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Midterm Paper

A. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

The Pruitt-Igoe housing project failure was caused by many underlying issues. As

explained in the documentary The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: An Urban History (2011), direct by Chad

Freidrichs, there was a combination of obstacles that later on lead to the demolition of the

housing projects in 1972. One of the said problems was the architecture of the buildings. If one

tries to search for Pruitt-Igoe online, the images shown reveal its legacy: an imploded building;

broken windows; and vandalized hallways. In line with this, there are three main reasons

which led to the failure of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project: 1) the skip-stop elevators; 2)

cost-cutting measures; and 3) the jail-like design. The St. Louis Housing Authority used the

project to help people out of the slums. However, the St. Louis Housing Project failed to

understand that building new homes with modern architecture does not help low-income families

in the long run.

One contributor to the fall of the architecture in the Pruitt-Igoe housing project was the

skip-stop elevators. The elevators stopped every third floor, forcing the residents to walk the rest

of the way to their apartments, through galleys. The architects wanted to create a sense of

community using the galleys as a neighborhood; however, the galleys became the site of

violence, crime, and vandalism.


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Also, the lack of maintenance in the elevators resulted in their constant breakdown.

People would be stuck in these elevators, which were dark and smelled of urine. The main reason

the elevators smelled of urine was because of the lack of bathrooms on the bottom floors. This

was the result of cost-cutting measures. People needed to wait until they reached their apartments

in order to answer the call of nature.

Meanwhile, the systematic nature of racism is also depicted in the documentary. The

Pruitt-Igoe projects were built with as many units as possible to fit into each building. This

created overcrowding, with around 15,000 tenants in an average of 2,700 unit buildings

(Freidrichs). This made people feel like they were in jail. Further, the people of Pruitt-Igoe were

very isolated from the rest of the world because of the location of the buildings and how they

were built. In essence, there was segregation of the poor from the rest of the community.

Further, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing mirrors the larger history of the United States

because at the end of World War II until 1970, the Federal Housing Authority was willing to

underwrite mortgages up to 80 or 90 percent of a home's value (as qtd. in Chafe 114). Thus,

millions of people were granted the opportunity to own their homes at low rates, without even

having to make a down payment (Chafe 114). Aside from that, the Pruitt-Igoe case reflects how

the US has institutionalized racism. In creating the housing complex for the minorities and the

poor of society, the government perpetrated segregation and continued the discrimination against

the least fortunate members of society. It made sure that those who are less desirable members of

society are confined in certain areas where the majority members would not be able to interact

with them.
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B. Prison Rights Movement

People who are imprisoned should be treated humanely. After all, they are still

members of the community and are accorded with rights enshrined and protected under

the Constitution. In fact, the rights of the inmates are not just enshrined under the Constitution,

but they are also provided in statutes, case laws and regulations. Those who languished in prison

cells during the 1960s and 1970s sought greater rights because ultimately, they wanted to

improve their living conditions (McCarty 185). To note, these prisoners have decided to fight for

their rights because they were inspired by the civil rights and Black power movements during

this era. Hence, they have come to an agreement that if they want their living conditions to

improve, they have to adopt much of the movements ideology, and they have to effect change

by working through the system (McCarty 185).

To note, even before the 1960s, prisoners already undertook efforts to effect change in the

penal system. For one, they protested about their living condition in the prison cell. Also,

convicts faced inhumane treatment and other brutal conditions (McCarty 185). All of these

factors made prisoners realize that even if they committed a grave wrong and violated certain

laws and statutes, they are still human, and they too, have rights which must be respected.

For example, prisoners of Northern Penal institutions have initiated strikes just to improve their

living conditions. Also, in 1964, there was a group of Black Muslim prisoners who have had an

encounter with the prison officials. Such incident happened because the former were deprived of

their rights to worship (McCarty 186). Muslims have to worship five times a day that is why it is

unsurprising that these prisoners have reacted when they were deprived of doing so. In the case
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of Cooper vs. Pate, the court ruled that prisoners are also entitled of their right to a religious

freedom (McCarty 186). Not only that, the court also ruled that the prisoners are not only granted

the right to religious freedom, but they also have other rights which are enshrined and are

protected under the Constitution. Ultimately, this particular case has contributed to the

emergence of the prisoners modern rights movement because it allowed prisoners to file cases

on their own behalf once they are deprived of their fundamental rights.

Further, the prisoners rights movement also paved way for the popularity of jailhouse

lawyers in the 1960s and the 1970s. Jailhouse lawyers were convicts who taught themselves

rudimentary legal skills while imprisoned and helped other prisoners prepare for their post-

conviction petitions (McCarty 186). Relatively, history shows that many prisoners have heavily

relied on these jailhouse lawyers. The latter is allowed to provide for legal assistance in cases

where prison officials fail to give prisoners legal advices. This is the doctrine under the case of

Johnson v. Avery. The victory of the said case enabled jailhouse lawyers to do their tasks and

with the many cases they have handled, they have proved that they too, can win legal victories

for the convicts.

Also, prisoners in California utilized military tactics as they fought for greater rights. In

fact, they organized some of the first large-scale prisoner in work stoppages in the early 1960s

and by the later 1960s, they were shutting down prison operations around the state with the

support from outside activists (McCarty 197). This goes to show that even outside prisons,

activists recognize the rights of inmates. As such, prison officers must also recognize the said

rights.
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Notably, prisoners in Attica State Correctional Facility in New York have also exerted

efforts to improve their living conditions inside the prison cells. In 1970, Black Panthers and

Muslims, radical whites, and Puerto Rican Young Lords, which called their group as the Attica

Liberation Faction, wrote numerous letters addressed to the commissioner of corrections. The

letters did not only serve as a way for inmates to voice out their grievances, but they also served

as their demand for a better living condition. To note, the Attica Liberation Faction have enlisted

29 of their grievances and requested the commissioner that their grievances be addressed.

However, the commissioner only gave promises. When the prisoners felt like that the

commissioners promises are empty, a tension occurred between the prison officers and

prisoners. This riot led to the largest prison riot on September 9, 1971 (McCarty 187-188).

Many prisoners were seized during the riot. However, the prisoners again asked the

commissioner to hear and address their grievances. This time, however, they made their speeches

in front of the media, and the entire nation was able to hear their plea.

Evidently, the prisoners and their rights movements in 1960s and 1970s have had a big

impact in shaping the prison systems in the U.S this very day. Without their movements, the

prison system would have not enhanced. Much more, the government would have not undertaken

actions that would ensure that inmates are treated humanely, and despite that fact that they have

committed a crime, they still have rights which must be respected. Even up to this day,

movements are still made to ensure that prisoners are not only provided with good living good

conditions, but also, they are provided with adequate health care services.
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C. Americas Foreign Policy Over Time

The United States' foreign policy is reflective of its goal to protect and advance the

country's international interests. After the end of World War II, there existed a competition

between the United States and the Soviet Union. This competition depicted which of the two

countries are able to influence other nations. This came to be popularly known as the Cold War

era where the U.S. became the primary force behind democratic ideals while the Soviet Union

promoted communism. Instead of engaging in actual military combat, both sides used other

means in order to keep abreast of each other. They competed in many ways, not only in the

creation of military weapons but also in scientific pursuits. Both sides also engaged in espionage

not only for getting information but also as a way to sabotage each others plans of becoming the

superior country.

The Cold War is considered as the primary engine upon which America created its

foreign policy after the Second World War. Because of the fear that communism may spread

rapidly, US President Harry S. Truman embraced a policy of communist containment (Heineman

73). This policy sought to limit the expansion of the Soviet Union. As such, the foreign policy of

the U.S. fought communism using several strategies, like giving aid to countries that embrace

democratic ideals while giving sanctions to those that are allied to the Soviet Union. In doing so,

America help those countries in Europe which are torn by war to return to prosperity. As a result

of the U.S. Cold War foreign policy around the late 1940s, Democratic liberals were

uncomfortable with the idea that the U.S. has to ally with anti-communist dictators in the
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countrys quest for supremacy (Heineman 72). In essence, foreign policies after the Second

World War until the collapse of the Soviet Union was mainly influenced by the Cold War.

Meanwhile, America, as a community, was on a constant alert because of its fear of

communist takeover in the nation during the Cold War. Americans let that fear get the best of

them. As a result, they started to make accusations and suspected innocent people as communist

spies for the USSR. The Americans also feared nuclear warfare. As such, the country started to

secretly made and developed nuclear warfare. When they tested the warfare in the desert, many

suffered from cancer in that area because of the bombs radiation. Since bombs have a big impact

on postwar relations, America has drastically changed their foreign policy to establish and

maintain it (Chafe 58). The U.S. at this point in time was in a race with the Soviet Union on who

could create the most damaging military weapons. Because of the reality of the nuclear weapons,

both sides exercised constraint. Both sides knew that a nuclear war could spell the end of the two

nations. For decades, the two countries used their nuclear arsenals as a threat and deterrence. It is

common knowledge that each country has trained nuclear weapons against each other so that in

the event that one of them would launch a missile, the other could readily retaliate. This situation

went on for many years.

However, the tension between the two countries continued to mount and the Vietnam

situation in the 1950s became a contest of the two sides. Vietnam became the ground to test

which between the U.S. and Soviet Union was superior. Ideally, the U.S. involvement in Vietnam

was purportedly for humanitarian and democratic purposes. But in reality, America cannot allow

the Soviet Union to gain ground in Southeast Asia. Since foreign policy at this point was to give
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aid to countries resisting Soviet and Chinese expansion, the US involvement in Vietnam was

justified. The US helped one side of Vietnam through the provision of troops, social support, and

economic support. But as the peace movement in the US grew in the 1960s to the 1970s, foreign

policy also had to change (Heineman 73). The country cannot continue its military presence in

Vietnam because of the number of losses and the subsequent protests in the domestic front.

People in the U.S. were clamoring for the government to withdraw from Vietnam so that no more

American lives would be wasted in another nations fight for independence.

To note, the peace protests in the U.S. had impacted the change in foreign policy with

regard to Vietnam. This is because legislators take into consideration the voice of the masses.

Since the masses could not be ignored anymore, then, they had to give in. In the 1970s, President

Nixon introduced the foreign policy of Vietnamization where American soldiers in Vietnam

were replaced with South Vietnamese soldiers. This was to lessen the number of casualties in the

American forces until such time that there was complete pull out of US troops (Heineman 75).

Finally, when the Soviet collapsed in 1991, the ideology of containment was no longer

effective. Hence, this ideology became senseless. In the following decade, the U.S. had to

redefine its foreign policy in order to ensure that the states in America are preserved; peace is

promoted; and the international environment is made secure by balancing the power among

countries across the globe. Americas relationship with its allies is enhanced in order to solve

international problems; and democratic values as well as the protection of entire human rights are

promoted. Essentially, foreign policies were shaped by the countrys desire to promote world

hegemony while ensuring that American interests are protected in different regions of the world.
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Works Cited

Chafe, William Henry. The Unfinished Journey: America since World War II. Oxford

University Press, 2003

Heineman, Kenneth. "Anti-War Activism." Print.

McCarty, Heather. "Prison Rights Activism." Print.

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth. Dir. Chad Freidrichs. Unicorn Stencil, 2011. Film.

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