African Politics - Essay Example

Black separatists argued that white people oppressed the blacks and that it was impossible for the blacks to advance in any way when living in white-dominated societies. The proponents of this movement pushed for the segregation of black institutions such as business schools so that the blacks themselves would direct them (Selverstone 160). Concisely, the main objectives of this movement were to separate the black societies from the white to achieve means of making them independent and self-sufficient to survive in an environment that was hostile.

One of the dominant black elites of this movement includes Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and the Nation of Islam. Marcus Garvey, unlike other activists, did not advocate for segregation within white territories, rather, Garvey’s UNIA elite called on the black society to move from America and return to their “homeland” in Africa, Liberia to be specific (Lawler & Davenport 80-82). The second elite, the Nation of Islam, was founded by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad and called for the establishment of newly independent states for blacks only in the white territories. In addition, it provided economic, social, mental, and spiritual support for African Americans.  According to its sympathizers, the black community would only foster if it had its states with black schools, police, politicians, and businesses.

The African American Civil Rights Movement

This is an umbrella movement that housed other smaller social movements that aimed at ending discrimination, and segregation by race, and enforcing the voting rights of blacks living in the United States.  This movement employed mostly campaigns of civil resistance, implementing civil disobedience and nonviolent protests as tactics to create crises that would make the state give ear to their demands. There are famous boycotts that dominate this movement such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and 1956, which was successful as the segregation of blacks on public buses ended. However, major elites pushed for overly effective milestones such as the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that ended discrimination of origin, religion, color, or race in public facilities and accommodations such as employment. In short, this movement aimed to equalize the blacks to the whites and advocate for fairness and equality in all aspects, of the white territories.

Evaluation

Both black ideologies had similar aims: that despite the blacks existing on white soil, the oppression and discrimination against them had to end. This is because, during their eras, most whites looked down on the blacks as inferior, only worth serving as slaves, and when allowed in their societies, had to have limitations in what they could do. Marcus Garvey wanted the blacks out of America, while Martin Luther King Jr. wanted the blacks to have equal rights as the white man. Another similarity is that both ideologies had several mini-groupings under them, but with the same aims of freeing or improving the status of blacks in society. For instance, the Black Separatism had the UNIA and Nation of Islam amongst others, whereas the Civil Rights Movement had parties, campaigns, Acts, and Resistance groups amongst others.

However, these two ideologies differ greatly in terms of the implementation of their goals. This is evident in that the Black Separatism Movement wanted the blacks and whites to live apart from each other, each in the territory. More so, it advocated for the blacks to leave white territories and go back to theirs in Africa. This is not the case with the African American Civil Rights Movement, which advocated for freedom and equality of rights within the white territory. Concisely, it focused more on “civilizing” the white race and making them change their perception of blacks as inferior, thus bringing the bout integration of the two as one society. Another major difference occurs in that the Black Separatism Movement had fewer constituting bodies under it compared to the Civil Rights Movement which had a vast of such, using different methods of activism to achieve its objectives. This is a potential reason why the African American Civil Rights Movement achieved most of its objectives unlike the Black Separatists’, whose endeavors faded before they achieved theirs.

Despite the many mentions of achievements in the observation of African American Rights, it is evident that some racial insensitivity still reigns today, though not on a mass scale as in ancient times. According to McGhee, it is not new to see public figures facing accusations for using speech or actions that spell racism, or others speaking ill of the African American President Obama. The way out of this, which both of these two would seemingly prefer to advocate for would be to strengthen the elimination of the ancient notions of segregation through the implementation of strict Acts and laws especially two main public figures who have the capacity to influence a lot of people and sensitizing upcoming generations on the need for universal cohesion.