How Black Nationalism Helped Civil Rights

As a result of the government-mandated segregation, resistance in both the United States and South Africa escalated. In other words, the history of the African civil rights movement taught: “Nationalism has been tested in the people’s struggles . . . and found to be the only antidote against foreign rule and modern imperialism” (Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom 2008, 156). By comparing and contrasting the Jim Crow Laws and apartheid, we are able convey that nationalism ultimately lead to activism and reform.

In the United States, these concepts were achieved through Jim Crow laws as well as the implementation of Ghettos. The inherent white supremacy that was present was constant and maintained through the perpetuation of cultural inferiority among African Americans, violence, and economic deprivation. The Black Power movement definitely took on a rather aggressive stance when it came to goals and defining the movement. They believed that without self-determination in the African-American community, the attempt to integrate inevitably became an issue of white supremacy and its effects rather than an issue of equality and rights for the black community. The overarching goal was liberation from racial colonialism however, it seems that the Black Power movement sought to emphasize that without self-determination, the goal to integrate becomes an aimless and insignificant feat. With this in mind, it could be said that the Black Power movement reiterated that the Black Community must be guided by their own determination to succeed rather than necessarily the idea that racial liberation would come to them by waiting and not acting. This was intertwined in one of Stokely Carmichael’s critiques of Martin Luther King Jr’s movement. Although he respected the man greatly, he emphasized that King’s argument was flawed because the United States did not have a true conscious, unlike King noted. As the United States had no conscious, it could be said that integration was not necessarily achieved fully through NVDA. The Black Power movement steered the issue away from whether or not African Americans should be nonviolent but rather projected the idea of whether or not white Americans can acknowledge the hundreds of years of racial violence that occurred towards African-Americans. The main political

We have all sat through multiple history classes and learned about slavery, segregation, and the Civil War. We have all seen brutal movies and presentations based on racial injustices and the lack of equality. So often, we forget that these issues are still so present in our community. Slavery is illegal in the United States but other forms of racial profiling, insensitivity, and racism continue to be a recurring social barrier. Racism is still very much alive. The United States is “equal” yet somehow segregated. There isn’t quite a quick fix to this problem. Clearly, this has been an ongoing issue and requires major progression in our personal global

Throughout history, Colored folks and White people do not seem to get along based on appearance.Men and women of color weren't treated fairly, no matter where they're at without being looked down upon. Most Americans have divided themselves into non-mixed neighborhoods. The “Jim Crow” laws on the state level stopped them from entering classrooms, bathrooms, theaters, trains, juries, and legislatures.Also, In the case of “Plessy v. Ferguson” in 1896, the U.S. Supreme court said that racially separate facilities are equal, it does not violate the Constitution. Segregation, the court said, was not a discrimination. Segregation supported the legal system and the police, but beyond the law, violence was going on around the citizens. The Ku Klux Klan, Knights of White Camellia, and other terrorists murdered thousands of African-Americans, to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. In Arkansas, Central High School was one of the firsts to integrate. Nine teenagers got together to go to Central High, they did not go in to protest but to get a better education. The Little Rock Nine didn't see it as a way to bring in violence, but it all started in Arkansas, in 1957, a conflict against two different points of views. However, In Warriors Don't Cry Melba Pattillo Beals presents the idea that emotional strength, Determination, and confidence are necessary to gain freedom and equality for all.

The American Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s and 1960s generated massive international following and controversy, which made the movement one of the most important in U.S. history. The movement’s legacy can still be felt today, with the positive aspects, such as voting rights to African Americans and wide spread desegregation of public facilities, still being felt in the United States, and in many similar models across the globe. Although there were many “battlegrounds” where civil issues were debated, many people who know of the movement today would argue that the movement’s heart was rooted in the Deep South, ironically where it could be argued that the mentality of people living in the area at the time were the most violently opposed to such civil rights. In contrast, those who championed the Civil Rights Movement chose the tactic of nonviolence, at least at first, as a tool to dismantle racial segregation, discrimination, and inequality. They followed models that Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists had commissioned, using principles of nonviolence and passive resistance. Civil rights leaders had understood that segregationists would do anything to maintain their power over blacks. So, in consequence, they believed some changes might be made if enough people outside the

The Nation of Islam was founded by Wali Farad in Detroit, Michigan in 1930. While Farad is credited with the foundation, most of the teachings came from a different movement. It evolved from the Moorish Temple of Science founded by Timothy Drew (Source 1). Drew preached that Islam was the correct faith for African Americans. Drew also preached that African Americans were superior to Caucasians. The Nation of Islam, along with being a religious movement, was a movement for change. They wanted to raise awareness and create racial pride within the African American community (Source 1). The Nation of Islam wanted to improve the lives of African Americans, however, how they wanted to achieve that improvement was unacceptable.

As many as 6,000,000 African Americans traveled to the North to find work during the Great Migration, but once they got there they were only met with rejection. Northern companies refused to hire black men and women, and once the Great Depression hit things only got worse. The black body in America was dejected and broken. On July 4th, 1930 Wallace Fard Muhammad announced his mission to “restore and to resurrect His lost and found people”, and in doing so gave birth to the Nation of Islam (“NOI History”). Fard’s black Islamic movement in America was created to teach the lost black people who were captured and sold as slaves “a thorough Knowledge of God and of themselves, and to put them on the road to Self-Independence” (“NOI History”). Fard declared that Christianity was merely a slave religion forced upon blacks by their masters and persuaded many African Americans to “return to the Islam of their African ancestors”(“Nation of Islam”). The NOI was a political and religious movement to help the poor blacks in big cities. The Nation of Islam called for a "Black nation" and a separation between white people and people of color (Myers 64). The NOI was not concerned with integration, but rather with separation and the restoration they believed the white men owed

America stands for equality, freedom, and choice, but upon looking into the history behind America the everlasting struggle of racism, bigotry, and inequality are revealed. Through the 1950s to the 1970s, the fight for civil rights by African Americans was prominent throughout America. Schools, restaurants, and all public facilities were segregated, African Americans were blocked from voting through literacy tests and poll taxes, and The KKK, a white supremacist group, would lynch African American men. The need for the immediate cease of these practices and the desire for equality gave way to the Civil Rights Movement. Leaders and groups arose from this movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and the Black Panther Party. The overall goal was to achieve rights but there were two significantly different methods of achieving this goal, non-violent civil disobedience and “black power”. The shift from non-violent civil disobedience to “black power” was caused by the emotional toll of being complacent during personal attack and the truth that immediate change calls upon the use of force, and the result of the shift was the further spread of violence.

In Spite of the devastating history of segregation in the United States. A lot has changed in the past fifty years since segregation ended. The United States shifted from arresting African Americans for using “white only” facilities to integrated schools all over the country. Influential individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr helped pave the way for African Americans to live as equals to along with their white counterparts in the United States of America.

3. Black nationalism supports a racial definition of national identity. Blacks wanted independence from European society. The purpose of this movement was to gain economic power and infuse a sense of community among African Americans. Black nationalists wanted to maintain their separate identity as a people. They wanted to invoke a sense of pride in African Americans in the United States. Also, black nationalism in the 20th century was greatly influenced by Marcus Garvey.

Elijah Muhammad rose from poverty to become the controversial, charismatic leader of the black separatist group The Nation of Islam. To this day, now under the direction of Minister Louis Farrakhan, the NOI has maintained a consistent record of racism and anti-Semitism under the guise of instilling African-Americans with a sense of empowerment. Charismatic ministers of "the Honorable Elijah Muhammad" campaign black pride, economic self-help, and moral uplift attracted large numbers of blacks to the Muslim movement, leading to the establishment of NOI temples throughout the country.

The NOI founder was Wallace D. Fard, he carefully blended tenets of Orthodox Islam with anti-white doctrine that resonated with the psychological and social needs of the economically poor African Americans. His followers were frustrated with traditional religions inability to create change in their lives; these people were acutely aware of the effects of racism on their civic and economic opportunities.

Although the majority of black people in America do not consider themselves members of the NOI, the group still attempts to represent all black people. And, because of the strong messages of strength, unity, and betterment of the black race, the NOI reaches the hearts and minds of many blacks as a driving social force, even if they don¹t consider it their religion. Another major way the NOI impacts race relations is through the strong seemingly racist beliefs that are inherent to its theology. The NOI has always been open about its views. Not only have they always taught that the white man is the devil, but they believe that the battle of Armageddon will consist of a holy war between Islam and Christianity of which Islam will be the victors, representing the victory of black people over white people. (1) Jews are referred to as "great enemies" for no particular reason. The NOI has been viewed as a strongly anti-Semitic organization since the early eighties. (4) I think the NOI theology can best be understood as an example of power-conflict theory. First of all, the NOI is strongly against cultural assimilation for American blacks. They believe that black people should exist entirely apart from American (white) culture. Elijah Muhammed, an early and extremely powerful leader who is now viewed as a deified human clearly taught against assimilation. (1) Since whites were inherently created as an evil and

Black Nationalism is defined by Karenga, as the political belief and practice of African Americans as a distinct people with a distinct historical personality who politically should develop structures to define, defend, and develop the interests of Blacks as a people. Black Nationalism can be traced back to the 18th

Often an internet search on “Black Nationalism” will yield results addressing topics like Gaveyism, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement. Images related to the search will show mostly black and white pictures of well-known figures and symbols such as the Black Panther Party and the symbol of a raised black fist fill the screen. If one adds the word “Today” to that search, new results featuring article titles like “Will Black Nationalism Reemerge,” or “Where is Black Nationalism Today” appear. Regardless of the views shared by many people, Black Nationalism is still around in the minds of many blacks. Today it leans more towards cultural nationalism. Cultural nationalism, then and now, does not affect the status quo. The goal of Revolutionary nationalists is to reform or overthrow the status quo. The government will seek to wipe out anything that might threaten itself and the society it governs. It will not seek to wipe out cultural