Black Power Movement Flashcards
What were some problems with the ghettos?
Only 32% of residents finished high school.
Jobs were unskilled and low paid.
High levels of unemployment (early 1960s, 40% of unemployed Americans were black).
High levels of violence 1964-1968.
What was ghetto life like?
Poor housing.
Unemployment twice the rate of whites.
Drug use.
Gang violence.
Police harassment.
Second-rate schools.
Unemployed black men abandoned their families.
Ghettos’ goods were twice as expensive but nowhere near as good a quality - bought in credit with high interest rates.
No support networks of the South - church, community etc.
How high were ghetto memberships to the NOI?
As high as 100,000 in 1960, possibly 250,000 by 1969.
More conservative estimates suggest 25,000.
NOI newspaper had a weekly circulation of 60,000 - even non-members bought the paper, reassured by messages of separatism and self-defence.
Why was the NOI’s impact limited?
Aims were unrealistic - group was seen as hypocritical and became even more unpopular after Malcolm X’s assassination and their supposed involvement with the murder in 1965.
Many politically-minded members left the NOI for the Black Power movement.
The NOI dismissed non-Muslims and therefore alienated support.
What organisation did Malcolm X found when he left the NOI?
Established the Organisation of Afro-American Unity, which aimed to unite all people of African descent and promote political, social and economic independence for blacks.
Who founded the Black Panther movement?
Huey Newton and Bobby Seale extended previous ideas of armed black group to found the movement in Oakland, California, 1966.
What were some Black Panther aims?
Economic equality.
An end to capitalist exploitation.
Compensation in the form of land and housing.
Separate juries for black people and protection from police intimidation.
Due to the Black Power movement, what percentage of blacks felt pride in their heritage?
64% felt pride in being black.
How did Nixon respond to the Black Power movement?
Took up positive discrimination (affirmative action) in his Philadelphia Plan (1967-1970). Congress and Supreme Court backed the policy.
Equal Opportunity Employment Act of 1972 helped to increase African American employment.
How did Carter (1977-1981) respond to the Black Power movement?
Criticised for his limited measures.
General slump in the US economy.
Reduced opportunities for African Americans.
Disproportionate number of African Americans were dependent on state welfare.
How did Reagan respond to the Black Power movement?
Voting Rights Act of 1982 strengthened penalties against discrimination and there was a Civil Rights Restoration Act in 1987.
How many original members of CORE were white?
2/3
When did SNCC expel whites from the group?
1966
When did CORE expel whites from the group?
1968
When was the NOI founded?
1930, by Wallace Muhammed.
1934-1975 run by Elijah Muhammed.
