Hello, my name is Nathan Zielinski, and for my final presentation, I want to look back on what we accomplished in Freedom class this semester and how much these experiences shaped me as a student. This class was different from anything I’ve taken before because it pushed us to participate in ways that went far beyond typical lectures or worksheets. The EOTOs, the blogs, the discussions, and even the way we used A.I. in the classroom all challenged us to think, communicate, and analyze information in deeper ways.
Live Photo from Brown v. Board
Live Photo from Plessy v. Ferguson
One of the biggest takeaways for me came from the EOTO presentations. Standing in front of the class and teaching a topic ourselves wasn’t just another assignment—it gave us the chance to understand what it feels like to lead the room and take responsibility for the learning environment. It forced me to prepare carefully, speak clearly, and organize information in a way that actually made sense to others. It was uncomfortable at times, but in a good way—the kind of discomfort that helps you grow.
What made it even better was the collaborative aspect. Working with partners and sharing ideas made presenting less stressful and a lot more rewarding. Instead of feeling like I was facing the room alone, I had a team beside me, which boosted my confidence and made the experience more enjoyable. By the time we reached the end of the semester, I realized how much these activities helped me improve—not only as a speaker, but also as a thinker, a writer, and someone who knows how to connect with others in an academic setting.
When we watched In the Heat of the Night for class, what struck me immediately was how clearly the film reveals the reality of racial inequality during the 1960s. It’s one thing to learn in history class that “separate but equal” was never real, but it’s something completely different to watch it unfold through the experience of Virgil Tibbs. His very presence in a Southern police station becomes a challenge to the assumptions of everyone around him. The moment he states he’s a homicide detective, and the officers simply refuse to accept it until they call his department, it says everything about the climate he walks into.
Throughout the movie, Tibbs refuses to let prejudice dictate his professionalism. Instead of reacting with anger or frustration, he pushes back by being excellent at his job. He notices details the local officers overlook, questions conclusions that don’t add up, and confidently corrects mistakes, like the false time-of-death estimate. His intelligence becomes a quiet but powerful form of resistance, and his precision leaves no opening for others to dismiss him.
One of the most interesting developments in the film is the evolving relationship between Tibbs and Chief Gillespie. They begin with almost no trust and plenty of tension, but working on the case slowly forces them to understand each other. Gillespie, while still stubborn and prideful, eventually recognizes Tibbs’s importance. Without Tibbs, the case would have gone nowhere. That shift doesn’t magically erase the racism around them, but it does show how exposure and cooperation can push people to grow.
The movie also highlights how women navigated limited power during that era. Mama Caleba, for instance, had built a small but successful business despite racial and gender barriers. She fought hard for what she had, and it’s clear she didn’t want to risk losing her independence. On the other side of the spectrum is Delores Purdy, who tries to gain control in her life in very different, and sometimes harmful ways. Both women reveal how complicated survival could be, especially for those shut out of traditional power.
By the time the film ends, I was left with mixed emotions. It’s frustrating to see Tibbs constantly doubted and mistreated, even though he proves his abilities over and over again. But there’s also something hopeful in the gradual shift between him and Gillespie, a sign that, not instantly, but slowly, attitudes can change. The movie gives a raw and realistic look at what it meant to be a Black man in the 1960s, navigating a justice system that didn’t value him. Watching it finally plays all the way through gave me a deeper appreciation for the film’s message and the time period it portrays.
EOTO REACTION POST — The Emanuel AME Tragedy and the Unfinished Work of Reconstruction
Remembering the Emanuel AME Tragedy
The 2015 massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church—known as Mother Emanuel—shocked the nation. A young white supremacist murdered nine Black worshippers during Bible study, an act widely recognized as a hate crime. While many viewed the tragedy as an isolated act of violence, a closer look reveals a much deeper truth: this event is part of a long, painful history stretching back to the Civil War and the rise and fall of Reconstruction. To fully understand Mother Emanuel, we must revisit the historical forces that shaped racial violence in America.
Reconstruction: A Moment of Hope and Possibility
NEW ERA of Reconstruction
After the Civil War ended in 1865, the United States entered the era of Reconstruction, a time filled with both possibility and upheaval. As outlined in the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Reconstruction offered newly freed Black Americans opportunities that would have been unimaginable just years earlier. Black men voted, served in the House of Representatives and Senate, and helped rebuild Southern governments. Poor whites and Black laborers sometimes joined together in shared political struggles.
This era raised the question at the heart of postwar America:
Who is a citizen, and what rights does citizenship guarantee?
The Backlash: Fear, Violence, and the Rise of White Supremacy
Reconstruction's progress met fierce resistance. Many white Southerners could not accept formerly enslaved people as equals. This resistance led to violent backlash, including the creation of the Ku Klux Klan in 1866. The Equal Justice Initiative documents how terror—lynchings, assaults, arson—was used to dismantle Black advancement.
President Andrew Johnson, whose lenient policies are detailed in the Miller Center Presidential Archive, pardoned Confederate leaders and returned land that had been promised to freed families. On Edisto Island, as described by historian Eric Foner, freed people were devastated when ordered to give up land they believed symbolized their new freedom.
The failure to redistribute land trapped many Black families in cycles of poverty—conditions explored by the Freedmen’s Bureau Records.
Black Codes, Violence, and the Collapse of Progress
Black Codes
Johnson’s decisions allowed Southern elites to regain political power and implement Black Codes, restrictive laws meant to control Black labor and limit mobility. The National Archives Black Codes exhibit reveals how these laws worked hand-in-hand with terror groups to maintain white supremacy.
Children were not spared. Courts could “apprentice” Black children to white planters—often exposing them to abuse. This system resembled slavery under another name.
By 1867, however, federal intervention briefly revived hope. Under the Reconstruction Acts, the U.S. Army registered Black men to vote. In less than a year, voter registration among Black men rose from under 1% to over 80%. Freed people walked miles to political meetings, read the Constitution aloud, and debated what democracy should mean. The Smithsonian Learning Lab features these remarkable political gatherings.
Mother Emanuel: A Tragedy Rooted in History
The Emanuel Nine
The Emanuel AME shooting is not simply a modern hate crime—it is part of the long arc of racial violence that began when Reconstruction’s promise collapsed. As the Southern Poverty Law Center notes, white supremacist ideology continues to echo the fears and myths born in the 19th century.
Mother Emanuel stands as both a memorial to enduring injustice and a reminder of the courage, resilience, and hope of those who have fought for freedom since emancipation.
Understanding Reconstruction helps us understand Charleston. The past is not past—it shapes the present.
AI Disclosure: This blog post was written using notes from a class from the Reconstruction video. The notes were entered into ChatGPT, which assisted in organizing the information and refining the writing for clarity and academic tone.
The arguments surrounding Brown v. Board of Education remain some of the most powerful ever presented before the U.S. Supreme Court. At the heart of the case was one essential question: Can a nation dedicated to equality continue to defend segregation simply because it has been tradition? As we now know, the Court’s answer reshaped American law and American identity. But understanding the reasoning behind that answer is crucial today, especially as we continue to examine the relationship between history, justice, and progress.
Supporters of segregation insisted that it was not discrimination but a longstanding custom rooted in “separate but equal,” the doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). While it claimed that Black and white students could be divided so long as they received similar resources, decades of history proved otherwise. Black schools were consistently underfunded, overcrowded, and poorly maintained. Students learned from hand-me-down textbooks, sat in cold classrooms, and were denied access to the same academic opportunities available in white schools just blocks away.
These conditions are well documented by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which argued—and the Court ultimately agreed—that separate facilities created a deeply unequal society. In reality, separation was the mechanism of inequality, not a neutral tradition.
When Tradition Becomes an Excuse for Injustice
Throughout American history, harmful systems were often defended by calling them “tradition.” Slavery, disenfranchising women, and Jim Crow laws were all protected under that same logic. But as the Court emphasized, the U.S. Constitution is not a document meant to freeze society in the past—it is meant to guide us toward justice. The 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection of the laws, provides the clearest evidence of this intent. More information on the amendment’s impact can be found through the Civil Rights Digital Library.
A tradition that harms children, restricts opportunity, and sustains racial inequality cannot be justified merely because it is familiar. The purpose of law is not to protect comfort, but to protect rights.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence in Brown v. Board came from psychologists Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clark. Their famous Doll Test revealed that segregation inflicted measurable psychological harm on Black children. When asked which doll was “nice,” “pretty,” or “good,” the majority chose the white doll. Many hesitated or cried when asked which doll looked like them—demonstrating the painful internalization of racial inferiority.
This was not speculation. It was scientific evidence that segregation damaged children’s self-worth and emotional development. As the American Psychological Association explains, this research played a crucial role in proving that segregation violated equal protection not only in physical resources, but in human dignity.
The True Tradition Worth Preserving
While segregationists pointed to tradition, they ignored a far older and more meaningful American tradition: the tradition of education as a pathway to freedom. After the Civil War, formerly enslaved families built schools with their own hands—sometimes with no funding, no support, and the constant threat of violence—because they understood that literacy and learning were essential to opportunity. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture houses powerful exhibits documenting this period.
This tradition—the pursuit of opportunity and equality—is the one worth preserving.
Choosing Justice Over Habit
Civil Rights Timeline
Progress in America has always been uncomfortable. Ending slavery, securing voting rights, integrating the military, and dismantling Jim Crow required courage and conflict. The Teaching Tolerance Civil Rights Timeline shows just how resistant society has often been to change. But each step moved the nation closer to fulfilling its founding promise.
By ruling that separate is inherently unequal, the Supreme Court affirmed that tradition cannot outweigh justice. Segregation was unconstitutional not because it was outdated, but because it violated the basic human rights of every child confined under its system.
Segregation tried to define the future of children by the customs of the past. Brown v. Board of Education chose instead to define that future by the Constitution.
And that choice remains one of the most important moments in America’s long march toward equality.
The civil rights presentations covered a powerful range of events, organizations, and movements that reshaped American history. Listening to each audio clip felt like watching the struggle for equality unfold piece by piece, revealing how deeply resistance, activism, and courage defined the era. From the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan to landmark protests like the Freedom Rides and the March on Washington, each topic added new layers to my understanding of the fight for justice.
KKK Resurgence & Organized Resistance
KKK Took Over Pennsylvania Avenue.
The first presentation described the violent rise of the KKK during the 1960s. Their resurgence was tied to the success of the Civil Rights Movement, which they saw as a threat to the social order. The group used intimidation, propaganda, and even law enforcement infiltration to push back against progress. Learning how these groups operated showed how active and coordinated white supremacist resistance was. More information on this period can be found at the Equal Justice Initiative.
Massive Resistance & State Defiance
The Virginia Massive Resistance movement and Governor George Wallace’s blockade during the University of Alabama Stand in the Schoolhouse Door highlighted how far state governments were willing to go to avoid integration. Despite federal rulings, states passed laws, shut down schools, and physically blocked students like Vivian Malone and James Hood from entering. These events demonstrated the limits of legal victories without federal enforcement. For more context, see Brown v. Board of Education.
Bombing of the 16th Street Church.
Acts of Violence & National Outrage
One of the most emotional sections covered the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Hearing how four young girls were killed during Sunday preparations was heartbreaking. The attack exposed the brutality of racism to the entire country, prompting widespread outrage and eventually leading to delayed—but necessary—justice. The National Museum of African American History & Culture offers deeper insights into this tragedy.
Major Victories: Legislation & Unified Movements
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were key turning points, finally banning discrimination in schools, employment, and voting. Movements like the Greensboro sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott showed how ordinary people created extraordinary change. The March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, symbolized the power of peaceful protest and national unity. More on these laws can be found at the National Archives.
