civil rights movement in the United States

Introduction

The civil rights movement in the United States is a very diverse and impressive movement. The struggle for equal rights in the states was a philosophical and physical struggle. The discrimination of blacks in the states was hypocritical. On the one hand the United States was fighting against fascism and equal rights in Europe; on the other hand they discriminated against their own black population. The fight against this injustice was the main aim of the civil rights movement. The right way to reach this goal was widely discussed inside the movement. The main leaders of this movement are examined in this essay to answer the question if the civil rights movement was revolutionary.

This essay is structured into five parts. First, this work is demonstrating the main goal of the movement. Further it will be demonstrated that the movement was not homogeneous.  Secondly, this essay is going to discuss what philosophy was embodied by Malcolm X. This part is going to discuss the goals of Malcolm X and how he thought of reaching them. Third, there is going to be a short examination of the Black Panther movement. Furthermore, this part will discuss if the movement had revolutionary aims or if it had a peaceful transformation in mind.  Fourthly, the work is examining Martin Luther King’s ideology. Further, there is going to be a discussion between the goals and ideologies of the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.  Finally, this paper will illustrate the conditions of blacks in the United States today.

This essay will not be able to show all the different leaders and philosophical currents inside of the civil rights movement.  Hence this essay is going to concentrate on the popular leaders.

The movement

To begin with, a definition of the term revolution is needed. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes a revolution as the following. “Revolution, in social and political science, is a major, sudden, and hence typically violent alteration in government and in related associations and structures.”[1]  Consequently, revolutionary does in this context mean a major alteration of the government and a dramatic change inside the civil society. This mostly violent form of change was part of the aim of the civil rights movement in the United States.  This movement was not a single and united group of people with the same goal, ideas and values.

There is just one uniting aim of the civil rights movement which is demonstrated by Chafe:

“If in fact the goal of the freedom movement was to achieve a situation in which each individual could stand alone to compete as best he or she could, despite the residual and collective impact of gender, class, and race, then it must be said that the freedom movement of the 1960s achieved, at least in the law the substance of its aim.”[2]

Chafe does not just demonstrate what the basic aim of the movement was he tells us as well that this goal was reached. But, as this essay will demonstrate, the change of law was not the only goal of the movement; it was more the first step to a new understanding of civil rights in America. But the change of law did not mean the society or the public mind changed, as shown by Chafe.

“More to the point, poor housing, diseases, and depression were part of the daily life of a civil rights worker who came to understand that the vote –even the law- offered only a partial answer to the quest for freedom because, in the end, far-reaching structural change in wealth and income and power were central to achieving equality.”[3]

There was no common understanding of how to reach this goal. One point was that non-governmental groups had a big influence in the society and boosted racism and promoted the idea of racial inequality. This was understood by Dorsen who called for measures against the Ku-Klux Klan (KKK) and other groups: “Legal tolerance of secret societies must cease at the point where their members assume supra-governmental powers and take the law in their own hands.”[4] These groups were the only obvious enemy which the movement had. All the others form of discrimination came from more or less anonymous individuals inside the society and politics. “There was no longer a visible, dramatic, clear cut enemy.”[5] The absence of a clear enemy and the fact that the change of law did not result in a rethinking of society, lead to the disintegration of the civil rights movement.  Dorsen agrees: “Disorganized and divided, civil rights groups lost a sense of coherence and direction.” [6] It is impossible to say if the civil rights movement was revolutionary because the movement did not have one leader or one uniting goal. The only option to answer this question is to analyze the goals of the different groups which, if united, may be described as the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X was brilliant in understanding the situation of blacks. Dorsen argues: “From the very beginning, however, Malcolm X understood that the conditions of black Americans were a nightmare of racial injustice, urban poverty, and drug addiction, all presided over by the negligence and hypocrisy of white liberals and unprincipled racists.”[7] Out of this understanding was it possible for him to form a movement of blacks, because he grew up in environment he tried to revolutionize.

Today, Malcolm X message is still popular in the black youth movement. It is a message of rebellion. Dayson demonstrates what message Malcolm X gives young people today: “(…) for a generation of black youth heard on sound bytes of history that mimic the rap culture that has shaped them, the voice of Malcolm X supplies the authentic timbre of social rebellion.”[8] This message given to the youth of 40 years ago still has the same effect on the youth of today. The message is to rebel against the system which is damaging the community and unequal minorities. This rebellion follows a philosophy which is summarized by Harper: “Politically, Malcolm X philosophized that black people must control the politics and politicians of their community, putting out also politicians who are puppets for outside forces.”[9] This goal has to be reached under all means to establish a sense of black power inside the black communities. Malcolm X knew that the forces which were standing against reaching this goal were more powerful than words. His message may be described as revolutionary. He supported a violent revolution if the establishment would not redistribute the wealth and power they inherited. That is why he was responsible for the new militancy that entered the movement in 1965.[10]

In his last speech as a Black Muslim he demanded to send the 22 million ex-slaves back to Africa or to give them a separated territory.[11] This was another demand which made him popular in the civil rights movement. This Black Nationalism was also revolutionary because it implied that the goal of a black state would have to be reached under all circumstances. It was aimed to pressure the government to free the blacks from the white dominance. This goal could just be reached with aggression because it would harm the state itself to release the black minority or give them an own piece of land. It would harm the economy of the country and would not end the racism and struggle between black and whites.

The Black Panthers

The aim to get an autonomous country just for black people was also shared by the Black Panthers, as Draper shows.

“We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black colony in which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate, for the purpose of determining the will of the black people as to their national destiny.”[12]

This group was known for their radical views and their willingness to push through their aims even with violence. This group may also be described as a revolutionary group.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

King stands in strong contrast to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. He is the prime example that the civil right movement was not revolutionary and non-violent. Fairclough demonstrates how King thought about Black Nationalism. “(…) he dismissed as a delusion the notion that blacks could isolate themselves from white society, pursuing a separatist path to freedom and equality.”[13] King knew that isolation would not work in a social, economical, and political sense. The Black Nationalism movement was to idealistic and did not realize that a civilization could not just create itself out of nothing. 

King’s understanding of the civil rights movement was very different from that of Malcolm X. He insisted that a revolution would be useless. Dyson argues that “King believed that violence as a tactic of survival was suicidal.”[14] King was right. The proportion of black and whites at this time was nine to one.[15]Dyson argues that: “For his part, King believed that Malcolm X's promulgation of black anger, and his statements about the "reciprocal bleeding" of whites and blacks, were irresponsible and morally wrong.”[16] This argumentation results in two realizations. First, Kind and Malcolm X’s were quite contrary in their goals and in the way how to reach them. Second, this diversity shows that the civil rights movement had a wide range of goals and leaders who were contrary to each other and which were sometimes working against each other which shows that a simple answer is impossible to give.

Kings philosophy of the civil struggle for equality was quite different to the philosophy of the Black Panthers and of Malcolm X. Fairclough summarized King’s philosophy:

“By protesting peacefully in a spirit of non-violence, King insisted, and by demonstrating a willingness to suffer without striking back, blacks would defeat racism while at the same time educating whites in the error of their ways and paving the way for interracial amity.”[17]

Kings philosophy was quite similar to the one of Gandhi.  His motion was a slow transformation of the society which was based on the knowledge that if a minority peacefully demonstrates against the abuse of the majority, a transformation is inevitable. King also understood that a redistribution of power and wealth is necessary to solve the problem of racial injustice.[18] He understood that the only way to reach that goal is a peaceful protest. This was the most popular model in the civil rights movement. Dyson argues that “For many blacks, King's progressive civil protest, in which American ideals of justice engendered civil disobedience and social compromise, has become the definitive model for social transformation.”[19] Dyson shows that this was a transformation of the society and not of the law. This is a crucial point because King understood that a change of law is just the first step to reach his goal. “The goal, as conservatives  . . . enjoy telling us [today], was to forget about race, to have color blind admissions to jobs and schools, to have black Americans treated as individuals, with the color of their skin forgotten.”[20] The second steep would have involved a unification of the civil rights movement. But “With the assassination of both man [Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr.] within two month of each other in the spring of 1968, those hopes crumbled.”[21]

Today

The civil rights movement is still working on racial equality today. McDonald shows that there is still a long way to go until equality is reached. “But when presented with the reality of racial disadvantage, whites more often focus on the individual failings of blacks and (to some extent) on the structural barriers to achieving success facing Hispanics, suggesting that race is an important factor in a person's ability to achieve success.”[22] McDonald shows in his research that the inequality and racism is still a part of American society today. The poverty and inequality of the blacks in the United States of America today keeps the struggle for civil rights and civil equality alive. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education shows that the inequality in the richest country on this planet is shocking und unjust. “Blacks in the inner city and poor rural counties of the South have life expectancies equivalent to people in Haiti and in many nations of sub-Sahara Africa.”[23] These conditions are unbelievable and sadly little known in the United States. The differences between the life expectancy of black and whites in the states can vary up to around six years.[24]

Conclusion

The civil rights movement of the United States cannot be described as revolutionary. The term revolution implicates a violent change of government and a redistribution of power and money. This was not the goal of the whole civil rights movement. Reason for that is that the civil rights movement is very diverse and not homogeneous. The three main influences on the civil rights movement which were discussed in this essay were Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, and Martin Luther King Jr. The aim of Malcolm X was the return of the former black slaves to Africa and the fight against racism. The aim of the Black Panther movement was building of an independent black state which would be free of the influence of the white culture. Both of these influential philosophies stand in strong contrast against the philosophy of Martin Luther King. He saw the civil rights movement not as a revolutionary movement rather a transformation movement to change the society. His aim involved a peaceful protest against the authorities to enhance a transformation of the society. This essay argues that the civil rights movement was not a revolutionary movement rather that the movement had revolutionary tendencies because of leaders like Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. Historians argue that the civil rights movements died with their leaders. From this essay’s point of view the civil rights movement is still alive because the issues which produced to movement are still up to date. The revolutionary tendencies of the civil rights movement became stronger because the voices which called for a peaceful transmission got shut down. The death of Malcolm X just showed the black community that the people who try to lead the fight against racism and discrimination are always a target of those who profit from and enhance discrimination and racism.

[1] The New Encyclopedia Britannica (U.S.A: Enyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1974), p. 9

[2] Chafe, William H., “The African American Struggle as an Unfinished Revolution,” in Robert   Griffith, ed. Major Problems in American History Since 1945(Lexington, Mass. : D.C. Heath, 1992), p. 385

[3] IBID.

[4] Dorsen, Norman, Discrimination and civil rights: Cases, Text, and Material (U.S.A.: Little, Brown and Company, 1969), p. 151.

[5] Chafe, p. 391.

[6] IBID.

[7] Dorsen, p. 55.

[8] Dyson, Michael Eric and Cone, James H., Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare, in Transition, No. 56. (U.S.A: Duke University Press, 1992), p. 48.

[9] Harper, Frederick D., The Influence of Malcolm X on Black Militancy, in Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 1, No. 4. (U.S.A: Sage Publications, Inc., 1971), p. 369.

[10] IBID, p. 401.

[11] Draper, Theodore, Rediscovery of Black Nationalism (Britain: Secker & Warburg, 1969), p. 90.

[12] IBID.

[13] Fairclough, Adam, Martin Luther King, Jr. (U.S.A: The University of Georgia Press, 1990), p. 16.

[14] Dyson, p. 55.

[15] Draper, p. 121.

[16] Dyson, p. 55.

[17] Fairclough, p. 35.

[18] Chafe, p. 389.

[19] Dyson, p. 48.

[20] Chafe, p. 386.

[21] IBID, p. 390.

[22] McDonald, Steven J., How Whites Explain Black and Hispanic Inequality, in The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 4. (UK: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 569.

[23] Counties with the Highest and Lowest Life Expectancies for Blacks and Whites, in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 19. (U.S.A: CH II Publishers, 1998), p. 98.

[24] IBID.

Bibliography

Chafe, William H., “The African American Struggle as an Unfinished Revolution,” in       Robert Griffith, ed. Major Problems in American History Since 1945(Lexington,              Mass. : D.C. Heath, 1992) pp. 384-398

Counties with the Highest and Lowest Life Expectancies for Blacks and Whites, in The                 Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 19. (U.S.A: CH II Publishers, 1998),           p. 98.

Draper, Theodore, Rediscovery of Black Nationalism (Britain: Secker & Warburg, 1969)

Dyson, Michael Eric and Cone, James H., Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or       a Nightmare, in Transition, No. 56. (U.S.A: Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 48-59.

Dorsen, Norman, Discrimination and civil rights: Cases, Text, and Material (U.S.A.:        Little, Brown and Company, 1969)

Fairclough, Adam, Martin Luther King, Jr. (U.S.A: The University of Georgia Press, 1990)

Harper, Frederick D., The Influence of Malcolm X on Black Militancy, in Journal of          Black Studies, Vol. 1, No. 4. (U.S.A: Sage Publications, Inc., 1971), pp. 387-402.

McDonald, Steven J., How Whites Explain Black and Hispanic Inequality, in The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 4. (UK: Oxford University Press, 2001),                               pp. 562-573.

The New Encyclopedia Britannica (U.S.A: Enyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1974)