Civil Rights: Blacks Define Themselves

To shape a life style of their own, African Americans, as a culture began to define what it truly means to be black. Offended by the white culture, African Americans wanted nothing to do with the Caucasian life style. A fashion that arouse in the African American culture was the Afro. Having a greater significance than just a hair due, the afro symbolized power, specifically “Black Power”. Blacks began to find pride in their heritage and their background. African Americans who had “Black Power” were proud of who they were and fully embraced their black culture. Many African Americans were giving themselves a voice. In 1966 Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer, was drafted for the Vietnam War. Ali chose not to serve in the army. For this he was unable to box and his title was taken from him. But despite his loses Ali remained a supporter of antiwar. Activist of the time sought for change and to involve diversity in education as well as politics. Yearning for a broader spectrum of studies students of Howard University, “demanded courses in black studies and culture.” In 1972 in Indiana the National Black Political Convention consisting of 8,000 people strived to recognize growing concerns in America such as unemployment, poverty, and other national issues. The African American involvements made an apparent difference as the elected black officials in the next ten years were doubled.

Blacks Define Themselves. 1 June 2009 .Blacks Define Themselves. 1 June 2009 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/ 19_nbpc.html.

Boston School Desegregation

In Boston Massachusetts, Judge Arthur Garrity Jr., believed there was a recurring pattern of racial discrimination taking place within the Boston public schooling system. In 1974, Garrity’s ruling found the schools to be unconstitutionally segregated. As a result, any school with more than a 50% white student body was required to be balanced by race. The Boston School Committee however, continuously disobeyed the ruling and it took the support of the Supreme Court for Garrity’s ruling to be upheld. In one case, the entire junior class of the poor white, South Boston High School would be bused to Roxbury High School, a black high school in the ghetto. Half the sophomores from each school would attend the other and seniors could decide which school to attend. For the next three years, Massachusetts state troopers were stationed at both schools. A small percentage of both groups of students showed up on the first day of the plan. Parents protested, whites and blacks were entering through different doors and an anti-busing movement was formed. Many questioned the academic advantage of “jumbling” these two schools together. Attendance of those enrolled in Boston school districts fell from 100,000 to 40,000 within these years. Protesters felt Garrity was biased since his own children lived in a white suburb and were unaffected by his ruling. Protests soon turned violent. After a black attorney was murdered by way of being stabbed by a lance-like American flag, black teenagers retaliated by causing a white man to crash his car and then continued to pull him out of the car and beat him with rocks putting him in a coma. A white student was stabbed at Roxbury High School and the white residents swarmed the school, trapping the black students inside. Roxbury High School closed for a month and when it opened had metal detectors installed and over 500 policemen guarding a mere 400 person student body. Garrity took control over the school himself in 1975 after firing the school’s principal. He then went on to further his desegregation to include all grades down to first. 6,000 marched against the plan in October, 1975. When the segregation experiment ended in 1988 the damage had already been done. The Boston school district had significantly shrunk. This event displays how extreme some U.S. officials were willing to be in order to restore what they saw was constitutionally right. Garrity’s decision to combine whites and blacks in the Boston school district put lives of every student at risk, angered the general public, and forever left its mark as the percentage of white to black students in the public schools fails to coincide with the percentage of population of white to black children in the area. Civil rights during these times were a priority to many, however the results from Garrity’s ruling helped question if, in some cases, it was necessary for the line between white and black to remain present.

http://www.4littlegirls.com/boston.htm

How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. pp. 252-264.

Civil Rights: Civil Rights Today

Equality remained as a hot topic in the late 1980’s to the 1990’s. In 1995 the Million Man March was lead by Louis Farrakhan to increase the amount of African Americans registered to vote, to promote involvement of African Americans in black communities, and to ensure the presence of the “Safety Net”, which are government plans that aid the poor. “Since the sixties, two significant civil rights trends have emerged.” One trend is to rid discrimination amongst several groups: homosexuals, Latino groups, immigrants, and farm workers. The other trend was to focus on the racial relations. “The beating of a Los Angeles Motorist, Rodney king, in March 1991 led African Americans to riot after the accused police officers were acquitted.” Within that year Thurgood Marshall left the court as the Supreme Court justice. Marshall’s replacement, Clarence Tomas, was closely advised during confirmation hearings. The murder of James Byrd was the aftermath of a hate crime in 1998. The disgusted Americans were evidence of racial tolerance improvement however there still was discrimination amongst races. To develop better racial relations in the new millennium there were thoughts of having a diverse work environment. In 2003 Colleges considered race as an aspect for admitting a student ultimately providing a diverse experience for students. The University of Michigan had efforts to have a diverse environment by specifically looking for people of different cultures who are familiar with diverse environments. The racial spectrum has widened according to the census of 2000. That year people had the chose to refer to themselves as being multiple races.

Civil Rights Today. 1 June 2009http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/26_today.html

Operation PUSH

Operation PUSH, first known as Operation Breadbasket, was founded in 1965 by Jesse Jackson. In 1965, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference targeted Chicago with their beliefs. Jesse Jackson involved himself with the Chicago ministers in order to help advance employment opportunities for African Americans. During the foundations of the Civil Rights Movement, Operation Breadbasket was one of the leading civil rights organizations in Chicago. By 1971, Operation Breadbasket evolved into Operation PUSH for the reason that Jackson divided with SCLC. Every week, Jackson would hold stimulating meetings at the Hyde Park headquarters. The purpose was to thrill its supporters, being both black and white, so that their group would continue its success. Prior to Operation PUSH, blacks held minimal importance in the workplace in Chicago. The goal of Jackson was to have major companies hire more African Americans and for businesses to extend their connections with the black communities. The PUSH-Excel program was established in 1976 to help inner-city teenagers realize that they have a purpose, encouraging them to stay out of trouble and work hard. Since 1980, Operation PUSH’s accomplishments have been inconsistent. In the South Side headquarters, Reverend Willie Barrow administered activities, but the entire operation declined when Jackson reached for presidency. Jesse Jackson did however institute a greater program of Operation PUSH when combining it with his National Rainbow Coalition in the mid 1990s. This became the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. The Coalition reintroduced the economic value and commenced “The Wall Street Project” which encouraged primary financial firms and Fortune 500 companies to enhance hiring and inner-city investments. For about 40 years, Operation PUSH was one of the most significant Civil Rights organizations. Without the push and pressure Jesse Jackson and the members obtained, many inner-city and African Americans would have waited much longer for work and importance in cities.
RainbowPUSH Coalition Today:

Ralph, James. "Operation PUSH." Encyclopedia of Chicago. 2005. 28 May 2009 .

Riots in Florida

In 1979, Arthur McDuffie was killed by police officers after a high-speed pursuit. McDuffie, an African-American insurance salesman, and former military police officer and United States Marine, was being chased for traffic violations and a driving with a suspended license. According to police officers, he lost control of his motorcycle and attempted to flee on foot, but they “subdued” him. He suffered numerous skull fractures from contact with a blunt object and died after four days in the hospital.
All four officers involved went to court with charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence. They were put in front of an all male white jury and Janet Reno, the chief prosecutor. An officer who testified in exchange for immunity claimed that McDuffie was beaten until he was motionless, and then they used the police car to damage the motorcycle, so that they could claim his injuries were from when he lost control of his vehicle. Other officers verified this statement and gave more accounts of the violence committed on McDuffie. However, all officers were acquitted.
African-Americans in the Miami area expressed their outrage by protesting on May 17th, 1980, but it eventually turned into a riot. Cars were burned, homes and businesses were robbed, and people were beaten, stabbed, and shot, while the National Guard tried to maintain order. Over the course of three days, 17 people were killed and over 1000 were arrested. There were over 100 million dollars in damages.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/23_florida.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_McDuffie