... this page is part of the Web Site of George North ...
Black Movements and Black Messiahs
Test Final, Brown 1955 to Current
Orginizations
CORE - (Congress on Racial Equality), founded in 1942 with
the goal of achieving change throught nonviolence, with chapters mainly
in the North. In 1955, CORE went north with the Civil Rights Movement. It
focuses on training in nonviolence in th Montgomery Bus Boycott. Using a
new tactic, they use peaceful demonstrations, sit downs or sit ins to try
to force desecration of public places like lunch counters of department
stores. Manly a white orginication, in 1961, James Farmer
was the groups black director. It orginized the first freedom ride to desegregate
interstate transportation. It became involved in voter registration, and
was a cosponsor of the March on Washington. In 1966, a new director took
the movement in the directon of Black separatism and became a primarly a
black orginization.
NAACP - (National Association of Colored People), Since
the NAACP led the fight for desegregation, it would become a special object
of attack. It would be forced out of existence in Alabama for 10 years,
and in many other states (La, 7 years). It was called a subversive origination.
Laws were passed by states making it illegal for state employees to belong
to any organization that supported integration. Fearful of retaliation,
and loss of jobs, blacks had to fall in line. When the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 forced desegration through the US, most of NAACP goals
were met, the movement began to fracture. In the US the strugle between
the haves and have nots got confused with color. The gap between uper and
lower class blacks had gotten greater, more segrated than ever ... Don't
forget, the movement involved small numbers of people ... in 1972, 179 million
people in US, at most .5 million active, 250,000 marched on Washington.
Even small numbers can make big differences.
SCLC - (Southern Christan Leadership Conference), led by
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it was the backbone of the civil rights
movement of the '50's and '60's. It was formed in the wake of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott in 1956. With King's leadership, and following the lead of college
students sit-in starting in 1960, it challanged southern segregation on
many fronts, and was involved in voter registraion drives. SCLC played a
leading role through out the '60's, but lost influence as the movement continued
to younger blacks that rejected the nonviolent tactics.
SNCC - (Student Non-Violence Coordinating Council), concerned
by SCLS was out of touch with young blacks, Ella Baker set up a meeting
that led to SNCC with the goal to look beyond intergration to broader social
change. The groop played a large part in the Freedon Rides and in marches
orginized by SCLC. James Forman, Bob Moses, and Marion Barry
leadership roles help conduct black voter registration drives. Stokely
Carmichael became head of SNCC in 1966 and popularized the term
black power , to characterize the new tactics and goals --
including black self-reliance and the use of violence as a legitimate means
of self-defense. His successor H. Rap Brown went further,
saying "Violence is as American as cherry pie."
MFDP - (Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party),
Black Pathers - party was a militant organization of blacks
founded in Oakland, Calif., in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby G. Seale.
Panther leaders called upon blacks to arm themselves for a struggle against
their oppressors and collected small arsenals. At the same time, the party
provided free breakfasts, financed by donations from local merchants and
wealthy sympathizers, for children in some ghetto areas. It also opened
schools and medical clinics.
Black Moslems - (Nation of Islam) The movement traces its
beginnings to the enigmatic figure of Wallace D. Fard (Wali Farad), known
as "Prophet Fard," "The Great Mahdi" or "The Savior,"
who attracted 8,000 followers in the short period between his appearance
in Detroit in 1930 and his disappearance in June 1934. The movement, with
its present headquarters in Chicago, gained ground significantly under Fard's
successor, Elijah MUHAMMAD, who exercised strong leadership until his death
in 1975. He saw himself as the "prophet and apostle of Allah,"
claiming that God had appeared in the figure of Fard. Preaching an anti-integrationist
message, Elijah Muhammad frequently voiced warnings about "the human
beast . . . the people or race known as the white." He called "every
Black Man in America to be reunited with his own" and urged a sense
of black self-reliance and separation from the white society, even economically.
One of the best-known Black Muslim ministers during this period was MALCOLM
X, converted while he was in prison in 1947, who broke with the movement
in March 1964 and was assassinated 11 months later.
Events
Civil Rights Movement, The lesson of Brown
is we have the ability to change socity without waiting for government support.
Even after the Supreme Court declared that public school segregation
was unconstitutional, black activism was necessary to compel th efederal
givernment to implement the decision and extend it principles to all areas
of public life rather than simply in schools. The movement now moves into
a new phase, not just in the courts. One organization, CORE (Congress on
Racial Equality), focuses on desegregation of public facilities mostly in
northern cities where segregation is not prohibited by law, just in forced
by custom. Using a new tactic, they use peaceful demonstrations, sit downs
or sit ins to try to force desecration of public places like lunch counters
of department stores. Rosa Parks refused to give up her
seat to a white bus rider, was arrested and jailed. The Montgomery
Bus Boycott of 1956 was started would bring into existence another
new organization, SCLS (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
, headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott lasted
more than a year, demonstrating the unity and determination of black residents
and inspring blacks everywhere. King emerged as the boycott movement's most
effective leaeder. He possessed unique conciliatory and oratorical skills,
and understood the larger significance of the boycott and quickly realized
that the nonviolent tactics of Mahatma Gandhi could be used by southern
blacks.
As
in Montgomery, little known individuals woudl initiate most subsequent black
movembnts. In 1960, four freshmen at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical
College began a wave of studen sit-ins designed to end segregation at southern
lunch counters. These protests spread rapidly throughtout the South and
led to the founding of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coorinating Committee)
( Julia Bond) .
In 1963, with the first tel-star satellite in place, movement begins to
crystallize. Sheriff Mo Conner uses great force, riot gear,
fire hoses, in trying to put down demonstrations. King decides to use children,
and pictures of this are broad cast round the world ... network news programs
use expanded telecasts ... pictures of 8 and 10 year old kids being brutalized
... George Wallace blacking door of Old Miss, moves many to call for action.
1963 produced more violence, more lynchings, church bombing ... Subsequent
mass demonstrations in many communitites culminated in a march on August
28, 1963 (March on Washington ), where 250,000 protesters
participated ... King delivered his "I have a dream" speech. These
and other actions finally prompts President Kennedy to push for passage
of new civil rights legislation. It would pass after his death and be known
as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Events surrounding the Selma to Montgomery
march for voting rights would led to Congress passage of the Voting RIghts
Act of 1965, which greatly increased the number of southern black able to
register to vote. But it would be the last major racial protest of the '60's
to receive substaitial white support. Despite his success, however, King
faced critism, especially form northern Blacks. Malcolm X's message of self-defense
and black nationalism expresed the anger on urban blacks more effectively
than did King's moderation.
In
1966, tring to take his movement north, King was physically assaulted in
Chicago. most of NAACP goals were met, the movement began to fracture. In
the US the strugle between the haves and have nots got confused with color.
The gap between uper and lower class blacks had gotten greater, more segregated
than ever ... Don't forget, the movement involved small numbers of people
... in 1972, 179 million people in US, at most .5 million active, 250,000
marched on Washington. Even small numbers can make big differences. The
'64 Civil Rights Act did not cost the country anything, and was the high
point of the Civil Rights Movement. Fracture in movement would begin to
lessen its effectivness. The effects for the majority of Blacks, poor and
getting poorer, was felt little ... without financial means, desegragation
ment that blacks were no longer legalally bared from many public places,
but they still could not afford to go to them. When we got to the
door, things fell apart.
In
1968, King laments that the unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement
is the unfinished American Agenda... affecting the whole society ... needs
to solved for everyone. King became a leader concerned with the problems
affecting all people. With his complain turning into a "Poor people's
campaign", makes King a dangerous person. Granting civil rights didn't
cost anything, solving problems of poor is a completely different matter.
J. Edgar Hoover intensified his efforts to discredit King and King's public
criticism of the Vietnam War. This also soured his relations with the Johnson
administration.
1965
... What happened to the Civil Rights Movement. Pres. Johnson, in campaigning
in '64 announced his "Great Society ". Eliminate
poverty ... the War on Poverty ... poverty won, because
it never was completely implemented. Some elements were Head Start
(home start) to catch at risk students before they entered school. Never
fully funded, too much money used at top, little in actually helping people
it was intended for. Food Stamps and Medicare
, both proposed by Kennedy, was originally targeted at poor whites. Controlled
by the states, mushroomed out of control as more and more benefits were
added. Medicare was intended to help lower middle class who did not have
health insurance. Model Cities was money to help revitalize
cities and communities, played by much fraud and abuse. In this,
the Federal Government finally came out in favor of intervening on side
of underprivileged ... help insure equal oppurtunity and insure results.
A
major reason for the success of the Civil Rights Movement was that churches
would join in its support, and that support was critical. A side effect
of this was that members began to demand more and more control of their
church, and accomondations would have to be made.
Daniel
P. Moynihan , Harvard sociologist, using a 1965 study of the status
of Negro family reports disturbing trends. Divorce rate amount Blacks higher
than norm, children in one parent homes, 60% of black babies born to unwed
mothers. He says that unless these trends are reversed it could lead to
serious problems for all and the disintegration of the Black family. The
government need to concentrate its efforts in just a few areas to strengthen
black families, head start, etc. This would spark an on going debate, but
little is done.
In
1968, the Nixon election would be the beginning of a white backlash to the
Civil Rights Movement. Public opinion is that enough has been done, and
many now begin to resist efforts to desegregate public schools ... George
Wallace is one politician who would play on this problem. In the 1966 congressional
elections, more conservatives are elected since Civil War. 1967
brings much civil unrest, with large riots in many northern cities (Harlem,
Watts, Chicago, Detroit) ... if Blacks have more rights than ever, why is
there so much unrest. Many would say that the CRM made it more likely that
Blacks would break laws ... but poor Blacks were not being helped much ...
the gap between upper and lower class Blacks was widening. Black
Power ... the despair of their plight would give rise to many groups
that would push Black solidarity ... these groups feel that it was a mistake
to have allowed whites to help during the CRM and would now organize all
black groups. Stokeley Carmichael is one, is influenced
by Malcolm X. Black Power was an umbrella term used to describe the more
militant aspects of the late 1960's CRM. Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) a student led group. These groups
would reject Martin Luther King, the NAACP, CORE, and would divide the whole
Civil Rights Movement. This trend would hinder greatly more progress and
lessens white support.
Malcolm
X ... son of a Baptist preacher killed by Klan-like whites, destroyed
his family and turned him against whites overall. He is responsible for
the rise in importance of the teaching of Elijah Muhammad
... Black Moslems ... Malcolm "X" Little, is
first exposed to Islam in prison, rose to be the chief spoaksman for the
Black Moslems. He was most effective in northern, urban cities and with
black intellectuals with his indictments of racism and his advocacy of self-defense
and self-reliance. He was opposed to non-violence, denounced most of the
leaders of the Civil Rights Movement because of what he saw as white influence.
He put forward the notion of self-relience, had a small following. And the
CRM leaders denounced him. Malcolm X does have a change in attitude when
he visits Mecca where he sees peoples of all races and colors together ...
he realizes that it is not white people who are bad, that it is just bad
not the color of your skin. His downfall comes after Kennedy's death ...
saying the chickens have come home to roost ... is suspended by Elijah Mohammed.
X was already having problems with EM, maybe some jealousy, EM was not completely
honest with his people either, having relations with some white women. Malcolm
X is assassinated in 1965 ... he would become more important in his death
then he was in life. Many of his speeches would be published, ect. Even
though much of his preaching was conservative, he did help to bring tension
between blacks and Jews, the one group of whites that were consistent supporters.
This was because of the historic tension between Jews and Islam.
In
1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. is still undisputed leader of the CRM. King
fought against becoming the sole leader, but he does. He never accumulated
any personal wealth. In 1967, King begin plans for a much more ambitious
project, a campaign for all poor people. The key was to involve the support
of poor whites, of which there were many more than poor blacks, but many
poor whites were antagonistic toward King. The campaign received mixed support,
but King believed that only by putting massive pressure on government would
anything be done... this is not a Black problem, but a poor problem. The
Poor Peoples Campaign is much more of a threat to people
than the Civil Rights Movement. It didn't cost anything to enacting the
Civil Rights Bill of 1964. To lift and bring the poor of America more into
the main stream would be a different story. King was in the middle of organizing
another march on Washington, the Poor People's march, when he takes a side
trip to Memphis in support of a garbage workers strike. On April 3, 1968
he would deliver his last speech, one of his best. Like Fredreck Douglas,
King speaks to young blacks ... give oneself to the effort to the end ...
you don't need violence ... demand fair treatment ... withdraw economic
support. "We've got some difficult days ahead, but don't worry
about me, I've been to the mountain top." It doesn't matter
what happens to me. I've seen the promised land. On Thursday, April 4, 1968,
at 6:30 pm ... at age 39 ... after only 12 years involvement in civil rights,
King is assassinated ... by James Earl Ray .
King's
death shocks and angers Blacks everywhere ... mindless fear grips many,
sadness, guilt. On Friday night Washing DC begins to burn and would continue
for 4 days. Many parts of DC that were burned are today still not rebuilt
... mindless violence ... all over the country, blacks feel ... killed our
hope, pessimism, fatalism, that nothing is going right. ML King, Jr. was
the foremost leader of his time, black or white. He had the ability to affect
people like no one else. A Messiah ...
Black Panthers - Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, targeted
by the FBI, not much impact, dismantled by police Raids. Jessy Jackson
... supporter of MLK, but King did not put much import on him. would be
Messiah, ambitious, self-projected leader ... say's the right thing, not
committed ... grows in current years ... campaigned for president razed
false hopes, running for show ... powerful speaker.
Souther Manifesto, Massive Resistance would be undertake
in the South. The Souther Manifesto said that Brown
was erroneous, illegal, and should be resisted with "every lawful
means." Led by southern citizens, resistence would turn violent, and
would rise to proportions of a reign of terror. Since the NAACP led the
fight for desegregation, it would become a special object of attack. It
would be forced out of existence in Alabama for 10 years, and in many other
states (La, 7 years). It was called a subversive origination. Laws were
passed by states making it illegal for state employees to belong to any
organization that supported integration. Fearful of retaliation, and loss
of jobs, blacks had to fall in line.
Montgomery Bus Boycott , after the unexpected success of
a one day protest in support of Rosa Parks , organizers
expand their demands ... the Black boycott of the bus system lasts a whole
year, and only ends, when a federal court orders that it be desegregated.
King gained national prominence for his exceptional oratorical skills and
personal courage. His house was bombed, and he and other boycott leaders
were convicted on charged of conspiring to interfere with the bus company's
operations. Key , had support of the church, if you going
to move black people, do through the Church.
War on Poverty ... poverty won, because it never was completely
implemented. Some elements were Head Start (home start)
to catch at risk students before they entered school. Never fully funded,
too much money used at top, little in actually helping people it was intended
for. Food Stamps and Medicare , both proposed
by Kennedy, was originally targeted at poor whites. Controlled by the states,
mushroomed out of control as more and more benefits were added. Medicare
was intended to help lower middle class who did not have health insurance.
Model Cities was money to help revitalize cities and communities,
played by much fraud and abuse. In this, the Federal Government
finally came out in favor of intervening on side of underprivileged ...
help insure equal oppurtunity and insure results.
Poor Peoples Compaign , Early in 1968, King began to plan a multiracial
poor people's march on Washington to demand an end to all forms of discrimination
and the funding of a $12-billion "Economic Bill of Rights." In
the midst of organizing this campaign, he flew to Memphis, Tenn., to assist
striking sanitation workers. There, on Apr. 4, 1968, King was felled by
an assassin's bullet.
People
Rosa Parks , Often called "the mother of the civil
rights movement," Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, b. Tuskegee, Ala., Feb.
4, 1913, sparked the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott that led to a 1956 Supreme
Court order outlawing discriminatory practices on Montgomery buses. In December
1955, returning home from her assistant tailor job in Montgomery, Parks
refused a bus driver's order to surrender her seat to a white man. She was
jailed and fined $14. Although she later said she was too tired to move
that day, her action was part of a plan to create a court test case. As
secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, Parks also worked closely
with the black community's Montgomery Improvement Association, whose president
was the Rev. Martin Luther KING, Jr. The preceding summer, she had attended
workshops on civil disobedience at the Monteagle, Tenn., Highlander Folk
School. Parks and others had considered expanding an earlier bus boycott
to defy the discriminatory law. Parks' mother, a rural school teacher, separated
from her father in 1915, and raised her daughter alone. When her mother
fell ill, Parks dropped out of high school to provide care. In 1932, she
married Raymond Parks (d. 1977), a black barber and civil-rights activist.
After the successful Montgomery bus boycott, Parks was denied employment
and moved to Detroit in 1957, where she worked as a seamstress and assisted
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. From 1965 to her retirement
in 1988, she served as staff assistant to U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.).
She remains active in civil rights causes, making numerous public appearances
each year.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968) ... the most prominent man
of his time, he had the power to affect people, a civil rights leader ...
one of the world's best-known advocates of nonviolent social change. King
is is a reluctant Messiah, from Atlanta, his father and grandfather were
Baptist ministers. He graduated from college at 19, earned a PHD, never
had to want for anything. Became pastor of Dexter Ave. Baptist Chirch
, when Vernon Johns was removed. Johns wanted to lead a
movement to gain black rights, and was a fiery preacher on that topic. Dexter
members were the most well to do Blacks in Montgomery, and fount Johns to
be too radical for their them. That is why they hired the well spoken, educated
King. He had been in Montgomery only for a few months when they asked him
to lead a protest in support of Rosa Parks. He was asked because they knew
him to be reasonable and conservative. He was reluctant to accept, but did.
King said that earily on, he would have left Montgomery and accepted the
encouragement of his father to co-paster his church if that were possible.
Kings appeal was to the intellect. After
the unexpected success of a one day protest in support of Rosa Parks
, organizers expand their demands ... the Black boycott of the bus system
lasts a whole year, and only ends, when a federal court orders that it be
desegregated. King gained national prominence for his exceptional oratorical
skills and personal courage. His house was bombed, and he and other boycott
leaders were convicted on charged of conspiring to interfere with the bus
company's operations. Key , had support of the church,
if you going to move black people, do through the Church, We shall overcome...
the success of the bus boycott breads other successes. In1957, seeking to
build on the success in Montgomery, King and others founded the SCLC in
New Orleans, resulted from NAACP being forced out of many southern states.
King traveled to West Africa to attend th eindependence celebration of Ghana
and toured India, increasing his understanding of Gandhi's non-violence
traditions. In 1959, he resigned from Dexter and teturned to Atlanta, the
SCLS headquarters. King
helped people "stop being afraid", the power he had over other
people is what made him so great. Subsequent mass demonstrations in many
communitites culminated in a march on August 28, 1963 (March on
Washington ), where 250,000 protesters participated ... King delivered
his "I have a dream" speech. "(T)hat one day this
nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed -- we hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
His renown as a nonviolent leader grew, and in 1964, King received the Nobel
Prize for Peace. Despite the accolades, however, King faced critism of his
leadership, especially form northern Blacks.
Malcolm X's
message of self-defense and black nationalism expresed the anger on urban
blacks more effectively than did King's moderation. In 1966, tring to take
his movement north, King was physically assaulted in Chicago. In 1966 troubled
by division in movement, King tries to take movement "Up South"
north to Chicago, the Open Housing Campaign . Just one year
earlier, Malcolm X had warned King about northern white crackers
... were worse, more full of hate, that in South. Many northern whites had
little or no contacts with Negroes, and did not want to. This fractured
King's movement. In 1967, King widens his movement by supporting the Anti-War
movement. Blacks were experiencing a disproportional burden of fighting
that war. King now looses support of Pres. Johnson, and fractures movement
again. When
we got to the door, things fell apart. In 1968, King laments that
the unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement is the unfinished American
Agenda... affecting the whole society ... needs to solved for everyone.
King became a leader concerned with the problems affecting all people. With
his complain turning into a "Poor people's campaign", makes King
a dangerous person. Granting civil rights didn't cost anything, solving
problems of poor is a completely different matter. J. Edgar Hoover intensified
his efforts to discredit King and King's public criticism of the Vietnam
War. This also soured his relations with the Johnson administration.
In
1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. is still undisputed leader of the CRM. King
fought against becoming the sole leader, but he does. He never accumulated
any personal wealth. In 1967, King begin plans for a much more ambitious
project, a campaign for all poor people. The key was to involve the support
of poor whites, of which there were many more than poor blacks, but many
poor whites were antagonistic toward King. The campaign received mixed support,
but King believed that only by putting massive pressure on government would
anything be done... this is not a Black problem, but a poor problem. The
Poor Peoples Campaign is much more of a threat to people
than the Civil Rights Movement. It didn't cost anything to enacting the
Civil Rights Bill of 1964. To lift and bring the poor of America more into
the main stream would be a different story. King was in the middle of organizing
another march on Washington, the Poor People's march, when he takes a side
trip to Memphis in support of a garbage workers strike.
On
April 3, 1968 he would deliver his last speech, one of his best. Like Fredreck
Douglas, King speaks to young blacks ... give oneself to the effort to the
end ... you don't need violence ... demand fair treatment ... withdraw economic
support. "We've got some difficult days ahead, but don't worry
about me, I've been to the mountain top." It doesn't matter
what happens to me. I've seen the promised land. On Thursday, April 4, 1968,
at 6:30 pm ... at age 39 ... after only 12 years involvement in civil rights,
King is assassinated ... by James Earl Ray . King's death
shocks and angers Blacks everywhere ... mindless fear grips many, sadness,
guilt. On Friday night Washing DC begins to burn and would continue for
4 days. Many parts of DC that were burned are today still not rebuilt ...
mindless violence ... all over the country, blacks feel ... killed our hope,
pessimism, fatalism, that nothing is going right. ML King, Jr. was
the foremost leader of his time, black or white. He had the ability to affect
people like no one else. A Messiah ...
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man of impressive moral presence who devoted
his life to the fight for full citizenship rights of the poor, disadvantaged,
and racially oppressed in the United States. Born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta,
Ga., he was the second of three children of the Rev. Michael (later Martin)
and Alberta Williams King. He received a bachelor's degree in sociology
(1948) from Morehouse College, a B.D. (1951) from Crozer Theological Seminary,
and a doctorate in philosophy (1955) from Boston University.
In 1954, King accepted his first pastorate--the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
in Montgomery, Ala. He and his wife, Coretta Scott King, whom he had met
and married (June 1953) while at Boston University, had been resident in
Montgomery less than a year when Rosa Parks defied the ordinance concerning
segregated seating on city buses (Dec. 1, 1955). King's successful organization
of the year-long Montgomery bus boycott, with the assistance of the Rev.
Ralph ABERNATHY and Edward Nixon, catapulted him into national prominence
as a leader of the CIVIL RIGHTS movement. King
studied the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and further developed the
Indian leader's doctrine of satyagraha ("holding to the truth"),
or nonviolent civil disobedience. In the aftermath of Montgomery he traveled,
delivered speeches, and wrote his first book, Stride Toward Freedom (1958).
In 1960 he accepted copastorship with his father of the Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta and became president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC). Although he continued to travel and speak widely and
firmly committed the SCLC to voter-registration campaigns throughout the
South, King's major campaigns were those in Albany, Ga. (December 1961-August
1962), Birmingham, Ala. (April-May 1963), and Danville, Va. (July 1963).
He organized the massive March on Washington (Aug. 28, 1963) where, in his
brilliant "I Have a Dream" speech, he "subpoenaed the conscience
of the nation before the judgment seat of morality." In January 1964,
Time magazine chose King Man of the Year, the first black American so honored.
Later that year he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
After supporting desegregation efforts in Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1964,
King concentrated his efforts on the voter-registration drive in Selma,
Ala., leading a harrowing march from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965.
Soon after, a tour of the northern cities led him to assail the conditions
of economic as well as social discrimination. This marked a shift in SCLC
strategy, one intended to "bring the Negro into the mainstream of American
life as quickly as possible." Having begun to recognize the deeper
relationships of economics and poverty to racism, King now called for a
"reconstruction of the entire society, a revolution of values."
Along with demands for stronger civil and voting rights legislation and
for a meaningful poverty budget, he spoke out against the Vietnam War. On
Apr. 4, 1967, he told an audience that "The Great Society {President
Lyndon Johnson's antipoverty program} has been shot down on the battlefields
of Vietnam."
Early in 1968, King began to plan a multiracial poor people's march on Washington
to demand an end to all forms of discrimination and the funding of a $12-billion
"Economic Bill of Rights." In the midst of organizing this campaign,
he flew to Memphis, Tenn., to assist striking sanitation workers. There,
on Apr. 4, 1968, King was felled by an assassin's bullet. The violent death
of this man of peace brought an immediate reaction of rioting in black ghettos
around the country. Although one man, James Earl Ray, was convicted of King's
murder, the question of whether he was the paid agent of conspirators has
not been conclusively resolved. It is clear only that the United States
was deprived of a towering symbol of moral and social progress. King's birthday
was declared a federal holiday in 1983.
Orval Forbs , when the District Court orders Little Rock School
Board to desecrated Central High School, Orval Forbs ,
governor uses the National Guard to prevent it. Pres. Eisenhower reluctantly
steps in, Federalizes National Guard. Forbs claims that south is being invaded.
He closes the public schools next year.
Mo Conner, Sheriff, uses great force, riot gear, fire hoses,
in trying to put down demonstrations. King decides to use children, and
pictures of this are broad cast round the world ... network news programs
use expanded telecasts ... pictures of 8 and 10 year old kids being brutalized
... George Wallace blacking door of Old Miss, moves many to call for action.
1963 produced more violence, more lynchings, church bombing ...
Malcolm X (Little) - ... son of a Baptist preacher killed by Klan-like
whites, destroyed his family and turned him against whites overall. He is
responsible for the rise in importance of the teaching of Elijah
Muhammad ... Black Moslems ... Malcolm "X"
Little, is first exposed to Islam in prison, rose to be the chief spoaksman
for the Black Moslems. He was most effective in northern, urban cities and
with black intellectuals with his indictments of racism and his advocacy
of self-defense and self-reliance. He was opposed to non-violence, denounced
most of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement because of what he saw
as white influence. He put forward the notion of self-relience, had a small
following. And the CRM leaders denounced him. Malcolm X does have a change
in attitude when he visits Mecca where he sees peoples of all races and
colors together ... he realizes that it is not white people who are bad,
that it is just bad not the color of your skin. His downfall comes after
Kennedy's death ... saying the chickens have come home to roost ... is suspended
by Elijah Mohammed. X was already having problems with EM, maybe some jealousy,
EM was not completely honest with his people either, having relations with
some white women. Malcolm X is assassinated in 1965 ... he would become
more important in his death then he was in life. Many of his speeches would
be published, ect. Even though much of his preaching was conservative, he
did help to bring tension between blacks and Jews, the one group of whites
that were consistent supporters. This was because of the historic tension
between Jews and Islam.
Julia Bond , is known for his advocacy of civil rights.
At the age of 20, he became a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee. In 1966 he was barred from taking his seat in the Georgia House
of Representatives because of his public denunciations of the Vietnam War,
but the U. S. Supreme Court ordered that he be admitted to office. Bond
won election to the Georgia Senate in 1975. Bond gave up his seat in 1986
in the state legislature after 20 years and ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic
party primary for the U. S. House of Representatives. In 1989 he taught
civil rights history courses in Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Jessy Jackson ... supporter of MLK, but King did not put
much import on him. would be Messiah, ambitious, self-projected leader ...
say's the right thing, not committed ... grows in current years ... campaigned
for president razed false hopes, running for show ... powerful speaker.
Daniel P. Moynihan , Harvard sociologist, using a 1965
study of the status of Negro family reports disturbing trends. Divorce rate
amount Blacks higher than norm, children in one parent homes, 60% of black
babies born to unwed mothers. He says that unless these trends are reversed
it could lead to serious problems for all and the disintegration of the
Black family. The government need to concentrate its efforts in just a few
areas to strengthen black families, head start, etc. This would spark an
on going debate, but little is done.
Jack Johnson , 1908 boxing champion of the world, no formal
education, well read, actor, well spoken, thought by many to be arrogant
(because he insisted on being treated with respect). The 1915 Mann Act is
passed to entrap Johnson. It make it illegal to transport white women across
state lines to be used in prostitution. Johnson kept company with many white
women, when charged he leaves the country ... since a white couldn't beat
him in the ring. In 1915, in order to prove that he could be defeated, he
is forced into a fight at age 36 in Cuba ... is KO'ed in 21st round. It
would be 20 years before any black would be allowed to challenge ...
Joe Lewis , would be trained to be a gentlemen in order
to be allowed to box. He did not challenge whites in the ring or out. Wins
world championship in 1937. He is kind, generous, member of the NAACP, served
as Sargent and entertainer during WWII ...
Jackie Robertson ... breaks color line ...
proud of his talents and his blackness ... fought racism throughout his
life ... in college, in the army (court-martialed for defying illegal segregation
on army bus). Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers wants to take advantage
of untapped black ballplayers. He selects Robertson because he is not condescending,
not because he was the best black player ... makes him promiss not to speak
out for two years, to hold back, give the world a chance to accept him.
After one year in minors (at Montreal, would not play southern teams), Jackie
Robertson plays Major League Baseball, succeeds beyond all expectations.
By 1950, every major league team would have at least one Black player. He
protests his treatments, but accepts ... would force Major League Baseball
to get behind movement to desegregate public accommodations. He was a great
player, but his biggest accomplishment was his articulate encouragement
of young Blacks to fight for their rights. He was the foremost black leader
of his time, looked up to by more Blacks, even more than the leaders in
the Civil Rights Movements.
Ordinary People When all is considered, it is the ordinary
people's will to survive that make it possible for hero's like these to
excel. In recent year, sports hero's have begun to refuse to be considered
role model. Success comes so early, it is possible that they do not have
the experience of the general population to prepare them for their success
and the responsibility that comes with it.
Legislation
Civil Rights Act of 1957 , protection for voting rights
is removed form bill before it is passed ... would allow Federal Government
to investigate Civil Rights Volitions, did not make much differences, was
a symbolic measure.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 , this legislation outlowed segregation
in public facilities and racial discrimination in employment and education.
In addition to blacks, women and other victims of discrimination benefited
from the act.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 , The Voting Rights Act was passed
by the U.S. Congress in 1965. In 1957 and 1960 Congress had passed laws
to protect the rights of black voters, and the 24TH AMENDMENT (1964) banned
the use of POLL TAXES in federal elections. Nevertheless, in the presidential
elections of 1964, blacks continued to have difficulty registering to vote
in many areas. Voter registration drives met with bitter, and sometimes
violent, opposition. In March 1965 Martin Luther KING, Jr., led a march
from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to dramatize the voting issue (see CIVIL
RIGHTS). Immediately after the march, President Lyndon B. JOHNSON sent a
voting rights bill to Congress, and it was quickly passed. The Voting Rights
Act authorized the U.S. attorney general to send federal examiners to register
black voters under certain circumstances. It also suspended all literacy
tests in states in which less than 50% of the voting-age population had
been registered or had voted in the 1964 election. The law had an immediate
impact. By the end of 1965 a quarter of a million new black voters had been
registered, one third by federal examiners. The Voting Rights Act was readopted
and strengthened in 1970, 1975, and 1982.