Could Black Nationalism Have Worked in America - Coursework Example

Black Nationalism in America

Introduction

Political movements of early 1960 among the African Americans were as a result of plainly different rights characterized by disenfranchisement, segregation and various forms of oppression like racially inspired violence almost a century after emancipation proclamation. State and local laws in the South barred African Americans from sharing classrooms, bathrooms, theaters, cars, jury and trains with the Whites. The “Jim Crow” laws considered separate but equal faced a major blow in 1954 when the Supreme Court struck the doctrine of which they had a legal basis. After that significant ruling, protest by Black civil right activist followed through the use of non-violent confrontation and civil disobedience to effect changes on the rights of the Black Americans. The results of the protests included the adoption of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and Civil Rights Acts three years later.

Some of the famous African American figures in the forefront during the quest for equal rights included Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael, with noticeable organizations such as the Black Muslims and Black Panther Party among others. The paper investigates if the formation of African American State in the United States would have been a good idea. From the literature, supportive evidence indicates that a state for the Blacks would have succeeded with no oppression and racial discrimination and of course there would have been on the other hand some disadvantages as discussed throughout the paper.

Literature Review

The highlighted challenging situations which African Americans continue to face are some of the causes of struggle in the 1960s. During the post-Brown vs. the Board of Education at Topeka, Ms. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat as was the legislation then that favored Whites over Blacks in most of the States in America; this saw a wave of nonviolent and social disobedient movements to campaign against challenges that continued to face African Americans. The struggle continued after M. Rosa Parker faced jail time for violating Jim Crow’s rule which led to the emergence of civil rights movements the head of the famous ones was Martin Luther King Jr. which advocated for non-violence and the extreme lefts led by Malcolm X (Essien-Udom, 1962).

Martin Luther King Jr. achieved a lot throughout the struggle for equal rights between the Blacks and Whites. The most famous moments include a march on Washington in which Dr.King, non-violently led approximately two hundred thousand blacks to the Lincoln Memorial as a show of solidarity in the fight against oppression. During the gathering, King Jr. gave the famous speech on equal rights and the dream he has for America. As Southern Christian Leadership Conferenc president, Mr. King continued with the advocacy following the ruling made by Supreme Court in Brown v. Topeka Education Board as the movement demanded equal rights not only to education but also other social and political spheres. During Birmingham Campaign, through SCLC, Martin Luther King Jr. together with other movement leaders advocated for the abolishment of economic policies considered discriminatory. The protest turned fierce at some against SCLC’s nonviolent approach, with the police applying force, the protest was regarded as a success one (Austin, 2006).

Marcus Garvey through his teaching inspired by Washington Booker T urged Americans of African descent to avoid politics and that the only way they could emancipate themselves from the challenges was through hard work, change of character and demonstration of good morals. Marcus Garvey after observation of the racial situation in America concluded that integration of the Blacks in the American society was a pipedream that might not take place. Garvey advised African American that the only way if they would gain equal rights with the whites was through economic, political and cultural success. Marcus Garvey, unlike the other civil rights activist, believed that there was a solution to the challenges African Americans faced through the change of their perspective and belief on their uniqueness (Tinson, 2007).

Black Muslim, unlike the Black Panther, was a religious movement, but both shared the same vision of advocacy for civil rights for African Americans. Black Panther was a violent response to police brutality on people of color while Black Muslim advocated for religious tolerance aside from civil rights. One of the Black Muslim leaders who became renowned for the struggle for equality in America between Blacks and White is Malcolm X. through his famous speech titled “The Ballot of the Bullet” Malcolm X urged blacks to embrace violence as the only means of getting their rights (Norton, & University of Hull, 1983).

Class Struggle

The first analysis of the advantage of having a Black state is through the lenses of class struggle. An assessment of the economy and power of the USA indicates that it is the richest and the most influential nation in the whole world. Despite the achievements made in economy and world politics, racism is still an integral part of the country. The Black community as well as a host of other minority races, but mostly the former, remain the most exploited part of the large American community with the menial and lowest paying jobs (Hinshaw, 2002). On the social side, lynching and violence continue to increase among the population of African Americans as seen in the recent cases of gun violence and police killings. The violence aimed at the minority community continues to take place despite over four decades of national reforms and equal rights enshrined in the constitution. Still, on the issue of race, a further investigation needs to be done on why African Americans form a larger percentage of people living in poverty and conditions considered dilapidated. Harassment is also a common occurrence among the African American youths by the police compared to the Whites and other minor races (Bush, 1999).

Fifty years ago when the governor of Illinois, Otto Kerner led commission found that the American society was rapidly shifting towards a black and white nation subsequent regimes promised action to curb the same. After five decades, despite the promises made, the follow-up research over the shift in society towards the unfortunate divide shows a minor action in the direction of dealing with racial disparity. According to a subsequent report carried out by Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, the number of African-American middle class has been on the rise in the past fifty years with improvements in the number of Blacks finishing High School and proceeding to Higher Institutions. The report indicates however that, despite all the achievements, the unemployment rates is higher among African Americans, mostly those who occupy inner city neighborhoods. A look at the figures from Justice Department shows a struggling class of an oppressed society with incarceration rates higher among than whites in percentage despite the fact that blacks form a minority in the United States. The black population in Prison is over half the total number of with a likelihood rate of being arrested standing at six times the rest of the other races.

Even though impoverishment rates have seen tremendous reduction since the 1960s, up until 2005, the number of African Americans in poverty stood at 9.5 million the highest compared to other races followed by Hispanic. A look at the child mortality rates between Whites and Blacks in America shows a visible difference in the figure with African Americans’ children having increased likelihood of dying compared to their counterparts. A study carried out by the CDC indicated worrying figures in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the nation has seen changes in the past two decades, but Black American infants still have higher chances of dying at birth or before the age of five compared to the others from different races (Windsor, Dunlap & Golub, 2011).

Findings: Why African American State might be good

Close to six decades after the struggle, some of what the 1960 civil right activities struggled for is yet to come to execution. A lot of violence and extrajudicial killings aimed at the Black ethnic minority was witnessed. In the past year alone, the number of registered death from racial fierceness has gone up as seen recorded on private video cameras. On the issues of employment, the irony that exists among the Black community in America is the recent increase in the number of Blacks completing high school compared to four decades ago while employment remains high among the group. The majority of Blacks expected good jobs after graduating college end up without one leaving them frustrated without any other option. When employed, the blacks get relatively low pay compared to Whites and other racial groups who undertake the same task. To handle the few issue mentioned, a Black State should have been set aside to avoid racism.

The fear of reemergence of another Black Nationalism movement akin to the ones witnessed in the 1960s is the second reason for the formation of an African-American state. Such movements were in 2008 when youth activist and liberals supported the journey of Senator Obama leading him to the White House. A group of Black self-confessed activist questioned then Senator during his campaign in St. Petersburg carrying emblazons with the writings “What about Black Community.” The concern of the group was that the government that Mr. Obama wanted to lead had neglected and frustrated the Black Community throughout the Nation.

Second liberalism after the Civil Movement of the 1960s failed, leading to further failure in the reconstruction putting most of Black Americans in a shaky position at the beginning of the 21st Century. Most of the blacks had high hopes during the election and eventual reelection of President Barack Obama, but after his two terms in office, the situation became worst with unemployment figures increasing from previous regimes. Towards the end of the second term of President Obama, most of the economic measures indicated a huge disparity between Blacks and Whites. These false hope given to the community in 1960 through to 2017 may one day bore the rise of another Black Nationalist Movement to demand the given promises. The best way to avoiding the predicted growth would have been having a state in America for the Black community with a functional government to provide their unique needs.

In the United States, the issue of racism, mostly after the civil right movements’ of mid-20th Century is unclear. We have a population divided for example the whites seems to be undergoing frustrations and at the same time irritated about a community they think of as a burden to their society. The frustrations come out of a population paying a huge taxes which goes in social support of people mostly unemployed and massive amount of taxes spent in prisons and correctional facilities whose occupants are fifty percent African Americans. A last annoying contribution towards social and economic welfare is rebuilding some towns and neighborhoods whose majority of the inhabitants is Blacks and Latinos. Opposition from the public has seen a reduction in financial support in the three discussed plight facing the black race.

Effectiveness of African American State

A hypothetical national constituted of the black community in a State in America means an independent and autonomous government would have said a good start for a race that has been disenfranchised for decades. Separation of Blacks from White is the first step in ensuring racial slur and hate reduces and avoiding the rise of black movements seen in the 1960s as some of the promises made to the community are yet to come to pass. A black state would be autonomous, with a defined national border and a sovereign government, a country where the population has control over their life and self-sufficient.

In brief, the only disadvantage in setting aside a state for Black community would mean giving up on the fight against and peaceful co-existence. Since the Black Nationalist Movements of the 1960s, the nation does its best in ensuring that everyone one has equal rights through affirmative actions aimed at setting up a leveled playing field. However, a black state would have made the best solution to problems witnessed recently like excessive police use of force, class struggle leading to penitentiaries full with people considering themselves oppressed and having a nation sharing the same history of conflict. Even though this might seem a wishful analysis, considering a success story of countries like Mexico.