What Is The Self-Defense Approach To The Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement was a movement which struggled for social justice for African Americans. Officially the movement had been around since the 1950’s but efforts to improve the quality of life for African Americans go all the way back to the 1860’s. During 1861 war broke out between the northern and southern states of the United States over slavery. This war is known as the American Civil War, which freed the African Americans from slavery. Although slavery was officially abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment the ex-slaves did not receive fair and equal treatment. This was especially true in the southern states with them passing what is known as the Jim Crow Laws. These laws served as a way for the southerners to legally enforce racial segregation. Examples of this were that blacks could not attend the same public facilities as whites or even attend the same schools. As a result of these social injustices it motivated many notable figures to stand up, examples of this were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Martin Luther King brought about an approach known as Civil disobedience while Malcom X brought in the self-defense approach. Both approaches were used during the civil rights movement, but the civil disobedience approach was more effective in pushing for positive change while the self-defense approach had indeed brought on

changes in the beginning but eventually it had failed to bring in a positive change to African American lives.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American man who became one of the leading figures during the civil rights movement. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. He goes on to study at Boston University where he meets his wife, Coretta Scott. According to D. Sawinski (Martin Luther King, Jr., 2001) “While in Boston, King Discovered the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), the leader of India’s independence movement against Great Britain. Gandhi advocated nonviolence -the use of moral persuasion, not weapons, to defeat one’s enemies, King later applied Gandhi’s Philosophy of nonviolence to the civil rights movement.” This Philosophy of nonviolence is what influences King’s development of his own approach to the civil rights movement. This leads to what is known as the civil disobedience, which is the approach King advocated.
The definition of civil disobedience is the “refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government or occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition; its usual purpose is to force concessions from the government or occupying power.” (Civil disobedience. 2016, August 4) While civil disobedience is an illegal act, it lets the rest of society know that those laws are not accepted by the violators, but at the same time they are willing to accept the punishment that comes with violating the law. This act may seem pointless, but it helps win the sympathy and understanding of others in society. This understanding and sympathy help push the government and the ruling class into making some sort of change. A notable example of this is the “Greensboro Sit-In”.
As a result of the influence of Mohandas Gandhi’s non-violent protest techniques the four young black male students who came to be known as “The Greensboro Four” staged a sit-in. (History.com Staff. 2010. Greensboro Sit-In) The “Greensboro Sit-In” was an event that occurred in 1960, in Greensboro, North Carolina. During the sit-in the four students would ask to be served at Woolworth’s lunch counter. Their policy was to refuse service to anyone but whites, thus the four were denied service. Expecting this they refused to move from their seats and continued coming back the next day to repeat the process if they were still not served. During this time a white man known as Ralph Johns, as part of their plan alerted the local media. This led to the spread of this movement which garnered three hundred students who had joined them by the fifth day and by the second month the sit-in movement had spread to fifty-five cities in thirteen states. By gaining the sympathy and understanding of others the result of it was dining facilities across the south, including the Woolworth were forced to become integrated.
Another Example of civil disobedience was the “The Montgomery Bus Boycott” which was a refusal to ride city buses by African Americans until segregated seating was changed. This event had happened in Montgomery, Alabama and was the first large-scale U.S demonstration against segregation. When the news of the boycott spread it had gained support from African-Americans all over Montgomery. Approximately Forty thousand African-American bus riders had been involved in the boycott, with Martin Luther King Jr. being elected as the leader. As a result of the Boycott “a federal court in Montgomery ruled that any law requiring racially segregated seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” (History.com Staff. 2010. Montgomery Buss Boycott.) The city had appealed to the U.S. Supreme court but failed in the appeal. Although it took a long period of time, they had successfully pressured the government into making changes without the need for violence.
Despite the success the civil disobedience approach had, the cost that the African American community had to pay were enormous. They had been arrested, abused, and there were even deaths that had occurred while they were taking this approach to fight for a better life. Yet, despite the accomplishments those taking the approach of Martin Luther King had, it was not enough for some. Specifically, younger members of the African American community, they had, had enough of the sacrifices required to make changes. As a result of this, many had turned to Malcom X who had been active during the same period.
Malcom X was another notable figure who was African American.

Malcom was born in Nebraska in 1925, at that time he went by the name Malcom little. At the age of twenty-one, Malcom was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to prison for eight to ten years. According to D. Sawinski (Malcom X. 2001) during Malcom’s time in prison, he had learned about the Nation of Islam and its black Muslim Leader, Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975). While being influenced by the Nation of Islam’s beliefs Malcom advocated separatism and self-defense. As a result of Malcom’s advocation of separatism and self-defense, the Black Panther Party was

created.
The Black Panther Party was originally named Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. It was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 in Oakland, California. “The party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality” stated by Garret Albert Duncan (Black Panther Party. 2018, May 10). This had been called cop watching. Besides protection from police brutality they had also launched more than thirty-five Survival Programs. An example of this was the “Free Breakfast for Children Program” which had started in January, 1969. The “Free Breakfast for Children Program” not only fed the youths of the black community but also educated them. This program was quite successful with it spreads to every city that had a Black Panther Party chapter.
Eventually the Black Panthers had armed all their African American members because of their belief in self-defense. This led to a whole new Black Panther Party, which was many times more violent. This is illustrated by the event of the Black Panthers march against the pending Mulford Act. The act would have restricted the public’s rights to carry loaded firearms. This was the government’s responses to the threat of the Black Panthers. The end result was a shootout with the police that ended with an officer being killed. With the violence shown by the Black Panthers Party it became one of the factors for why “they were declared by the FBI as a communist organization and an enemy of the U.S. government.” (Garret Albert Duncan. 2018, May 10. Black Panther Party)
The civil rights movement is a process of obtaining social justice for African Americans. During this movement, it should be expected that groups and individuals show resistance to these changes. How the movement goes about changing these laws and fighting for justice determines the success. Two of these approaches would be the civil disobedience and self-defense approaches which were advocated by Martin Luther King and Malcom X. The self-defense approach gave security and comfort to the African Americans but at the cost of putting fear into the other members of society. This fear prevented any positive social changes instead it worked against their goals. The end result was they became known as an enemy and a threat to American society. While the approach of civil disobedience made actual changes to laws, like the removal of segregation on the buses or dining. Albeit the process was slow and prices had to be paid like being arrested or abused in some way. This method managed to gain the sympathy of society members and united African Americans everywhere. For this reason, civil disobedience is a more effective method of obtaining social justice and change compared to Malcom X’s self-defense approach.