Civil Rights

Focus: “The post-war era marked a period of unprecedented energy against the second class citizenship accorded to African Americans in many parts of the nation. Resistance to racial segregation and discrimination with strategies such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, protests, boycotts, “freedom rides,” and rallies received national attention as newspaper, radio, and television reporters and cameramen documented the struggle to end racial inequality. There were also continuing efforts to legally challenge segregation through the courts.” (Library of Congress:Local Gov Collections)

Although many rightfully point to the legal victories of Brown v Board of Education and The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and The Fair Housing Act of 1968 as the high water legal battles of the era, the fight to achieve the vision written into these acts continued. Nixon was able to use the anger against the riots in LA and Chicago as a call to “law and order”; his dogwhistle of “the war on crime” was heard loudly and clearly. Attempts to community organize were often infiltrated by police. Monies designated to community housing were used to build “projects”, ghettos that concentrated their residents into small areas of the community. Desegregation of schools resulted in private church run academies and protests against busing. Funding intended to help Black owned businesses was lumped into block grants, giving each states the right to distribute the money where it saw fit. Jim Crow may have been legally dead, but his ghost continued to haunt the American landscape.

Tonight we discuss the time of the fight for Civil Rights.

Gathering Prayer: Holy One who is known to us by many names and in many ways, wegive thanks for the blessings that we have in our lives. You know the thoughts of our hearts; hear our prayers. Be present now as we enter a time of thought and discussion.

Sentences on the Subject: After the war came to an end on September 2, 1945, African Americans immediately began to wonder if their service and sacrifice had been in vain. The military did not award Medals of Honor to any Black soldiers and largely ignored their contributions to the war effort. As they returned to their homes across the country and especially in the South, their expectations for freedom and increased rights were met with fierce resistance. In the spring and summer of 1946, white supremacists killed several Black veterans and attacked countless others. Four Hundred Souls (p. 310).

The intensification of national hostilities with the Soviet Union reinforced efforts to crush bold prescriptions for reform within the United States. Black activists of all political inclinations were among the targets of the retrograde forces that combined to stymie progressive change. The organs of hyperpatriotism—from the congressional body known as the House Un-American Activities Committee to local segregationist, antilabor, and anti-Communist groups—harbored special enmity for leftists, whom they attempted to discredit by labeling them “subversives.”Four Hundred Souls (p. 312).

……….Brown v. Board of Education, a monumental 1954 landmark legal decision that literally changed the course of twentieth-century America. The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, decided that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and deprive Black children of the constitutional right to equal protection of the laws. The decision cracked the load-bearing wall of legal segregation. Within ten years, the principles vindicated in Brown were successfully deployed to challenge segregation laws in the United States. Four Hundred Souls (p. 317).

Brown fueled not only Black activists but also Black artists who explored social conditions and the human imagination necessary to transform them. In prior years, many Black artists had been chastened and chastised by McCarthyism. Black artists were among those blacklisted for holding leftist politics or simply for being outspoken against American racism. Organizations were fractured and shuttered, and careers were destroyed. Black art communities were subject to surveillance, closed doors, and punitive measures. And so in 1954, Black artists and writers found themselves at something of a crossroads. McCarthyism was waning. Brown was a beginning, and the FBI surveillance of Black activists under the COINTELPRO program had not yet begun. Four Hundred Souls (p. 321).

On February 1, 1960, four eighteen-year-old students attending North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (now University), in Greensboro, walked into an F. W. Woolworth department store. After purchasing a few school items, they sat down at the lunch counter and tried to order soft drinks and doughnuts. They were denied service, but they refused to leave. They remained seated at the counter until the store closed. The next day more students returned to sit in, and within two months sit-ins involving thousands were unfolding in some thirty Southern cities, largely emanating from historically Black colleges and universities. Four Hundred Souls (p. 325).

I first encountered Black Power through Malcolm X. As a junior high school student in New York City during the 1980s, I saw his image while watching the extraordinary “Eyes on the Prize” television documentary. Malcolm’s bold critique of white supremacy, Western colonialism, and anti-Black racial violence embodied the Black Power movement. All this seemed to contrast with the passionate call for Black citizenship through nonviolent suffering extolled by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., another figure covered extensively in the documentary. Four Hundred Souls (p. 330).

The government’s failure to seriously enforce its own fair housing laws—as demonstrated by the paltry funding appropriated to fight racist housing discrimination—had left Black buyers and renters vulnerable to the racism of the real estate industry. Instead, members of Congress, the media, and the private sector itself pinned the crisis in the programs on the disproportionately Black program participants. Everyone involved described Black mothers, in particular, as “unsophisticated buyers,” even as white businessmen, a U.S. senator, and multiple agents working within the FHA were indicted for conspiracy and fraud. Four Hundred Souls (p. 337).

Below is some “food for thought”, a few probes that might kick start a conversation. Read over them and pick one (or more, or none) to discuss. Remember to hold space for others to share and share only what you feel comfortable sharing.

Probe 1. The Civil Right Era was as much about the personalities as it was about the results, for the conflicts shaped the outcomes. Here’s a short list of the influential people of the times; test your memory as to their influence on the movement:

MLK, JFK, RFK, LBJ, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Malcom X, Emmit Tills, Thurgood Marshall, Booker T Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Huey Newton,Richard Loving, John Lewis, Jackie Robinson.

Probe 2.History texts point to the end of the Civil Rights Era as occurring in 1968, with either the assassination of Dr. King or the signing of the Civil Rights Act as that moment in time. How are each of these iconic moments a true reflection of the Movement? How are each a lie, a perjury which attests to a moment that never was?

Probe 3. The Cold War dampened much of the populist fervor that arose during the 30’s and replaced it with a nationalist passion. How was the conflict with the Soviet Union a disrupting factor in the Civil Rights movement’s fight for equality? How are nationalistic beliefs still a factor today?

Probe 4. Like the 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory, 400 Souls seeks to re-frame our country’s history by shifting a focus onto the role of slavery and Black Americans. Have these stories added to or shifted your thinking on The Civil Rights Era? How? What stories or examples can you share?

Commission: Hold on to what is good. Love deeply. Honor others. Stay excited about life and your faith. Be joyful. Be patient. If you pray, have faith. Share with people who are in need. Welcome others into your homes. Be loving to those who hurt you. Be present; be in the moment. Be gentle, even with those with whom you disagree. Be humble. Be a friend of people who aren’t considered important. Do the right thing. If possible, live in peace with everyone. And remember, no matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey- you are welcome here.