How Have African-Americans Worked to End Segregation and Isolation to Attain Equality - Research Paper Example

? How have African-Americans worked to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights? How have African-Americansworked to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights? African-Americans have succeeded to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation through sincere efforts that are done by activists, such as Marin Luther King, and other organizations. The spread of extremist and hate groups that look inferiorly at black people was an embodiment of the atmosphere of racism in the United States. The second half of the twentieth century witnessed a rising trend of racism between white and black Americans. The blacks were indirectly deprived from their rights to attain high position in the government. Also, private businesses used to discriminate against the black based just on the color of their skin and their ethnic origin. Consequently, various anti-racism movements emerged in order to end this trend of racism against blacks in the United States. Martin Luther King was one of the most famous black activists who paid his life for the sake of ending racism in the United States. The echo of his famous word 'I have a dream' still persists in the ears of activists and anti-racists, in an attempt to make this 'dream' come true. King himself was subjected to sever cases of racism and violence, as "during the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed, beaten, and eventually killed for his leadership in the civil-rights movement" ("Battling Racism: …."). In the United States, the year 1963 witnessed a major civil rights mobility with the efforts done by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the field of fighting racial segregation. King, president of SCLC is now inspiring civil rights movements all over the United States to resist the social, economic, and political practices that involve racial discrimination and segregation against African Americans. One of the most successful campaigns in this field is the Birmingham campaign, which has witnessed strategic effort that is exerted by King and his SCLC for the sake of promoting civil rights for African Americans. This campaign, which is based in Birmingham, Alabama lasted for more than two months in the spring of 1963, aiming "at ending the city's segregated civil and discriminatory economic policies" (Garrow, 1981). In fact, the effective tactics, strategies, and philosophies followed by King and his organization have played major roles in fulfilling the goals of the campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. The first and most significant aspect of King and his civil rights movement is the adoption of non-violent approaches to reach the goal of ending racial segregation in the United States. This tactic was particularly evident in the Birmingham campaign, where King and his African American followers organized non-violent gatherings, marches, and boycotts in order push the city officials to review the civil laws that are considered by King and his movement unfair. King stressed the resort to non-violent approaches in Birmingham, when he declares that "the purpose of ... direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation"(Garrow, 1981). Thus, it can be said that King, and his philosophy of nonviolence, was the dominant force in his civil rights movement that achieved great success in Birmingham. In employing the tactic of non-violent resistance against the practices of segregation, King was a strong believer in the power of non-violent approaches to attain legal demands of equality and abundance of racial segregation. In this context, King was inspired by the character of Gandhi in India, who was a strong advocate of the policy of non-resistance. Witnessing the success of Gandhi and his movement in reaching their goals in India, King believed that he also can succeed in forcing his government to abolish segregation laws. Thus, the core reason behind the success of Birmingham campaign was the sincere belief in non-violence, as approached by Gandhi. In particular, King was fond of the approach followed by Mahatma Gandhi, who "slowly, firmly, patiently, changed India and changed the world" (Shaw, 2004). Through this non-violent approach, Gandhi succeeded in ending the British occupation in India using just peaceful resistance means, and So, King followed the same approach, leading to the great success of the Birmingham campaigns to end civil laws that endorse racial segregation. As explained by Frederic Brussat, a famous political analyst, Gandhi's success "lies in his courage and capacity to unite all Indians under one goal," and similarly, King's success in Birmingham is reflected in his ability to unite all African Americans under one goal, which is to fight racial segregation (Brussat, 2003). Thus, the fact that King himself was inspired by another great leader, enabled him to inspire many other Americans and to adopt his policy of non-violence. Another important tactic that is followed by King and his organization in Birmingham is the design of prepared and organized steps to gradually attain the goal of ending racial segregation laws. The first step followed by King and his followers was a comprehensive boycott that aimed at pressuring all kinds of businesses to make their job opportunities available for people from all races, not for whites only (Shaw, 2004). The protesters also boycotted all sales stores that have segregated facilities in their stores. However, the protesters soon escalated their approach and went to the second step when they found that businesses were able to resist the boycott. This second step consisted of a set of marches and peaceful demonstrations, in which adults as well as children participated (Brussat, 2003). These peaceful marches and demonstrations achieved great results for King and his movement, as the head of the Birmingham Police Department was fired from his job because of the extreme violence used against the protesters. Consequently, King and his movement succeeded in achieving most of the goal they wanted, as "the 'Jim Crow' signs in Birmingham came down, and public places became more open to blacks" (Le Blanc, 2011). Thus, it can be said that King's tactic of organized and gradual steps of peaceful resistance was extremely effective in forcing Birmingham authorities to end their segregation practices. Therefore, it can be claimed that the ideology of peaceful resistance was the core of King's strategy in attempting to end the segregation laws that were spread throughout the United States. After the success he achieved in Birmingham, similar positive results can be achieved in other states, as King continued his strategy of arousing the conscience of Americans, without any intention of blood shedding or using violence. Using this approach, King's civil rights movement was able to initiate a positive change in the United States by attempting to end the discriminative measures against African Americans. Actually, King succeeded in mobilizing people against any signs of segregation neither from the government nor from private businesses. Although all the leaders and members in King's organization participated actively in the success of ending segregation in Birmingham and other major American cities, it was King who has left the major impact on Americans in this regard. The charisma he has and the sincere belief in his cause have left a great impact on a large number of Americans of all ages and races (Shaw, 2004). Most of his speeches contained various logical appeals to the audiences' minds and emotions in order to convince them with his ideas about equality and elimination of racial discrimination. In that sense, King always depends on appeals and well-presented and well-supported supported claims to strongly impress his audience with his noble ideas and opinions. These talents were reflected in most of his public speeches and lectures. For instance, in his Noble Prize lecture, King presented his ideas about non-peaceful resistance eloquently and professionally (Shaw, 2004). He expressed his rejection to the use of violence by declaring that violence is immoral because "it seeks to annihilate rather than convert." In addition, the great deal of suffering to which he was subjected have made a growing number of Americans sympathize with him,. As noted by many analysts and historians "during the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed, beaten, and eventually killed for his leadership in the civil-rights movement" ("Battling Racism: …."). Accordingly, King's well-designed and effective tactics as well as his eloquent speech devices and charisma have all contributed to the success of civil-rights movements in ending segregation in Birmingham and other American cities. Consequently, the main goal of SCLC and other civil rights movements was to resist any signs of discrimination against black Americans. For example, the blacks during that time were not allowed to sit in front seats in public transportations. Such practices were extremely condemned by King and his companions. As a result, they initiated the Birmingham campaign to call for the respect of black Americans' civil rights. This campaign, which was started in Birmingham, Alabama continued for about two months, during which African Americans participated in various marches and demonstrations. However, some political, social and religious thinkers condemned these demonstrations, arguing that they can spread chaos and instability in their communities. For example, eight white clergymen from Birmingham expressed their infuriation and resentment towards the marches of the blacks in a letter, entitled "A Call for Unity," which they published in a local newspaper. Nevertheless, the arguments raised by the clergymen in condemnation of the peaceful marches by the blacks in Birmingham are invalid, flawed, and unsubstantiated. The first invalid claim made by the eight clergymen is that the peaceful marches in Birmingham were "unwise and untimely." This claim is not supported by any evidence, data, or facts. On the contrary, these marches were "wise" because the demonstrators did not engage in any acts of violence or civil disturbance. Rather, they wanted to be as wise as possible in order to win their case against racial segregation. During the two-month demonstrations, there were not any incidents of the use of violence or defiance to local authorities. Actually, African Americans wanted to gain support for their cause by being as "wise" as possible in bringing their concerns to public awareness. In this regard, King asserted the importance of performing non-violent marches in Birmingham, when he states that the main goal of these marches was "to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation"(Garrow). In addition, these marches were also "timely" as they wee initiated at the right time. They came as a direct response to the acceleration of racial segregation practices that were not met by any measures from official authorities. Therefore, it is illogical to describe these marches as "unwise and timely," while in fact they came as a response to the discrimination practiced against African Americans by the whites, and at the same time the demonstrators did not use violent approaches in these marches. Moreover, the argument raised by the eight clergymen that the marches came from "outsiders" is unrealistic and invalid. They argue that demonstrations in Birmingham were affected by the calls made by Martin Luther King and the SCLC. According to the clergymen, since King does not directly belong to Birmingham, so, the local community in Alabama borrowed "outside" ideas that did not emerge from their own community. However, this is an invalid and unrealistic argument because King and the members of SCLC should not be considered outsiders. They belong to the wider American community, which share the same concerns and problems in regard to racial segregation. Suffering from the same incidents of discrimination like other states, the African Americans in Alabama felt that the calls made by King and SCLC express their concerns perfectly; so, they decided to call his group and give him a chance to raise public awareness about this social problem. In that sense, King and the SCLC did not interfere forcedly in the events of Birmingham; rather, he clarifies this situation clearly when he says "I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here I am here because I have organizational ties here" (King). Consequently, it is a fallacious argument to claim that the demonstrations and marches in Birmingham were initiated by "outsiders," by which the Clergymen refer to King and the SCLC. Furthermore, the claim of the clergymen that Birmingham marches did not succeed in solving any of the social problems of the local community is untrue and unsupported. This is evident when those clergymen argue that the marches "have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems." Nevertheless, this claim contradicts reality, as the marches in Birmingham actually succeeded in directing the attention of all Americans towards the problem of racial segregation, leading to the end of this social problem afterwards. In that sense, Birmingham marches were successful in achieving its final goals of raising concerns about the discrimination against African Americans in the city of Birmingham. The first direct result of these marches is that the citizens and officials who were engaged in any practices of racial discrimination were punished. The principal of the Birmingham Police Department, for example, was fired due to claims of the use of unjustified violence against the peaceful demonstrators in the city. In addition, other direct results included the coming down of 'Jim Crow' signs in Birmingham and the opening of public places to all people, including whites and blacks together (Le Blanc). Thus, Birmingham marches succeeded in achieving most of their short and long run goals in the area of fighting racial segregation in the United States. Consequently, the argument that Birmingham marches were unsuccessful is weak, unsupported, and flawed. Accordingly, most of the claims that are raised by the eight clergymen against Birmingham marches in "A Call for Unity" are unconvincing, unsubstantiated, and flawed. Contrary to the argument raised in this letter, Birmingham marches are extremely successful in ending many of the forms of discrimination against blacks in the United States. In that sense, King and the SCLC insisted on using peaceful and non-violent measures in the course of raising awareness towards the issue of racial discrimination. Finally, it can be claimed that the eight clergymen were not right in criticizing Birmingham marches, as the demonstrators did not hurt the stability and unity of the community, in their attempt to end all segregation measures against African Americans. In conclusion, after an objective analysis of the civil rights movement in the United States during 1963, one would say that the practices of the movement were mostly successful in reaching the goal of ending racial segregation in the United States. The effective tactics of the movement as well as the positive personal traits of Martin Luther King are the major reasons behind the success of the movement. In this context, it can be argued that King's approach of non-violent resistance can be applied to other regional conflicts, with the hope of reaching positive results. For instance, the Palestinians can be guided by the tactics used by King in order to regain their lost rights, using the philosophy of peaceful resistance. Instead of resorting to violence, killing, and bombings, Palestinian activists may borrow the techniques used by King, through which he achieved his goal peacefully without the use of violence. Finally, it can be said that King's philosophy and tactics may inspire other social and political movements around the world, for the sake of abolishing the use of violence and spreading the ideology of non-violence resistance. Works Cited C. C. J. Carpenter, et. Al. (1963)."A Call for Unity." 12 Apr. 1963. Garrow, David J. (1981). The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.. 1981. Penguin Books. ISBN 0140064869.  King, Martin L. (1963). "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 1963. Le Blanc, Paul. (2009). "Martin Luther King: Christian Core, Socialist Bedrock." 25 Apr. 2009. "Battling Racism: Lessons from Martin Luther King." Christian Bible Studies. 28 Nov. 2011. Brussat, F. (2003). “Movie Review.” 2003. 29 Nov. 2011. Garrow, David J. (1981).The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.. 1981. Penguin Books. ISBN 0140064869.  King, Martin L. (1964). Nobel Peace Lecture. Nobel Peace Prize Presentation. Nobel Committee. Oslo, Norway. 10 Dec. 1964. 28 Nov. 2011. . Le Blanc, P. (2011). "Martin Luther King: Christian Core, Socialist Bedrock." 30 Nov. 2011. "Martin Luther King, Jr.(2011). " Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Nov. 2011. Shaw, Maura D. (2004). "Power of Gandhi’s Peaceful Resistance." 2004. 29 Nov. 2011. Read More