...To obtain justice does one need power, and to obtain power does one need weapons? In the Civil Rights Movement there have been many views on how to change one issue, racial inequality. From groups like the Black Panthers who advocated for the rights to bare arms for self protection, to the Freedom Riders who did not believe violent retaliation in any form. Comparing figureheads such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X show the distinct differences between the two, what may seem like a radical idea to one may not seems so to the other. The contrasting ideas of both nonviolent activists and activists who believe violence is inevitable if not necessary in the Civil Rights Movement, emphasizes the idea that nonviolence is key to one understanding...
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...Black power in many ways was the opposite of everything non-violence was. Racial hatred, violence and self-reliance. The ideas that self-defense was a natural right, and in order to maintain it, African Americans must assert it, not become passive. As Malcolm X said, “The only way to defend yourself from a man with a rifle and club is to use a rifle and club yourself.” However, the two approaches did have similarities, with similar end results being blacks and whites live in harmony. Both demanded equality not just in theory but also in societal life. Where they differed most was in the methods used and the time each group was willing to wait. The non-violence method was rooted in religion and common sense. To succeed non-violent protest required not just the support of the black population, but that population's...
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...Non-Violence Vs. Violence The civil rights movement started with an african American women refusing to give up her seat on a bus in montgomery Alabama. Her name was Rosa Parks. “ The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” - Rosa Parks. This one women standing up for herself led to a bus boycott that would last 13 months. An organization that was the start to change was The montgomery improvement Association (MIA) helped to focus on the rights that african Americans had when it came to as simply as where they sat on a bus. This organization was started before Rosa Parks ever stood up for her right. Founded in 1946. This boycott happened when students start riding different busses integrated (black, white, black) on the bus seats so when other people would get on they would have no choice but to join in with the lack of segregating the busses. All of these events that have happened in the 60’s are examples of and the reason that non-violence protesting is the most effective....
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...In some ways Black Power groups did help the civil rights movement however in some ways it did hinder the civil rights and cause some problems for the other civil rights campaigners. Black Power groups were militant type groups who did not agree with Martin Luther King’s non-violence beliefs. MLK said that if they did use violence it would give the white racist an excuse of attacking law abiding blacks. However Black Power groups believed they could use violence in self-defence but MLK said you should never use violence. Black Power groups where often associated with black Muslims, but by the mid-1960s many of the activist in the SNCC and CORE had both moved away from their traditional views of non-violence, and joined the views of Black Power groups such as the Black Panthers. Black Power groups did help the civil rights movement because it forced the civil rights movement up the agenda, so it made the president make take faster action to try and get the civil rights bills passed through congress quicker so that the violence between the Blacks and the whites would stop. Another reason why the president wanted the laws to be passed was because of all the bad press America was receiving, mainly the communist USSR, who were saying things like how you can fight for freedom when you don’t even have freedom in your own country. This was a problem for America as they did not want people to stop believing in the capital system and join a communist system. Black power groups did cause...
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...Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela Non-violence is a concept that people participate in social and political change without violence. It is a form of social and political change between passive acceptances and armed struggle. Non-violence way to participate in the social and political change is including nonviolent civil disobedience against, acts of civil disobedience or other powerful influence uncooperative antagonistic form; it is similar with pacifism, but it is not pacifism. Since the mid-20th century, nonviolence and civil disobedience become the main form of social change, and it also is respected political and social philosophy. As the practice of social and political change, non-violent has the essence difference with pacifism, it is contrary to the wishes of the oppressed, and it struggle with any injustice and power political. In my final paper, I will instruction three famous Non-violence movement leader: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela; and also I will compare the similar and difference between them. Mahatma Gandhi was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in Britishruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world. A very important turning point in Gandhi’s life is he arrived in South Africa to work as a legal representative for the Muslim Indian traders based in the city of Pretoria...
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...has not always been the case that all populations have the equal social and political rights. The African-Americans and Indigenous Australians paid a steep price for the freedoms attained from different social problems throughout the civil rights movement with intensive revolts. Whilst both civil rights movements were significantly similar in reasons, social context, methods used, government and community response and success, there were several differences between the two countries’ movements. Reasons Before the civil rights movements, America and Australia had laws that created political and social inequality. The Jim Crow Law in America enforced...
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...The American Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s represents an important event in world history. The positive changes it brought to voting and civil rights continue to be felt throughout the United States and much of the world. Although the struggle for black equality was fought on throughout the United States. Lawmakers, law enforcement officers, public officials, and private citizens particularly from the south worked together to maintain the segregated way of life that had dominated the southern states since the end of the Civil War in 1865. Furthermore the people from the south ensured the preservation of segregation by the constant use of threat and violence against people who sought to end it. In contrast, the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement chose the tactic of nonviolence as a tool to dismantle the institutionalized racial segregation, discrimination, and inequality in the south. The movement was guided based on Martin Luther King Jr.’s principles of nonviolence and passive resistance. The success of the American Civil Rights Movement and the fight for racial equality in the United States is a testament to the determination of millions of African Americans who fought against discrimination in the 1960s. Instead of using the alternative strategy of using an armed uprising such as one of Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr. championed and thrived on the strategy of protesting for equal rights without using violence. King's non-violent approach was inspired and derived...
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...What in your view was the short-term significance of Martin Luther King to the Civil Rights Movement? Martin Luther King’s (MLK) short-term significance to the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) can be attributed to his non-violence and his unique relationships with the media and the President. These relationships played a key role in MLK’s and the CRM’s success. We should also not ignore the role played by global politics of the time. The circumstances were such that the CRM may have succeeded even without the assistance of MLK. In order to assess the short-term significance of King to the CRM, we must determine, was it MLK or rather the international situation that led to the successes of the Civil Rights Movement? Word Count – 502 MLK’s significance to the CRM stemmed from his use of non-violence as a tactic to achieve social change. Non-violence served as King’s ideology and methodology, and contributed to King’s significance. Non-violence being met with naked aggression and racism was showcased by the media and condemned by the government. Although several other civil rights leaders, such as Ralph Abernathy, possessed Christian credentials, MLK coupled these credentials with his non-violence and positive relationship with the media. In January 1960 a bomb was thrown on King’s porch and an armed mob gathered that was dispersed only by King’s insistence on calm. A white police officer on the scene remarked, “If it hadn’t been for that nigger preacher, we’d all be dead”. This quote...
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...How far was the effectiveness of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s limited by internal divisions? (30 marks) During the Civil Rights Movement great improvements were made gradually for the small minority groups in USA, for example Black African Americans, Hispanic groups and also women. However, from the very beginning there were internal divisions within the civil rights movement as well as external divisions. These partitions were caused by four major factors; methods such as peaceful protest and violence, ideology, effects of tension from jealousy and rivalry and lastly personalities of the different civil rights organisations and their leaders as they were competing for media attention and public recognition. These divisions did limit the effectiveness of the civil rights movement as they slowed down the process and cause many complications. These divisions were extremely clear thought out the 1960s as there was the development of Black Power and their methods of violence which is a contrast to Martin Luther King’s approach which was peaceful protest. In the early 1960s many successes came about for the civil rights movement especially for SNCC and of Martin Luther King. The Greensboro sit-ins led by SNCC in 1960 is an example of a triumph as they demonstrated that civil rights campaigns could spread quickly and also showed that other organisations could work together as the sit-ins attacked all aspects of segregation and it lead to the extending of the existing NAACP...
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...In the time of the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans faced intense discrimination, unjust segregation, widespread poverty, and police brutality. In the fight for justice, many forms of protesting ensued, both violent and nonviolent. Two prominent leaders marked their names in history with opposing forms of demanding freedom and equality. In the beginning of the movement, Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the SCLC, set the stage for spiritually aggressive non-violent protesting. Malcolm X, on the other side, preached the importance of defending themselves and breaking away from the oppressors denying them their freedoms. Malcolm X, member of the Nation of Islam, preached against the idea of integration and “[forcing themselves] on...
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...and news print have all reflected the times of the Civil Rights Movement. Music has reflected the spirit of the movement. Television has been used to show the harsh reality of the movement. Film and theater have shown representations of African American life during the movement. Radio has been used to spread the message of the movement. All of these forms of entertainment were used to reflect the politics, beliefs, ideologies and the experience of the Civil Rights Movement. The music of the 1950’s and 1960’s has been the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. Music has been used to lift up the spirits and used to motivate those involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Different genres of music have been used over the course of the movement. At first gospel music was the main form of music used during the movement. Songs such as “This Little Light of Mine” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” were sang to show the optimism and hope for change in the United States for African...
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...Martin Luther King once said that “non-violence is a just and powerful weapon; a sword that heals; it cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.” Nov violence is more effective than violent confrontations in the fight for justice, fairness and equality. The use of violence to fight for justice in most cases escalate to the point where the fighters remaining agenda is vengeance, victory and self-defense. When violence is the tool for getting justice, any moral arguments of the people fighting for justice are rendered irrelevant. Having used violent means, the opponent is justified to retaliate violently. The irony in all these is that each side of the divide is usually able to argue as to who started the violence (Miller 2005). The use of violence usually leads to the loss of innocent lives, the destruction of property, and in most instances, do not achieve the objective that it set out to achieve. Non-violence methods, such as those castigated by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi try to avoid this trap by evading any violent confrontations. Far from being termed as cowardice, non-violence requires tremendous self-control, courage and a ready heart to endure pain, suffering and death. Non-violent strategies dwell on the strength that they reduce the moral legitimacy of those who persist in their use of violence against non-violence. This loss of legitimacy is a double sword in that it leads to efforts in coalition building that eventually leads to the condemnation...
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...The Civil Rights Movement was a time of social change in America. Slavery had been abolished but African Americans still lacked rights. With all the injustices a change needed to happen, and for this, many brave people were needed. Brave people who wanted change and were willing to do whatever was necessary to get it, to fight for the belief that all men were created equal and that they should be treated that way. Some of these key figures in the Civil Rights Movement were Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy. Jackie Robinson helped shape and influence the Civil Rights Movement. In the 1940’s, baseball was considered America’s game, and baseball was right at the heart of all Americans. Baseball at this time had an...
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...I was very much interested in the Civil Rights movement, but my mother never allowed me to speak my mind about such a sensitive topic. She always thought I was just a little kid who didn’t know what she was talking about." But a young, intelligent person understood the very aspect of the Civil Rights Movement and the motives behind it. As people graduated from American High School, they attention veered towards the Civil Rights Movement and they feel it. Some communities are a predominantly black community in an inner cit. Many people in these communities do not seem as interested or affected by the historical movement. But everyone knew to follow the rules of not conversing nor interacting with whites. One person describes one hot July day, there was a rally held in Downtown Miami along with many other cities. The really lasted all day but messages were being spread. “I felt a sense of glory because it was the first time I felt a true connection with every other person in the country who was trying to make a difference in this country. “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love,” A message from Martin Luther King, JR. that showed his passion to promote unity and non-violence during the Civil Rights Movement. During the times of the Civil Rights Movement, many African Americans were angry and had hatred towards white people because of the oppression they endured for years. As a result...
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...The Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement is a very diverse subject. There are many different opinions on this subject and many political changing events follow this movement. Some of the struggles during the civil rights movement were covered through the media in such a fashion that it could have gone either way. I found an article stating, and I quote “Majority Queried In Times Survey Say, Negro Movement Has Gone Too Far, But Few Intend To Change Votes.” –New York Times (Sept. 21st 1964). Now another person questioned in this poll, and I quote “That many neighborhoods have always been known as ‘tough’, but they were white tough neighborhoods, if you know what I mean.” He added, “It was tough to a point, and no more. Now with colored it is a different kind of toughness, it is fear I guess.” I feel like with this last comment that this man had said, it is absolutely true of how the public viewed the civil rights movement, it was a fear, a fear of uncertainty of how to live with each other after being segregated for so long. In during this time the term ‘white backlash’ was used as a term used to give an indication that their voting habits were affected by the changes that has occurred in the civil rights act. Martin Luther King Jr. displayed a method of non violent protests which he referred to as a method of peaceful protest by oppressed people. From the article I read I quote “In a classical non violent situation the oppressed engage in mass demonstrations or in...
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