Black Power Movement P.3

Question 1

What was MLK Jr reaction to the Los Angeles Watts ghetto riots? When?

Answer 1

1965. King was asked by local churchmen to calm the riots. King agreed and was shocked by the reality of the ghettos.

Based on this King now defined freedom as economic equality and no longer political equality

Question 2

What was MLK’s primary aim starting 1966?

Answer 2

King focused on the north and its increasing tendency towards violence and radicalism amongst some black groups.

Question 3

Which ghetto in the north did MLK choose for him and the SCLC to focus on and why?

Answer 3

Chicago.
Chicago was the second largest city, so the ghetto was massively overpopulated with severe employment, housing and education problems.

Other cities were not welcoming of MLK, such as New York, whose Harlem congressman told him to keep out.

Chicago had a history of protests such as “wade-ins”, protests against the segregation of south side beach in 1961. 1963 half a million black students boycotted the segregation of schools (not successful)

Chicago’s influential religious community supported the civil rights movement.

Chicago’s mayor Daley relied on black votes and was not racist.

Question 4

What methods did King and the SCLC use to help the ghettos in Chicago and how successful were they?

Answer 4

King toured reports through rat infested and unheated ghetto dwelling. SCLC dressed up as workers and repaired buildings they “dramatically” seized and collected the tenants’ rents to finance this. Press was not impressed by King dismissing the illegality of his methods.

Question 5

How were the riots in Chicago and their impact?

Answer 5

500 black marchers rioted in a white neighbourhood of Chicago to protest the fact that they could not live there yet.
This was not welcomed by the residents who threw rocks and bottles and hurled degrading insults at the marches.

The police was very hesitant to protect the marchers, due to the intimidation.
Several of these incidents occurred, until King was hit by a rock which calmed both the press and the protests.

On one occasion 800 policemen were found protecting 700 marchers.

Riots caused 2 million worth of damage. Whites blamed King and King blamed Daley. Daley agreed to promote integrated housing in Chicago but that was merely theoretical.

Question 6

When did MLK leave Chicago and who did he leave in charge?

Answer 6

1966, Jesse Jackson

Question 7

How impactful was the SCLC in Chicago?

Answer 7

obtained a 4 million dollar federal grant to improve Chicago in housing
Left a legacy of community action
Local black community however was hopeless and felt the SCLC had “sold out”.

Question 8

Why was MLK and the SCLC unsuccessful in Chicago?

Answer 8

SCLC ill-prepared
Meredith march 1966 distracted SCLC
Could not effect a social and economic revolution in Chicago, did not educate and organise local population
Population of Chicago was too large to mobilise
NAACP and some black churches were unhelpful + radical black Muslims disagreed with MLK
SCLC never called outside help like it did in Selma
Daley was smart. His police did protect the marchers but he threatened the SCLC with fines they could not afford.

Question 9

How did the Vietnam war impact MLK and the civil rights movement

Answer 9

MLK views o the Vietnam war (anti) alienated him with president Johnson
The anti-Vietnam War movement was taking funds and energies away from the civil rights movement.

Question 10

What and when was the Meredith March?

Answer 10

1966. First black student, James Meredith, started a 350 km walk from Memphis to Mississippi to encourage black people to vote. He was shot on the second day and temporarily immobilised. Black organisations, including King and 20 others, continued James’s walk.

Question 11

Was the Meredith March successful? Explain why

Answer 11

No

Black Division
NAACP wanted to focus on new civil rights bill

Leader of SNCC critiqued the bill, as they had become militant due to the lack of federal protection during freedom summer

NAACP leaves march.

Carmichael (leader of SNCC) urged for black power upon his release after his arrest, which MLK did not agree with, as it would alienate white supporters and bring the focus of the march on debating black power.

Question 12

What caused a decrease in progress in the civil rights movement after the Meredith March, from MLK’s perspective?

Answer 12

white opposition
Black Extremists
White liberals distracted by the Vietnam War.

Question 13

What was MLK’s solution to improving the living conditions in ghettos?

Answer 13

Giving blacks the vote did not cost any money but improving the living conditions of the ghettos would (no one wanted to be taxed higher).

MLK proposed “affirmative action” meaning that since African Americans have been oppressed under the US government, it is now their duty to equip them to compete in society on a just and equal basis.

MLK also urged black peoples to bring in Hispanics, native Americans and poor whites into the war on poverty.

Question 14

What was the Poor People’s Campaign?

Was it succesful?
When

Answer 14

1967
MLK’s idea was to bring all poor people together to camp out in Washington DC in a Poor People’s campaign.

No. It was for its time unwise and unrealistic.

Question 15

When and what happened in Memphis?

Answer 15

March 1968.
King was asked to join a protest march to support black sanitation workers faced with discrimination. The march turned violent due to a radical black power minority.

Question 16

When and what was the aftermath of the murder MLK?

Answer 16

1968
triggered ghetto riots
Day of national mourning declared by president Johnson
Mixed reactions, some grieving some joyful
After death MLK was idolised and his faults like his womanising were forgotten.

Question 17

What were Malcom X’s beliefs?

Answer 17

Malcom strictly adhered to the teachings of Muhammad, but derived from them later on to follow the more orthodox approach of Islam.

Question 18

What was Malcom X’s role in the NOI and what were his methods?

Answer 18

appointed as minister and national spokesman for the NOI
Responsible for establishing new mosques in cities such as Detroit, Michigan and Harlem, New York.

Utilised newspaper columns, radio and television to communicate NOI’s messages across the US.
His use of charisma, drive and conviction attracted large numbers of new members.

Question 19

What were the negative achievements of Malcom X

Answer 19

Many considered him to be irresponsible and negative.

critiqued him for staying in safer places like Harlem, whereas MLK was actively putting his life on the line in the south.

Did not ever establish organisations as effective and long-lasting as the NAACP or SCLC

Time magazine described Malcom X as, “unashamed demagogue whose gospel was hatred and who in life and in death was a disaster to the Civil Rights Movement.”

Question 20

What were the positive achievements of Malcom X?

Answer 20

drew attention to dreadful conditions in the USA’s ghettos and brought black Americans closer to other oppressed blacks internationally.

Became an iconic role model for black youths, through his search of identity and exploration of feelings, seen in his book “Autobiography of Malcolm X” (1965)

Made black nationalism appealing to angry black youths.
Inspired new generation of black leaders such as SNCC’s Stokely Carmichael and the Black Power Movement in general

Question 21

When was the nation of islam created?

Answer 21

1930 by Wallace Fard (Wallace randomly disappeared in 34) so leadership passed on to Elijah Muhammad. He led till 1975.

Question 22

What were the beliefs of the NOI?

Answer 22

Rejected philosophy of “Turning the other cheek” prominent in Christianity.
NOI fought for a state of their own, separate from the inhibition of white people

Question 23

Who was credited with the growth of the NOI?

Answer 23

Malcom X was largely credited with increasing membership in the NOI from 500 (1952) to 30’000 (1963)

Question 24

What were the negative achievements of the NOI?

Answer 24

unrealistic goals (separate black state in south or return to Africa)
Poor relations with groups such as NAACP, who promoted black interpretation into white society. King described NOI as a “hate group”.

Question 25

What were the positive achievements of the NOI

Answer 25

1960; 100 ‘000 members and quarter million by 1969.

Newspaper “Muhammad Speaks” featuring comforting messages of separatism and self-defence, had an audience of 600’000 by mid 1970s

Attracted and inspired ghetto-dwellers because of self-confidence and emphasis on racial pride and economic self- help

Muhammad and his son created many businesses showing black success and offering rare job opportunities in ghettos.

Question 26

What was the relationship between the NOI and the Black Power Movement?

Answer 26

Relations were ambivalent. Both groups promoted separatism, cultural revival and self help. However, Muhammad did not support non-Muslim African culture, which alienated some Black Power activists. -> 1972: “I am already civilised and I am ready to civilise Africa.”
Nevertheless most black power advocates revered Muhammad and the NOI as forerunners of the new black nationalism.

Question 27

When did Malcolm convert to NOI?

Answer 27

1952 In prison.

Question 28

When did Malcolm adopt the x to his name?

Answer 28

Once he was released from prison in 1952. (X replaced the african name that had been taken from his slave ancestors.)

Question 29

What did Malcom X think of the March on Washington?

Answer 29

Critical of non-violence + christened it the Farce on Washington + mocking the dream of integration.

Question 30

What did Malcom X think of christianity?

Answer 30

He mocked christianity : a religion “designed to fill [black] hearts with the desire to be white…A white jesus. A white virgin. WHite angels, White everything. But a black Devil of course.”

Question 31

When and why was Malcom X suspended from NOI?

Answer 31

In late 1963 for making unpopular remarks about the assaintion of President kennedy.

Question 32

When did Malcom X leave NOI and why?

Answer 32

In 1964 -> disappointed by Muhammad’s expensive lifestyle, romantic affairs, and refusal to allow him to join those risking their lives in Birmingham in 1963.

Question 33

What did Malcom X establish in the following month of his pilgrimage to Mecca?

Answer 33

The Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU)

Question 34

What were the aims of OAAU?

Answer 34

Aimed to unite all people of african descent and to promote political, social and economic independence for blacks.

Question 35

How do King’s and Malcom’s views compare now? (In 1964)

Answer 35

Like KIng, Malcom moved towards socialism, propelled by economic inequality in the USA.

Question 36

When was Malcom X assassinated and by who?

Answer 36

February 1965, by NOI gunmen.

Question 37

How did Malcom X’s and KiNG’S FAMILY BACKGROUND DIFFER?

Answer 37

Malcolm Little was born in midwest Nebraska to a widowed mother who could not cope with the poverty of those years and was committed to an insane asylum when Malcolm was 14 years old.

King was a southerner born in Georgia to a slowly growing black middle class, to a stable family headed by his father who, as a church minister, was shielded from the worst traumas of the great depression.

Question 38

How did King’s and Malcom’s youth and education compare?

Answer 38

To simplify: “While King graduated from an inferior southern college but a good northern university, Malcolm graduated from the school of drug dealing, pimping, burgling and jail.”

Question 39

How did their philosophies differ?

Answer 39

King’s dad supported the NAACP and he and Martin believed in the American dream and sought integration into it. King’s focus was the segregated south

Malcolm’s father supported UNIA and according to Malcolm “what is looked upon as the American dream for white people has long been an American nightmare for black people” because of this Malcolm sought separatism. His focus was always the ghettos.

Question 40

What were the similarities between Malcom and King?

Answer 40

Both aimed to improve the black situation and had many followers
Both were religious
Both were very charismatic
Both had belief in the power of organisations, preaching and print; both were involved with influential organisations
Both had philosophies that changed, developed and made them more similar in the later years, when King became increasingly socialist and Malcolm less antagonistic towards whites.
Both were controversial and assassinated.

Question 41

How many other riots were there from 64 to 68?

Answer 41

238 riots in over 200 US cities. The riots led to over 250 deaths mostly from police shooting rioters, 10’000 seriously injured, 60’000 arrested and a great deal of damage to ghetto businesses.

Question 42

What was the most famous National Advisory commission on Civil disorder.
When?
What was an issue concerning it?

Answer 42

set up by Johnson in 1968,
it emphasised the social and economic deprivation in the ghettos which have poor schools, housing and high unemployment.

Report also noted that violence was frequently triggered by black reaction to what were perceived as oppressive police policies and indifferent white political machines.

Issue:
It recommended increased expenditure on the ghettos but most whites were unwilling to finance improvements.

Question 43

How did the NAACP aim to improve the situation in the ghettos?

How did A. Phillip Randolph aim to solve this issue?

Answer 43

NAACP: Worked for integrated education hoping it would provide better quality education for blacks and enable them to leave the ghettos.

RANDOLPH: By encouraging unionisation and pressure on the federal government as the way towards equal pay and employment opportunities.

MLK: Drew attention to ghetto problems in the chicago freedom movement.

Question 44

Why were whites unwilling to help?

Answer 44

US Cold war anti- communism ensured the sympathy for the poor was equated with sympathy for communist doctrines of economic equality.

White american unwillingness motivated by self-interest
Black entry into white neighbourhoods would cause property prices to plummet

black school children from deprived backgrounds might damage the educational and employment prospects of white children.

White voters did not want to pay for extra taxes particularly after the vietnam war.

Neither the federal government nor state nor city authority wanted to bear the expensive burden of improving the ghettos.

Question 45

How did black Americans perceive this unwillingness?

Answer 45

As uninterested and unsympathetic -> not surprisingly then the black power movement emerged out of the impoverished ghettos
By the late 1960s a new generation of black radicals were demanding improvements.

Question 46

Name a few examples of responses from civil rights organisations to the ghetto frustration

Answer 46

Poor People’s Campaign in 1967- SCLC

Freedom Houses starting 1964 which provided information and advice on education, employment, health and housing- CORE

National Urban League (NUL) launched a programme to develop economic self help strategies in the ghettos in 1968 and received 28 million from the Nixon administration in 1971.

Question 47

Were these campaigns for the ghettos effective?

Answer 47

No they were not enough.
Many ghetto inhabitants felt that these organisations knew little about ghetto life and were not much help in improving matters.

Question 48

How did the youth in the ghetto’s perceive these civil rights organisations and in particular MLK?

Answer 48

Rejected MLK’s emphasis on the south, “ the white man’s christian religion” and non violence which did not seem to contribute to the ghettos.

They did recognize that civil rights activism that led to improvement and were inspired to be active themselves but looking to new leaders such as Malcom X and Stokely Carmiacheal whose philosophies were more appealing.

Question 49

How did the SNCC become more militant in 1966?

Why

Answer 49

Impatient with slow progress toward equality
Disillusioned by the lack of federal protection in the mississippi freedom summer
SNCC turned to a more militant leader: Carmichael

Question 50

When were whites removed from the sncc

Answer 50

In 1966, Stokelely voted to expel whites from SNCC.

Question 51

When was Carmichael replaced?

Answer 51

1967 by even more militant Henry Rap Brown, who advocated for armed self defence

Question 52

What was significant about 1968 for the SNCC?

Answer 52

At a rally in oakland california the SNCC merged with the Black Panthers, the most radical of all organisations.

Question 53

When did CORE’s leader JAmes Farmer resign? Who was he replaced by?

Answer 53

December 1965. He was replaced by the radical Floyd McKissick.

Question 54

What resulted from the 1966 annual CORE convention?

67? And 68?

Answer 54

66: Black power was endorsed and they declared non-violence inappropriate if black people needed to defend themselves.
67: Excised the word muliracial from CORE’s constitution.

68> Whites were excluded from CORE’s membership.

Question 55

What were the different interpretations of black power?

Answer 55

Black supremacy; 1968: Muhammad siad “Black power means the black people will rule the white people on earth as the white people have ruled the black people for the past six thousand years.

1968-9: black car workers though black power meant a black working class revolution. (they united in a black power union, the league of revolutionary workers which had 80 activists and contributed to the militancy of black car workers + to the employment of more black foramen before it broke down in 1971.)

Question 56

How did the older generation view Black power?

Answer 56

NAACP leader Roy Wilkins felt that black power supporters were racist and no better than the KKK.

MLK called black power a slogan without a program. However when people kept using the phrase he attempted to give it more positive connotations “Black power means instilling with the N*** a sense of belonging and appreciation of heritage, a racial pride…”

Floyd McKissick also attempted a positive definition: Black Power is not hatred and “ did not mean black supremacy, did not mean exclusion of whites from the N*** Revolution […] but political, economic power and a new self image.

Question 57

What did Richard Nixon perceive black power as?

Answer 57

1968. “Meant more black ownership, for from this can flow the rest- black pride, black jobs, black opportunities and yes, black power,”

Question 58

When and by whom was the Black Panther Party for Self-Defence created?

Answer 58

1966, in California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.

Question 59

What were the aims of the black panthers?

Answer 59

Influenced by communist revolutionaries such as Mao and Geuvara.
Aimed to become involved in the global non white working class struggle
Aimed to expose police brutality and harassment -> citing the second amendment to the US constitution (which said US citizens had the right to bear arms.) -> armed black panthers followed police cars in ghettos to expose police brutality.

Question 60

What were the demands of the Black panthers?

Answer 60

Payment of compensation for slavery to black americans by federal government
Freedom for incarcerated black who should be jailed only if tried by a black jury
Exemption of blacks from military service
A UN supervised referendum of black americans for the purpose of determining the will of black people as to their national destiny
Less police brutality
improvements in ghetto living conditions.

Question 61

Outline an aggressive assault by the black panthers?

Answer 61

May 1967: black panthers surrounded and entered the California State capitol building accusing the legislature of considering repressive legislation. Some plotted to blow up major department stores in New York city.

Question 62

Outline the achievements of the black panthers?

Answer 62

Never boasted above more than 5000 members
However they won a great deal of respect for their emphasis on self-help.
They set up ghetto clinics to advise on health, welfare, and legal rights
1970: southern California chapter of the Free Breakfast programma served up to 1700 meals weekly to the ghetto poor.
armed black panthers followed police cars in ghettos to expose police brutality which led to some violent shootouts

Question 63

Outline the 4 reasons for why the black power movement declined?

Answer 63

Divisions + disorganisation, sexism, financial problems, the nixon administration

Question 64

Outline how divisions in the movement led to its decline`?

Answer 64

Black power movement was ill defined and poorly organised
The movement never really produced a persuasive and effective blueprint for change.
Black panthers talk of violence brought down the wrath of the federal government on their head and the talk of socialism was ill suited for the US at that time.

Question 65

Outline how sexism in the black power movement led to its decline`?

Answer 65

Feminism became popular in the 60s + appealed to many black women. Male black power leaders were often sexist which alienated women from the movement.

Question 66

Outline how financial problems in the movement led to its decline`?

Answer 66

When CORE and the SNCC expelled all white members they also rid themselves of their financial support as white liberals financed the major civil rights organisations. In 1973 SNCC ceased to exist because of this.

Question 67

Outline how the Nixon administration led to the black power movement’s decline?

Answer 67

Sustained + effective pursuit of black power leaders
Black panthers routinely engaged in petty crime, sought confrontation with and advocated the killing of police.
They therefore suffered from police attention or persecution.
They were tagged and destroyed by the police and FBI from 1967- 69. By 170 most of the black panthers leadership was killed, imprisoned or in enforced exile.

Question 68

The successes of the black power movement?

Answer 68

Black Panthers gave useful practical help to ghetto dwellers and kept the ghetto problems on the political agenda.
Ghetto riots were popular movements, as they brought attention to the living conditions in the ghettos. Although many casualties and destroyed properties were often consequences of these riots.
won great deal of respect from their emphasis on self-help.

Question 69

The failures of the black power movement?

Answer 69

black power contributed to the downfall of what had been an effective civil rights movement. Ex. CORE, James farmer had participated in many of the non-violent sit-ins, which were impactful. However once he was replaced by militant leader McKissick, CORE achieved little. SNCC follows a similar trend-line.
However, it can be argued that without Black Power, the civil rights movement would have lost momentum and left the ghetto problems as fully insoluble.
Yet, Black Power, also failed to find an answer to the northern ghetto problems and rioters, and armed Black panthers helped decreased the white sympathy, which had been a key to progress for non-violent civil rights activists.