Question

The Civil Rights movement and the Black Nationalist movement are two different ways of understanding and fighting racial injustice in the United States. The first relies on a liberal approach and the second sees black people as a nation within a nation engaged in a struggle with the ruling class, white Americans. Compare these two movements, explain their differences and analyze how their underlying philosophy affects how each movement addresses racism.

Answer 1

• Like the activists of the Civil Rights Movement, their goal was complete racial equality. The main difference between the two movements was that supporters of Black Power were prepared to use violent methods to achieve these goals. Proponents of the Black Power Movement did not constitute a homogenous group.
• Civil rights movement in USA-Refers to a set of events and reform movements aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination against African -Americans.led by Martin Luther King this movement practiced non violent methods of civil disobedience against racially discriminatory laws and practices.
• The black nationalist movement emerged in 1966 and lasted till 1975 which was more militant anti racist movement advocating even violence if necessary to end racism.
• The Civil Rights Movement started the reform and the Black Power Movement continued with it. The Black Power Movement aimed to include freedom, dignity, social equality and oppression from whites. The Civil Rights Movement “aimed at abolishing racial discrimination.”
• Many young black Americans turned to the Black Power Movement as young activists believed non-violent tactics “could not right every social and political injustice”. They turned to the Black Power Movement as they believed that a “social change would come only with a revolution”.
• One of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights Movement was the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., who was inspired by Gandhi’s non-violent struggle to gain independence for the Indian people under British rule. An early example of this peaceful form of protest was the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956 - a direct reaction to the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person.
• Proponents of the Black Power Movement did not constitute a homogenous group. They divided themselves into two main groups: the pluralists and the nationalists. Those who believed in integration and that it was possible for all races to live together peacefully were called pluralists. The nationalists, however, believed that the dominant White culture was bound to oppress Black culture, therefore, they wanted to withdraw from American society and develop their own society. Some thought it would be a good idea to do this in Africa. Others hoped for a separate black nation within the USA.
• Part of the foundation for Black Power had already been laid in the first half of the 1960s, when Malcolm X preached black supremacy and black separatism. The idea behind this was that it was impossible for Blacks to advance in a society dominated by a white majority. Therefore, Blacks should have their own institutions, run by Blacks.