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Gregory Steward Professor Savannah Carroll AAS 4013 7 March 2013

Reflection Paper: Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure ones ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression. Since 1865 when the Civil War was fought to abolish slavery and start the reconstruction process African Americans still today are fighting for equal treatment. To the present day there have been many African American leaders to form groups and organizations to keep the fight for civil rights alive. These leaders have consisted of men and many women, young and old, which has sometimes been controversial at times when debating whose role was greater for civil rights for African Americans. Courageous leaders endured some form of brutality, some more than others (a few even lost their lives). All of these leaders are said to have been fighting for the same cause, but many times they seemed to be against each other (assuming their approach was better than the next persons). Most of their differences came from the decision of fighting violence with violence or a few pushing the black community to use the nonviolent approach at all cost, but blacks were fed-up with taking abuse for so long without a voice to be heard nor protection. For example, Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King Jr. had this disagreement on whether to use violence against violence or use the nonviolent approach no matter what. On June 5th, 1966, James Meredith started a solidarity March Against Fear from Memphis to Jackson, to protest against racism. Soon after his march Meredith was shot by a sniper. When news spread of the shooting, other civil rights campaigners, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael decided to continue the march in Merediths name. Carmichael called for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, and build a sense of community. He also advocated that African Americans should form and lead their own organizations and urged a complete rejection of the values of American society. When marchers got to Greenwood, Mississippi, police started to harass the marchers, Charmichael chose to stand up against the opposition with the marchers behind him, but King expressed to continue using nonviolence as they were being massed, beaten, and dragged off by police. Carmichael and some of the other marchers were arrested by police. After being in jail for 11 days Stokely Carmichael made his

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famous black power speech. He also adapted the Black is Beautiful slogan and advocated a mood of black pride and a rejection of white values of style and appearance. This included adopting Afro hairstyles and African forms of dress. Carmichael began to criticize Martin Luther King and his ideology of nonviolence. He eventually joined the Black Panther Party where he became honorary prime minister. Most African Americans were so fed-up with white violence without no one to protect them, that they were ready to band together to provide their own security and settle the score. This led to the development of even more civil rights groups and organizations to band the black community together to fight for civil rights. The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed on December 5, 1955 by African American ministers and community leaders in Montgomery, Alabama. The leaders of this movement was Martin Luther King Jr. and Edgar Nixon, this organization was very important in guiding the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which became a successful and very popular campaign that focused national attention on racial segregation in the South and gave Martin Luther King Jr. a national spotlight. Many African Americans were beat and jailed for riding the buses even if they were sitting in the black sections, but on December 1st 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for failing to give up her seat for a white passenger on a Montgomery city bus. Still today many believe that her arrest and bus ride that day was staged because the National Association of Colored People had been waiting and looking for someone to become the poster for a national campaign against discrimination. On December 5th 1955 ninety percent of the African American community did not ride the buses that day during the one day boycott. The boycott turned out to last nearly a year; African Americans and the Montgomery Improvement Association organized carpools to transport blacks and had weekly gatherings with sermons and music to keep the black community mobilized. Despite the Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery Improvement Association was initially willing to accept a compromise that was consistent with separate but equal rather than complete integration. There were many assumptions whether Montgomerys decision to fully integrate the bus system with blacks was a moral decision rather than a financial decision, but we have to realize the amount of money the bus system was losing when sixty percent of their passengers no longer rode the bus and many buses were completely empty. When talking about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and its controversial debate on why the beautiful mulatto, Rosa Parks, was chosen as the face of this movement, one must recognize Recy Taylors story. Nearly 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans in southern states still inhabited an unequal world of disenfranchisement, segregation, and various forms of oppression, including race inspired violence. Jim Crow laws at local and state levels barred blacks from classrooms and bathrooms, theatres and train cars, juries and politics. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court struck down separate but equal doctrine that formed the basis for discrimination, which drew national attention to African Americans battle for equality. In the next 20 years civil rights activist used nonviolent protest and civil obedience to bring about change. The federal government created laws like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil

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Rights Act of 1968 which gave civil rights leaders room to push for further equality. Many of these leaders risked and lost their lives in the name of freedom and equality. Aside from assumptions there were many civil rights leaders and organizations that had very open differences and opinions on how to approach the fight against inequality. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both religious figures, but had a difference in opinion on what approach to take. Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience and became a national icon in the history of American progressivism. MLK was a Baptist minister, leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. In 1963 King organized the March on Washington, where he delivered his I have a Dream speech and earned the reputation of being one of the greatest orators in American history. He then established a reputation as a radical and became an object of the Federal Bureau of Investigations COINTELPRO for the rest of his life. The FBI recorded his extramarital conversations and reported it to government officials. On the other hand Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and human rights activist. Many accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence. His father and uncle were murdered by white supremacist when he was young so it shouldnt be surprising of why he took the approach of fighting violence with violence. As a spokesperson for the Nation of Islam he taught black supremacy and became an advocate for black and white separation. After his travel to Africa he soon broke ties with the Nation of Islam and expressed his willingness to work with civil rights leaders along with Pan Africanism (as the great Marcus Garvey), black self-determination, and self-defense. In February 1965, less than a year after leaving the Nation of Islam, he was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam. These leaders were fighting against the same enemy, but just had different ideas on how to approach the battle. Every since blacks were brought to America as slaves they were and still are second class citizens even if they dedicated their lives to the betterment of the U.S. African American soldiers who fought in the wars of America successfully were treated horribly as soon as they got back home. They had become premeditated targets for whites who felt blacks expected to be treated humane because they were war heroes. Sill today blacks are treated unfairly in the military. Today African Americans make up thirty five percent of the U.S. combat service, but only three percent of Special Forces soldiers are black. The Special Forces unit is the most elite group of the military which receive the highest credit and pay in the military. I know from experience of being in the military for eight years that this claim is true. During my basic training I graduated at top of my class in all activities except at the shooting range I hit thirty nine out of forty targets which still gave me the credentials to be sent to SF school (Special Forces). I knew I would be considered because three people from each graduating group would be sent and records showed that I was second best. I was the only black kid to qualify for SF school, but never received the orders on our last day. I was very surprised along with the rest of the soldiers and I never received an explanation on why this occurred, until later in my career a black general told me

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that black soldiers are usually hand-picked to represent elite units of the U.S. military for political reasons. He said, Its still America kid, just keep your nose clean and do what youre told and you will get your check on the first and fifteenth. I didnt quite understand eight years ago when he told me that until I became enlightened or educated about the history of African Americans. At the time I felt a certain negative way because he was a SF general and I knew that there was more that he could have said to help me better understand ( dont ask dont tell has always been the Army way). Now it is so clear to me why I never received orders to SF school that I qualified for and why the general didnt elaborate during our ride together in that black hawk. In Conclusion, we must appreciate all the efforts and ambition of all civil rights leaders and even the victims of brutality during this civil rights period. Because even though we give credit to the leaders, its usually the followers to be beaten and first to lose their lives. We give credit to the president, but the teenage soldiers are the ones with the reoccurring nightmares and PTSD. The Principal gets the credit for schools, but the teachers deal with the students behaviors. So this make me wonder what is important, what is true, what are we to do. Is life really about just the time the we individually spend here and the recognition that we can obtain while were here or should we do what is generally right for the betterment of our own people even if we have to reach deeper than what were instructed to. I come to just understand that this is America; America was not built for blacks to succeed as whites, so we must understand that. My grandmother was sold to my grandfather for thirteen hundred dollar from a white man and my mother and all of her sisters were prostitutes. All four of my uncles have life sentences in federal prisons. I grew up in Compton California in a two bedroom with nine people, I remember my brothers killing rats the size of cats with a pitch fork in the house. I lost my fifteen year old brother to gang violence, so from these life experiences I have hate in my heart. I believe I am owed something, along with all people of color. I am grateful for the military to except me, taking me out of the ghetto, but I learned there that as a black man you can be great at what you do, but you will never be great in a white mans Army. I never understood these things as I do now after learning African American history.

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Reference Page

Parting the Waters: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-63. Talylor Branch Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Russell Freedman www.history.com/topics/stokely-carmichael www.thekingcenter.org/books-bibliography