Creative tension? Divisions in the civil rights movement Flashcards
Key Questions: What were the major sources of tension in the civil rights movement? What were the effects of the tensions in the civil rights movement during the late 1960's?
Which 2 significant events occurred in 1965?
Passing of the Voting Rights Act
Watts Riots in Los Angeles
How many deaths, injuries and arrests were there in the Watts Riots? How much damage was done ($)?
34 deaths,
1,032 injuries,
3,438 arrests,
over $40 million in property damage.
There were 4 significant events in 1966. What were they?
Shooting of James Meredith
James Farmer resigns as leader of CORE
SNCC embraces self-defence and expels white members
NAACP and NUL walk out of negotiations with SCLC and SNCC
Which 2 significant events occurred in 1968?
SNCC embrace the use of ‘revolutionary violence’
CORE expels white members
Why did divisions arise within the civil rights movement?
Disagreements over methods and goals for which black Americans were fighting
Personal clashes between leaders competing for media attention and public recognition
Which groups were presented as ‘moderate’? Why?
NAACP and National Urban League (NUL)
NAACP - commitment to work through courts
NUL - willingness to work with America’s white population
Which groups were presented as ‘radical’? Why?
CORE and SNCC
-because they advocated self-defence
What was the SCLC labeled as?
criticized by moderates for being too radical while radicals attacked them for being too moderate
The aims and methods of groups changed over time, and so did the labels applied to them, Which groups became more radical during the 1960s?
SNCC, CORE, SCLC
Sources of tension: What were the 4 sources of tension within the civil rights movement?
The different methods:
- use of violence in the fight for black civil rights (peaceful/violent)
- extent to which black and white people should collaborate in the campaign for racial equality (collaboration)
- how far de jure change would bring about de facto change (using the law)
- the extent to which black people should seek integration (integration/seperatism)
- Shayan’s bigoted stance on gay marriage (Shayan)
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What was King’s commitment to nonviolence based on?
His heartfelt belief in Christianity and Jesus’ teachings that Christians should ‘turn the other cheek’
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: Which other groups also organised campaigns using peaceful protest?
SNCC and CORE
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: Why did SNCC and CORE use peaceful methods?
Pragmatic (it worked) rather than ideological
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What did SNCC believe (regarding non violent tactics)?
That they [non violent tactics] were compatible with self-defence
e.g. some SNCC activists in the South were willing to accept protection from black farmers armed with guns
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: How did radicals react to the tactic of non violent protest?
Critically.
e.g. Malcolm X argued that black people should be prepared to use any means to fight white oppression
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: When was the shooting of James Meredith?
1966
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What did the shooting of James Meredith prompt the SNCC to do?
Emphasise its commitment to self-defence
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What did Stokely Carmichael argue the shooting of James Meredith underlined?
The need for black people to use violence to defend themselves
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What happened to SNCC in 1968? Why?
Became more radical as Carmichael proposed using revolutionary violence against the US government
(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What prompted the resignation of CORE’s leader James Farmer in 1966?
CORE also moved away from non-violence during the late 1960s
(Methods) Collaboration: How far did the NAACP and SCLC collaborate with white people?
Welcomed black and white members arguing that cooperation would make them stronger
Stokely Carmichael fact file
- Born Trinidad
- (1941 - 1998)
- Leader of SNCC from 1966
- Involved in freedom rides of 1961
- Radical position on many issues made him a natural ally to the black panthers
- Appointed Prime Minister of the Black Panthers in the 1970s
James Farmer fact file
- (1920 - 1999)
- Leader of CORE from 1942
- CORE’s leading figure in Freedom rides of 1961
- Spoke at Washington March 1963
- Resigned from CORE leadership in 1966 due to increasing radicalisation [of CORE]
(Methods) Collaboration: SNCC and CORE moved away from mixed membership in the late 1960s.
1) What did the SNCC do in 1966?
2) What did CORE decide in 1965 and 1968 respectively?
1) Expel all white members
2) 1965 - decided that black people must form the majority of the organisation
3) 1968 - whites were officially excluded from membership
(Methods) Using the law: What did the NAACP, NUL and SCLC all have in common?
Fought for legal change
What impact did this action through the courts have on Northern Blacks?
Little. The absence of legal segregation in the northern states meant that changing laws did not help (as much)
(Methods) Using the law: What did SNCC and CORE focus on when they realised action through the courts was ineffective in the north?
Economic and political issues faced by black citizens in northern ghettos
(Goals) Integration: Which campaign groups was integration important to?
NAACP and SCLC
(Goals) Integration: What did Stokely Carmichael begin to stress in the mid-1960s?
The importance of black control over public services rather than just integration
Argument:
1) traditional integrationist campaigns (Brown 1954) only changed education for a handful of black students
2) to address this black people should campaign for control over local schools
(Goals) Seperatism: What did Malcolm X believe white people would never stop doing?
Trying to enslave black people
(Personalities): Why did King become the focus of criticism from other groups?
They believed
- he dominated the movement
- he was essentially a glory seeker
- he was controlled by the white gov.
- he dominated media attention
(Personalities): SNCC and CORE were critical of King. They accused him of treating them as junior partners. Give examples to support this.
King suggested SNCC should become the ‘student wing’, of SCLC.
CORE thought King could have played a more prominent role in the freedom rides 1961
This is evidence that he dominated the movement.
(Personalities): Why did radicals object to King working too closely with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson?
They felt that it had failed to protect protestors during the civil rights campaigns
(Personalities) Vietnam: Another point of division. What did radicals think of Vietnam?
Believed it was a racial war between the white American government and the Asian people of Vietnam.
(Personalities) Vietnam: What did NAACP think of Vietnam?
They felt obliged to support it as they believed that any criticism would drive a wedge between the civil rights activists and the gov.
(Personalities) Vietnam: Initially King did not criticise the campaign. What happened then?
- criticised by SNCC and other radical groups
- eventually felt a moral obligation to speak
- heightened tensions between King and NAACP
(Effects of the tension) Creative tensions: What did Whitney Young argue?
That every time Malcolm X or Carmichael criticised the NUL it became easier to work with white politicians and business leaders. The criticisms persuaded white leaders that the NUL was a respectable organisation.
(Effects of the tension) Destructive tensions: What were the negative effects of tension?
- damage to King’s rep
- showed King’s weakness
- fragmentation of the movement (NAACP, SCLC and NUL vs SNCC and CORE)
Timeline: 1965
Watts Riots in Los Angeles
Timeline: 1966
Shooting of James Meredith
James Farmer resigns as leader of CORE
SNCC embrasses self-defence and expels white members
NAACP and NUL walk out of negotiations with SCLC and SNCC
Timeline: 1967
SNCC embrace the use of ‘revolutionary violence’
CORE expels white members
