Creative tension? Divisions in the civil rights movement Flashcards Preview

AS History (Pursuing life and liberty: Equality in the USA 1945-1968) > Creative tension? Divisions in the civil rights movement > Flashcards

Flashcards in Creative tension? Divisions in the civil rights movement Deck (41)
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1
Q

Which 2 significant events occurred in 1965?

A

Passing of the Voting Rights Act

Watts Riots in Los Angeles

2
Q

How many deaths, injuries and arrests were there in the Watts Riots? How much damage was done ($)?

A

34 deaths,
1,032 injuries,
3,438 arrests,
over $40 million in property damage.

3
Q

There were 4 significant events in 1966. What were they?

A

Shooting of James Meredith
James Farmer resigns as leader of CORE
SNCC embraces self-defence and expels white members
NAACP and NUL walk out of negotiations with SCLC and SNCC

4
Q

Which 2 significant events occurred in 1968?

A

SNCC embrace the use of ‘revolutionary violence’

CORE expels white members

5
Q

Why did divisions arise within the civil rights movement?

A

Disagreements over methods and goals for which black Americans were fighting
Personal clashes between leaders competing for media attention and public recognition

6
Q

Which groups were presented as ‘moderate’? Why?

A

NAACP and National Urban League (NUL)
NAACP - commitment to work through courts
NUL - willingness to work with America’s white population

7
Q

Which groups were presented as ‘radical’? Why?

A

CORE and SNCC

-because they advocated self-defence

8
Q

What was the SCLC labeled as?

A

criticized by moderates for being too radical while radicals attacked them for being too moderate

9
Q

The aims and methods of groups changed over time, and so did the labels applied to them, Which groups became more radical during the 1960s?

A

SNCC, CORE, SCLC

10
Q

Sources of tension: What were the 4 sources of tension within the civil rights movement?

A

The different methods:

  • use of violence in the fight for black civil rights (peaceful/violent)
  • extent to which black and white people should collaborate in the campaign for racial equality (collaboration)
  • how far de jure change would bring about de facto change (using the law)
  • the extent to which black people should seek integration (integration/seperatism)
  • Shayan’s bigoted stance on gay marriage (Shayan)
11
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What was King’s commitment to nonviolence based on?

A

His heartfelt belief in Christianity and Jesus’ teachings that Christians should ‘turn the other cheek’

12
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: Which other groups also organised campaigns using peaceful protest?

A

SNCC and CORE

13
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: Why did SNCC and CORE use peaceful methods?

A

Pragmatic (it worked) rather than ideological

14
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What did SNCC believe (regarding non violent tactics)?

A

That they [non violent tactics] were compatible with self-defence
e.g. some SNCC activists in the South were willing to accept protection from black farmers armed with guns

15
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: How did radicals react to the tactic of non violent protest?

A

Critically.

e.g. Malcolm X argued that black people should be prepared to use any means to fight white oppression

16
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: When was the shooting of James Meredith?

A

1966

17
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What did the shooting of James Meredith prompt the SNCC to do?

A

Emphasise its commitment to self-defence

18
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What did Stokely Carmichael argue the shooting of James Meredith underlined?

A

The need for black people to use violence to defend themselves

19
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What happened to SNCC in 1968? Why?

A

Became more radical as Carmichael proposed using revolutionary violence against the US government

20
Q

(Methods) Peaceful/violent: What prompted the resignation of CORE’s leader James Farmer in 1966?

A

CORE also moved away from non-violence during the late 1960s

21
Q

(Methods) Collaboration: How far did the NAACP and SCLC collaborate with white people?

A

Welcomed black and white members arguing that cooperation would make them stronger

22
Q

Stokely Carmichael fact file

A
  • Born Trinidad
  • (1941 - 1998)
  • Leader of SNCC from 1966
  • Involved in freedom rides of 1961
  • Radical position on many issues made him a natural ally to the black panthers
  • Appointed Prime Minister of the Black Panthers in the 1970s
23
Q

James Farmer fact file

A
  • (1920 - 1999)
  • Leader of CORE from 1942
  • CORE’s leading figure in Freedom rides of 1961
  • Spoke at Washington March 1963
  • Resigned from CORE leadership in 1966 due to increasing radicalisation [of CORE]
24
Q

(Methods) Collaboration: SNCC and CORE moved away from mixed membership in the late 1960s.

1) What did the SNCC do in 1966?
2) What did CORE decide in 1965 and 1968 respectively?

A

1) Expel all white members
2) 1965 - decided that black people must form the majority of the organisation
3) 1968 - whites were officially excluded from membership

25
Q

(Methods) Using the law: What did the NAACP, NUL and SCLC all have in common?

A

Fought for legal change

26
Q

What impact did this action through the courts have on Northern Blacks?

A

Little. The absence of legal segregation in the northern states meant that changing laws did not help (as much)

27
Q

(Methods) Using the law: What did SNCC and CORE focus on when they realised action through the courts was ineffective in the north?

A

Economic and political issues faced by black citizens in northern ghettos

28
Q

(Goals) Integration: Which campaign groups was integration important to?

A

NAACP and SCLC

29
Q

(Goals) Integration: What did Stokely Carmichael begin to stress in the mid-1960s?

A

The importance of black control over public services rather than just integration
Argument:
1) traditional integrationist campaigns (Brown 1954) only changed education for a handful of black students
2) to address this black people should campaign for control over local schools

30
Q

(Goals) Seperatism: What did Malcolm X believe white people would never stop doing?

A

Trying to enslave black people

31
Q

(Personalities): Why did King become the focus of criticism from other groups?

A

They believed

  • he dominated the movement
  • he was essentially a glory seeker
  • he was controlled by the white gov.
  • he dominated media attention
32
Q

(Personalities): SNCC and CORE were critical of King. They accused him of treating them as junior partners. Give examples to support this.

A

King suggested SNCC should become the ‘student wing’, of SCLC.
CORE thought King could have played a more prominent role in the freedom rides 1961
This is evidence that he dominated the movement.

33
Q

(Personalities): Why did radicals object to King working too closely with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson?

A

They felt that it had failed to protect protestors during the civil rights campaigns

34
Q

(Personalities) Vietnam: Another point of division. What did radicals think of Vietnam?

A

Believed it was a racial war between the white American government and the Asian people of Vietnam.

35
Q

(Personalities) Vietnam: What did NAACP think of Vietnam?

A

They felt obliged to support it as they believed that any criticism would drive a wedge between the civil rights activists and the gov.

36
Q

(Personalities) Vietnam: Initially King did not criticise the campaign. What happened then?

A
  • criticised by SNCC and other radical groups
  • eventually felt a moral obligation to speak
  • heightened tensions between King and NAACP
37
Q

(Effects of the tension) Creative tensions: What did Whitney Young argue?

A

That every time Malcolm X or Carmichael criticised the NUL it became easier to work with white politicians and business leaders. The criticisms persuaded white leaders that the NUL was a respectable organisation.

38
Q

(Effects of the tension) Destructive tensions: What were the negative effects of tension?

A
  • damage to King’s rep
  • showed King’s weakness
  • fragmentation of the movement (NAACP, SCLC and NUL vs SNCC and CORE)
39
Q

Timeline: 1965

A

Watts Riots in Los Angeles

40
Q

Timeline: 1966

A

Shooting of James Meredith
James Farmer resigns as leader of CORE
SNCC embrasses self-defence and expels white members
NAACP and NUL walk out of negotiations with SCLC and SNCC

41
Q

Timeline: 1967

A

SNCC embrace the use of ‘revolutionary violence’

CORE expels white members