Racial equality

Question 1

What was the impact of King’s Christian beliefs on the civil rights movement?

Answer 1

Informed his strategy of non-violent resistance to discrimination

Question 2

What inspired King to create the Southern Christian Leadership Conference?

Answer 2

The small victory of the Montgomery Bus Boycott leading the authorities to cave and desegregate the buses, after civil rights activists refused to use them

Question 3

What did King use the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to do?

Answer 3

Lecture around the US, which allowed the civil rights movement to gather momentum

Question 4

Why is King’s view on pacifism often oversimplified?

Answer 4

He actually applied for a permit to carry a concealed firearm after his home was attacked in 1956. It was only after studying Gandhi’s theory of passive resistance on a trip to India that he committed to a wholesale personal philosophy of non-violence. However, even then he accepted that violence may be acceptable as a form of self-defence for others

Question 5

When did the US government pass the civil rights act?

Answer 5

In 1964, a year after the March on Washington

Question 6

What did the Civil Rights Act do?

Answer 6

Brought to an end the era of legally sanctioned racial segregation

Question 7

What did King receive as a reward for his efforts?

Answer 7

The Nobel Peace Prize

Question 8

When was King assassinated?

Answer 8

1968

Question 9

How did the civil rights movement become unruly in the years leading up to King’s death?

Answer 9

Particularly among young, urban African-Americans, King’s philosophy of passive resistance and prayer was being questioned, with a new, far more radical, movement emerging in its place

Question 10

How did Malcolm X differ from King in how they approached the fight for racial equality?

Answer 10

He rejected King’s philosophy of non-violent resistance and argued that armed struggle may be required if black Americans were to ever be truly liberated from racism

Question 11

What was X’s early life dominated by?

Answer 11

Petty crime and run ins with the law

Question 12

What two things did X do while in prison?

Answer 12

• Converted to Islam
• Abandoned his last name of Little and replaced it with X to represent the unknown names of his African ancestors

Question 13

What black nationalist movement did X become a key figure in?

Answer 13

The Nation of Islam, the membership surge it enjoyed in the 1950s and 60s can largely be attributed to X

Question 14

Why was it politically expedient for Malcolm X to criticise King’s strategy and vision?

Answer 14

It allowed him to capitalise on the growing anger amongst African-Americans who were impatient with the perceived conservatism of the mainstream civil rights movement

Question 15

How did X believe that injustices against black people should be fought?

Answer 15

‘By any means necessary’

Question 16

Explain how Malcolm X’s political views led to his downfall?

Answer 16

He thought that because a government of white people could not be trusted to act in the best interests of African-Americans, that black community should govern itself. His views began to increasingly diverge from those of the Nation of Islam, and he left the group in 1964 to found the Organisation of Afro-American unity. He was assassinated by three members of the group a year later

Question 17

What was X’s short term legacy?

Answer 17

The founding of the Black Panther Party, which fused Black Nationalism with revolutionary Marxism

Question 18

What has been the long term impact of X on subsequent campaigns for racial equality?

Answer 18

His message of empowerment has provided strength and confidence

Question 19

When did the Black Lives Matter movement begin?

Answer 19

2013

Question 20

Define intersectionality

Answer 20

The idea that different forms of discrimination and prejudice are socially linked. As a result, depending on the exact nature of their identity, individuals may not all have the same experience of inequality

Question 21

Give an example of intersectionality

Answer 21

A black disabled woman may face different issues to a black able bodied male

Question 22

When did post colonialism emerge?

Answer 22

In the latter half of the 20th century

Question 23

Define post-colonialism

Answer 23

A field of academic study that explores the nature of colonial power and its cultural legacy

Question 24

What is Black Lives Matter most commonly associated with?

Answer 24

Campaigns for racial equality in the US justice system and an end to police brutality

Question 25

How does BLM take an intersectional approach?

Answer 25

Because it also raises awareness of how discrimination on the basis of gender, sexuality and disability can further disadvantage black people

Question 26

How did BLM come to be?

Answer 26

Neighbourhood watch captain in Florida, George Zimmerman, shot dead a black teenager, Travyon Martin, and he was subsequently acquitted of murder. The founding members of the movement posted a tweet condemning the movement with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter