what is happening in the Middle East in the past year. Although there has not been a definitive ending to the Arab Spring, Eastern Europe could be used as a guide to what might happen. After the democratic revolutions in the former Eastern bloc, capitalism replaced the planned economy, dictatorial regimes were toppled, better integration among European nations.

One thing that links the two series of events together is how nations that were affected by either the Arab Spring or the 1989 Revolutions were run. During both revolutions, there was an economic factor to both revolutions, as they took place during worldwide recessions. Despite there being a planned economy in the communist countries, the Soviet Union, the major communist power, was affected by the recession, and as many of the communist countries depended on the Soviets for support, their governments and economies were hampered as well. To add on to economic problems facing countries in both revolutions, the way that they repressed opposition and Although there is a stark difference in governance, as Eastern Europe faced communism and Arabs facing dictatorial regimes with religious backing, the way that their respective governments dealt with opposition are quite similar. Whether it was jailing journalists, activists or opposition members, the respective regimes ruled their country with an iron fist, striking fear to people who wanted to overthrow their governments. People in those countries have for decades and decades have faced a lot of oppression

Another way that the Arab Spring and the 1989 revolutions are linked is through how news was spread. Information on what was going on in different countries spread pretty fast, due to the many media outlets available at the time. Al-Jazerra, a credible news source according to many people across the Arab world, was used, and still being used to help spread news about protests that were happening across the whole region, whether it was in Egypt or Tunisia. Although Eastern Europeans didnt have anything equivalent to Al-Jazerra at the time, they were able to pick up Western European broadcasts, which helped relay information about what was going on in each country. News on the Tiananmen protests in China was broadcast by Western European countries, which inspired some in the East to rise up against their communist regimes. This was especially evident in East Germany, as they could pick up West German signals, and could see what was happening across other communist countries that their state broadcasters would not show, as not to destabilise their own country. With the news being spread about protests across the Arab World and Eastern Europe, people felt inspired by these events to stand up against their governments to demand change.

Lastly, both events were inspired by events in one country, which was spread through the news. In the case of the 1989 Revolutions, the Tiananmen protests in Peking/Beijing, China. Although the protests did not change how the Chinese government worked, and they were later repressed by the PLA, the images and television coverage on Tiananmen resonated with the Eastern Europeans, as they had the same system of governance, which was communism. The protests in Tiananmen influenced ordinary people in Eastern Europe to protest against their governments. In the case of the Arab Spring, a Tunisian man, Muhammad Bouazizi, lit himself on fire because of police harassment and taking away his fruit cart because of a revoked licence. This event inspired other protests in other parts of Tunisia, and eventually leads to the resignation of Tunisian president Zine Ben Ali in Jan 2011. The images from Tunisia inspired other protests in other Arab countries, including in Egypt

Now despite many similarities between 1989 and the Arab Spring, some would say that there are more differences between the two events than similarities. For one, in 1989, there was a central figure, the Soviet Union, which people were protesting against its influence in Eastern Bloc politics. Unlike 1989, there is not a real central power figure equivalent to the Soviet Union that is in the Middle East. In addition, there is not a western equivalent country that people could escape to in the Middle East, unlike Europe, which had West and East Germany, in which the latter escaped to democratic West Germany. Although these differences are significant factors that differentiate between 1989 and the Arab Spring, people in both regions protested against similar problems. Whether it was due to economics or in the way that they were governed, the way that the 1989 revolutions took place can be compared to what is happening in the Middle East in the past year. The reasons why people protested in 1989, such as the economic state, as well as oppression by dictatorial governments at that time, really helped me understand why Arabs were protesting against their governments due to the many similarities between the 2 movements.

Part III

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

b. Invisible Man is about a nameless narrator that tells about his life in the North and South during the 1930s, when America was reeling from the Depression, and when White Americans were still biased towards Black Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, despite the North being much freer for Blacks. In addition, Blacks still lived a harsh life and were discriminated based on who they were. One of the key elements of the book, as previously stated, is racism. Racism back in the 1930s was still a major issue affecting many African-Americans during this time. Despite being freed from slavery and given some rights by the US Government, blacks were still segregated in the former Confederate South. Racism still persisted up North, but to a much smaller extent, despite not being segregated like the south. The racism that existed during the 1930s prevented blacks from developing an individual identity, making them compliant to the wishes of whites, who ultimately took control of their lives, not allowing blacks to establish a strong, separate identity.

Leading from that, blindness is another key element of Invisible Man, as it is seen throughout the book, from people not seeing who people are on the inside and how people cant actually see anything beyond one factor, which is race primarily throughout this book. It doesnt matter if they do anything to help or seem nice, the first thing people back during Jim Crow usually noticed first was race. Due to the many years of slavery and segregation that followed, people of coloured skin were often seen as less worthy than people of white or light skin, and this view was a major part of why there was so much racism in the early 20th century in the US, especially in the South, since most slaves were slaves in the South, since they were needed for picking cotton and other things.

c. The thesis in the book Invisible Man is how the narrator went through self-development throughout the novel, and what he ended up , which is implied, but not just put out there. The events that he goes through the novel are major points that affect the narrator in his life as it changes his perception of the world around him. One example is right in the beginning of the book, when he is involved in a battle royal with other black youths fighting over fake gold coins, after delivering the graduation speech at his high school. That traumatising event eventually lead him to gain a scholarship to a prestigious Southern university. Then after everything was over, he had started to develop a belief that obedience will help him gain respect and praise, which it kind of did at the beginning.

Leading in from the last point presents another example, which is when he becomes the driver for one of the university trustees, Mr Norton. On this ride, he takes Mr Norton to the slave houses and accidentally gets Mr Norton injured in a bar fight wen he was visiting former slaves. This results our unnamed protagonist being expelled from his university, and has to find work in Harlem. What this does to the protagonist is realise that sometimes, things are better unseen by certain people, and you will have to do anything to prevent it from happening. Also, he also learnt that you cant trust anyone on their word unless they prove it, but that was when he left for Harlem and finding out what were in the letters he was giving.

Going to Harlem then leads to the next example of self-development. as he found out what was actually in the envelopes given to him to give to employers, but given a job in a paint factory. In the factory, the nameless protagonist is tricked into causing an accident by a long-time worker, resulting him into getting brain surgery, altering his life forever. Afterwords, he experiences racism for the first time in Harlem, when a white woman comes out after he throws rubbish into her bins. The lady then proceeds to tell him that she does not want anything to do with him or his race. This event was surprising to him, since he thought the North wasnt like what he just experienced. From all of this, he had developed for himself a better understanding of the somewhat freer North and how he was going to fit in and manage to survive in Harlem.

The fourth example of self-development for the main character is joining the "Brotherhood". After getting brain surgery due to the paint factory accident, he returns to Harlem, and during one winter, he notices some old black people being evicted. He then makes some speech, which lets out all of his feelings and anger about the eviction, which makes people start to put back the goods that were lying in the snow. This event is noticed by the Brotherhood, who asks him to join them and help them with delivering public speeches. Him joining the Brotherhood allows him to develop good and emphatic speeches as well as getting to know more about Northern blacks, allowing him to understand how blacks in the North, though freer than their Southern cousins, still have to fight for rights.

Finally, the last example in Invisible Man is when the narrator encounters Ras the Exhorter. He was told before about him and what he believed in, but never actually met him. Apparently, Ras advocated for a complete overthrow of whites and for blacks to be in charge of America. Eventually, our nameless narrator finally meets Ras after he made a speech, which escalates to Ras apparently trying to stab one of the brothers from the Brotherhood. The narrator then proceeds to knock the knife from Ras and after a quick talk, he flees not stabbing the brother. From this scary episode, he learns that despite the support the Brotherhood has, it still has a lot of work in order to win over more people. This results in him being better to counter attacks verbally about the Brotherhood, as well as finally getting a better understanding of how politics work in Harlem and know more background, giving him a better understanding of where he is.

d. The thesis the author had presented through the book was really eye opening for me, as it showed me a new understanding how people view others in society and how that view changes constantly as they get older. The way that the author transitioned the narrator through major events through his life really got to me, as it was pretty convincing and got me thinking about how I viewed the world. One example of the thesis being convincing to me is when the narrator is being disciplined by Dr Bledsoe at the University for driving one of the trustees of the school, Mr Norton, to where the blacks resided, and getting him knocked out at a bar fight at lucky days. Before, he hadn't known to not take any trustees out there, even if they requested so, but instead, he had developed a growing dislike of Dr Bledsoe after finding out what was actually in the sealed envelopes he was given.

e. Insights I have gained from reading "Invisible Man" are that despite the many developments in government policies, the real work is to affect the general public, as ordinary people hold the key to lasting social change. Our nameless protagonist was doing the same thing while he was in the "Brotherhood", as he needed to make speeches in order to convince ordinary people to support their cause and to have an impact on society. The reason that ordinary people are key in studying history is because they are the majority of people, and can sway the balance of power. Another insight I have gained from reading "Invisible Man" is, although it is constantly repeated, "to learn from our mistakes". When people study history, people constantly see the mistakes of previous people and they don't want that to happen to modern day society. This is clearly evident in "Invisible Man", as racism and prejudice is a major part of this book, which most people do not want to happen again.