The mainstream historiography of the Civil Rights Movement marvels at the “accomplishments” made during the decade long struggle of the movements “heroic period” between 1954 and 1965. Much praise is given to this period’s diligent adherence nonviolent resistance. This ideology touted by mainstream figures and organizations of the Civil Right Movement such as Dr. Martin Luther King, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has become the standard legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. Moreover, both conservative and liberal commentators of the movement have embraced this classification of the movement as one of non-violence, distinct from the self-defense policies associated with Black radicals, most notably Malcolm X. However, the “fact” that the Civil Rights Movement was a movement absent of armed self-defense advocates is untrue. To suggest that elements of the Civil Rights Movement did not involve tactics of armed self-defense is to ignore the complex internal schisms within the Civil Rights Movement. Armed self-defense advocates existed as prominent members of the Civil Rights Movement and as civil rights organizations. However, these factions have been ignored or given little mention in the historiography of the Civil Rights Movement. Armed self-defense advocated existed within the context of the Civil Rights Movement. This paper seeks to achieve three objective: to illuminate the efforts of self-defense advocates while demonstrating that the existence of such advocates is the determinant factor in the success of marches, rallies, and sit-ins of the heroic period of the Civil Rights Movement; to explain that while the ideological conflict b...
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...ds gaining equality. Even disciples of Dr. King, Stokley Carmichael and Floyd Mckissick found King’s reliance on nonviolence to be outdated. The Meredith March highlighted the complex contradiction, yet necessary compatibility between nonviolence and armed self-defense. King and the mainstream Civil Rights Movement focused on gaining equality. The Deacons focused on surviving White oppression. King and others were willing to die for the cause of Black struggle without a physical fight, while the Deacons sought to advanced the causes of Civil Rights through self-defense and if necessary, violence. When the Deacons fell out of national prominence in 1967, they had already created a legacy of empowerment for Black Americans. They fought oppression through self-defense and marked a critical transition in the Civil Rights Movement to radicalized Black Power Movement.
also exemplifies a compassionate leader, but another leadership quality of King’s was his unmatched trustworthiness amongst the black people of the 1950’s and 60’s. Martin Luther King Jr. lived during a time of severe segregation and hate toward the African-American people of the United States. Many African-American civil rights activists- such as Reverend George Lee, Lamar Smith, and NAACP State Director Medgar Evers- were victims of gruesome murders due to their efforts in the Civil Rights Movement (Austin, 2002). Martin Luther King Jr. too was killed as a result of his efforts as one of the leaders of the movement, and every time that King organized a demonstration, his followers also risked their lives by participating. Their trust in Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent demonstrations was eventually rewarded, as now the African-American people comprise an important part of
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.The Civil Rights movement started in the 1960’s and was most influenced by Martin Luther king Jr. and Malcolm X. Their purpose was to create equality among all races. “Requiem for Nonviolence” by Eldridge Cleaver is a non-fiction book that talks about a spark of change in the civil rights movement. The 1960’s was a decade full of political and social unrest. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an influential leader who wanted political and social changes to better the country as a whole. The inspiration that cleaver gathered from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X is described in “Requiem for Nonviolence.”
The author, Dr. Martian Luther King Jr., makes a statement “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” He uses this concept to convey the point of the Negros hard work to negotiate the issue has failed, but now they must confront it. The March on Good Friday, 1963, 53 blacks, led by Reverend Martian Luther King, Jr., was his first physical protest to segregation laws that had taken place after several efforts to simply negotiate. The author uses several phrases that describe his nonviolent efforts and his devotion to the issue of segregation that makes the reader believe his how seriously King takes this issue. “Conversely, one has the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Dr. Martian Luther King, Jr. explains with this that an “unjust law is no law at all.” King does not feel like he has broken any laws in his protest against segregation. In his eyes, laws are made to protect the people, not degrade and punish. “The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him March.” As far as King is concerned, the Negros will continue to do whatever is necessary, preferably non-violently, to obtain the moral and legal right that is theirs. If they are not allowe...
MLK Jr. Apostle of Militant Nonviolence. Everyone that has been through the American school system within the past 20 years knows exactly who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is, and exactly what he did to help shape the United States to what it is today. In the beginning of the book, Martin Luther King Jr. Apostle of Militant Nonviolence, by James A. Colaiaco, he states that “this book is not a biography of King, [but] a study of King’s contribution to the black freedom struggle through an analysis and assessment of his nonviolent protest campaigns” (2). Colaiaco discusses the successful protests, rallies, and marches that King put together. .
The radicalistic Robert Williams 's philosophy of armed self-reliance opposed Martin Luther King 's nonviolent resistance, but honestly each man represented two different sides of the civil rights movement. Williams and King both understood though that the Cold War a...
the segregationists, resulting in the injury and deaths of many of King’s followers. With these points in mind, King came to the conclusion that the best strategy in gaining the rights of African American was the use of non-violent protest. He believed that violence only “intensifies evil,';
...War and the Civil Rights Movements in order to illustrate how the 1960s was a time of “tumult and change.” To Anderson, it is these events, which sparked the demand for recognition of social and economic fairness. He makes prominent the idea that the 1960s served as the origin of activism and the birth of the civil rights movement, forever changing ideals that embody America. The book overall is comprehensive and a definite attention grabber. It shows how the decade had the effect of drastically transforming life in America and challenging the unequal status quo that has characterized most of the nation's history. Despite the violence and conflict that was provoked by these changes, the activism and the liberation movements that took place have left a permanent imprint upon the country.
The use of violence during the Civil Rights Movement proved to be ineffective because it furthered social tensions between Whites and Blacks. The people who generated violence were mainly the Black Panthers advocating Black Power. Black Power called for nationality, unity, self-pride, self-defense and the separation from the White race (Blumberg 9). The idea of separation of the White race competed with integration since Black Power wanted “African Americans to establish their own ...
The frustration African Americans were beginning to increasingly feel in the mid to late 1960’s was heavily evident in the attitude of allowing violence to be used because many African Americans were becoming unsatisfied with the slow pace they were reaching equality as well as the retaliation against them. Hence, the movement of the Civil Rights movement away from being content with sticking to nonviolent tactics symbolizes the determination African Americans wanted to gain equal rights even by inflicting
The civil rights movement in the 1950s-1960s was a struggle for social justice for African Americans to gain equal rights. One activist who became the most recognizable spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King Jr, a christian man dedicated to the ideas of nonviolence and civil disobedience. Although the Civil war had officially abolished slavery, blacks were still treated as less than human for many years after. Martin Luther King Jr has positively impacted the world with his peaceful protest approach to gaining social justice; but with the increase of hate crimes being committed, I believe individuals today need to pick up where King left
This struggle was not easy; it was obvious that there were individuals that disagreed with blacks having voting rights. When Malcolm spoke out in “An Appeal to African Heads of State”, he discussed his dissatisfaction with the American government’s willingness to protect the lives its African-American citizens from blatant racists’ murder attacks. Malcolm labels the African-Americans as defenseless. He refers to three recent cases. One case there were two black bodies were found in the Mississippi River, another in Georgia where an unarmed African-American educator was brutally murdered and the last when three civil-rights leaders disappeared completely. Although it was uncertain if they were murdered, the people were l...
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
Harper, Frederick D. “The Influence of Malcolm X on Black Militancy.” Journal of Black Studies 1 (June 1971): 387-402.
Throughout his education, Martin Luther King Jr. tried to find a way to demonstrate his belief of racial equality with the most effective means possible. He quickly realized that the best strategy to end segregation was to use nonviolent forms of protest. At Crozer, Morehouse and Boston University, he studied the teaching of Mohandas Gandhi, who used nonviolent methods to help India claim its independence from Britain. King read several books on the ideas of Gandhi, and eventually became convinced that his methods could be employed by African Americans to obtain equality in America. King knew that any violence on the part of African Americans would lead to violent responses from segregationists, which would lead to injury or maybe even death for his followers. He had to teach his followers not to respond violently to cruel attacks from segregationists. King decided to sponsor workshops to train African Americans in nonviolent beh...
Dr. King was another advocate that practiced non-violent passive resistance, following the philosophy of Mohammad Ghandi to fight for African American civil rights in the United States. In 1965, Dr. King selected Selma, Alabama as the focal point for the African American campaign for voting rights and later that year, they conducted a 600 person protest march from Selma to Montgomery. State troopers violently attacked the peaceful demonstrators in an attempt to stop the march for voting rights. This attack on innocent, peaceful protesters resulted in 70 African Americans being hospitalized. The significance of the 1960s rights revolution include making the blacks aware that regardless of the freedom claim during the civil war they were still not equal to the whites. The 1960s period helped the change that was mainly due to the sit-ins, peace rally's, protests and boycotts significant to that era. From that the blacks can now sit in the same place, go to the same schools and go anywhere they want without any restrictions from the whites. That period directly helped make America what it is