The United States has a disappointing history of treating minorities, or non-whites, with apathetic behavior. The Civil Rights Movement, which has roots in the 19th century and peaked in the 1960s, reversed the trend and granted African Americans with anti-discriminatory legislation. Because of this, almost every minority within the country has followed the Civil Rights Movement as a guide for achieving equal treatment. In her essay, “Speaking in Tongues”, Zadie Smith outlines the differences of those with a single voice, or the native dialect, versus people who utilize a multitude of voices. Furthermore, this relates to the Civil Rights Movement because the leaders who were “lettered” had their own voice in addition to other voices which provided …show more content…
Simply put, the country is a bunch of voices that should theoretically be united as one. However, throughout history the white voice has been the one writing history, teaching immigrants’ information, and failing to teach others to be appreciative of cultural differences. The sin of losing the “double voice” is when you move into a different country but leave your traditions behind (Smith 248). Adapting to ideals that are already present means conforming to potentially wrong and misguided views. Furthermore, Smith says, “I regret it; I should have kept both voices alive in my mouth. They were both a part of me. But how the culture warns against it!” (248). The author is regretful for not maintaining the duel voices that she once had, while also showing how cultures warn against multiple voices because it weakens cultural allegiance. In other words, cultures look out for themselves and perpetuate the closed-minded viewpoints that many people in the world still have. Meanwhile, Gladwell mentions, “Donating bone marrow isn’t a trivial matter. But it doesn’t involve financial or personal risk; It doesn’t mean spending a summer being chased by armed men in pickup trucks. It doesn’t require that you confront socially entrenched norms and practices” (138). Closed-minded people are afraid to open discussion about socially entrenched norms, which is why the Civil Rights Movement was met with violent resistance from white traditionalists. In addition, leadership during the Civil Rights Movement was a “hierarchical” power structure, or one that featured a primary leader (Gladwell 139). This is important because the organizational structure was guided by African American leaders who were often lettered, or well educated. With this in mind, Gladwell references the extremely well planned out Montgomery Bus Boycott and