Introduction
The black community in the U.S. has launched a number of social movements in an effort to improve the experiences of black Americans. The social movements include abolition; civil rights movement etc. abolition movement is one of the earliest social movements by black Americans in the US. This movement involved slaves who conducted it through an organized movement and in their day to day activities and collective efforts to oppose the white community. Therefore, resistance by slaves is considered as a social movement. Recently, a social movement to oppose the actions of the police against the Blacks has been initiated. Throughout the country, the mass media is covering the violence against the Black Americans through collective efforts and responses on the streets (Riches, 2017).
Black social movements in the U.S. have championed for important issues among the blacks such as human rights. However, despite their efforts, the movements in the US have constantly encountered strong resistance from the public especially the white society and the state in general. Tactics have been applied to nullify some of the social movements by Blacks. The opposition reactions to these movements have been both extra-legal and legal and this includes violence and criminalization (Lucks, 2014). These reactions that are oppositional in nature have been in existence since the times of slavery through the following centuries. Given this old history of techniques that are applied in opposing the Black social movements, it is therefore not a surprising thing that the social movement known as Black Lives Matter has become the target of violence involving shooting and under very strict surveillance from the government (Harold, 2018). The social movements have played a crucial role in fighting for the Blacks civil rights. The civil rights movement is one of the black social movements that has championed for the civil rights of Black American in the U.S.
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Tools for Analysis
In understanding the experiences of black American, intersectionality and positionality tools will be used. Intersectionality is an analysis concept that will be used to identify, understand and portray the many social forces in the U.S. society that has shaped the experiences of African Americans and their identity throughout the U.S. history. Intersectionality has developed to become a crucial concept and tool for carrying out analysis and understanding identity in the society (Yep & Mutua, 2016). These forces are the ones that have led to the rise of social movements for and by African Americans. On the other hand, positionality is a concept that will assist in identifying the hierarchies of power within the U.S. society that shape the Black Americans identity.
Racist ideology before and after the civil rights movement
The idea of race in U.S. began with the introduction of slavery. Before the start of the civil rights movement period, the idea of race revolved around the lack of ability and less intelligence on the part of African Americans (Lucks, 2014). However, after the civil rights movement, the idea of race changed to become a colorblind racism that is based on the failings and shortcomings of a certain culture. This type of racism has significant impact on the criminal justice system in the U.S.
Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement can be described as an umbrella social movement term referring to a number of activism that fought for complete economic, political and social rights for the Black Americans from 1946-1968. The activism included a number of approaches. The approaches included presenting lawsuits in courts, black power, mass action by the Blacks and lobbying the federal authorities (Lucks, 2014). The efforts by the activists involved in the activism caused a number of significant victories for the Black community. However, this was not without strong opposition from the white community.
The civil rights movement did not just emerge from nowhere. Desire to improve the quality of life for the Blacks in America are one of the major drivers for the movement. Towards the beginning of the 18th century, the abolition movement was making efforts to fight injustice based on race and eliminate slavery. As a result of the efforts by Black social movements, President Abraham Lincoln gave a decree which was later on made a law which became the thirteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States of America (Lucks, 2014). This amendment outlawed slavery and was implemented in 1865.
After the civil war ended, the 14th and 15th amendments were made and implemented during the reconstruction time (Lucks, 20140). These amendments were implemented a legal ground for political equality for the Black Americans in the U.S. However, despite the fact that slavery was abolished and the granting of legal rights for the blacks, segregation based on racial lines meant that the blacks in the south would still continue living in poverty and lack of equality and the supremacists in the white community refusing them their hard earned political entitlements and freedom.
The Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century evolved as a reaction to the promises related to emancipation that were not fulfilled. This was partly caused by the encounters by the black soldiers who participated in the Second World War. The African Americans involved in the war were fighting in a segregated military. They were also fed with United States propaganda that emphasized justice, freedom and equality for the blacks. After getting involved in the war hoping for democracy in other nations across the globe, majority of the black American veterans went back to the US with the aim of achieving the rights and all the prerogatives of a full U.S. citizen (Harold, 2018).
A number of strategies and approaches were implemented by the civil rights movement in its actions. These included taking legal action, civil disobedience that was not violent, and the militancy by the Blacks. Legal action in the courts was one of the initial approaches by the movement. This was led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Harold, 2018). The approach involved presentation of lawsuits meant to undermine the legal basis of segregation in the south (Harold, 2018). The ruling in the lawsuits made declared that the separate facilities established caused inequality and thus segregation established in public education was declared as not constitutional.
Although the decision made by the Supreme Court was such a great victory for the Blacks in enjoying civil rights, the supremacists in the white community residing in the south declared a major resistance against efforts to eliminate segregation. They presented what is famously known as the Southern manifesto. The manifesto denounced the decision made by the Supreme Court and vowed to resist its enactment. As a result, the federal government had to intervene in order to enact the ruling made.
Despite the fact that the legislation regarding civil rights for the blacks in America was a main victory, the white supremacists in the south were able to convince some of the black activists involved in the movement that civil disobedience that was not violent was not adequate in causing the change that they wanted. In addition, some Black Americans became concerned and worried because of the heavy presence of middle class whites from the north in the civil rights movement. The freedom summer conducted in 1964 for example, many white students from the north took part in the voter registration campaign that was carried by the black activists. The action by the white students was perceived as an effort to enforce leadership by whites on the civil rights movement (Riches, 2017).
As a result of the constant power by the whites inside and outside the social movement, activism that was more militant was adopted. One of the most influential individuals in the movement was Malcolm X. he advocated for cultural pride for the African Americans, self-reliance and defense in the prevailing conditions of racial violence.
Some of the positive outcomes achieved by the social movements for the blacks has caused some social, political and economic improvements for the African Americans. Today, there is a thriving black middle class in the U.S. by measuring aspects such as income, level of education, or job, approximately a third of Black Americans can be said to belong to the middle class in comparison to a half of white Americans. In the 1960’s, African Americans shared a common uniform level of poverty to an extent that even the few blacks who were doing well in the society were in most cases unable to hand down the status to their generations. Today, there is a significant difference between the top and bottom Black Americans when it comes to aspects such as income, occupation, education level, involvement in politics and many more other aspects (Harold, 2018). The gap is wider as compared to the one between the top and bottom in the white population.
Despite the fact that the black social movements such as the civil rights movement were able to achieve major victories such as eliminating the segregation in the south caused by Jim Crow, championing for changes in federal laws that outlawed discrimination based on racial lines, and awareness of the black Americans heritage, a lot is yet to be done. The election of Barack Obama as the first Black American president in the U.S. is an indicator of the extent to which the fight for equality has gone (Marable, 2009).
Conclusion
However, the aim by social movements of attaining total, social, economic and political equality has not yet been achieved. Black Americans are constantly incarcerated at rates that are not proportional to their number in the U.S. African American men for example are reported to frequently experience brutality and violence from the police. Brutality and violence from the police against African Americans has caused the establishment of the movement known as Black Lives Matter. In addition, the poverty levels among African Americans are high compared to the levels in other races in the American society. One of the main reasons as to why social, political and economic equality has not been achieved to the fullest for the African Americans is stereotyping of Black Americans (Riches, 2017). African Americans stereotypes are still a very common phenomenon in the U.S culture. Up to date, most African Americans do not have adequate access to social amenities and services, public education etc. this shows that more is needed to be done in the fight for complete equality.
Reference
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