Civil Rights Movement: differing perspective and black radicalism - Essay Example

Civil Rights Movement: differing perspective and black radicalism The Civil Rights Movement of America was distinct in its collective vision of equality across races and cultures, which had culminated in the inclusion of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 in the United States constitution. Martin Luther King was the key person who had led the mass movement for the equality of American blacks in the 1960s. The Civil Right Act is an important paradigm of democratic state that provides the constitutional rights of freedom to all the individuals so that they are free to participate in the socio-political and economic development of the nation. Levi asserts that the ‘freedom summer’ of 1964 is known not only for interracial democratic activism but also for racial violence that had erupted after the ground realities of the Act had rudely shattered the hopes and expectations of the Black Americans. The differing perspectives of the civil rights and diverse ideologies of the mainstream American population became powerful barriers to the implementation of the Act and most importantly, hindrances to the democratic processes which prompted radical reactions from the Blacks. Indeed, inclusion of the blacks and the minority in the electoral base of the nation was an important step towards equal citizenship. It was also supported by the liberal Whites who believed in the fundamental rights of all individuals cutting across race, color, culture and nationality. At the same time, it is vital to understand how the conceptualization of racism and racist inferences had evolved within American society which had created an unequal social structure primarily based on the disadvantages of one particular race/ color. The tradition of slavery was critical imperative that had conceptualized racism because the basic purpose of the Blacks slaves, brought from African countries by the Europeans to the newly discovered America in the late sixteenth century, was to have free labor for agriculture (Goldfield et al. 139). The inequity started by the slave tradition had produced social inequity based on races, providing Whites with the socio-economic advantages. The long tradition of racial discrimination has therefore been inherently imbibed through centuries of advantages enjoyed by the Whites who had become used to treating the Blacks as second-class citizens. As such, it is no wonder that blacks are still deprived of their legitimate rights of equality and freedom to participate equally in the socio-economic activities of the nation. The emergence of liberal thinkers was an important breakthrough that had helped create platform for social reforms and emancipation of the blacks (May 224). In the post-independence period, the North America had considerably moved forward to provide many rights and privileges to the blacks as against the South American constituencies which still preferred subjugation of the blacks and Native Americans. The civil movement of the blacks in 1950s and 60s was therefore landmark for providing the constitutional rights to the blacks, even though those rights were denied to them in the reality. The Enlightenment era was a social and intellectual movement which broadly referred to the socio-economic and political development of nations through the development of new mechanisms of propagating learning and knowledge acquisition (Himmelfarb 4). Consequently liberal thinkers who promoted art and culture as important medium of knowledge acquisition relied on rational approach using scientific and cultural interpretation to bring about socio-political changes within the societies as against religious orthodoxy. American enlightenment was largely a by-product of European enlightenment that motivated liberal Americans to evolve new system of government based on liberal and democratic principles which believed in equality and equal participation of people in the nation building processes. Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights etc. were important postulates that highlight liberal views which promoted free speech, religious freedom etc. (Bailyn, 176). It was also one of the key reasons that had prompted large numbers of Whites to support the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. The Civil Rights Movement had significantly divided society and restructured social format based on the promise of social equity of races and motivating the blacks to fight for their rights. The movement was a catalyst for black radical activism because despite the constitutional rights, the blacks were facing bureaucratic barriers as the Whites were the dominant economic forces who wanted to tenaciously hold to their dominant status in the changing American society and became strong reason for ‘liberal black nationalism’ (Valls, 2010: 479). The fragmented ideologies were the reasons behind the fracture of civil rights movement which had helped create black political radicalism. The age-old discriminatory practices against the blacks remained the major social and political barriers for the blacks. The refusal of the Whites to develop wider perspective of social justice based on equality of races and equal opportunities for all had helped maintain social division and institutional barriers to their constitutional rights of freedom. The various amendments to the constitution had helped Black Americans to participate in the development processes. Access to good education has been the most important facilitator for improving their socio-economic status and avail equal opportunity in employment. In the contemporary times, globalization has emerged as crucial element that has considerably redefined social format in terms of social equity of races and interdependency of resources across the nations. One of the most important outcomes of globalization has been the development of a tolerant society that acknowledges and responds to the varying needs of the people coming from different color, race and culture (Sirgy et al. 251). It has helped create a new way of thinking that incorporates the interests of others and promotes greater understanding of cross-cultural values. This helps the people and the business community to develop more profitable social contract to share multitude of resources for personal and professional enhancement. One can therefore state that the contemporary American society is built on the principles of liberal ideology that encourages better understanding of cross-cultural value system and acknowledges the unique capabilities of contribution of the blacks and others to the nation building. The liberal principles help to evolve rational approach and scientific methodology to solving the socio-economic and political dilemmas. This diminishes the differences across races, culture, color and nationality, thereby overtly and covertly supporting the postulates of Civil Rights Movement which had once witnessed fractured society. Work Cited Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1967. Goldfield, David; Abbott, Carl and Anderson, Virginia Dejohn et. al. The American Journey, 5th ed. NY: Prentice Hall, 2009. Himmelfarb, Gertrude. The Roads to Modernity: The British, French and American Enlightenments. London: Vintage, 2008. Joseph, Peniel E. When Civil-Rights Unity Fractured. 28 June, 2014. Web. 10 July, 2014. May, Henry F. The Enlightenment in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978. Sirgy, M. J., D.J. Lee, C. Miller and J. E. Littlefield. (2004). ‘The impact of globalization on a country’s quality of life: toward an integrated model’. Social Indicators Research, 68 (2004):.251-298. Valls, Andrew. ‘A Liberal Defense of Black Nationalism,’ American Political Science Review, 104 (2010): 467–481. Read More