Tag Archives: Civil Rights Movement

What are we learning in high school history class?

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From our last class discussion about the “staging” of Rosa Parks’ bus boycott, to recalling our realization that MLK was not a one man band who single-handedly crafted the civil rights movement, it shocks me to think about how much our text books glazed over America’s historical truth.  When I think of the history that most of us learned in elementary school, the only thing that comes to mind is: “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492”.

In part II of Chapter 7, we learn just how dark the shadow of World War II is. In incidents like explosion that killed 202 navy seamen in July 1944 at the Port Chicago, San Francisco, the United States government treated black soldiers with no human dignity (273). Branding black soldiers as rapists when there was no substantial evidence (272). Removing all dignity. Violent, widespread lynchings. Intense voter intimidation… Before this class, I didn’t have an accurate perception how inhumanely the government, and many American citizens, treated black Americans throughout history. As the NAACP worked to end discrimination and secure full citizenship for black Americans, widespread violence is still going on.  Why didn’t we learn about this extreme violence in high school!

Another thing that came up in our last class discussion was how hard it must have been to be an organization like the NAACP to be fighting against a system that is completely set against you.  It’s so eye-opening to hear these stories and to begin to feel the experience of black Americans in the 20th century. To gain a better picture of living every day in fear for your life and knowing that if any white person accused you of something you could probably not defend your innocence. In Chapter 7 and 8, we see Marshall working tirelessly to defend and advocate for black Americans through the NAACP.  In just the year 1944, he traveled more than 42,000 miles working for social justice (286).  His steadfast and determined character in such a time of danger speaks to incredible leadership.

As the wartime oppression turned into a demand for “justice now,” this line stuck out for me: “if black men and women rejected the idea of being a ruled group, they ‘must be willing to make every sacrifice necessary to retain the right to vote’” (285). We’ve never lived through a time when our population has had to fight for the right to vote, so it’s easy for the full importance of suffrage to escape us. Truly comparing our own lives to the lives of the black Americans of the civil war era, is eye opening to say the least.

How many of you have taken your full citizenship for granted?  Did you learn about the true civil rights history in high school (if you did, was it just a really good teacher?) Although Prof. Fergeson was joking, it really does seem like we need college history to correct, or give a more complete story, to what we’ve learned in the past. Drawing from chapters 7 and 8, what are some things that you learned that you didn’t know before, and you think you should have known? Any comments on the seeming inadequacy of high school history classes?

– Caitlin

The Protesting Pedigree

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Analysis of social movements through protests has centered on the notion of grassroots, community-based organizing. Movements from Civil Rights to disarmament are steered by people impassioned by their causes. The true galvanizers of any movement must be equipped with a toolset that allows them to navigate the execution of the protest, which often lends the form of education, financial stability, and membership in exclusive networks, according to David Meyer (48). Meyer solidifies his notion of the necessity of possession of this toolset with examples of Martin Luther King, who had both a college and professional degree, and Rosa Parks, who held a post in her local NAACP branch and was well known among organizers (49). Amended to this list would be Ella Baker, graduate of Shaw University, New York NAACP officer, and SCLC staffer.

Kurt Andersen, author of “The Protester,” agrees the majority of current protesters are youth armed with education and overwhelmingly middle-class backgrounds (Anderson 3). Why is this so? Meyer offers the explanation that organizers build movements by garnering support from people they encounter regularly through extracurricular and community involvements which is often influenced by rearing (Meyer 47-48). Engaging people who already know one another acts as a source of comfort for members and aids in attracting new members of similar caliber. This method of entry into social movements, however, hinders the advancement of protests by limiting who has the right to join (47-48).

For the Civil Rights movement, the people passed over were those distant from the centers of action and unequipped with the knowledge of how to mobilize.  Because face-to-face interaction was relied upon to entice engagement, those with greater distance from the movement were essentially excluded.  Occupy Wall Street, which was driven by social media particularly in its initial mobilization stages, excluded lower classes. Social media by its instantaneous nature is geared toward smartphone users, who are predominately middle-class people. The initial organizers then for OWS were young, middle class, and socially connected, similar to those who mobilized the Civil Rights movement.

The elitist nature of social movements seems to oppose the very nature of social movements, which most often seek to promote some form of “the betterment of society for all.” Can the very movements that tote themselves for overthrowing exclusion and unfairness adequately represent the voices of all through systemic exclusion of some? Or does such organization only perpetuate the marginalization of the poor, working class, elderly, disabled, etc.? Alanis Morissette would agree it’s all a bit ironic, maybe.

Here’s a video that spoofs OWS, which relates to my blog post.

— Sarah Bowers

 

Works Cited

Andersen, Kurt. “The Protester.” Time 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. <http://time.com>.