Salem State University professor Bethany Jay returns to examine how the actions of free and enslaved African Americans shaped the progress of the Civil War and contributed to emancipation. Join host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., and Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). (This episode originally aired in Jan. 2018.) Visit the new resource page for this episode (2025), which includes essential ideas from the conversation, teaching recommendations and updated resources. A complete transcript is also included. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.
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29:52
Slavery and the Civil War, Part 1
What really caused the Civil War? In this episode, Salem State University Professor Bethany Jay examines the complex role that slavery played in causing the Civil War and outlines ways to teach this history and clarify our understanding of the Confederacy. Join host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., and Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). (This episode originally aired in Jan. 2018.) Visit the new resource page for this episode (2025), which highlights essential ideas from the conversation, teaching recommendations and updated resources. A complete transcript is also included. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the special code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.
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32:44
Why Hard History Matters: Addressing the Legacy of Jim Crow – w/ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries represents New York’s 8th congressional district. Our final episode this season takes us to the U.S. House of Representatives for a conversation between Rep. Jeffries and his brother, our host, Dr. Hasan Jeffries, to discuss the lingering effects of the Jim Crow era—including voter access, prison and policing reform and other enduring injustices—and to discuss the continued relevance of teaching “hard history” as it relates to public policy today. Educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd. You can also receive professional development certificates when you listen to LFJ's other education podcasts—Queer America and The Mind Online! And be sure to visit the enhanced episode transcript for additional classroom resources for teaching about the intersection of sports and race during the Jim Crow era.
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1:19:43
Criminalizing Blackness: Prisons, Police and Jim Crow – w/ Robert T. Chase and Brandon T. Jett
After emancipation, aspects of the legal system were reshaped to maintain control of Black lives and labor. Historian Robert T. Chase outlines the evolution of convict leasing in the prison system. And Historian Brandon T. Jett explores the commercial factors behind the transition from extra-legal lynchings to police enforcement of the color line. We examine the connections between these early practices and the more familiar apparatuses of today’s justice system—from policing to penitentiaries. Learning for Justice has great tools for teaching about criminal justice during Jim Crow and after, like this article “Teaching About Mass Incarceration: From Conversation to Civic Action”. Here’s the song “Jody” that Dr. Chase describes using in the classroom (from Bruce Jackson’s Wake Up Dead Man). To learn how coerced labor evolves after Jim Crow, you can read his book, We Are Not Slaves: State Violence, Coerced Labor, and Prisoners' Rights in Postwar America. Check out Lynching in LaBelle, an amazing digital history project that Dr. Jett created with his students. And to learn more about the evolution of policing, you can read his book, Race, Crime, and Policing in the Jim Crow South. For even more classroom resources about the history of convict leasing, policing and mass incarceration during the Jim Crow era, be sure to visit the enhanced episode transcript. And educators! Get a professional development certificate for listening to this episode—issued by Learning for Justice. Listen for the code word, then visit learningforjustice.org/podcastpd.
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1:49:05
Music Reconstructed: Lara Downes’ Classical Perspective on Jim Crow – w/ Charles L. Hughes
From concertos to operas, Black composers captured the changes and challenges facing African Americans during Jim Crow. Renowned classical pianist Laura Downes is bringing new appreciation to the works of artists like Florence Price and Scott Joplin. In our final installment of Music Reconstructed, Downes discusses how we can hear the complicated history of this era with historian Charles L. Hughes. And for helpful classroom resources, check out the enhanced full transcript of this episode.
From Learning for Justice and host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., Teaching Hard History brings us the crucial history we should have learned through the voices of leading scholars and educators. The series, which includes four seasons that originally aired from 2018 to 2022, begins with the long and brutal legacy of slavery and reaches through the victories of and violent responses to the Civil Rights Movement and Black Americans’ experiences during the Jim Crow era to the issues we face today.
Join us as we relaunch this podcast series, highlighting an episode each week and including a new resource page with key points from the conversation, resources and connections for building learning experiences.
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