Issue #1: The Wealth Gap
During this period in American history, social life seemed increasingly polarized between those at the top who reaped most of the benefits of economic expansion – and workers struggling to make ends meet earning low wages and living in desperate conditions. Today, wealth continues to be unevenly distributed as a small percentage of Americans live in the “sunshine” while the majority of Americans continue to dwell in the “shadows.”
one_family's_story.doc | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Issue #2: Becoming american
Human beings are social creatures. We all, as individuals, have the need to identify ourselves as a member of a larger group. When the individual is accepted into the group, he or she has been assimilated or absorbed by the group. Assimilation or becoming “American” is also a two-way street, particularly when you're dealing with people. When we join, or are assimilated into a group, we are changed, but so is the group. Ideas, attitudes and beliefs flow back and forth. Group dynamics change. Both the individual and the group have changed. Immigrants and early inhabitants of North America once deemed “outsiders” and “foreigners” shaped and continue to change the face of American society.
the_melting_pot_that_never_was.doc | |
File Size: | 38 kb |
File Type: | doc |
issue #3: womens' rights and freedoms
Traditional gender roles were changed dramatically as women sought out equality and protection for themselves and for their children, and demanded greater liberty, free sexual expression, and reproductive choices. Today, despite the gains achieved during this period in American history, women continue to fight for freedom and equality.
gloria_steinem_at_80.doc | |
File Size: | 47 kb |
File Type: | doc |