Slavery and Civil Rights 1440-2000
The Slave Trade 1440-1619- Portugal is first European nation to explore African coast in search of quick trade route to Orient (East Asia); Portuguese build forts on land rented from local rulers along west African coast, trade with west African kingdoms (Benin, Gao), for gold, ivory, and slaves; Spain, Portugal develop plantation system in Cape Verde and Canary Islands off African coast to supply Europe with sugar, using slave labor purchased from native dealers; while searching for quick passage to India Columbus discovers America (1492), transports plantation system to New World (West Indies, Brazil) to grow sugar cane, mine for silver and gold; Native American labor pool is rapidly reduced by imported diseases, wars against better-armed Europeans; plantation owners begin importing stronger, more disease-resistant African slaves to fill labor gap; huge profit of slave trade (15-50%) attracts other nations (England, France, Holland) which drive Spain, Portugal from West Indies, seize major Atlantic trading lanes, capture Portuguese forts along African “Gold Coast;” Portuguese retain trade with Ngongo (Congo) and Ngola (Angola), continue to purchase slaves for shipment to Portuguese colony of Brazil; European introduction of firearms into west Africa (1500) upsets local balance of power, hastens decline of older coastal kingdoms (Benin, Gao ) and rise of newer inland empires (Ashanti, Dahomey ) which profit from their destruction; more densely populated coastal regions (Guinea, Senegambia) successfully manage slave trade with Europeans, confining them to rented forts on the coast; thinly populated kingdoms (Angola, Congo) are devastated by slave trade , reduced to barren wilderness by constant raids from European-backed gangs of native outlaws and imported criminals; vast profits of slave trade corrupt west Africa, inhibit growth of other forms of trade and healthier contact with Europe at critical turning point in African-European history; ancient tribal, cultural differences are ruthlessly exploited by European traders and their native agents as rival states now raid each other for profit; pressure to fill European demand for sugar and precious metals transforms traditional African slavery (i.e. war captives used for barter, religious sacrifice, and domestic labor) into full-blown export industry as millions of inland Africans are captured and sold to coastal traders for shipment to the Americas; future pattern of African-European relations is set as West Africa now irretrievably tied to the growth of European colonial empires, leading eventually to European colonization of Africa herself;
Slavery in North America 1619-1763- First African slaves shipped to English colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 along with indentured servants, debtors, criminals, and religious exiles; in first 50 years of American colonies status of African slaves is just below that of poorest whites; after 1650 the English social system (based on class, ethnicity, and race), English ‘common law’ (law ‘common’ to entire nation; a conservative aristocratic system favoring the propertied classes), English liberal philosophy (“life, liberty, and property” are natural rights of citizen landowners in struggle against Royal tyranny), religious beliefs (1. Church of England: White Anglo-Saxon Christians directed by God to govern less favored races; 2. English Puritans (followers of Protestant reformer John Calvin): All men are sinners; slavery a punishment for sin; black Africans must have sinned more than white Europeans or they would not be slaves; therefore, owning an African slave is comparatively free of sin) and growing shortage of white indentured servants all contribute to slavery’s growth; dark-skinned Africans are gradually dehumanized, reduced to “pagan savages” which the Christian Church cannot redeem; English landowning class seizes upon their powerless state to reclassify them as real property, permanently tied to land as in medieval times; slavery is first legalized in the North (Massachusetts1641; Connecticut 1650), then the South (Virginia 1661; Maryland 1663); but Maryland is first colony to legislate “black code” making slavery hereditary for Africans (1661), followed by Virginia in 1670; as labor shortage grows imported slaves displace indentured servants as primary form of plantation labor in Southern colonies; slavery also expands in North but lags behind free labor as waves of European immigrants compete for jobs in commerce, industry, and farming; all colonies work to restrict rights, limit movement of slaves and handful of free blacks; first North American antislavery society is founded by Society of Friends (‘Quakers’) in Philadelphia (1688) while slavery spreads unopposed through primitive, rural South; fear of slave revolts (New York City 1712, Charleston, S.C. 1739) leads to cruel laws, barbaric treatment of slaves; despite harsh conditions slave population grows, distinct African-American culture emerges; free black churches, improvement societies appear in North despite open white hostility; plantation slavery gradually becomes basis of Southern economy prior to war of independence from England, but not yet the all-embracing way of life (“peculiar institution”) of the pre-Civil War period;
The Revolutionary Period 1763-1820- English victory in Seven-Years’ War, continuing competition between French and English empires mark beginning of colonial struggle against Britain; American spirit of independence improves condition of slaves, free blacks prior to war; runaway slave Crispus Attucks becomes first American to die in Revolution (“Boston Massacre” 1770); at beginning of war blacks are excluded from colonial army but later allowed to enlist as manpower shortage becomes acute; thousands of slaves desert to British side when offered freedom by English King George III (American Revolution thus seen as war of liberation from American slavery by majority of colonial blacks); American victory in War of Independence fails to bring desired freedom in spite of slaves’ high hopes, lofty rhetoric of ‘Founding Fathers;’ Washington, Jefferson, Adams all voice doubts about slavery but permit Southern delegates to delete all references to slavery from 1787 Constitution (thus union of North, South to form United States made possible only by postponing slavery issue); slavery remains legal (although Constitutional Convention agrees to ban importation of slaves by 1808); George Washington is sole ‘Founding Father’ to free his slaves at his death; slavery naturally declines in upper South (Virginia, Maryland, N. Carolina) as tobacco farming exhausts land, but successful slave revolt in Santo Domingo (Haiti) led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, and large numbers of free blacks after War of Independence re-awaken racial fears of whites, cause new restrictions, reversal of fortune in North and South; antislavery feeling in North led by Quakers, Baptists, and Methodists widens sectional gap, hardens attitudes which eventually lead to Civil War; 1794 invention of ‘cotton gin’ (machine for processing raw cotton), exploding demand for cotton combine to revive slavery and plantation economies of older cotton-growing states (Georgia, the Carolinas) and push for admission of new slaveholding states (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, all by 1820); importation of slaves banned in 1809 according to Constitutional compromise but slave population grows as older states (Virginia, Maryland) export surplus slaves to deep South; rising cost of slaves makes plantation system unprofitable, but is offset by huge demand for cotton and flood of Northern capital to finance growing Southern debt; land speculators seize Indian ancestral lands, use slave labor to clear Southern forests to grow cotton; “black codes” tighten, fear of slave revolts grips South after near-success of Prosser conspiracy (Richmond, Va. 1800); growth of black mutual-aid societies, schools, churches in Northern cities adds to Southern fears; President Thomas Jefferson proposes exportation of free blacks to Central America as solution to ‘race’ question; American Colonization Society forms (1816) to promote resettlement of free blacks in Africa; 2,000 are transported to African coast (1821) to form nation of ‘Liberia’ (recognized by U.S. in 1847), but resettlement option is rejected by overwhelming majority of free blacks;
1820-1863- Before the Emancipation Proclamation- slave-based plantation system ( the “peculiar institution”) shapes Southern way of life as “king cotton” dominates southern economy; fears of insurrection mount as slave numbers expand to 5 million (40% of total population); slaveholders’ fears are confirmed by Denmark Vesey revolt (Charleston, S.C. 1822); “black codes” are rigidly enforced by armed militias, rights of free blacks revoked, sympathetic whites driven from South; slave population nonetheless increases, African-American communities grow despite universal resistance, oppressive laws; “Missouri Compromise ” enacted by U.S. Congress (1819) reflects growing national tension, admits Missouri into Union as slave state, Maine as ‘free;’ abolitionist movement begins in New England, quickly spreads through North; leading white abolitionists Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator 1831) denounce slavery as mortal sin; violent Nat Turner rebellion (Southampton, Va. 1831) strikes terror throughout South, galvanizes it against Northern “agitators;” “Free-soil” and “Liberty” parties form to oppose spread of slavery to new states and territories; ex-slave Frederick Douglass becomes prominent Northern abolitionist (North Star 1849), promotes total social integration, legal equality for all races; less influential black nationalists (Henry Highland Garnet, Martin Delany) argue American racism is too deep, favor black exodus to South America; northern abolitionists spread antislavery propaganda, help ‘underground railroad’ (leader: Harriet Tubman) free 3,000 slaves; South reacts with new laws (“Jim Crow”) which force free blacks into virtual slavery, impose severe penalties on sympathetic whites; racial segregation begins in Northern cities as new immigrant labor (Irish, German) competes with free blacks for low-paying industrial jobs, pushes blacks to socioeconomic fringe; antislavery movement gains ground in Congress, sponsors Wilmot Proviso banning slavery in all territories acquired during Mexican War (1845); ‘Compromise of 1850’ admits New Mexico as slave state, California as free; Congress passes Fugitive Slave Act (1850) to appease Southern slaveholders, facilitate recapture of runaway slaves despite fierce Northern opposition; publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe 1852) details horrors of slavery to 1.5 million Northern readers and vast worldwide audience; in Dred Scott decision (1854) Supreme Court declares blacks are not entitled to U.S. citizenship, slavery is lawful everywhere in U.S. including territories (thus Missouri Compromise illegal); U.S. Congress deeply split over slavery as Southern delegation threatens to dissolve Union; in vain attempt at compromise Congress passes Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), leaving new states to decide slavery question for themselves; Kansas territory (“Bloody Kansas”) becomes battleground of pro and anti-slavery forces as North and South arm for war; abolitionist/ fanatic John Brown departs Kansas to lead raid on Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va. (1859) in failed attempt to start slave uprising in South; standing armies gather by 1860; Civil War begins at Manassas, Va. (‘Bull Run’) in July 1861; President Lincoln favors preservation of Union over emancipation, proposes government-sponsored “voluntary” exodus of blacks to Africa and South America as solution to race problem, settlement of slavery question after war; unexpected Southern resistance, growing shortage of manpower in Union army force Lincoln to revise plans, admit blacks into Union army for non-combat duty (1862); Lincoln emancipates slaves (Jan.1863) but only in Southern states which seceded from Union (leaving slavery intact in other states and territories); to blacks, Civil War is now “jubilee war” of liberation giving freedom to millions of slaves who flock to Union cause;
The Emancipation Proclamation and Radical Reconstruction 1863-1877 - Union army increasingly short of men, accepts 200,000 black volunteers who fight in all branches of service despite open racism, lower pay, menial assignments; race riots (Cincinnati 1862, New York 1863) show Northern reaction to blacks in Union army, true feelings beneath anti-slavery rhetoric; Lincoln reluctantly accepts blacks in military but maintains restoration of Union as war’s primary objective; assassination of Lincoln by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth (April 1865) within weeks of war’s end marks beginning of Southern reaction to loss of war, emancipation of slaves; 13th Amendment (Dec. 1865) outlaws slavery, forbids compensation to former slaveholders for lost property; Lincoln’s successor Andrew Johnson (Democrat) favors restoration of Southern rights, return to “black codes;” Republican Congress begins “Radical Reconstruction” of defeated South by creating Freedmen’s Bureau to help former slaves adjust to freedom, then passes Civil Rights Act of 1866 guaranteeing citizenship to all born in U.S. except Native Americans; Congress passes 14th amendment guaranteeing due process, equal protection under law to protect Civil Rights Act from reactionary Supreme Court veto, then gives blacks the vote in District of Columbia and territories (1867), passes first Reconstruction Act, sends U.S. Army to enforce 13th and 14th amendments in hostile South, which must now accept 13th and 14th amendments to be readmitted to Union; Homestead Act (1866) redistributes land to former slaves; Congress opens door to blacks in state legislatures (P.B.S. Pinchback first black governor, Blanche Bruce first U.S. senator), outlaws “black codes,” boosts primary education for blacks (and poor whites), creation of black colleges; Republicans in Congress impeach Andrew Johnson in 1868, clear way for full implementation of “Radical Reconstruction;” 15th amendment (1870) gives all blacks the right to vote; Southern white terrorist groups (Ku Klux Klan, White Brotherhood, Knights of White Camelia) form to recapture South for white Democrats and reduce blacks to pre-Civil War servitude; Ku Klux Klan Act (1871) outlaws white supremacist groups , but Northern political support for Reconstruction fades during postwar economic depression; Southern “Redeemers” regain office, spread myths of black crime, corruption, assaults on white “honor;” Northerners react to Republican-backed integration laws with de facto segregation of schools, neighborhoods, public facilities in defiance of 13th and 14 th amendments; some Northern states (Massachusetts, New York) integrate public facilities but most do not; de facto segregation of blacks becomes universal, while triumph of white “Redeemers” is grave setback for blacks in South;
The End of Radical Reconstruction and the Triumph of Jim Crow 1878-1915- white Southerners retaliate against blacks as support for Reconstruction ends; legal, economic gains reversed by mob violence, voter intimidation, lynchings; Northern political support dies as Republicans give control back to white planter class; “Redeemer” democrats gain command of state legislatures, systematically eliminate black vote (in all Southern states by 1900) through residency laws, poll taxes, literacy tests and “grandfather clauses” to create all-white primaries; landless, disenfranchised mass of African-Americans is terrorized, hunted by vigilante whites aided by local press and law enforcement; new “Jim Crow” laws impose total segregation, harsh prison terms with slave labor conditions (peonage) for minor crimes to subjugate black labor, eliminate blacks from all skilled jobs; most Southern blacks remain loyal to South but conditions worsen as blacks are removed from state legislatures, civil service while income and opportunities steadily decline; lynching of blacks (and some poor whites) averages 100 per year by 1890; in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) white conservative majority on Supreme Court approves “separate but equal” segregation of public facilities (dissenter John Marshall Harlan, former slaveholder: “..the Constitution is color-blind”); desperate flight of Southern blacks to Northern cities begins amidst mortal danger from marauding ‘night-riders;’ waves of black migration stir fears of Northern whites, lead to “white flight” from mixed neighborhoods, concentration of newcomers in all-black “ghettos;” in Williams v. Mississippi (1898) Supreme Court declares poll taxes constitutional, seals unhappy fate of Southern black voters for next 67 years; in Northern cities blacks now compete with new European immigrants for low-paying jobs while white-dominated trade unions work to exclude blacks, confine them to menial jobs, substandard housing; despite poverty, discrimination, new class of black entrepreneurs (forerunners of later black nationalists) emerges in all-black neighborhoods, strengthened by graduates of black colleges founded during Reconstruction and after; however, majority of Northern blacks stay impoverished despite gains in literacy and skills; ex-slave Booker T. Washington starts Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee, Ala.) for Black Improvement, emphasizes common trades, basic literacy, discourages political agitation for civil rights (partly from fear of reprisals against blacks during height of “Jim Crow”); Harvard-educated W.E.B. DuBois publically disagrees, quotes Frederick Douglass (“agitate, agitate, agitate!”); founds short-lived ‘Niagara Movement’ (1905) to promote black political participation led by a “talented tenth;” after murder of 15 blacks in Springfield, Ill. race riot (1908), sympathetic Northern whites join prominent blacks to form National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) with W.E.B. DuBois as head of research and publications (The Crisis 1910); National Urban League forms (1911) to promote education, welfare of urban blacks;
The “Great Migration” and Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ 1915-1940 - Migration to Northern cities accelerates during height of ‘white supremacy’ (1900-15); NAACP wins significant legal battles in first years (Supreme Court strikes down “grandfather clauses” in Guinn v. U.S., blocks attempts by Southern Democrats to segregate Federal agencies); white politicians begin courting black vote in Northern cities as black political power grows (first all-black political ‘machine’; Harlem, N.Y.C. 1915); African-American population in Northern cities swells with fresh migrations from South; World War I begins in Europe in 1914; race riots (E. St. Louis, Ill., Newark, N.J., New York City 1917) erupt as competition for wartime labor increases; 500,000 blacks enlist in Army, fight in World War I despite virulent racism, menial status; many receive European medals (French ‘Croix de Guerre’) for combat bravery but remain in Army’s lowest ranks, led by white officers only; black soldiers return in new mood, battle white mobs in North and South for civil rights; Ku Klux Klan re-chartered in Fulton, Georgia (1915), reaches peak membership (4 million) by 1925 (leading states: Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, Georgia); first multi-national Pan-African conference held in Paris, France (1919) led by W.E.B. DuBois; NAACP fights restrictive housing covenants, race-based residency laws, all-white primaries (Buchanan v.Warley, Corrigan v. Buckley, Nixon v. Herndon), supports 1922 Dyer anti-lynching bill (killed by Southern filibuster in Senate); Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey founds Universal Negro Improvement Association (Harlem 1920) promotes black nationalism, all-black communities, resettlement of American blacks in Africa (in Garvey’s ‘African Orthodox Church’ angels are black, Satan is white); emergence of black writers and artists (“Harlem Renaissance;” leading figures: Langston Hughes, Claude McKay , Jean Toomer, Alain Locke, Countee Cullen) captures literate white audience; 60 blacks, 20 whites killed in Tulsa, Ok. race riot (1921); A. Philip Randolph starts Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (1925) as black trade unions emerge, compete for jobs in “Roaring Twenties;” Carter Woodson founds Negro History Week (1926; later becomes Black History Month); stock market crash, Great Depression devastate black communities (unemployment 25% by 1932); election of Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) in1932 brings hope but yields mixed results to African-Americans; non-voting “Black Cabinet” of Presidential advisors (leader: Mary McLeod Bethune ) symbolizes growing political influence; NAACP fights for new anti-lynching legislation, defends “Scottsboro Boys” (Scottsboro, N.C. 1931-35) against rape charges (all are convicted but later released); short-lived National Negro Congress (1935-40) seeks economic opportunities but is doomed by pro-communist leanings; Roosevelt appoints William Hastie first black Federal judge, employs thousands of blacks in “New Deal” projects but leaves military segregation intact ; black status in industrial economy improves as white-run Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.) increases black membership in trade unions to aid in fight against large corporations; American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) follows C.I.O.’s lead, invites blacks into unions; Wagner Act (1935) gives all workers the right to organize; Roosevelt’s popularity converts African-Americans from Republicans to Democrats in historic shift from Lincoln’s party; singer Marian Anderson (“the voice of the century”) is denied stage at Constitution Hall (Daughters of the American Revolution) in Washington, D.C.; First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt protests, resigns from D.A.R., moves concert to Lincoln Memorial steps (1939); Roosevelt agrees to bar discrimination in all wartime contracts only after Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters threatens strike (1941); black union membership grows to 500,000 by eve of World War II;
From World War II to the Election of John Kennedy 1941-60- 1 million African-Americans serve during WWII in all branches of service, mostly in U.S. Army (still “white man’s army” despite limited measures to end discrimination); internment of 500,000 Japanese-Americans during war shows national mood of hostility, prejudice toward non-white minorities despite excellent combat record, loyalty to U.S.; black-led civil rights movement affects public perception, promotes sympathy toward all minorities, forces critical issues into public eye; white intellectuals, writers, scientists denounce “Jim-Crow” racism of 19th century, signal change in public mood; new political coalitions form as American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), Jewish organizations join civil rights movement; once universal white racism now labeled cause of minority problems in America; large numbers of African-Americans find employment in wartime industries with increased pay and benefits; second great wave of Southern migration begins as blacks search for jobs and education; number of black college graduates rises faster than available white-collar jobs; Congress of Racial Equality (1942), Southern Regional Council (1944) form to combat racism at national level; in Smith v. Allright (bans all-white primaries 1944), Morgan v. Virginia (outlaws segregated seating in interstate transportation 1946) Supreme Court signals new legal climate, attention to civil rights; Franklin D. Roosevelt dies (1945) as WWII ends; Harry Truman (R) becomes President, orders partial desegregation of military and civil service, supports biracial “Committee against Jim Crow;” new Cold-War competition with Soviet Union inspires worldwide condemnation of American racism, prompts change in U.S. government agencies; States’ Rights Party forms ( Strom Thurmond, presidential candidate 1948) to unite Southern whites at Democratic National Convention against Truman’s civil-rights proposals; in Shelley v. Kramer (1948) Supreme Court bans restrictive housing covenants; legal momentum for civil rights grows as Supreme Court outlaws segregation in state colleges ( Sweatt v. Painter, McLaurin v. Oklahoma Regents 1950); conservative war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) becomes President in 1952, opposes government-sponsored desegregation, but promotes civil rights as propaganda tool against Soviets; NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund (Thurgood Marshall, attorney) wins greatest victory in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) as Supreme Court overturns Plessy, rules “separate but equal” unconstitutional ; Eisenhower’s lukewarm response sets tone for white backlash, “ massive resistance” throughout South to civil-rights movement; Rosa Parks refuses to give up bus seat to white man in Montgomery, Ala. (1955), rekindles movement, inspires successful transportation strike and protest led by young Dr. Martin Luther _King; Southern Christian Leadership Conference founded (New Orleans 1957; Martin Luther King, President); King leads first march (“Prayer Pilgrimage”) on Washington, D.C in 1957; Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1957 (first Civil Rights act since Reconstruction), creating Civil Rights Commission, Civil Rights Division in U.S. Justice Dept.; President Eisenhower orders Federal troops to Little Rock, Ark. to enforce integration of all-white Central high school; Students in Greensboro, N.C. stage lunch-counter sit-in (1960); Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) forms to promote equality, integration (leader: Ella Baker), seeks aid from NAACP Legal Defense Fund; in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) Supreme Court expands earlier Morgan ruling against segregated transportation to include bus terminals; Boynton inspires “freedom rides” which are attacked by Klan-backed mobs in Alabama and South Carolina;
The Civil Rights Movement and Conservative Backlash 1961-80
- John F. Kennedy (D) becomes President (1961), inaugurates
new era in civil rights; brother Robert (Atty. General) orders Federal troops
to escort James Meredith (first black student) to class at U. Miss.
in 1962; Martin Luther King becomes leader of Civil Rights movement
, organizes protests in Albany, Ga. and Birmingham, Ala. (King’s “Letter
from a Birmingham Jail” defines civil rights movement as religious crusade
to national audience); televised images of police brutality in Birmingham
shock Nation into supporting civil rights; President Kennedy sends new
civil rights bill to Congress, bans discrimination in Federal housing;
NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered
in Jackson, Miss., four girls killed in bombing of Baptist church in Birmingham
(1963); Martin Luther King organizes second march on Washington, D.C.,
gives “I have a dream” speech to 200,000 on steps of Lincoln Memorial
(Aug. 28, 1963); President Kennedy is assassinated (Nov. 22, 1963),
succeeded by Vice President Lyndon Johnson (former Senate Majority
Leader); Johnson is re-elected in1964, uses political leverage to
force Kennedy’s weak civil rights bill through Congress as comprehensive
Civil Rights Act of 1964 banning segregation, discrimination
in schools, jobs, and public facilities; Johnson creates Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Voter Education Project to enroll new black
voters in South; three civil rights workers (Goodman, Chaney
, Schwerner) murdered in Philadelphia,
Miss. (Aug. 1964); white jury acquits all defendants including local
sheriff; President Johnson uses murders, acquittals to advance civil rights
agenda; Martin Luther King leads march from Selma to Montgomery,
Ala.; assault by state troopers is nationally televised (“Bloody Sunday”);
President Johnson responds with Voting Rights Act of 1965
putting voting nationwide under Federal control; Congress ratifies
24th Amendment banning poll taxes in Federal elections,
hastens death of “Jim Crow;” Southern politics transformed overnight as door
opens to blacks in Congress, countless new black voters; Johnson appoints
Thurgood Marshall first black Solicitor General
(1965), then elevates him to Supreme Court in1967; Robert Weaver is
first black Cabinet member (Housing and Urban Development 1966);
Johnson declares “war on poverty,” pushes Economic Opportunity
Act through Congress to promote vision of “Great Society;” ‘Model
Cities,’ ‘Head Start’ programs open doors to blacks, other minorities; poverty
declines as black incomes rise faster than white for first time in Nation’s
history; Shirley Chisolm (D)
is first African-American woman in Congress (1968), Edward Brooke (R)
is first black Senator since Reconstruction; Carl Stokes
, Richard Hatcher are first black mayors of major cities; militant
black nationalism on the rise as growing numbers of urban blacks
are unhappy with slow pace of change, depth of white resistance to civil
rights; militant nationalists violently denounce whites
and their black collaborators (“Uncle Toms”), preach separate
black identity, resistance to white authority;
population growth, urban renewal in Northern cities accelerate
growth of black ‘underclass’ and “white flight” to suburbs; restrictive
housing covenants, ‘red-lining’ (denying blacks housing loans in all-white
areas) block movement of middle-class blacks into white neighborhoods;
minority unemployment rises as manufacturing jobs move to suburbs
along with whites; expense of ongoing Vietnam War forces cutbacks in
antipoverty programs, reduces Federal commitment to civil rights; black
disillusionment grows as nation’s political mood shifts to right
; Stokeley Carmichael becomes leader
of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, rejects King’s “nonviolent
resistance,” favors separate black nation, any means to attain “black
power;” Nation of Islam
(founded 1930; leader: Elijiah
Muhammed), sees blacks as superior race, whites as “blue-eyed
devils,” appeals to poorest, least educated (particularly convicts); Malcolm
X (b. Malcolm Little) becomes Nation of Islam’s most articulate prison
convert, denounces civil rights movement, forms black nationalist Organization
For Afro-American Unity (1964); Murder of Malcolm X (Harlem 1965)
adds to anger, declining faith in civil rights movement of
inner-city blacks; riots in Harlem (1964), Watts (Los Angeles
1965), Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta (1966) Newark, N.J. and Detroit
(1967) leave hundreds dead,
neighborhoods destroyed; first “Black Power” conference (Newark, N.J.
1967) calls for separate black, white nations; Black Panther Party
for Self-Defense founded in Oakland, Ca. by students Bobby Seale
, Huey Newton to combat police brutality; author Eldridge Cleaver
(Soul on Ice) becomes chief spokesman for Panthers, advocates black
self-help, Marxist overthrow of oppressive white institutions; local police,
FBI hunt down Panthers, neutralize militant nationalists by early1970’s;
cultural nationalist Dr. Ron Karenga creates
Kwaanza (African-American holiday celebration)
to promote black pride, family values, return to African origins; militant
nationalism attacked by Martin Luther King, Whitney Young
(Pres., NAACP) as unworkable, exclusionary; however, “the damage is done”
to civil rights movement as white supporters desert cause, move to political
right; new conservatism begins as Congress erodes civil rights gains;
in response Martin Luther King adopts more radical approach (“poor
peoples’ campaign”) while retaining nonviolent principles; King is
assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. (April 4, 1968) by local white supremacist
James Earl Ray; King’s death gravely weakens fragile coalition of
civil-rights groups; assassination of civil-rights champion Robert
Kennedy (June 5, 1968) further dims civil-rights hopes; loss of King
and Kennedy proves irretrievable as Richard Nixon (R) rides wave of
white reaction into Presidency (1968); Nixon undermines affirmative
action, school busing, public works, aid to poor, weakens
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (while extending it through 1975 to appease
Democratic Congress) under mounting conservative pressure; desegregation
peaks in 1970, then declines as blacks compete more for low-paying jobs
in slowing economy; emerging global competition, inflation undermine prospects
for majority of uneducated urban blacks; Congressional Black Caucus organizes
(Jan.1971); Supreme Court rules school busing constitutional in Swann
v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971);
Richard Nixon is impeached by House of Representatives, then
resigns (1973); Vice-President Gerald Ford serves out Nixon’s second
term, continues Nixon’s policies but appoints William Coleman Secretary of
Transportation (2nd black cabinet post); Jimmy Carter (D)
is elected President
in 1976, appoints more blacks to Cabinet (Patricia Harris, HUD, Andrew Young,
U.N. Ambassador, Clifford Alexander, Sec. of Army), but follows conservative
trend in spending, employment, affirmative action; minority unemployment
grows as economy stalls, inflation rises (“stagflation”); Klan-sponsored
incidents, race riots in Miami, Fla. raise new specter of racial violence
as Nation continues move to political right;
Ronald Reagan and the Conservative “Revolution” 1980-2000- election of Ronald Reagan (R) marks triumph of political conservatism, extreme wings in both political parties; Reagan actively opposes civil rights , social welfare initiatives, believes further programs not necessary; 50,000 protest Reagan anti-civil-rights policy (Washington, D.C., 1981); Democratic Congress extends 1965 Voting Rights Act for another 25 years; Harold Washington elected Chicago’s first black mayor (1983); Jesse Jackson becomes first African-American presidential candidate, wins 20% of Democratic Primary (1984); Reagan appoints three Republican conservatives (Scalia , O,Connor, Kennedy) to fill Supreme Court vacancies; first Martin Luther King day celebrated (1986); Congress upholds Affirmative Action, strengthens fair housing despite Administration resistance; increased receptivity to minorities in American workplace improves job prospects for African-Americans despite reactionary High Court, Administration; George Bush (R) succeeds Ronald Reagan in 1988, continues Reagan-style conservatism; Douglas Wilder (D) becomes first black Governor of Virginia (and Nation’s first elected black governor since Reconstruction), Colin Powell (R) named first black Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989); Supreme Court weakens fair housing, fair employment laws, shifts burden of proof in discrimination cases to employees (Ward’s Cove v. Atonio 1989), strikes down minority set-asides using “strict scrutiny” test (Richmond v. Croson 1989); Thurgood Marshall retires from Supreme Court (1991), laments new reactionary mood; Bush nominates conservative Clarence Thomas (former EEOC Director under Reagan) to succeed Marshall; Thomas’s Senate Confirmation Hearing (1991) polarizes Nation with charges of personal impropriety, racial “tokenism;” videotaped Rodney King beating (Los Angeles 1991) reveals police brutality , racism to nationwide audience; Bush signs Democratic-sponsored Civil Rights Act of 1991 shifting burden of proof in discrimination cases back to employers; pro-civil rights candidate Bill Clinton (D) becomes President in 1992, combats Republican majorities (“Reagan Republicans”) in both Houses; acquittal of policemen in Rodney King trial by white jury (Simi Valley, Ca. 1992) sparks most violent race riot of 20th century in Los Angeles, Ca.; Clinton weakly supports minority nominees but still appoints record number to high Government posts; Carol Moseley Braun (D) is first black woman elected to Senate; sensational murder trial of ex-football star O.J. Simpson ends in acquittal by mostly black jury (Los Angeles 1995), ‘reverses’ acquittal of white suspects in earlier King case; Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan leads “Million-Man March” in Washington, D.C. (1995) to celebrate black family values, cultural unity; Supreme Court makes discrimination suits harder in Adarand v. Pena (1995); Calif. Proposition 209 bans affirmative action in school admissions; national trend shows gains for blacks, Hispanics, women, native Americans in jobs, education despite prevailing conservatism; rejection of radical inner-city politics, failure to gain white acceptance leads to reverse segregation, flight of prosperous African-Americans from cities to mostly black suburbs (Prince Georges County, Md., Fulton County, Ga.); Afro-Centrism (pride in African origins, assault on myths of Anglo-European superiority, both rooted in Marcus Garvey’s black nationalism) flourishes in predominantly black inner cities ; spread of Afro-Centrist identity shadows growth of black middle class, shows increasing gulf between America’s Anglo-European identity and growing “third-world” consciousness despite marked political, social, and economic gains by American minorities toward 20th century’s end;
Conclusion; Coming to Terms: The Future of American Civil Rights- Civil Rights emerging as one of main themes of American history alongside birth of Republic and “manifest destiny;” American Civil Rights history parallels growth and maturation of American legal system based on original Constitutional guarantees of freedom and equality; nonetheless after 250 years, American values still rooted in original British impulse to conquer North America for commercial and military gain; American slavery grew out of European competition for empire (following example of ancient Greeks and Romans) and insatiable demand for consumer goods, leading to conquest and settlement of North America (partly using African slave labor) for England’s economic benefit; majority of early landowners came from British middle class, carrying English sense of race, class, and economic opportunism with them to New World; disenchanted aristocrats, criminals, political exiles, and religious extremists filled spaces in between; common labor, including slaves, was drawn from ‘lower social orders’ and ‘lesser races;’ British success at cornering world slave trade, and ready availability of slaves facilitated widespread use of slavery in North American colonies; harshness of American frontier life, vastness of new land weakened but did not eliminate inherited class differences; thus stage was set for emergence of American national character , combining frontier self-reliance, restless ambition, boundless appetite for land and goods, sense of moral superiority (American people ‘chosen’ to lead the world) and inherited sense of class, ethnicity, and race , in which ‘universal equality’ originally played no part; thus, the words of the ‘Founding Fathers’(“all men are created equal,” all entitled to “life, liberty, happiness”) were abstract ideals not meant to convey the modern literal meaning of ‘civil rights;’ Frederick Douglass was first distinguished American to grasp full meaning of Constitutional guarantees of equality and envision prejudice-free society; the political and moral task of reconciling America’s democratic ideals with its slaveholding past is still as he outlined it 150 years ago; this task, first stated by Douglass, then recast in 20th-century terms by Martin Luther King , is one that Americans have reluctantly undertaken, but must one day finish if we are ever to be “one Nation, indivisible;” conversely, Europe’s original fateful encounter with sub-Saharan Africa must be revisited, so that Africa can come to terms with its own past, and approach its former colonial masters on equal terms; the roots of prejudice and human enslavement stretch back to the beginnings of recorded time, and America is not the only modern nation to have embraced slavery; it was, however, the world’s first constitutional democracy to do so; thus, if there is any hope of reconciling the twin conflicting impulses of American history (democracy and conquest), Americans must understand this country’s English origins and role in modern slavery; in the end, a choice must be made; one cannot believe in democracy and any form of human subjugation at the same time; to fulfill King’s and Douglass’s vision of a fully integrated society, all identification with race, ethnicity, and class must defer to the ideal of social equality; “as I would not be a slave, so I would not be a Master,” Lincoln said; equality, as King later added, is fundamentally rooted in moral conscience; still, another hundred years might pass before equality is achieved, so deep-rooted are the ancient biases which are unconsciously transmitted even by civil rights’ most ardent supporters (F.M. 2002).
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