Black Power: Civil Rights Movement

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Joonsoo Kim Period 6 Black Power (Question 1) During the times of the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement was in its full-blown stages, with protestors filling the streets and the action in cities such as Birmingham taking a lean towards violence. This was the cost of the fight and struggle for the civil rights of African-Americans, who faced the discrimination and hate mostly from the South, which still lived in the old segregated society of the old. In the fight for their rights, these African-Americans were bonded by a common theme of unity and a new sense of identity, that an African American was no longer a slave or underling but rather an equal to whites in society, making way for the concept…show more content…
As stated in his own words in Document 1, “Because the Negro in this country holds the balance of power and if the Negro in this country were given what the Constitution says he is supposed to have, the added power of the Negro in this country would sweep all of the racists and the segregationists out of office. It would change the entire political structure of the country. It would wipe out the Southern segregationism that now controls America’s foreign policy, as well as America’s domestic policy.” This clear view of Black Power by Malcolm X holds a clear bias towards the Black Power demanded by many, serving to inform other African Americans of their rights. Given the fact that this statement came from Malcolm X, an influential leader, the very words of this would serve to be important to the black community, which was highly influenced by such leaders, though the views of Malcolm X were hindered by a clear bias towards black rights only. Here, Malcolm X argues, like many other leaders and protestors of the Civil Right Movement, that Black Power was paramount among the people and that it was the mainstay of the identity and the stability of America. Though this statement is highly biased in clear favor of African Americans, it was, nevertheless, a clear example of how Black Power reigned throughout the African American communities in America. Document 1 is a primary source document adapted from one of Malcolm X’s speeches. This document, which is written in Malcolm X’s perspective, is a call for Blacks to gain freedom from segregation by creating jobs on their own rather than “begging others for a job.” This document is valuable in that it shows that the idea of Black Nationalism was widely accepted among the supporters of Malcolm X and other anti-segregationists as well.
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