The Role & Significance of People and Groups (US)

Paper I: Prescribed Subject 4: Rights and ProtestSubsection: The Role & Significance of Key Individuals and Groups in the US Civil Rights Movement

Paper III: Section 17: Civil Rights and Social Movements in the Americas Post-1945 – Focuses on the Role of MLK, Malcom X, NOI, NAACP, SNCC, CORE, SCLC, Black Panthers/Black Power and government in the Civil Rights Movement

Martin L. King Jr. Martin L. King Jr. first came to notoriety during the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, but he

had been active in Civil Rights before. He was an executive member of the NAACP, though he rejected an offer to lead the local chapter. King’s leadership of the 382-day movement made him a national figure and gave a face to the Civil Rights Movement. Some historians believe he was a compromise candidate for leader of the boycotts. Others say there was no better alternative, since the NAACP didn’t want to get involved and lacked the influence of the church. Following the boycott, he organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) of which he was elected president. The SCLC took their ideals from Christianity, and nonviolence from Gandhi. Some argue King was the most influential civil rights leader up until his assassination in 1968.

King was active in many protests and actions from 1954 to 1965. He worked, spoke and marched for Civil Rights in Albany Georgia, Birmingham Alabama, Washington D.C, and Selma Mississippi. King spoke over 2,500 times wherever there was injustice, protest of action. He wrote five books, was assaulted at least four times and arrested over 20 times. He is also well-known for his writings, such as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the “I Have a Dream” speech. Both were made public in 1963.

In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King responded to an editorial written by eight White Alabama Clergymen who criticized King’s actions and methods for protesting in Birmingham. They accused King of being an outsider and for challenging the new “moderate” city administration. King was arrested along with hundreds of other protestors, but King was placed in a solitary cell. He wrote his response in newspaper margins and on scraps of paper he found. His reply explained the movement’s philosophy and tactics. They articulated the conditions living under Jim Crow South and the ethical reasons behind their choice to protest it.

King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is probably his most famous. It was delivered in August, 1963 at the March on Washington. It was the first time many White Americans had heard him speak. His cadences and techniques, which were common in African American Churches, charismatically explained injustice while supporting faith and a call for justice. The end of the speech pointed to a goal of racial, religious and ethnic integration in a harmonious America.

As a civil rights leader, King developed contacts within the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. In 1960, Kennedy called King’s wife to express his concern for her husband (who was in jail). Robert Kennedy used his influence to secure King’s release on bail. While Kennedy was annoyed at Civil Rights, it was King’s leadership that was key in their increased support for a Civil Rights Act. When Johnson became president, King worked on developing a relationship with him too, despite people’s doubts about his support for civil rights. Johnson proved to be a better ally, except their relationship weakened when King spoke out against the

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Vietnam War. About 60% of African Americans felt his stance on Vietnam hurt the Civil Rights movement for alienating Johnson. He said, “I was politically unwise, but morally wise.”

King’s reliance on non-violence won him praise from some and ire from others. SNCC began to criticize his support of gradualism and expanding his activism beyond Civil Rights (anti-Vietnam war). Younger SNCC activists questioned his courage when he twice refused to join their Freedom Rides. Organizers in Albany thought he would arrive in a city after all of the hard work of organizing had been done, bring attention to the protest, and then return to Atlanta. The organizers would be left to deal with the ramification of his participation. Others argued his national celebrity caused news to focus on him, rather than on the issues he was promoting. Malcolm X called King’s March on Washington a “farce” and was critical of King’s integrated society.

As soon as King gained fame from Montgomery, some controversies began. King’s colleagues felt he was taking too many bows and enjoying them. He was accused of forgetting that the victory had been the result of collective thought and action. However, King stated, “I just happened to be there…If M.L. King had never been born, this movement would have taken place…there comes a time when time itself is ready for change.” When King stated the boycott signaled the emergence of “the new Negro”, NAACP leader Roy Wilkin disagreed:

“The Negro of 1956 who stands on his own two feet is not a new Negro; he is the grandson or the great grandson of the men who hated slavery. By his own hands, through his own struggles, in his own organized groups – of churches, fraternal societies, the NAACP and others—he has fought his way to the place where he now stands.”

Historians ViewpointsHarvard Sitkoff: Despite good intentions, King had little success in desegregating the North,

alleviating the misery of the impoverished or promoting world peace.Clayborne Carson: If King had never lived, the black struggle would have followed a course of

development similar to the one it did.Mark Stacey: King led by example, showing courage and stamina in the face of assaults, prison

and threats of assassination. He was a superb communicator and promoted the redemptive power of love, suffering and forgiveness.

Vivienne Sanders: King successfully orchestrated Birmingham, masterminded Selma, manipulated white violence for publicity and sympathy and changed tactics from litigation to mass protest. However, he was considered by some to be an “Uncle Tom”, and failed at Albany, Chicago, the Meredith March and the Poor People’s Campaign.

Ella Baker: The Movement made Martin, rather than Martin making the MovementSteven Lawson: The fate of the civil rights movement depended on communities and national

organizations…The federal government made racial reform possible, but Blacks in the South made it necessary.

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Malcolm X & the Nation of Islam

While the focus thus far has been on the civil rights in the South, Malcolm X is significant because he focused on the deplorable conditions of African Americans in the urban North. His childhood memories of growing up with racism, threats and violence against his family, the breakup of his family and his siblings going to different homes impacted his views of American society. Like many civil rights leaders who came to be active through their faith, so too did Malcolm X when he joined the Nation of Islam during his time in prison for armed robbery.

Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, preached racial solidarity and superiority among African Americans. African Americans were God’s chosen people who would triumph with

Allah’s help. Muhammad taught that discipline and economic self-reliance were critical. African Americans should become more highly educated and practice small-scale community capitalism. They should own local businesses and patronize only black-owned stores. Abstinence from vice was also critical. This message appealed to many African Americans in the Northern ghettos like in Detroit, Chicago and New York. The Civil Rights Movement had focused on the South and desegregation, but there was little change in the North. Unemployment was high, housing and schools were run down and overcrowded. Jim Crow may not have been in place, but Whites still dominated political and economic institutions that denied African Americans opportunities.

In 1952, Malcolm X became the editor of the Messenger, the Nation of Islam's publication. Malcolm X was witty and articulate and appealed to the desperation of urban Blacks. He began in Chicago and later moved to Harlem in 1954. He attracted thousands to the Nation of Islam. He gave impassioned speeches and promoted self-reliance and faith. He defined White Americans as the enemy. Malcolm's charisma made the Nation of Islam a household name, ad membership grew to 50,000. It was common for new converts to change their last name, their “slave surname” to X to represent the lost name of their African ancestors. This made many White Americans (and some middle/upper class Black Americans) nervous.

Mainstream media wrote stories on Malcolm X as he belittled civil rights leaders goals of integration. He called integration fantasy, stating, “These Negroes aren’t asking for any nation--they’re trying to crawl back on the plantation.” He supported Black Nationalism. White society was corrupt and corrupted everything it touched. African Americans needed to control their own education, politics and economy. In his speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” he explained that Black Nationalism “only means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community...that we will have to carry on a program, a political program of re-education...make us more politically conscious, politically mature.”

This message also got support from Northern African Americans who were not NOI members. His forceful advocacy of African Americans led to the rise of Black Power that celebrated African heritage and supported solidarity against a society that worked to keep them weak and divided. The FBI worked hard to cause fragmentation across various civil rights groups. There was substantial opposition to Malcolm X from other civil rights groups. They felt

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his inflammatory speeches and interviews attracted disproportionate media coverage, diverting attention away from critical issues. They accused him of not promoting any viable solutions.

In 1964, Malcolm X went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He returned to the US a Sunni Muslims and changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. He ceased promoting the inherent evilness of White Americans, but still strongly condemned pervasive racism within the US. He was kicked out of the Nation of Islam. He promoted Pan-Africanism. He criticized capitalism, and advocated Black Nationalism and praised Black entrepreneurism. He favored self-defense rather than turn the other check in response to violence. He continued to support that African Americans were justified in using any means necessary to defend themselves if the government was incapable or unwilling to protect them. When the ballot didn’t work, when they weren't allowed to participate in the democracy, the bullet would have to be the alternative. He claimed, “This country can become involved in a revolution that won’t take bloodshed. All she has to do is give the black man in this country everything that’s due him, everything.”

Malcolm X spent a majority of 1964 trying to establish relations with Civil Rights Leaders. He formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) that promoted cooperation and militancy voicing support for any group that was active and still promoted action over discussion. When Martin > King was imprisoned, Malcolm visited Coretta King to offer support. His activism was cut short on February 21st 1965, when Malcolm X was assassinated giving a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. He brought a greater awareness to all Americans of the grievances and frustrations of African Americans in the North.

The NOI’s relations with the Black Power movement was ambivalent. They both favored separatism, cultural revival and self-help. Elijah Mohammad’s dismissive attitude towards non-Muslim African culture alienated many Black Power activists. He hated “jungle styles” like afro hairstyles or African-style clothes. Even so, most Black Power activists revered him and NOI as the forerunners of Black Nationalism.

Some of the Nation’s solution to black problems (return to Africa or create a separate Black state in the South) were unrealistic. The NOI exasperated divisions between blacks and whites and among blacks themselves. The NOI described King as an “Uncle Tom” who humiliatingly begged for access to a white-dominated world, while King described the NOI as a “hate group.” However, they did attract and inspire Northern blacks and instilled self-confidence, and emphasis on racial pride and economic self-help. They created many businesses and symbolized black success.

Malcolm X wanted to improve the lives of black Americans. His main methods were to advertise and encourage critical thinking on race problems. Many accused him of encouraging racial violence and hatred. Jackie Robinson pointed out that while King and other put their lives on the line in places like Birmingham, Malcolm stayed in safer places, such as Harlem. Many accused him of being irresponsible and negative. He never established long lasting organizations like the NAACP or SCLC. However, early on, he drew attention to the awful conditions in the Northern ghettos. He brought US blacks in contact with oppressed black people throughout the world. He became a role model for youths who could relate to his feelings of rejections and his search for identity in his Autobiography of Malcolm X. He made Black Nationalism appealing to an angry generation and inspired new leaders like Stokely Carmichael and Floyd McKissick (CORE).

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Similarities between King and Malcolm X

While these two leaders are obviously different, they also share some similarities. Both became leaders from a desire to make life better for black people. Both were religious leaders and had great charisma and oratorical skills. Both believed in the power of community and organizations, preaching and print. Both had their philosophies change. Martin L. King became increasingly socialist and focused on economic equality (“You show me a capitalist and I’ll show you a bloodsucker”), while Malcolm X, after his pilgrimage to Mecca, and became less antagonistic towards Whites. Neither could solve the problems of the Northern ghettos. Both were controversial in their own ways and in the end, both were assassinated.

President Lyndon B. Johnson

Prior to becoming President, Johnson was not an active supporter of civil rights. He was a White Texan who had been Senate Majority Leader and was an expert at manipulating Congress. He could be very crude and was known to have used racial labels. He wasn’t necessarily against civil rights, however while in Congress he played politics to gain favor so as to use it later. His father was against the KKK and one of his early jobs was as a teacher in a mostly Hispanic school. Lyndon had a sense of wanting to work for the less impoverished.

He became president when Kennedy’s Civil Rights Bill had been stalled in Congress. The focus of the government was on foreign policy:

The Cold War, arms race, space race and Vietnam. Johnson was concerned with domestic issues of poverty and civil rights. In his State of the Union address he called for a War on Poverty that would put civil rights a key component. He stated:

Let me make one principle of this administration abundantly clear: All of these increased opportunities -- in employment, in education, in housing, and in every field -- must be open to Americans of every color. As far as the writ of Federal Law will run, we must abolish not some, but all racial discrimination. For this is not merely an economic issue, or a social, political, or international issue. It is a moral issue, and it must be met by the passage of this session of the bill now pending in the House.

Johnson used his knowledge of how the Senate worked and his political debts owed to him by wavering senators to help the Civil Rights Act pass in 1964. Despite the passage of the CRA, discrimination and unrest persisted in the South and North. Due to rising pressure and violence, Johnson realized more legislation was needed. In February 1965, Martin L. King Jr. met with Johnson to discuss voting legislation. Two weeks later Malcolm X was assassinated. In March, national television displayed the violence at Selma that promoted Johnson to make a speech a week later that culminated four months later in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The urban riots angered Johnson. He was shocked at the perceived “lack of gratitude” shown by the African American community. He thought he deserved praise for pushing through

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the civil rights legislation, which was much more than his predecessors could say. The urban unrest made it clear to the President and Congress that more legislation was needed. Another civil rights bill went to congress in 1966 to ban housing discrimination and jury selection at federal and state levels, but it stagnated. Johnson condemned the violence and sent in troops to Detroit in 1967 to stop the rioting. He passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the “Fair Housing Act” that banned discrimination in the sale or rental of homes and apartments and provided more protection for civil rights workers. It was signed a week after Martin L. King Jr. assassination.

Johnson’s Presidency was key to the passage of major civil rights legislation. Some argue that his support for Civil Rights came late in his life and did not match his private prejudices. However, in his later speeches and he articulated a firm support of equal rights. When it comes down to it, your actions speak louder than words and Johnson’s actions passed the strongest civil rights legislation in a century. He ended his career fighting for the equal opportunity of all Americans and his Great Society was meant for everyone, regardless of race, creed or color. His War on Poverty was meant to uplift the country as a whole. Vietnam, however, killed it.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

The NAACP was instrumental in the fight for African Americans since it was founded in 1909 following a race riot in Springfield, Illinois. It was a racially and religiously integrated organization. Its purpose was to “secure for all people the rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution, which promised an end to slavery, the equal protection of the law, and universal adult male suffrage” (women did not get the right to vote until 1919).

The NAACP quickly grew and focused attention on lynching. By the end of WWII there were nearly 500,000 members with chapters across the Northern cities and some sprouting up in the South. The NAACP created the strategy of lobbying for civil rights legislation to end discrimination. This strategy saw success that culminated in the Brown v. Board decision in 1954.

During the post-civil right era, the NAACP continued to support education in its Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF). The NAACP led the battle for enforcement of civil rights legislation and lobbied congress and senators to pass legislation. Even as other civil rights groups emerged, the NAACP continued to work and organize. Its members provided bail for freedom Riders and they were subjected to violence as well during voter rights activities. The NAACP was also a primary organizer of the March on Washington for jobs and freedom. They also joined the Council of Federated Organizations that was a leader in the Freedom Summer.

Towards the end, the NAACP became seen as a “cautious” organization, which shows the shift in activism of the civil rights movement. Less than a decade before they had been seen as the “risk takers”.

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Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The SCLC was critical to the Civil Rights movement as it led and co-led numerous campaigns since its inception in 1957. Its primary strategy was nonviolence and supported other civil rights groups as well. Like the NAACP, they were accused of being too cautious towards the end of the 1960’s. Their members were often at the front of protests, even if the organization was sometimes reluctant. Their churches provided a sanctuary and its leaders used their charisma and courage to build the movement.

The origin of the SCLC grew out of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and the role of African American ministers. Reverends Ralph Abernathy, and Martin L. King Jr. along with 60 other activists met in Atlanta, Georgia in 1957. Their purpose was strongly tied to religious duty. As stated in their press release, “This conference is called because we have no moral choice before God, but to delve deeper into the struggle and to do so with greater reliance on non-violence and with greater unity, coordination, sharing and Christian understanding.” It was suggested the Montgomery movement be expanded to several cities in the South, leading to the formation of the SCLC.

The charter member agreed to coordinate affiliated local organizations rather than direct a single, large group. SCLC membership was open to all races, religions, and backgrounds. As the bus boycott taught them, a strategy of nonviolent mass action was necessary. They were active in various ways, and considered training leaders as a primary responsibility. They trained thousands of activists in Christian nonviolence across the South. Together with the American Missionary Association, they operated a training and citizenship school in Midway, Georgia. It was where the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama campaign was planned. The SCLC also filed class action lawsuits against state and local governments for maintaining segregated facilities. The SCLC organized numbers voter registration drives and boycotts of businesses that didn’t hire African Americans. They also coordinated Operation Breadbasket in Atlanta in 1962 to combat poverty through job creation, echoing Malcolm X’s call for economic self-reliance.

The SCLC joined other groups as well and coordinated protests and voter registration. They also played an important role in the March on Washington and Selma to Montgomery March. They also pushed to desegregate schools. The SCLC had a northern campaign the Chicago Freedom Movement, where they placed pressure on state and federal politicians to assist people in living in poverty with the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Their influence waned after Martin L. King Jr.’s assassination. They, like the NAACP, were criticized towards the end for their unwavering support for nonviolence.

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & CORE

SNCC was a grassroots organization established in 1960 during the college student lunch counter sit-ins. They became the leading force for voter registration in the rural South that had not been focused on by other major civil rights groups. SNCC leaders put themselves in danger in areas of KKK strongholds. In areas where violent suppression of African Americans was the norm and had been so since Reconstruction. Unlike cities, that were easily accessible to the national news agencies, the rural South was out of the spotlight, and didn’t help then in

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the Deep South’s Black Belt, where African American made up the majority of the population, but were dominated by White supremacists.

Under the leadership of James Lawson and Marion Barry, SNCC dedicated itself to the philosophy on nonviolent, direct action within the Beloved Community. SNCC combined with CORE to organize the Freedom Rides. Under Diane Nash’s leadership, the rides continued even after violence stopped the first one and federal pressure came. The courage of the Freedom Riders motivated other students to join SNCC.

SNCC’s primary focus in the early 60’s was voter registration. Bob Moses went to the Black Belt in Mississippi and became the director of SNCC’s Freedom Summer project. Volunteers lived in those communities and faced continual violence. They overcame the resident’s fears of outsiders by listening to them, taking their advice and following local customs. African Americans who offered a bed or meal often faced economic and physical attacks, including death. SNCC worked with COFO to organize and participate in Freedom Summer and led to the creation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party.

SNCC was also involved in urban fights, such as in the Albany Movement to end discrimination in transportation and public facilities. SNCC also participated in the March on Washington. Their leader, John Lewis was scheduled to speak and was highly critical of Kennedy’s weak efforts to support civil rights. Lewis had been beaten in the first Freedom Ride, and had been arrested several times for the movement. His speech reflected his objections and he was asked to tone it down by A. Philip Randolph. Lewis stated that the government was

“dominated by politicians who build their careers on immoral compromises and ally themselves with open forms of political, economic, and social exploitation...African Americans do not want to be free gradually, We want our freedom and we want it now...African Americans needed to stay in the streets of every city, every village, and every hamlet of this nation until the unfinished revolution of 1776 is complete.”

SNCC continued to work, but as White supremacist violence continued, many became disillusioned with the creed of nonviolence. James Meredith's March Against Fear in 1966 exhibited this when Stokely Carmichael, a veteran of civil rights and Freedom Rides, decided he had had enough of being beaten and arrested. He gave his first “Black Power” speech and that same year SNCC began to exclude White students. Within a year, SNCC had expelled White students from the organization and used nonviolence as a strategy, NOT an organizational philosophy. In 1968, the “N” in

SNCC changed from “Nonviolent” to “National.” Carmichael was replaced with an even more militant Henry “Rap” Brown. He advocated armed self-defense and urged a black audience in Cambridge, Maryland. to take over white-owned stores in the ghettos with violence if necessary. There was a race riot soon afterwards. Within two years the organization ceased to exist and merged with the Black Panther Party in 1968.

CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) went down a similar path. In 1965, Floyd McKissick was elected to replace James Farmer’s leadership. In 1966, CORE endorsed Black

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Power and declared nonviolence inappropriate if Black people needed to defend themselves. In 1967, they excised the word “multiracial” from their constitution. In 1968, whites were excluded from their membership.

The Nation of Islam

The NOI had charismatic speakers like Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. They emphasized Africanism, African Identity, racial separation, economic self-reliance, self-governance and righteous living as understood through Islam. It was founded by Wallace Fard (aka Fard Muhammad) of Detroit in 1930. Fard was a travelling fabric salesman who combined Black Nationalism with an unorthodox interpretation of Islam. Then, in one of History's Mysteries, Fard disappeared, and in 1934 Elijah Muhammad took over the NOI’s leadership. The NOI believes there is no God but Allah, and that Fard Muhammad was a messiah. They believe that

the Black race had lived in paradise until Yacub, an evil scientist, created the “White Devil” who would rule the earth for 6,000 years.

The NOI was created to prepare and educate African Americans (Original People) for the struggle to take back the Earth and make it a peaceful paradise again. Under Elijah Muhammad’s leadership the NOI founded private schools to educate young African Americans in its teachings, since they believed public schools in the North (and the South) were designed to preserve White supremacy, not educate African Americans. Often these schools were harassed by police. The Fruit of Islam (FOI) was created to protect schools and mosques. Muhammad travelled to various northern cities and established NOI mosques there. Followers also visited prisons to spread their faith. It was in prison that Malcolm X became a follower.

The NOI’s rise in popularity coincides with Malcolm X’s time as a minster and spokesperson. Their membership rose from 1,000 in 1952 to 300,000 by 1964. The Olympic boxer, Cassius Clay converted and became Muhammad Ali. The NOI’s teaching struck a chord with African Americans during an intense period of white-on-black violence. Their focus on racial segregation as necessary for freedom and economic self-sufficiency differed greatly from the other civil rights organizations previously discussed. The lack of government support and opportunities gave credibility to their message of the “White Devil” and the advocacy of self-defense and dismissal of the Beloved Community.

The NOI differed from other civil rights groups too in that they did not run campaigns to gain voting rights or integrate facilities. They focused instead on growth, recruitment and spreading their doctrine. Louis Farrakhan joined the organization in 1955. In 1959, Farrakhan was shown preaching at Mosque No7 in New York in a television special, The Hate that Hate Produced. It showed Farrakhan condemning White Americans:

I charge the white man with being the greatest liar on earth! I charge the white man, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, with being the greatest murderer on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest peace-breaker on earth...I charge the white man with being the greatest deceiver on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest troublemaker on

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earth. So therefore, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you, bring back a verdict of guilty as charged!

This message was not well received by White liberals who supported the civil rights movement. It was seen as a front to the integration measures of NAACP, CORE, SNCC, and CORE.

Malcolm X spoke eloquently for African American separatism as well as belittling integrationist civil rights leaders. The following excerpt from his speech, “The Black Revolution” is a good example of this:

God wants us to separate ourselves from this wicked white race here in America because this American House of Bondage is number one on God’s list for divine destruction today. He warns us to remember Noah never taught integration. Noah taught separation; Moses never taught integration. Moses taught separation. The innocent must always be given a chance to separate themselves from the guilty before the guilty are executed. No one is more innocent than the poor, blind American so-called Negro who has been led astray by blind Negro leaders, and no one on earth is more guilty than the blue-eyed white man who has used his control and influence over the Negro leader to lead the rest of our people astray.

I must point out that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad says a desegregated theater, a desegregated lunch counter won’t solve our problem. Better jobs won’t even solve our problems. An integrated cup of coffee isn’t sufficient pay for four hundred years of slave labor. He also says that a better job, a better job in the white man’s industry or economy is, at best, only a temporary solution. He says that he only lasting and permanent solution is complete separation on some land that we can call our own.

The civil rights leaders and groups accused the NOI of being all talk and no action. Malcolm X even commented on this when he wrote, “It can be heard increasingly in Negro communities: ‘Those Muslims talk tough, but they never do anything, unless somebody bothers Muslims.” Civil Action was not part of Elijah Muhammad’s stance. The Nation of Islam was a religious organization, not a civil rights group.

So if the NOI was not a civil Rights group, how were they significant? Their message of African American separatism and nationalism became more popular in the late 60’s - early 70’s. The assassination of Martin L. King Jr. and the continuing violence led many to question the goal of integration. The Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party promoted self-defense and Black Nationalism and African Self-Reliance.

Rise of Black PowerDuring the “Long Hot Summers” of 1964-68, US ghettos erupted into race riots. The first

major riot was In Watts, which resulted in 34 deaths, 1,000 injuries, 3,500 arrested and over $40 million in damages to mostly white-owned businesses. There were 238 other race riots in over 200 cities from 1964 to 1968. Nearly every major US city outside of the South had a riot. These riots led to over 250 deaths, mostly from police shootings.

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Due to the mass violence, the federal government investigated the causes of such events and came up with the Kerner Commission. It emphasized the social and economic deprivation in the ghettos, which had poor housing, schools and housing with high unemployment. It stated the violence was triggered by black reaction to what were perceived as oppressive police policies and indifferent white politicians. The Kerner Report recommended increased expenditure on ghettos, however most whites were unwilling to finance the improvements.

During the Cold War, sympathy for the poor was equated with sympathy for communists. This is a weak argument for why Whites were unwilling to help the ghettos. The main reason was self-interest. Black entry into white neighborhoods would cause property prices to drop and black schoo lchildren might damage employment prospects of white children. White voters didn’t want to pay extra taxes to end ghetto poverty, especially after the tax increases due to the Vietnam War. Federal, state and local governments didn’t want to bear the burden of improving the ghettos. Whites began to see blacks as “seeking handouts”, while blacks viewed whites as uninterested and unsympathetic. Thus, it’s not surprising that the Black Power movement emerged out of the impoverished ghettos.

In 1964, CORE established Freedom Houses in ghettos to provide information and advice on education, employment, health and housing. The National Urban League (NUL) launched a program to develop economic self-help strategies in 1968 and Nixon gave them $28 million in 1971. It was never enough. People felt the NAACP and SCLC didn’t understand ghetto life and were not much help. Younger black activists rejected Martin L. King’s strategies and mockingly called him “de great lawd”.

Definitions of Black PowerThe phrase “Black Power” first became popular during the Meredith March when Stokely

Carmichael shouted it in Greenwood, Mississippi. It meant different things to different people. For some, it meant black supremacy. In 1968, Elijah Muhammad said, “Black power means the black people will rule the white people on earth as the white people have ruled the black people for the past six thousand years.”

In Detroit, Black car workers believed it meant black working-class revolution. They united in a Black Power union, the League of Revolutionary Workers. It contributed to the militancy of black auto workers and led to the employment of more black foremen before it imploded in 1971.

Older civil rights leaders were more hostile to Black Power. NAACP leader, Roy Wilkins felt Black Power supporters were racist and no better than the Ku Klux Klan. Martin L. King said, “When you put black and power together, it sounds like you are trying to say black domination.” When people persisted in using it, King tried to give it a more positive spin, (one whites would not feel threatened by). He said, “The Negro is in dire need of a sense of dignity and a sense of pride, and I think black power is an attempt to develop pride. And there is no doubt about the need for power—he can’t get into mainstream of society without it…Black Power means instilling within the Negro a sense of belonging and appreciation of heritage, a racial pride…We must never be ashamed of being black.” Floyd McKissick also gave it a positive connotation. He stated, “Black Power is not hatred and did not mean black supremacy, did not mean exclusion of whites from the Negro revolution (though CORE did exclude whites

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in 1968) and did not mean advocacy of violence and riots, but political power, economic power, and a new self-image for Negroes.”

Republican Nathan Wright claimed Black Power meant economic power. He proposed a Black Power Capitalist movement and organized numerous conferences and won the support of the SCLC and NUL. In 1968, Richard Nixon said it meant “more black ownership, for from this can flow the rest – black pride, jobs, opportunity…” Black Power meant everything to everybody. Blacks frequently adopted Afro hair styles and African clothes. Black college students successfully agitated for the introduction of black studies programs.

Black PanthersIn 1966 the Black Panther Party for Self-

Defense was established in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. They were greatly influenced by Malcolm X and communist revolutionaries like Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. The Black Panthers aimed to be involved in a global non-white working class struggle. They forged liberation movements in Africa, Asia and South America. They also aligned themselves with other radical groups like the Brown Berets and Puerto Rican and

Chinese American radicals. They adopted a para military uniform with berets and black leather jackets.

The Black Panther Manifesto included the following aims:

● Payment of compensation for slavery to Black Americans by the federal government

● Freedom for incarcerated Blacks, who should be jailed only if tried by a black jury

● Exemption of Blacks from military service

● A United Nations supervised referendum of Black Americans for the purpose of

determining the will of Black people as to their national destiny.

● Less police brutality

● Improvements in ghetto living conditions

Newton’s biographer, Hugh Pearson, claimed that the Black Panthers were “little more than a temporary media phenomenon”. They never had more than 5,000 members but had 30 chapters in the West and North. They won a great deal of respect based on their emphasis on self-help. They set up ghetto clinics to advise on health, welfare, and legal rights. In 1970, a Free Breakfast Program was set up that served over 1,700 meals weekly to the poor.

The Black Panthers aimed to expose police brutality and harassment. Armed Panthers followed police cars in the ghetto to expose police brutality, citing their 2nd amendment rights.

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Huey Newton & Bobby Seales

The Role & Significance of People and Groups (US)

This led to some shoot outs, but also a decrease in the incidents of police brutality. It didn’t take long for California to change its gun laws so that Black Panthers were unable to carry weapons. In May 1967, Black Panthers surrounded and entered the California State Capital Building. They the legislature of considering repressive legislation. Some plotted to blow up major department stores in New York City, according to an FBI infiltrator.

The Black Panther’s main objective was to protect the Black Community. They initiated many positive programs to achieve this. One of the more successful ones was a Free Breakfast Program to feed school children. The success of the program spread nationwide and showed the inadequacies of the federal government. The Black Panthers also setup free health clinics. They championed health as a human right and attributed poor health to poverty. Through their work, they helped discover more information about Sickle Cell Anemia, a disease that is more prevalent in African Americans. Even with these good works, the federal government still targeted them.

The FBI monitored them closely. In 1968 during an FBI raid on Fred Hampton’s apartment, he was shot at 4:45 AM. NAACP leader, Roy Wilkins declared the killing illegal. Hampton’s family brought a case against the city, state and federal governments, and were eventually awarded $1.85 million. In 1991 and 2004, Chicago City Council approved the celebration of Fred Hampton Day. In 2006, Chicago police officers voiced objections to a proposal that a Chicago street be named after Hampton. Opinions on Fred Hampton differ, some see him as a trouble maker, and others view him as a peacemaker of Chicago gangs.

Nixon sustained an effective pursuit against Black Power leaders. Many Black Panthers had prison records. Eldridge Cleaver (the Number 3 man in charge) had been released from prison in 1966, for time as a serial rapist. He justified his crimes as a righteous rebellion against “white man’s law” in the form of “defiling his women”. (He later said he no longer felt that way.) Some Black Panthers engaged in petty crime, sought confrontation with and in some cases advocated killing police. These people were often kicked out of the party though, because it wasn’t what they originally stood for. By 1970, most of the Black Panther leadership was either killed, imprisoned or exiled.

The Black Power Movement was always ill-defined and poorly organized. Supporters had different ideas as to what it meant and as the years went on, divisions became more pronounced. Inn 1967, SNCC was divided between black separatists and social revolutionaries who favored multiracial co-operation in the struggle against poverty. While Black Power was a motivating and inspirational idea, it never produced a successful blueprint for change. The talk of violence and social equality brought down the wrath of the federal government (Cold War fears). White liberals had supported funding for much of the civil rights movement, which went away as the Black Power Movement began to look more antagonistic and violent. As organizations became more militant and expelled whites, funding dwindled. The Cold War also didn’t help, as many were targeted as communists for their Marxists beliefs and deemed a threat to the nation. Indeed, many did receive aid from communist countries like China and Vietnam and some radical African regimes.

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SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 8 Fred Hampton

The Role & Significance of People and Groups (US)

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