Protest, progress and radicalism, 1965-75

Question 1

What religious organisation was Malcolm X a member of after leaving prison?

Answer 1

The Nation of Islam (NOI)

Question 2

What did black nationalists believe?

Answer 2

They believed integration was ineffective in achieving racial equality so that African Americans should aim to create a separate black nation.

Question 3

What did Malcolm X criticise about the civil rights movement?

Answer 3

Before 1964, when Malcolm X was still within the Nation of Islam, he criticised non-violent direct action, he believed even the most well-meaning whites could not help black people achieve equality. Wanted separatism, not working with whites and use of violence in self defence.

Question 4

How did Malcolm X’s views change?

Answer 4

In 1964, after leaving the NOI, Malcolm went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned with changed views. He was more willing to work with other civil rights organisations.

Question 5

When was Malcolm X assassinated?

Answer 5

1965.

By the NOI members.

Question 6

What was ‘Black Power’?

Answer 6

A movement that encouraged black people to be proud of their heritage and culture was suspicious of help from whites and argued against forced integration. They used militant language and often referred to revolution.

Question 7

Where did the Black Power movement get most of its support?

Answer 7

From those living in poor areas (often called ghettos) where civil rights seemed to have very little effect on living standards

Question 8

Who was Stokely Carmichael?

Answer 8

Chairman of the SNCC. Later joined the Black Panthers.

Question 9

What happened during the March Against Fear?

Answer 9

James Meredith led the march in June 1966 but was shot. When he was in hospital, Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael led the march. Carmichael’s speeches were militant and inspired people to go along with his more radical beliefs.

Question 10

What were the consequences of the black power movement for civil rights organisations?

Answer 10

Both CORE and SNCC became less welcoming to white supporters. However, they lost significant numbers of black supporters who disagreed with more radical policies.

Question 11

Who gave black power salutes at the 1968 Mexico Olympics?

Answer 11

Tommie Smith and John Carlos

Question 12

Who were the Black Panthers?

Answer 12

The Black Panther Party (BPP) was one of the largest Black Power groups. They were more willing than most Black Power groups to work with white people towards their aims. These aims included providing social and economic support to poor black people and defending communities against racism in the police.

Question 13

How were the BPP set up?

Answer 13

They were set up in California in October 1966 by Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale.

Question 14

What did the BPP do?

Answer 14

Most Black Panthers saw themselves as the police and social workers of their black communities. They:
• Patrolled streets (often armed)
• Worked to stop black city gangs from attacking each other
• Controlled traffic around schools to protect children
• Put pressure on local white government officials to improve facilities
• Ran courses on black history and citizens’ rights
• Carried tape recorders to record police harassment
• Organised free medical clinics and free clothing for the poor
• Ran the Breakfast Club Program (BCP) to provide breakfast to poor back children.

Question 15

What did the BPP achieve?

Answer 15

While the Black Panthers helped some local communities improve living standards they were also frequently involved in crime to pay for their schemes. Some of this money was stolen from banks and black businesses. The BPP was often accused of provoking the police rather than defending the community.

Question 16

How many riots were there between 1964 and 1968?

Answer 16

329 major riots in 257 US cities

Question 17

Name some important riots.

Answer 17

Examples could include:
• A major riot was in the Watts district of Los Angeles in August 1965 (Watts riots), which was triggered by the arrest of a young black man.
• There were summer riots every year in different cities, mainly in the North (worst in Chicago in 1966 and Detroit in 1967)

Question 18

Why were there riots?

Answer 18

• Police discrimination (in the 30 months before the Watts riots, police shot 65 black people – 27 in the back and 25 were unarmed)
• Discrimination by white officials – took form of not responding to complaints in mostly black neighbourhoods
• Blacks twice as likely to be unemployed – mostly unskilled, low-paid jobs
• More than twice as likely to be poor – mostly white landlords crowded people into badly repaired housing
• Poor quality education and life chances

Question 19

What was the impact of the riots?

Answer 19

• Martin Luther King visited Watts in LA during the riots and said that the SCLC must campaign more in the North.
• President Johnson was convinced of the need to put more money into improving the ghettos.
• Led to a rise in membership of Black Power groups.

Question 20

What was President Johnson’s reaction to the riots?

Answer 20

Johnson saw the riots as a consequence of political and economic failures. In July 1967 he set up an enquiry (= an official investigation) into the riots.
This led to the 1968 Kerner Report that said:
• Ghetto conditions were an important cause
• Failure of white officials to fix problems that the black community had pointed out
• the police should try to provide more protection in ghettos and needed to change their often unfair treatment of black people
• police had made the riots worse by using too much violence
• more federal money needed for poor areas
• the media had exaggerated the riots

Question 21

Was King’s Chicago campaign 1966 successful?

Answer 21

There were some successes but the Chicago campaign cannot be considered as a success on the same level as Montgomery or Selma. These were for a number of reasons:
• Many of Chicago’s black politicians did not support the campaign.
• The SCLC found it hard to connect to the ghetto gangs
• King’s message of peaceful non-violence did not work as well as it had with southern church groups.
• Chicago’s Mayor, Richard Daley, used words not weapons. In negotiations with King he sounded reasonable but then did nothing.
• Publicity and public sympathy was much less supportive as planned peaceful marches in July coincided with the outbreak of a violent riot.

Question 22

How did the Chicago campaign end?

Answer 22

Despite riots, Mayor Daley agreed to a meeting with the Chicago Freedom Movement, which led to an agreement on fairer housing. King and many of the SCLC then left Chicago. Once the SCLC had left, Mayor Daley mostly ignored the agreement.

Question 23

When was Martin Luther King assassinated?

Answer 23

King was shot on 4th April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Question 24

What was the short-term impact of King’s death?

Answer 24

in the weeks after:
• Riots in 172 towns and cities across the USA
• Between the 4th and 9th April (King’s funeral), 32 black people were dead, 3,500 injured and 27,000 arrested.
• The 1968 Civil Rights Act (Fair Housing Act) was quickly passed, which included more protections on housing and federal protection of civil rights workers as well as harsher punishments for rioting

Question 25

What was the longer-term impact of King’s death?

Answer 25

in the years after:
• National civil rights groups lost membership, funding and support from white people
• Many black Americans became more radical – in 1969 the SNCC changed the ‘N’ in its from ‘non-violent’ to ‘national’.

Question 26

What did civil rights campaigns focus on between 1969-75?

Answer 26

Protests split many ways. The BPP campaigned on social and economic issues, but the Vietnam War increasingly dominated public debate. Black Americans were particularly angry that their demands for civil rights were not being met, and yet they were expected to fight.

Question 27

What did President Richard Nixon do for civil rights?

Answer 27

Nixon (Republican; 1969-74) was elected largely on his pledge to begin withdrawing troops from Vietnam while also winning the conflict. He carefully spoke in favour of civil rights, arguing that his reforms would prevent riots. His actions included:
• Tax cuts for white-owned businesses that set up branches in black neighbourhoods
• Pressed for ‘affirmative action’ – deliberately choosing a black person for a job over a white person in order to increase representation
• Made sure there were more black officials in the White House – James Farmer was given a high-level job in the Department of Health, Welfare and Education
• Bussing school children from ghettos schools to white schools.

Question 28

Had there been progress by 1975?

Answer 28

PROGRESS: The fight for civil rights expanded somewhat to include other minority ethnic groups. For example, the Voting Rights Act was amended in 1975 to include Hispanic, Native American and other races. the number of southern black elected officials had increased from fewer than 25 to over 700; in 1973 Maynard Jackson became Atlanta’s first African-American mayor.

LACK OF PROGRESS: Despite this, economic inequality did not get better through the 1970s and desegregation did not always bring about improvements in black people’s living standards. 58% OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE SOUTH STILL WENT TO DESGEGRATED SCHOOLS BY 1968.