Prompt Question for Next Lesson:
·
In
the latter 1960s, what separation took place between the American civil rights
movement and black power?
Day 5
Objectives:
·
SWBAT
explain the split between the civil rights movement of the early 1960s and the
radical black activist faction of the late 1960s.
Sources/Handouts that will be used for discussion/evaluation for this
lesson:
·
Source
#17 (“Black Power,” Stokely Carmichael, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee [SNCC]),
·
Source
#18 (“Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” James Brown)
·
Source
#19 (Excerpted from "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing [Open Up the
Door, I'll Get It Myself], James Brown)"; “America Is My Home,” James
Brown)"
Review/Key Question
(s):
·
What
had happened to the African-American community according to David Burner
(Source #12)?
·
Why
did the “New Left” radicals of the late 1960s adopt new slogans, new thinking,
and split from the traditional American civil rights movement of the early
1960s?
·
How
can social progress best be made: by government planning or the free-market
system?
Suggested Key Discussion Points/Questions:
·
Why was 1968 such a critical year?
o
Emergence of the Black Power movement
o
Martin Luther King was assassinated
o
Robert Kennedy was assassinated
o
Attempted assassination of George Wallace, a
presidential contender
o
The Democratic Party Convention in Chicago
o
Youth riots, demonstrations in urban areas
resulting in the “Long Hot Summers”
o
Student protests against the war in Vietnam
o
Election of Richard Nixon as President
·
The 1960s were characterized by two contrasting
viewpoints on civil rights as represented by Malcom X and Stokely Carmichael as
opposed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Brown.
o
Integrationist
(King) Brown = Freedom Now Black
Power separatists = Black Power
·
How did the Northern Black Nationalist movement
differ from the Integrationist Civil Rights movement of Dr. Martin Luther King?
(As the civil rights movement fought its
major battles in the South during the early 1960s, a new Black Nationalist
movement was rising in the North).
·
Who led the Black Nationalist movement and what
did he say? (The Nation of Islam and its
charismatic spokesman, Malcolm X, attained prominence for criticizing the
timidity of mainstream civil rights protesters.)
·
What did the Nation of Islam call for? (The Nation of Islam’s leaders rejected the
integrationist perspective of these leaders, calling instead for an independent
and separate black nation-state).
·
What racist policies did they initiate? (They demanded that black Americans
patronize only black-owned stores.)
·
What did the Nation of Islam think about Dr.
King’s movement? (They declared that
nonviolence was fruitless.)
·
Why did the Nation of Islam appeal to some
blacks? (The Nation of Islam seemed for
many black people to be a more realistic solution than nonviolent resistance.)
·
Why didn’t Malcolm X and Dr. King see eye to
eye?
·
"You don't integrate with a sinking
ship." This was Malcolm X's curt explanation of why he did not favor
integration of blacks with whites in the United States.
·
What did Malcolm X argue?
o
Malcolm X argued that America was too racist in
its institutions and people to offer hope to blacks. The solution proposed by
the Nation of Islam was a separate nation for blacks to develop themselves
apart from what they considered to be a corrupt white nation destined for
divine destruction.
·
How did Dr. King’s movement differ from black
separatism?
o
In contrast with Malcolm X's black separatism,
Martin Luther King, Jr. offered what he considered "the more excellent way
of love and nonviolent protest" as a means of building an integrated
community of blacks and whites in America. He rejected what he called "the
hatred and despair of the black nationalist."
o
How American was Dr. King?
§
Dr. King believed that the fate of black
Americans was "tied up with America's destiny" despite the
enslavement and segregation of blacks throughout American history.
·
What was the American religious impulse of Dr.
King’s message?
o
King had faith that "the sacred heritage of
our nation and the eternal will of God" could reform white America through
the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement.
o
A point to consider is to contrast the
respective aims and means of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. to evaluate
the possibilities for black American progress in the 1960s.
o
Despite the political gains of the 1960s, Black
Nationalist militancy continued to gather strength, mainly because social and
economic discrimination persisted. Beginning in the summer of 1965, following
riots in the Watts section of Los Angeles, urban unrest became endemic to many
northern black communities. The Watts riot exploded when a seemingly routine
traffic stop erupted into violence. The riot lasted six days and left
thirty-four dead and more than one thousand injured. Persistent racism was
certainly one cause of the riots, but so was the civil rights movement’s
strategic decision not to address urban poverty. The “long hot summers”
continued throughout the late 1960s after Dr. King’s assassination.
·
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(or, SNCC—pronounced “snick”) hoped to tap into the urban rage by establishing
chapters in the North and developing programs to channel energy into
constructive activities. Yet the increasing anger soon changed SNCC itself.
·
What significant event for black power happened
in 1966?
·
In 1966, after being attacked by police during a
peaceful march in Mississippi, SNCC chairman Stokely Carmichael rallied a crowd
by calling for “black power,” and the crowd began chanting the phrase.
·
What happened to white people who supported SNCC
after black power emerged?
o
White people were purged from SNCC.
·
How did American civil rights leaders react?
o
This development alarmed many: Roy Wilkins, the
head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (or the NAACP),
called it “a reverse Ku Klux Klan.”
·
Read
Source #17. What is Carmichael’s goal of Black Power?
o
The
first popular use of the term "Black Power" as a political and racial
slogan was by Carmichael and Willie Ricks (later known as Mukasa Dada), both
organizers and spokespersons for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC). On June 16, 1966, in a speech in Greenwood, Mississippi, after the
shooting of James Meredith during the March Against Fear.
·
What
is Carmichael’s goal of Black Power?
o
Carmichael
said: “This is the twenty-seventh time I have been arrested and I ain't going
to jail no more! The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is
to take over. What we gonna start sayin' now is Black Power!” (Carmichael saw the concept of "Black
Power" as a means of group solidarity, take over, society is at fault with
institutional racism. Instead of individual achievement Black Power meant
taking control based on racial differences).
o
With
his use of the term, Carmichael felt this movement was not just a movement for
racial desegregation, but rather a movement to help end how American racism had
weakened blacks.
o
He
said, "'Black Power' means black people coming together to form a political
force and either electing representatives or forcing their representatives to
speak their needs."
·
By the late 1960s, Black Power emerged as a
movement bridging the gap between Black Nationalism and the civil rights
struggle. Leaders in the Black Power movement argued that black people should
have control over the social, educational, and religious institutions in their
communities. Black Power advocated black pride at a time when blackness was
stigmatized.
·
Perhaps no Black Power organization captured the
attention of America more than the Black Panther Party, founded in 1966 in
Oakland, California. The Black Panthers believed that providing goods and
services to the most downtrodden people of the black community would be
essential to a black revolution, and they developed free clothing and medical
programs, as well as a free breakfast program that fed thousands of poor
children each week. They began patrolling the streets in armed groups in an
attempt to end police brutality. The Black Panthers were also frequently
associated with the urban unrest that swept through many black communities in
the late 1960s, particularly the riots in more than one hundred cities
following the shocking assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4,
1968.
o
What was the essential difference between
Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King? (Stokely
Carmichael argued that the “white power structure” was the ultimate cause of
such spontaneous upheavals. There was a division between those aligned with
Martin Luther King, Jr. and those aligned with Stokely Carmichael, marked by
their respective slogans, "Freedom Now" and "Black Power.")
§
Carmichael (June 29, 1941 – November 15, 1998),
later known as Kwame Ture, was a Trinidadian-American revolutionary active in
the Civil Rights Movement, and later, the global Pan-African movement. Growing
up in the United States from the age of 11, he graduated from Howard
University. He rose to prominence in the civil rights and Black Power
movements, first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC), later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther
Party (BPP), and finally as a leader of the All-African People's Revolutionary
Party (A-APRP).
·
1968 was contentious as the separate impulses of
the civil rights movement bifurcated between the non-violent integrationist
wing of Martin Luther King and the black power separatist factions of the Black
Panthers, Stokely Carmichael, and the Nation of Islam.
·
The liberals of 1968 were conflicted as anti-war
movements had grown stronger and liberalism was split between the New Left
radicals and mainstream liberals.
‘60s
civil rights movement
Integrationist (King) Black
Power separatists
James Brown The New Left Radicals
Liberalism
New Left Radicals Mainstream Liberals (JFK,
LBJ, Hubert Humphrey)
·
The
integrationist wing of civil rights is to be distinguished against the black
power separatists. A good example of individual achievement, hard work, and
pursuing the American Dream is illustrated in a song by James Brown, “I’m Black
and I’m Proud.” It is a song which is easy to misinterpret as a simple, Black
Power song but an examination of the lyrics is revealing.
·
Read
Source #18. How is the song in contrast to Stokely Carmichael’s understanding
of Black Power? The song addresses the Black Power movement of 1968: but how it addresses black power is the
interesting aspect of the song. (Brown is
distancing himself from the radical Black Power movement emerging in 1968).
·
What
individualist gospel song does Brown sample? (Mahalia Jackson’s spiritual, “Buked and Scorned,” in the lyrics: “We’ve been buked and we’ve been
scorned).
·
How
does Brown suggest blacks get their share? Does he expect anything to be given
to him? Does he want to work for others or himself? (We have been treated poorly but we can’t quit until we get our share
working for ourselves. We demand a chance to do things for ourselves. We would
rather die on our feet than live on our knees. Brown is black and proud which
means to work hard for yourself rather than be dependent on others).
·
Read
Source #19. Several other Brown singles from the same era as "Say It Loud
– I'm Black and I'm Proud", notably "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me
Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)", explored similar themes
of black empowerment and self-reliance. And, coupled with his "America Is
My Home" tune we can see that just as individual American Jews and
Christians in the early 1960s are relying on their talent, hard work, and
education to bring about social change so was Brown. At the same time that the
liberal Great Society programs were being implemented there was a negative
impact on black culture and families.
·
What
individualist themes are to be found in these additional two songs? (Brown states clearly that he does not want
anyone to give him anything but he will get it himself. He does not want
self-pity but equal opportunity and not a guaranteed outcome by the government.
He wants education and books so that he can develop himself. He wants to be
self-reliant, use his talents, and without help from others. He loves America
as his home. Races should unite against the enemies of America. We enjoy
freedom of speech and although there are many nice places to visit you should
get an education here. America is the best country without a doubt. Opportunity
is here for the lowest person including a shoeshine boy. There are no royals or
an aristocracy here. Work hard and you can make it in America.)
·
Both
the Federal government with the Great Society programs and Black Power
organizations were pitted against the individualist, hard-working America that
inspired James Brown and early 1960s singers during the March on Washington in
1963.
·
The
war in Vietnam pitted civil rights leaders against one another. Popular
entertainer James Brown believed as a religious leader Dr. King should not have
spoken out about the Vietnam War. Those were difficult days for King because he
was being pulled apart by two movements: the Civil Rights movement and the war
in Vietnam. When Dr. King spoke out against the Vietnam War, Mr. Brown thought
he was wrong because Brown thought that he is a religious leader. He is not a
politician. He is getting out of his bag, as we would say, he is getting out of
what he stands for and he can create a problem for himself. Because the powers
that be are not going to stand for this.
·
After
Martin Luther King was killed, despite their disagreement on Vietnam, Brown
continued his non-violent, hard-working American message.
Follow-up/Assessment
Questions:
·
During
this contentious time, do you think things will calm down or escalate?
·
Do
you understand the differences between of radicalism and traditional, American
civil rights and why they appealed to diverse people?
·
Why
do you think James Brown didn’t believe in Black Power?
·
What
was Brown’s alternative?
Prompt Question for
the Next Lesson:
·
How
did the theme of revolution play out and end the late 1960s?
Sources
17. “Black Power,” Stokely Carmichael, Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC), June 16, 1966, in a speech in Greenwood,
Mississippi, after the shooting of James Meredith during the March Against
Fear, Carmichael said:
§
“This
is the twenty-seventh time I have been arrested and I ain't going to jail no
more! The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is to take
over. What we gonna start sayin' now is Black Power!”
18. “I’m Black and I’m Proud,” James Brown
Uh! Your bad self!
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder! I'm black and I'm proud
Look a-here!
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder! I'm black and I'm proud
Look a-here!
Some people say we got a lot of
malice, some say it's a lotta nerve
But I say we won't quit movin' until we get what we deserve
We've been buked and we've been scourned
We've been treated bad, talked about as sure as you're born
But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh!
Brother we can't quit until we get our share
But I say we won't quit movin' until we get what we deserve
We've been buked and we've been scourned
We've been treated bad, talked about as sure as you're born
But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh!
Brother we can't quit until we get our share
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud
One more time, say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud, huh!
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud
One more time, say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud, huh!
I've worked on jobs with my feet and
my hands
But all the work I did was for the other man
And now we demands a chance to do things for ourselves
We tired of beatin' our head against the wall
An' workin' for someone else
But all the work I did was for the other man
And now we demands a chance to do things for ourselves
We tired of beatin' our head against the wall
An' workin' for someone else
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud, oh!
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud, oh!
Ooh-wee, you're killin' me
Alright, uh, you're out of sight!
Alright, so tough you're tough enough!
Ooh-wee uh! you're killin' me! oow!
Alright, uh, you're out of sight!
Alright, so tough you're tough enough!
Ooh-wee uh! you're killin' me! oow!
Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder! I'm black and I'm proud
Say it louder! I'm black and I'm proud
Now we demand a chance to do things
for ourselves
We tired of beatin' our heads against the wall
And workin' for someone else look a-here
There's one thing more I got to say right here
Now, now we're people, we're like the birds and the bees
We rather die on our feet than keep livin' on our knees
We tired of beatin' our heads against the wall
And workin' for someone else look a-here
There's one thing more I got to say right here
Now, now we're people, we're like the birds and the bees
We rather die on our feet than keep livin' on our knees
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud
huh!
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud huh!
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud Lord-a, Lord-a, Lord-a
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud, ooh!
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud huh!
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud Lord-a, Lord-a, Lord-a
Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud, ooh!
Uh! alright now, good God
You know we can do the boogaloo
You know we can do the boogaloo
Songwriters: James Brown / Alfred
James Ellis
Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm
Proud [Live In Dallas] lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
19. Excerpts: "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing
(Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)", and, "America Is My
Home"
"I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the
Door, I'll Get It Myself)"
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Don't give me sorrow
I want equal opportunity
To live tomorrow
I want equal opportunity
To live tomorrow
Give me schools
And give me better books
So I can read about myself
And gain my truly looks
And give me better books
So I can read about myself
And gain my truly looks
Some of us try
As hard as we can
We don't want no sympathy
We just wanna be a man
As hard as we can
We don't want no sympathy
We just wanna be a man
We got talents we can use
On our side of town
Let's get our heads together
And get it up from the ground
On our side of town
Let's get our heads together
And get it up from the ground
Got to get myself together
So many things I got to do
So many things I got to do
I don't need no help from you
So many things I got to do
So many things I got to do
I don't need no help from you
Tell everybody, everybody else
All of these things, baby
I got to do it myself
All of these things, baby
I got to do it myself
Kids, get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
Songwriters: James Brown
I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me
Nothing lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
“America Is My Home”
Talking 'bout me leaving America
You gotta be crazy, man, I like
All the nice thing, Jack
Colonial suits and things, look at here
You gotta be crazy, man, I like
All the nice thing, Jack
Colonial suits and things, look at here
Now I am sorry for the man
Who don't love this land
Now black and white, they may fight
But when up the enemy come
We'll get together and run about all side
Who don't love this land
Now black and white, they may fight
But when up the enemy come
We'll get together and run about all side
I love it
The sun don't come out in rainy weather
But when you ball it down they are still together
Now let's not overlook the fact that we are, we are still in reach
You got to chance to make it and you got a freedom of speech
But when you ball it down they are still together
Now let's not overlook the fact that we are, we are still in reach
You got to chance to make it and you got a freedom of speech
Say what you wanna, tell 'em how you feel
There may be a lot of places, a lot of places that you like to go
But believe me if you get an education you can blow
You can all it blow, dig this
There may be a lot of places, a lot of places that you like to go
But believe me if you get an education you can blow
You can all it blow, dig this
Now you tell me if I'm wrong
America is still the best country
And that's without a doubt
America is still the best country
Without a doubt
America is still the best country
And that's without a doubt
America is still the best country
Without a doubt
And if anybody says it ain't, you can try to put him out
They ain't going nowhere, you got a good fight
When I tell you one time that I was a shoeshine boy
Every word I said, I meant
They ain't going nowhere, you got a good fight
When I tell you one time that I was a shoeshine boy
Every word I said, I meant
But name me any other country
You can start out as a shoeshine boy
And shake hand with the president
It ain't gonna help you gotta had that royal blood to make it
And I ain't got nothing royal but me
So I can take the chances, I'm gonna stay home
You can start out as a shoeshine boy
And shake hand with the president
It ain't gonna help you gotta had that royal blood to make it
And I ain't got nothing royal but me
So I can take the chances, I'm gonna stay home
And look at here I got a brand new jet
When I need to move
I saw a brother made it
Now it ain't that a rule
When I need to move
I saw a brother made it
Now it ain't that a rule
So look at here
Brothers and sisters and friends, dig this
So quit your dreaming all night
Stop beatin' yourself and get up and fight
Brothers and sisters and friends, dig this
So quit your dreaming all night
Stop beatin' yourself and get up and fight
Don't give up, you might give up, but just don't give out
I know if you give out don't give up
There's no quick going, I mean like keep it moving you know
Cause if you stop like a ball quit rolling
I know if you give out don't give up
There's no quick going, I mean like keep it moving you know
Cause if you stop like a ball quit rolling
Now we got two of the [Incomprehensible] from Florida to
Rome
Which we know there's one thing we'll never forget
America's still our home, hit it bad
God bless America, I'm talking about me too
You know I'm American myself, I like that kind of thing, look at here
Which we know there's one thing we'll never forget
America's still our home, hit it bad
God bless America, I'm talking about me too
You know I'm American myself, I like that kind of thing, look at here
Songwriters: Hayward Epps Moore / James Brown
America Is My Home lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
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