Introduction
The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements started in the United States of America in the 1960s. These movements involved protests by Black people who opposed the unfair treatment they had received from white people since the abolition of slavery. Various Black freedom movements had emerged; however, Black people were not satisfied. To the core leaders in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, the end of racial segregation did not mean freedom. Attending the same learning institutions as white people or eating together in a restaurant was not total freedom while Black people continued to live in extreme poverty. As a result, civil rights activists regarded this development as insufficient because discrimination against poor Black people continued in the United States of America. It was because of this difference of opinion that civil rights activists separated into two groups: those advocating violence as a means of liberating Black people and those believing that the best way to bring about desired change in the lives of Black people were through peaceful negotiations [1].
The Civil Rights Movement The Non-Violent Approach
Large African-American populations were concentrated in the South between the 1950s and 1960s. In these southern states, racial inequality was widespread [2]. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision had not stipulated a specific time limit. Educational segregation continued into the 1960s. This was an overwhelming economic and social obstacle for African Americans. Young Black people were motivated to gain liberty. Black people in America had fought for civil rights since Emancipation, but their concerns were not fully recognized until the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education brought the plight of African Americans to the attention of the nation as well as the world. The Civil Rights Movement started as an organized fight for the civil and basic human rights of every citizen in the United States of America. This movement developed into a mass popular movement. It included both white and African-American participants. It was composed of local, small, and nationwide organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) [3].
Social and Cultural Dimensions
These movements were mainly rooted in religion. Meetings were often conducted in Black churches in the southern states. The Civil Rights Movement was a non-violent movement. It used non-violent protest as well as civil disobedience to attain its objectives. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the popular Civil Rights Movement leaders. King was greatly inspired by Gandhi’s non-violent struggle. Gandhi used non-violent struggle to help attain India’s independence from British colonial rule. An early example of this form of non-violent protest was the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott. This illustrated that Black people had a right to freedom of movement and fair treatment in society. The boycott followed Rosa Parks’s arrest. Rosa was arrested after she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on the bus [4].
Arguments and Counterarguments
In 1960, the SNCC was formed in North Carolina in response to the Greensboro sit-ins. At this time, Black students went to a lunch counter at Woolworths and requested to be served food. They were refused service and ordered to leave. However, these students remained seated until the establishment closed [5]. This action resulted in similar sit-ins across the southern states. This illustrated that Black Americans had the right to use various restaurants in the country. The discrimination they faced needed to come to an end.
The 1961 Freedom Rides were protests against segregation in public transportation. Public-transport segregation existed even though it had previously been declared unconstitutional. In these protests, six white people and seven African Americans boarded buses in Washington. Black participants were severely attacked and subjected to violence, and some were jailed. However, the actions motivated new Freedom Rides at bus stations, train stations, and airports across the southern states. [6].
Background and Context
The SCLC and Martin Luther King Jr. organized a huge rally in Birmingham, Alabama. This rally included sit-ins, a march of more than a thousand high-school students, and various boycotts. The march of the high-school students was called the Children’s Crusade. The peaceful movement reached a peak later that summer. The SNCC was very instrumental in defending the rights of African Americans through peaceful means. The bus rides illustrated that they had a right to freedom of movement. Some of these rides did not end well; however, their main objective was not to fight or elicit violence. They displayed the pride that Black people had in their lives. At the end of 1963, they organized a freedom ballot. This highlighted the various forms of discrimination African Americans faced when it came to voting in the nation. During this period, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) joined forces. This integrated movement organized a massive march in Washington [7].
Effects and Implications
The main objective of this massive march was to influence Congress to adopt President Kennedy’s Civil Rights Bill. Over 200,000 people, both white and Black, assembled at the Lincoln Memorial. At this gathering, Martin Luther King presented his legendary speech, “I Have a Dream.” Martin Luther King’s speech became a nationally recognized text. It portrayed the difficulties and troubles that the organizers faced in moving forward. It was a complicated task to bring together religious and labor groups as well as civil rights leaders. As the name of the march implied, various compromises were made for the groups to come together. The “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” illustrated and emphasized the integrated purpose of the march and the objective that every leader had at that moment. The organizational leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, initially called the Big Six, included Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer, John Lewis, Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, and Philip Randolph. Although these people came from various backgrounds and had different political interests, they strongly emphasized that the march had to be peaceful and non-violent.
Key Challenges
The Civil Rights Movement made numerous achievements. First, the judicial victory in Brown v. Board of Education nullified the “separate but equal” legal doctrine. It made segregation legally prohibited in the nation’s public schools. Second, the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, which prohibited discrimination in various public accommodations and employment practices. Third, the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act restored voting protections to people without racial discrimination. Finally, the 1968 Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in the rental or sale of housing. Therefore, the Civil Rights Movement was able to achieve many of its goals using non-violent methods. These achievements aided African Americans in gaining fairer treatment in the nation. Rights that white people had enjoyed were also extended to Black people. This enabled Black people to use public accommodations, among other facilities. At the same time, employment practices were more fairly regulated in the nation. The movement not only advanced fair treatment for African Americans but also challenged segregation laws that had justified discrimination in the nation. [8].
The public supported this movement. The Civil Rights Movement gained massive support from both white and Black people. They joined the movement because it used non-violent methods to address the problems that African Americans were experiencing in their daily lives.
The Black Power Movement The Violent Approach
While peaceful civil rights activists labored to bring about vital legislation such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, numerous activists were highly dissatisfied with the slowness of this progress. In the same way that the Civil Rights Movement was working toward ending racial inequalities, the Black Power Movement had similar objectives. The primary distinction between the two movements was that some elements of the Black Power Movement were prepared to use violent means to attain their objectives [9].
The proponents of the Black Power Movement did not belong to one group. They subdivided themselves into two primary groups. These groups included the nationalists and the pluralists. The pluralists included people who believed in the integration of all people and in all of them living peacefully together. On the other hand, the nationalists believed that white people would always dominate and that, to bring the oppression of African Americans to an end, they had to separate themselves from the wider American society. After separating from American society, they sought to form their own society without white people. Many hoped for an African nation within the United States of America. Stokely Carmichael, the man who popularized the phrase “Black Power,” began the movement as a pluralist but ended up as a nationalist. [10].
At the beginning of the 1960s, part of the foundation of Black Power had already been laid. During this period, Malcolm X preached Black separatism as well as Black supremacy. The main idea behind this position was that it was difficult for an African American to advance in a white-dominated society. As a result, African Americans wanted their own institutions, run by Black people themselves. They believed that there could be no revolution without violence. “You don’t have a peaceful revolution. You don’t have a turn-the-cheek revolution. There’s no such thing as a non-violent revolution.” This remained Malcolm’s view until the final year of his life. During that last year, he returned home with a more trusting attitude toward white Americans who were involved in fighting for civil rights after a journey to Mecca [11]. Malcolm X worked not only to change legislation but also to instill greater pride in Black people’s heritage, reflected in the expression “Black is Beautiful.” Malcolm was later assassinated in 1965.
A year after Malcolm X’s assassination, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale created the Black Panther Party. This party became one of the influential groups of the Black Power Movement. Huey and Bobby claimed that all of the non-violent movements had failed. They led various militant actions against the ruling government. The group was based on Maoism, socialism, and Marxism-Leninism. They initiated armed citizen patrols that monitored police activities. They used violence against the ruling government. The group argued that poor individuals of both races needed to unite and fight against rich people in society. This was because, in their view, rich people were the ones controlling the nation’s economy. They believed that a socialist revolution was the only thing that could bring true change. They listed their demands in the Ten-Point Program. The two were ready to use violence to attain their demands. [12]. The Black Panther Party was motivated to work toward achieving better conditions for Black people. It also initiated numerous successful survival programs throughout the nation.
Legal and Policy Considerations
However, the ruling government considered the Black Panther Party a threat to the country’s security. Since many Panther members lacked formal military training, the government, through the COINTELPRO program, worked to undermine the group. Many of its members were killed. For instance, by 1971, numerous Panther officials had fled the United States because of pressure from the police. In 1971, members of the Black Liberation Army killed police officers Rocco Laurie and Gregory Foster at 174 Avenue B in New York City. Therefore, authorities considered militant Black Power groups a threat to national security.
At the peak of the Black Panther Party movement, it had thousands of supporters and members. However, by the end of the 1980s, its formal membership had declined sharply. Nonetheless, remaining activists continued struggling for various civil rights in public life. This contributed to a greater understanding of the distinctions and inequalities between the two races. However, the movement also resulted in the deaths of many people. White people were excluded from some Black Power organizations. These organizations sought freedom from interference or influence by white people. However, this confrontational approach induced various dialogues that had an impact on achieving fairer treatment of Black people in the United States of America [15].
It is evident that violence alone cannot bring civil rights. The Black Power Movement involved violent activities. These activities alone did not lead to the fair treatment of Black people in the United States of America. However, they led to various forms of damage in the nation as well as deaths. Many people were killed as a result of violent conflict. The police also responded negatively to these groups. Also, this approach achieved less public support. Many people did not join it, probably because they feared violent acts. At the same time, it is important to note that even non-violent acts can be fruitless, especially in cases where oppressors and abusers are not willing to listen to the other party. It is common in many parts of the world for oppressors to resist moves to guarantee the oppressed their rights. The same pattern can be seen in American history. From this argument, we can conclude that, in some situations, violence may trigger a response. However, violence alone cannot deliver civil rights. The most that violence may do is necessitate dialogue and other non-violent approaches. When an abuser or oppressor feels threatened, they may compromise their views and positions. Dialogue can then follow, and the oppressed may eventually gain greater liberty. However, violence should not be the first step taken, as the Civil Rights Movement demonstrated that non-violent approaches can be effective in attaining the civil rights of minority groups in society.
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