Ineffective N.A.A.C.P. in James Baldwin's Down at the Cross Essay

This book illustrates how demeaning it is for blacks to beg for basic rights that inherently belong to them. This book encouraged him to meet with black scholars whom he named the "talented tenth." In 1905, he began to meet with these scholars to discuss civil rights issues (Lewis, 1). These meeting were known as the Niagara Movement (Lewis, 1). After five years of meeting the NAACP was formed and Dubois was Director of Publicity and Research (Lewis, 1).

He termed Washington’s accommodation to white supremacy “the Atlanta compromise” (692). Because he thought African Americans needed their right immediately, he founded along with others the N.A.A.C.P (National association for the advancement of colored people) in 1909 (692). Through this association, they would push hard for civil right through political action through court cases that they would protest unfair treatment and also fight for

This paper explains a very important moment in the history of our government that took place in Illinois in 1917. As World War I was beginning for the United States things were heating up in East St. Louis, Illinois. Anti-black riots killed or injured over one hundred black civilians. Then a Silent Parade of over ten thousand black citizens from New York broke out. Civil rights have always been an issue in our government, and according to www.kidzworld.com, after these anti black riots, things eventually led to the development of the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and from that, Rosa Parks did not give up her seat on the bus. The creation of the NAACP also influenced the Little Rock, Arkansas incident, Martin L. King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech, and many other things which eventually led to equal rights for everyone with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This paper will explain the riots and how it shaped our government into providing equal jobs for all races.

There is much more African American has to overcome and many victories and defeat, In the process of fighting for equality in 1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded in New York by prominent black and white intellectuals and led by W.E.B. Du Bois. For the next half century, it would serve as the country's most influential African-American civil rights organization. In 1910, its journal, The Crisis, was launched. Among its well known leaders were James Weldon Johnson, Ella Baker, Moorfield Storey, Walter White, Roy Wilkins, Benjamin Hooks, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Julian Bond, and Kwesi Mfume. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the association led the black civil rights struggle in fighting injustices such as the denial of

Rockefeller, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Altman Foundation supported the National Urban League. The National Urban League was responsible for coordinating the “Americans of Negro Lineage” exhibit. One of the most important elements of the America’s Making Exposition was that each racial group would be entirely free to determine for itself the extent and manner of its participation in America’s Making.4 In 1921, African Americans did not have full citizenship rights. Segregation in all aspects of American life limited African Americans’ access to health care, education, employment, housing and transportation. Principal organizers of the Negro Lineage exhibit, W.E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson viewed the exposition as an opportunity to demonstrate unequivocally the contributions African Americans had made to America, which entitled African Americans to all the privileges and benefits of American citizenship. Equally important, the exposition would give African Americans the opportunity to reimagine and reimage the visual representation of African Americans.

The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.

Discrimination has afflicted the American society since its inception in 1776. The inferiority of the African American race – a notion embedded within the mindset of the white populace has difficult to eradicate – despite the efforts of civil rights activists and lawmakers alike. Many individuals are of the opinion that discrimination and racism no longer exist and that these issues have long since been resolved during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However such is not the case. Discrimination is a complex issue – one that encompasses many aspects of society. The impact of discrimination of the African American race is addressed from two diverse perspectives in the essays: “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King .

“The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.” This organization stands firm in its history to affect change in a society marred by misplaced loyalties and hateful actions.

There have been many cases of social injustice on a number of occasions in the expansive history of the United States. The oppressions of the early movements for women’s suffrage and the relocation and encampment of Native Americans are two of many occurrences. Around the middle of the 20th century, a movement for equality and civil liberties for African Americans among citizens began. In this essay, Notes of a Native son James Baldwin, a black man living in this time, recalls experiences from within the heart of said movement. Baldwin conveys a sense of immediacy throughout his passage by making his writing approachable and estimating an enormous amount of ethos.

Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.

In many ways it could be argued that Marcus Garvey was the most significant African American civil rights leader of this time because of his role in tackling the social issues African American’s faced. He aimed to improve the lives of African Americans by encouraging them to take control of their own affairs and education. His role surrounding this issue is illustrated by his founding of the UNIA. This Universal Negro Improvement Association was an organisation dedicated to racial pride, economic self sufficiency and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. Through this and the magazine the ‘Negro World’ he urged African Americans to be proud of their race, and argued “a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”. It has been said that through Garvey’s dedication to social improvement for his race he managed to capture the imagination of many blacks for whom the American Dream was a dirty joke.

The popularity of sit-ins can be reflected in the involvement of the N.A.A.C.P. (The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People). An article published by the New York Times talks about planned demonstrations that will occur in New York City which will be headed by the N.A.A.C.P (Robinson 54). This example shows how large the movement had become by summer 1961 because a nationally recognized organization was already actively involved in demonstrating. Another article, printed in late 1961, reports that the national director of the Congress of Racial Equality would begin planned sit-ins nation wide, with a focus in the South and the Midwest (“Negroes to Broaden” 18). This again proves how effective sit-ins were because a nationally recognized organization was taking the movement and organizing a nation wide effort to end discrimination.

Through his “appeal to the conscience of the black race to see it” article, Garvey outlines that the evil that has derailed development and growth of the community is internal division. In this article, Marcus Garvey asserts that “It seems that the whole world of sentiment is against the Negroes, and the difficulty of our generation is to extricate ourselves from the prejudice that hides itself beneath, as well as above, the action of an international environment (Garvey).” By first realizing and dealing with the internal challenges, Africans would appreciate their leaders and move on. The Negro movement also contributed to self-reliance and change in perception against the Africans. In most cases, the prejudice that is prevalent against the race limited their success in areas such as politics, business, and education. The Negro movement was looking for better life

Wonder unites within the knower the opposition between what one thinks one knows, what are the different types of knowing, what one is able to express of what one knows, and how much more one knows than one may be able to express. When Gallagher considers the maxim “know thyself”, he discusses how one must come to the conclusion that one doesn’t totally know oneself, but instead there are parts of one that may seem what he termed “distant.” Wonder starts “not primarily before the complicated, and abstruse, but before the simple, the obvious, the close at hand.” 1 From the external world to oneself, wonder in its various aspects is the source of all philosophical inquiry.

In 1914, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The association was “established on principles of political justice for blacks and other races” along with being a major organization for the empowerment of Black people politically and socially. In the August of 1920, the “Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World” was created, and in the document are the social injustices of the black race. Complaint One in the Declaration exclaims that blacks “are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason than their race and color”. Knowing that this was a prime dilemma to the thriving of the race, Garvey had already developed a vision of racial pride and self-improvement for all Blacks. To explain, Garvey inferred that African-Americans should “take racial pride in being black” and also accept Black Nationalism, “the idea that black