Civil Rights & Black Power

Unofficial Unofficial

Segregation Segregation

In the NorthIn the North

Slow Progress

• With the passage of the 1964 & 65 Civil Rights Acts and the 24th amendment added on to the constitution many AA’s expected change but it was slow in coming

• Many minorities still faced economic & social discrimination in the meantime.

Everyone Can’t Be Happy!

• People questioned the nonviolent approach

• Younger leaders rejected ideas of nonviolence & integration

• Anger over continued injustice led to more militant rhetoric and urban riots

Author James Baldwin whowrote movingly of the Black

experience in AmericaThe Fire Next Time

His writings touched all Readers no matter their race!

A Strong Voice of the Civil Rights Movement

“the Negro’s past, of …death and humiliation; fear by day and night; fear as deep as the marrow of the bone; doubt that he was worthy of life, since everyone around him denied it….”

Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin1955

Malcolm X• Outside the

mainstream civil rights movement, more political leaders emerged.

• The most well known during the Civil Rights Era was Malcolm X

• Born Malcolm Little he would later change his name.

He grew up in the ghettos ofDetroit, Boston, & NY. At 20 He was arrested for burglary& while serving a 7 year sentenceHe joined the Nation of IslamNation of Islam.

Black Nationalism• The Nation of IslamThe Nation of Islam, a

group often called Black Muslims, who viewed white society as oppressive & preached black separation and self help

• Founded by Elijah Muhammad

The key to self-knowledge was knowing ones enemy & the enemy for the nation of Islam was white society

Spent 12 years as a minister for the nation & won followers w/his fiery speeches. He spread the idea of black nationalism:black nationalism: a belief in the separate identity and racial unity of African American community.

Opposition to Integration

• Early on Malcolm X disagreed with both the tactics & goals of the early Civil Rights Movement– He called the march on

Washington the “Farce on Washington”

– Because of many strong statements like this tensions grew between Malcolm and his mentor

He ended up leaving the Nation of Islam and formed his own organization, The Muslim Mosque,Inc.

A Change of Heart

• Not soon after the split he makes a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city of Islam

• This pilgrimage changed his views about separatism and hatred of white people– This change would

lead to his assasination but his message of black nationalism would live on. (SNCC)

He wanted to unify the movementBut in February of 1965 his plansWere cut short by a hail of gunfireAt a rally in NY, 3 members of theNation of Islam were charged

Black Power• SNCC leader Stokely

Carmicheal was on of those influenced by Malcolm X

• After being beaten & jailed the group became more militant

• Carry guns for self-defense, to make the group exclusively for blacks– “We shall overrun”

Black Power: Black Power: called onAfrican Americans “to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build on a sense of Community…to define theirOwn goals, to lead their ownOrganizations & support thoseOrganizations”

1968 Olympics

Black Panthers• In the fall of 1966 a new

more militant political party was formed The Black Panthers– Wanted African

Americans to lead their own communities

– Govt. needed to rebuild nation’s ghettos to make up for years of neglect

– “Power flows through a barrel of a gun”

Although they had violentencounters with the police, they also set up communityprograms, daycare centers & free breakfast programs

Bobby Seale & Huey Newton

The Break

• Black power led to a serious split in the civil rights movement

• SNCC and The Black Panthers were considered too radical

• The main problem was that the early movement addressed de jure segregation, racial separation created by law but did not recognize de facto segregation, separation caused by social conditions such as poverty

Realities

• The reality was that segregation took place all over the US

• Residents of ghetto neighborhoods was police officers as dangerous oppressors, not upholders of justice

“Like an occupying soldier in a bitterly hostile country”

– Frustrations boiled over into several riots in several cities

Riots• Anger boiled over

into riots and looting

• 1964 riots– Rochester NY– NY City– New Jersey– *One of the most

violent would take place in LA, the neighborhood of Watts. August 11, 1965

In reaction to a police beating of ayoung African American and outragedcrowd touched off 6 days of rioting

•1000’s filled the streets•Burning cars and stores•Stealing & shooting at firefighters•34 people died & more than a 1000 were injured.

Violence Continued

• The violence spreads“Burn Baby Burn”

• Assassination of King leads to more riots

• A commission was assigned to deal with these issues

• The question of whether real progress was happening still lingered

• Lyndon Johnson asked why?

• Segregation was illegal & thousands of AA’s were now voting

The Legacy of the Movement

• 88% rise in the # of AA elected officials

• AA Mayors and Congressmen were elected

• 1966 the 1st AA was elected to the Texas State Senate, Barbara Jordan

• After being elected to US Congress she noted why the movement was necessary.

“The Civil rights movement called American to look at itself in a giant mirror…Do the black people who were born on this soil, who are American citizens, do the really feel that this is the land of opportunity, the land of the free?…America had to say no.”

• The attempt to change the answer to this question created the Civil Rights Movement.