Chapter 2: What does Maya Angelou mean when she says, "History, despite its wrenching pain/Cannot be unlived, and if faced/With courage, need not be lived again"? 

Do you agree with her? yes no

Here are some of the ways people have faced the past instead of sweeping it out of sight. Which ways, if any, do you think should be used in the United States? (check those ways you think would work).

Teaching about the "wrenching pain" of history in classrooms

Building museums that tell the story of the past from different points of view

Paying some kind of reparations (compensation) to people whose ancestors had been enslaved or whose ancestral lands had been stolen.  (Reparations are not always cash payments.  For instance, they could take the form of scholarships.)

Setting up a commission (like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa after apartheid ended) to try to deal honestly with the past 

None of the above

the Framers wanted to give slave holders benefits without angering people who opposed slavery

the Framers always intended that slavery should eventually be abolished so they didn't want the word in the Constitution

other

right

If you think it should be a privilege, should the following be able to vote?

Citizens who have been in trouble with the law.

Citizens who never graduated from high school.

Citizens who cannot speak English.

If you think it should be a right, should the following be able to vote?

Citizens who are in prison.

Citizens who are under the age of 18.

Non citizens who have lived in the country at least five years. 

Do you think voting should be required of all citizens of voting age?

Yes

No

the right to equal pay for equal work

the right to form and to join trade unions

the right to rest and leisure

the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being

the right to education

none of the above

Do you agree with him that "liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one's thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist"? 

yes

no

Do you think it would be possible to maintain a system in which some types of liberty are preserved  – such as the right to a fair trial and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures – but expression is strictly censored?

yes

no

Do you think immigrants generally appear in a positive light in the media?

yes

no

Do you think immigrants who are white are treated differently from immigrants who are not white?

yes

no

(check those that apply)

It was a revolution against the established order

It overthrew a tyranny

It made the states sovereign

It gave the country another chance live up to statement in the Declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal"

Do you think there would have been the need for a Civil Rights Movement?  

yes

no

Would US society today be free of racism and discrimination?

yes

no

true

false

A.) Because we face more threats to our existence

true

false

B.) Because politicians get support through manipulating fear

true

false

C.) Because our system of government makes us vulnerable

true

false

D.) None of the above

They:

were braver than adults

didn't have to worry about being fired from their jobs

had more free time

were more idealistic

were risk takers

liked to miss school

none of the above

too far

not far enough

Would you take a stand for something you believe in if: (check which apply)

you got an in-school detention

you got assigned additional homework

you faced being suspended

you faced being expelled

you would have to miss the prom

you were barred from extracurricular activities

you lost some of your friends

you might get a bad letter of recommendation for college

none of the above

Check those rights which you would be prepared to give up during the "war on terror":

the right to dissent

the right to privacy

the right to be free from government surveillance without suspicion of wrongdoing

the right of terrorist suspects who are US citizens to have access to attorneys and the courts

the right to know what the government is doing in the name of national security 

the right of all people to be free of torture and cruel and unusual punishment

none of the above