Introspection and Reflection Questions
- What have been your own experiences with race? Your feelings and thoughts about people of other races have probably changed over time as you have matured. In a journal entry, describe those transitions, and your current attitudes about race. Consider, as Obama does, the “halting process by which racial attitudes change”(p.25). What has your process been? What connections can you see between your attitudes and Obama’s?
- On page 19, Obama describes his mother as being, “something of a loner.” What does that mean to you? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a loner? In what ways was Obama’s mother a loner? How is her experience similar to or different from yours? Find examples in the book that support your explanation.
- Think about Gramps, Obama’s father, and the concept of confidence as key to success. Do you think of yourself as a confident person? Why or why not? If you don’t think of yourself as confident, what would you do to develop more confidence? Do you think Gramps took similar steps? Try to provide specific information in the book that supports your analysis.
Suggestions for Essays, Presentations, or Research Projects
- At the bottom of page 11, Obama discusses the term “miscegenation.” As Obama notes, “It wasn’t until 1967…that the Supreme Court of the United States would get around to telling the state of Virginia that its ban on interracial marriages violated the Constitution.” Using the links below, read about this Supreme Court case, Loving v Virginia. Then draw upon what you have learned and write an essay or prepare a presentation in which you respond to these statements: “Everyone should be able to marry whomever he or she wishes. No law should prohibit people of different races from marrying. Similarly, no law should prohibit people of the same sex from marrying.” Do you agree or disagree? Please be sure to explain your position.
- Pages 12-16 present a portrait of Obama’s maternal grandparents, Gramps and Toot. Obama provides details about life in “middle-America,” particularly, the state of Kansas where both of his grandparents grew up in the 1920s and 1930s. What have you learned about his grandparents in these pages? How did their backgrounds affect the way his grandparents think about race?
- Obama returns to a discussion of his parents’ and grandparents’ views on race, mixed marriages, and his own developing identity in pages 17-27. Please pick one of the characters, and write an essay or prepare a presentation in which you tell what you know about that character and his or her attitudes towards race. In your essay, try to explain how and why you think those attitudes were formed. What happened in the life of the character you chose to describe that led him or her to develop certain attitudes about race?
Useful Links for Further Research
Hawaii
http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ig.page&CategoryID=259Kansas
http://www.kshs.org/research/topics/index.htmSupreme Court Case about Miscegenation: Loving v Virginia
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/loving.htmlhttp://lovingday.org/legal-map
Jim Crow
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/remembering/laws.html
