This also gives the police the chance to brutalise the blacks which would damage the image of black people as the white citizens wouldn’t want to help the black if they are involved in violence. So Malcolm X use of violence would lose him supporters for his campaign, which will decrease his campaigns popularity and so the federal government would have no reason to support the demands of the black civil rights. Another organisation also worked to introduce the idea of self-defence. The BPP argued that black people needed an organised defence as they could not trust the police or the US justice system. According to Huey Newton a leader of the BPP the police ‘occupied’ the black ghettos, so the BPP organised its own peoples’ army who patrolled black neighbourhoods
How far is it accurate to say that the growth of Black Power was the most important factor in weakening the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's? Alex Cameron I do not agree with the claim that the growth of Black Power was the most important factor in weakening the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960's. Whilst the growth of Black Power is a factor to take into consideration. This did indeed lead to divisions within the Civil Right groups and how exactly those groups wanted to approach their ideas, the factor has a smaller effect in comparison to other factors such as the the deaths of the Civil Rights Group leaders Martin Luther King and Malcom X , the loss of presidential support, the failed protests in North America and the attention shift from the Civil Rights Movement to the Vietnam War, in which some seem to be the most important factor for weakening the Civil Rights Movement. The rise of Black Power has led to some important members from different Civil Rights Groups to abandon their goals of integration and leaving their groups which supported that aim, ultimately leaving them at a disadvantage and weakening them as well as the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed and in 1965 as did the Voting Rights Act. Federal law made segregation and discriminatory voting illegal. However there remained issues like the failures of the existing political structures to absorb AA voters, shown by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party failing to be accepted at the Democratic Convention. Failures like this frustrated some AA campaigners to the extent that they formed more radical groups. Black Power movements that included the Black panthers couldn’t be ignored if progress continued to be delayed.
Groups such as the KKK didn’t like to scare blacks into trying to leave town by putting up signs, burning homes down and killing people throughout the entire country, to show people the stand for what they believe in. Blacks were viewed in the 1960s as horrible people, if someone saw a black person on TV or walking around their first impression would be what’s he or she doing here or there. The 1960s were a time where the world was changing. Music was changing, politics were changing, and people were changing. But one problem seemed to remain in society, racism.
Martin Luther King led a series of campaigns in the North starting in 1966, after succeeding in challenging the voting and segregation issues of the. Southern states. His overall aims for these campaigns was to challenge the poor living and economic conditions of the American Americans living there. However, these campaigns proved to be most challenging for King because the same tactics that he had used to bring change in the South were no longer effective. This is partly due to a combination of factors of which are poor planning and tactics, African American violence and a lack of federal government support.
For northern blacks were exposed to the formal segregation of the south when training in rural military camps. All the more when they found that the Army itself was segregated, where they were revoked of the right to fight, often given medial positions as cooks and cleaners. Black soldiers who were allowed to fight were given less training and worse equipment. The treatment of black soldiers lay in the striking contradiction of the freedoms which they were fighting for abroad, yet were unable to enjoy themselves. This continued segregation throughout the war served only to transform black soldier’s attitudes; they would use the ‘Double V’ sign to show they were fighting for two victories: victory overseas and victory over racism at home.
All over the south racism was still going on. But this time it was going on illegally. There were riots in the north in places like Chicago, Detroit and New York. The white race had been angered at the ‘preferential treatment afforded to African Americans.’ Although there were riots against the well being for black people there were other groups who protested for black people. The Double V campaigned for hypocrisy of the discrimination in America and the segregated lines.
The American blacks were victims of racism, segregation, discrimination and furthermore poverty in their community. They were neglected by the government. Nonetheless, they were neglected by fought for their rights and equality. The black people in America had their own separate communities away from the whites, because they were neglected by white people and the government. For instant they couldn’t vote in their country.
The Constitution, until recently, did not apply to blacks; blacks feel they deserve payments from 310 years of slavery, destruction to their minds and culture. Dr. Martin Luther King's dilemma in the United States was of a different kind. He was torn between his identity as a Black man of African descent and his identity as an American. He urged Americans to judge based on the content of the character not by skin color and also believed in non-violent protests. Martin Luther King Jr’s main perspective during the fight on racism was equality.
In the South however, the blacks were disfranchised, since the state governments introduced literacy tests, tests on the knowledge of constitution and Poll taxes, which African Americans had trouble with, because of poor education and financial problems. Both created through discrimination and racism. Racial hatred groups such as the Ku Klux Klan still existed. They advertised violent treatment of African Americans, and often engaged in violent activities themselves. Blacks were often beaten or killed by members of such hate groups.