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This article assesses Reacting to the Past , a humanities role-immersion pedagogy that is popular at many colleges and universities in the United States. This pedagogy has been found to have many learning gains compared to traditional face-to-face teaching, but has not been adequately compared to online versions of the course. The findings of the article suggest that while learning gains can be achieved that are comparable to face-to-face versions of the course, student satisfaction was lower. The article concludes not by rejecting the online Reacting to the Past , however, but by suggesting possible ways to incorporate successful elements of it within a blended approach. These findings will be of interest to people interested in this particular pedagogy, but also to those who are interested in the general comparison between online and face-to-face learning and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the historic plight, current status, and future challenges of Blacks in the United States within the contexts of education, housing, employment, poverty, crime and the legal system. It is concluded that the Reagan administration legacy of a "colorblind society", social program cutbacks, and Supreme court appointments dealt a devastating blow to opportunity and progress for Blacks and that the current and future challenges will require a concerted effort, concern and involvement by all sectors of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efforts of Negroes to adjust to their minority status have manifested themselves in many collective endeavors. The present paper proposes to make a beginning toward filling the gap by sketching briefly the origins and functions of fraternal organizations among Negroes. One of them is the secret society. A careful study of the Negro secret society as an institution will throw much light on the processes of acculturation and assimilation. The numerous Negro secret societies in the United States are now and always have been almost exclusively ceremonial, i.e. lodges and fraternal orders. There never has been a Negro secret society which even slightly resembled the Ku Klux Klan. The abortive slave insurrections, even one so carefully planned as Denmark Vesey's, were never made under the banner of a secret society. The first secret society in the United States which emphasized benevolent features was the Odd Fellows. The Odd Fellows merely introduced Negroes to the secrecy feature of benevolent organizations, for people of color had been organizing friendly societies since 1787.