Read entire assignment, essay must include from three of the required readings and the question asked highlighted

Required Readings

The Dispossession of Native Americans:

Howard Zinn:A People's History of the United States, Chapter 1: Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress (1980/2005)
Slavery:

Howard Zinn:A People's History of the United States, Chapter 2: Drawing the Color Line (1980/2005)

Frederick Douglass: Selections from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845)

Read these chapters: 1, 2, 4, and 7

"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (July 5, 1852)

Robert Hayden: "Runagate Runagate" [note: the speaker in this poem is a runaway slave]

Confronting Segregation and Its Legacy:

Langston Hughes: "I, Too, Sing America" (1932)

"Harlem" ("What happens to a dream deferred?" (1951)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963)

Dudley Randall: "Ballad of Birmingham" (1969)

Malcolm X: "The Ballot or the Bullet" [full audio and text of the speech delivered on April 12, 1964, in Detroit, Michigan]

Shelby Steele: "The Double Bind of Race and Guilt" (2001)

Compose a brief essay of at least 400 words but no more than 600 words (not including your references list) on the following topic, referring to and critiquing relevant ideas from at least three of the above readings as you develop your thoughts:In a conversation, a friend says to you that the reading of the history and literature of race relations in America is no longer necessary since everyone enjoys equal rights and opportunities today. Having immersed yourself in this history and literature this week, would you agree or disagree with your friend, and why?

Write in essay form (that is, in paragraphs, not in bullet points). Write in Arial font, size 14 (chosen from the drop-down menus on the create thread box in the Discussion Board forum), unless otherwise directed by your instructor.

1. Always name the author whose ideas you are discussing (use the author's full name the first time you refer to him/her; after that, identify authors by their last names).

2. Provide in-text citations for all ideas, opinions, and facts derived from the course readings, whether you simply refer to them, paraphrase them (put them entirely into your own words), or quote them. Place the in-text citation at the end of your sentence but before the period that ends your sentence. The in-text citation should give the author's last name (unless you've used it already in your sentence), the year of publication (if known), and the appropriate page number(s) from the reading (if page numbers are used in the online text of the essay). Do not use the title of the reading unless it does not have an author).

Here's an example of a citation for the Thomas Paine reading: (Paine, 1776).

4. Provide a References list at the end of your essay that includes bibliographic references for every reading cited in your essay.

Note: Your references list does not count toward your minimum word count.

Center the word References (do not underline it, place it in quotation marks, or place it in bold or larger size font).

Present your references, listed alphabetically by author's last name.

Follow APA formatting guidelines for your list.