Compare And Contrast The African American Revolt Of The 1950s And 1960s

CHAPTER 17

Perhaps the African American revolt of the 1950s and 1960s should not have come as a surprise, for those oppressed people always have the memories, and with those memories, revolt is always very near. Those oppressed in the United States have memories of slavery, segregation, cruelty, humiliation, and death; not only was it a memory, but also present in their daily lives. Many African Americans turned to art in order to convey their anger, the blues, and rebellious attitudes, jazz, secretly. In poetry the thoughts were no longer kept secret, but published for al to read. Poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, and many others used literature to show the hope, struggles, and disillusionment of the black

community.
Richard Wright in Black Boy, as well as many other novelists, described the horrors and misery the black community faces, and also offered a look into how the whites turn blacks against one another. Many African American intellect, including Wright, identified with the Communist party because it was known to pay special attention to the problem of racial equality. The party was accused by others of exploiting the racial issue for its own purposes, which was partially true. After World War II, “black and yellow people in Africa and Asia” cited Marxist principles in their struggles for freedom.
President Truman, in 1946, formed the Committee on Civil Rights for three reasons: 1) a moral obligation to end discrimination in America, 2) the costly economic effects of discrimination, 3) the embarrassment internationally of being viewed as a racist country.

Truman issued and signed an executive order ending all military segregation amd Supreme Court ruled the segregation in schools was unconstitutional and recommended school be integrated as quickly as possible. However African American people from the 50s and 60s were not satisfied with government reforms on segregation and boycotted discriminatory locations across the country, the most famous being the Montgomery bus boycott initiated by Parks and led by King. Many racist whites attempted to off King and blew up black churches, yet King persisted with organizing boycotts and reisting in nonviolent ways. In opposition to King, many activists encouraged blacks to take arms and exercise self defense against the KKK and other racist

groups.
The Congress of Racial Equality was another key activist group of the 60s. CORE organized the “freedom rides,” during which whites and blacks traveled the South to end segregation in interstate transportation. When whites attacked the bus, the government did nothing: the FBI watched passively and Robert Kennedy, the attorney general, agreed to let the freedom riders to be arrested in Mississippi. Even after losing some people to jail, the riders remained defiant. That movement greatly impacted the young generation of blacks. Those brave enough to speak out against discrimination often faced violence. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, organized protests and drew attention to discrimination and racism, provoking outrage and forcing the government to make changes. Through the Voting Rights Act signed by President Johnson, blacks were ensured the right to vote through federal protection. Zinn argues that this act’s goal was to control the situation without making changes to the fundamental society , but instead channeled black anger into the “cooling mechanism of the ballot box.” By 1968 black Southerners voted the same number as whites.
The March on Washington was one of the most defining events in the Civil Rights Movement and was also where King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. Malcolm X argues that the event “lost its militancy” because it was endorsed by the government. The Kennedy administration, by endorsing the March, tried to neutralize the danger of the Civil right Movement by cooperating with King and encouraging blacks to express their feeling through political institutions. Even so, the blacks continued to riot and protest against racism. As the 60s continued it became clear that nonviolence was not enough and riots became much more common. New leaders, such as Malcolm X and Huey Newton, argued that people needed to defend themselves against violence and work to fight poverty. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which protected blacks against racial violence, but also penalized anyone for inciting a riot.
Later in life, King became more concerned with addressing the problem of poverty in America. He argued that the Vietnam was weakening society and punishing the poorest Americans. When King was murdered, his death set off a wave of riots. In the late 60s and early 70s it became very clear that legislation could not protect the black people; police were using excessive force against unarmed blacks and the FBI monitored black activists out of fear that try would turn their attention to the class conflict. One attempt to neutralize the threat of black empowerment was to coax a small number of blacks into the society. Banks and firms invested money in developing “black capitalism,” more black faces began appearing in television and films, and black leaders were pushed into the mainstream. Though the creation of a black elite and middle class was impressive, unemployment and crime ravaged poor black communities. In the 1970s it seemed as if no great black movement was underway, meaning the government had neutralized the threat. Meanwhile many blacks were unemployed and living in poverty and the dream of equality pushed back once again.

CHAPTER 18

Between 1964 to 1972 the United States made a maximum military effort to defeat a revolution in a tiny, peasant country and failed.

The Vietnam War was modern technology vs. human beings, and the human beings won. Following World War II, the French controlled the colonies in Indochina, and by the late 1940s a full-scale nationalist revolution was building. Farmers and peasants, organized by Ho Chi Minh, were determined to get their rights to self-determination, citing the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. To stop this revolution, the French bombed northern Vietnamese cities.
The United States funded the majority of the French war effort providing much aid. The U.S. claimed they were trying to stop the spread of communism, but secret memos also showed the importance of natural resources for ensuring that Vietnam remain under Western control. The U.S. government installed Ngo Dinh Diem as the leader in South Vietnam, yet his rule was unpopular and did little to address poverty, Ho Chi Minh, by contrast, tried hard to remedy the poverty among his people. Due to Diem’s unsuccessful rule, it is thought that was U.S. conspired with the South Vietnamese to assassinate

Diem.
President Johnson, after unclear events in the Gulf of Tonkin, began the war in Vietnam and deployed troops to Vietnam without asking Congress for approval. Johnson’s actions were unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court did not consider the issues. The war was brutal for the Vietnamese as the American troops treated them cruelly. During the My Lai massacre, Americans murdered women, children, and the elderly, and later tried to cover up the incident but failed. Some officers were tried, but only one officer was convicted. Across Vietnam many other similar incidents occurred. Generals in the American army fully supported the bombing of Vietnam’s civilian populations. By 1968, it was widely accepted that the Vietnam war could not be won, and Nixon campaigned for president on the promise that he would end the war. Nixon won the presidency and withdrew troops, yet he continued bombing the civilian populations of Vietnam, meaning that he did not end the war only unpopular aspects of the war.
Some of the earliest opposition to the war came from the Civil Rights Movement. The SNCC’s position on the war was that the U.S. was violating international law in Vietnam and influential black leaders criticized the war effort because the government was sending black people to die for an irrelevant cause. Thousands of young people refused to register for the draft and were jailed. Actors, musicians, and writers used their talent and fame to speak out against Vietnam. Daniel Ellsberg leaked pages of secret documents, called the Pentagon Papers, about the U.S. government’s role in the Vietnam War.
Students were especially active in opposing Vietnam. Though the press coverage mainly focused on middle-class students, statistics show strong anti-war sentiments in the working class too. Some surveys show people with less money and education were more likely to oppose the war, but instead the media suggested that blue-collar Americans were more enthusiastic anti-war supporters. Soldiers and Veterans were the most enthusiastic opponents of the war. Many of the opponents to Vietnam formed groups such as the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). Ron Kovic was a very influential veteran who spoke out against the war as a member of the VVAW.

The history of the Vietnam War suggests that American people succeeded in pressuring the government into ending the war. It was especially clear in the Pentagon Papers that the public’s opinion was a key factor in the government’s decision-making with Vietnam. In response to the demonstrations, the government backed off of the bombing campaign. Although Nixon stated that he would not be influenced by protesters it is clear that he was.