Civil Disobedience to Black Power Essay

Up until the 1960’s the civil rights movement was practiced through peaceful protests established from the idea that equal recognition amongst all peoples was only acquired through non-violent acts. In the late 60’s these techniques transformed into fast and more efficient methods with different value sets. The changes within the Civil Rights movement occurred because African Americans were sick of the painfully slow progress accomplished through the civil rights movement, didn’t agree with the idea that being mistreated, disrespected, and stomped over (figuratively and literally) was the only resolution to overcome racism and segregation, and decided that violence and bloodshed (stemming from the theory that asking for deserved rights was to slow a process, when they could just take them) was aggressive enough to catch the eyes of many and gain Black Dominance or at least equal rights. Even with the Civil Rights Act in place, African American’s were tired of being neglected and disregarded. Peaceful protesting was only doing so much, the alternative of Black Power had begun to flourish in the late 60’s because it demanded respect through violent, attention-grabbing approaches that were created to actually change segregation and equality. The 1950’s and early 60’s were eras driven by the consumer culture, the US was extremely wealthy, the automobile industry was booming, suburban lifestyle had grown, television became extremely popular, and the general view of America was good (to say the least). The only ‘bad’ aspect of the US was inequality and the unrecognized rights (Blacks deserved). The US originally opted for saving justice and peace amongst Black communities in civil and non-violent ways, but there was limited execution. In 1954, for example, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark case began a series of significant Civil Rights movements with regards to desegregation and equal rights. The early 60’s brought upon new perspectives and the idea of peaceful resolution was one of them. Due to the fact that American culture was thriving in material goods and prosperity African Americans figured the best way to go about change was to do it in calm, civil, non-brutal manners. Organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began to emerge. Doc A, B, and C convey the goals pertaining to African Americans (in the early 0’s) and their hope for equal rights, legal citizenship, voting rights, and equal economic/labor opportunities. Doc A showcases the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s perspective that love transforms hate and nonviolence is the best way to bring about integration. The early 60’s held so much potential and optimism. African American’s were seeking equal privileges so contently because they experienced Americans’ positive response to America’s success and didn’t want to harm the culture or destroy the peace. One attempt for Civil Rights included a peaceful protest in Birmingham, Alabama. The response of the police was outrageous. As seen in Doc B, the photograph (from 1963) shows racist and corrupt police attacking African Americans after a peaceful protest (to allow Blacks into church). Rather than defend himself, the black man depicted in the photo is responding with no resentment or anger. Many African Americans were beaten and sent to jail; including Martin Luther King, Jr. Doc C (1963) is a letter written by MLK from the Birmingham Jail promoting peace and arguing that â€Å"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. † MLK desired peace rather than violence because of his educational background and upbringing-his father was the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church and he passed on his understanding, tolerance, and religious views (inspired by peace) to his son. MLK could be peaceful, even after going to jail for no reason. After the Birmingham incident, John F. Kennedy announced his promise to end racial discrimination on radio and television. The speech served as motivation to civil right leaders, a wake-up call to Congress, and the inspiration for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 (unfortunately JFK never lived to see these passed). Although these rights were legally authorized, African Americans were not fully protected. Just because they were laws in place, didn’t mean they were implemented with major concern or emphasis. Race riots, racial profiling, and illegal discrimination were still occurring. African Americans realized that in order to truly get what they wanted, they needed prompt uncivil protests. Stokely Carmichael, a violent-protest-supporter, coined the phrase â€Å"black power† and stated â€Å"I am not going to beg the white man for anything I deserve; I’m going to take it. † We see the change in strategy for Black Nationalism. Carmichael’s speech, entitled, â€Å"what we want† from 1966 (Doc E) implies the only way to get money, property, respect, and in general civil rights for African American’s is to demand it, whether it was by strike, boycott, riot, or any other possible means of violent rebellion. The reasons why there was such a focus on gaining equality through violence was because peaceful protests were not developing equality quick enough, African American’s needed each other in order to attain enough votes for one collective ballot, and violent acts needed the most attention because they needed to be stopped the fastest. Take, for example the scenario of when a child throws a fit, the parent will do whatever it takes to stop the child’s interrupting objection and annoying whines, the same initiative for Black Power. Some philosophers even argue that Black Power was an act of revenge, Blacks felt obligated to torture Whites and act in violent ways to get even with them for their previous treatment of African slaves. At this point African Americans had to fight for things Whites got easily, like jobs, money, respect, social status, religion, privacy and the general right to be able to go to common-day-places (like the grocery store or local restaurant) and not have to worry about discrimination. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (Doc F in 1967) preached that black people must resort to violence because they have not made any gains through peace. Malcolm X, a Black Power activist and violent-protesting-leader supported this idea and said, â€Å"Stand on your own feet and solve our problems ourselves instead of depending on white people to solve them for us. † This quote shows the foundation for Black Power-fast, unexpected, memorable recognition. Malcolm X ridiculed Martin Luther King’s attempt at Birmingham saying it showed the uselessness of nonviolent-protest. The increasing amount of African Americans promoting violence concerned American citizens. Whites believed that if the government didn’t take action, mass riots and destruction would erupt everywhere, and they were somewhat on track. By 1968, (according to Doc G) 62% of African Americans were registered to vote, that’s 33% more than in 1960. This evidence suggests that the violent acts did make an impact and shape the Civil Rights movement into what we view it as today.