History
Chapter 21
Continuing Struggles Over Rights And Identity 1992-2004.
A New Day for African Americans?
In 1992, Oprah Winfrey took her popular show to Los Angeles, so viewers could see the violence following the verdict in the Rodney King beating case. The riot was an indicator that serious racial and economic problems remained unsolved. Oprah’s interviews, which encouraged residents and viewers to understand the perspectives of others, revealed the diversity of African American lives and opportunities following the civil rights movement and the rise of black feminism.
The poem Maya Angelou presented at Bill Clinton’s presidential inauguration in 1993 was both patriotic and provocative, referring to the “wretched pain” of American history for those who “arrived on a nightmare praying for a dream.” Clinton’s invitation to a black poet reflected his desire to reach out to African Americans. Like Jimmy Carter, his victory was due to the overwhelming support of black voters, and he responded by appointing an unprecedented number of African Americans to high posts.
But like other Democratic presidents, Clinton was reluctant to take controversial stands on racial issues. When Lani Guinier, his nominee for head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, was attacked by conservatives for her views on political representation, Clinton failed to defend her. She saw Clinton’s capitulation as “an unfortunate metaphor” for the way black people continued to be defined, and misrepresented, by other people.
While the civil rights movement seemed to be a part of history, civil rights issues had not gone away, as the King beating and controversies over affirmative action indicated. Cornel West’s Race Matters (1993) pointed to the widespread mistreatment of black men by law enforcement agencies. Marion Wright Edelman pointed to the widespread poverty of African Americans that disadvantaged black children.
The issue of welfare reform revived old debates about whether black poverty derived from enduring racial inequalities or from deficiencies in the values and attitudes of poor people. Clinton’s comprehensive welfare reform put many on welfare into the expanding workforce, and poverty rates for African Americans fell from 33 percent in 1993 to 24 percent in 2000. But even for the working poor, poverty was a reality.
Race and the Criminal Justice System
Rodney King inadvertently became a symbol of the troubled relationship between inner-city African Americans and predominantly white police forces. The issue of police brutality rose again to the forefront when popular football star O. J. Simpson was tried for murder. Johnny Cochran, Simpson’s lawyer, transformed the proceedings from a murder case involving a black celebrity to a public indictment of racism in law enforcement.
Knowing from experience that the Los Angeles police could not be relied upon to conduct an unbiased investigation involving a black man, Cochran planted seeds of doubt in the minds of jurors, who acquitted Simpson. Polls revealed that most African Americans agreed with the verdict, while most white Americans did not. Clearly the legal proceedings left larger questions unanswered-about different racial reactions, the sympathies of the predominantly female jury, and the centrality of money and class, as a black millionaire was set free by the efforts of a highly paid defense team.
The Prison System of Racial Control
Angela Davis, herself imprisoned during the 1970s, led a campaign against what she termed “the prison industrial complex,” claiming that Americans used “mass incarceration” as a solution for unemployment and a substitute for social justice. The total prison population topped million, disproportionately large compared to other nations and disproportionately African American.
More than one-quarter of black males in their twenties were in jail. The consequences-for individuals, families, and voting rights-were significant. The persistence of black poverty and explosion of drug use contributed to the increase in the prison population, as did law-and-order politicians who strengthened the hand of the police. Following civil rights reform, police bias was subtle rather than overt, indicted by slow response times for black neighborhoods and longer sentences for black criminals.
Racial profiling by police and increased surveillance increased the probability that African Americans would be arrested. Even affluent black men were subject to police checks for what was termed “driving while black.”
Following the assassination of Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan was the somewhat unlikely inheritor of his legacy.
Farrakhan reestablished the Nation of Islam under his leadership, and his controversial statements reflected the anger and frustration of many disaffected African Americans. In October 1995, he provided inspiration for the Million Man March, the largest gathering of African Americans in the nation’s history. Revealing the widespread concern among African Americans about the problems affecting black families, organizers promoted
the march as an opportunity for black men to atone for past misdeeds and to commit themselves to take responsibility for their families and communities. Jesse Jackson, the primary black leader of the previous decade, was reduced to delivering a preliminary speech for Farrakhan.
Rethinking the Meaning of Race
In 1997 President Clinton called on eminent black historian John Hope Franklin to lead a national “conversation about race.” The challenge was enormous, given the racial controversies that burst into public view during the 1990s. The large question was the significance of race in American life. Shelby Steele and other black conservatives complained of the deleterious effects of a “victim- focused black identity.”
West and others insisted that racial prejudices and discrimination still shaped the lives and identities of African Americans. Franklin’s panel concluded that the most pressing racial problems no longer involved overt acts of violence but were indicated in subtle practices that kept African Americans in subordinate economic positions despite civil rights laws.
Among the challenges Franklin’s panel faced was how to deal with the contemporary consequences of past racial injustices. Legal challenges continued to narrow affirmative action programs in university admissions even as proponents argued that diversity itself was of value. Reparations as a means for compensating African Americans for slavery and discrimination made little headway.
A few local settlement case were successful, and all Americans were increasingly aware of historical injustices.
Marlon Riggs’ films contributed to the national dialogue on race, especially for promoting a unity based on “talking to each other” and understanding the diversity and complexity of African American lives.
His work reflected a trend in African American thought toward recognizing that racial identity was not permanent but constantly changing. Though being black was an identity forced on all Americans with African ancestry, it was also chosen by all who came to see themselves as a group not only oppressed but struggling against oppression.
Another theme of popular culture highlighted individuals crossing cultural boundaries.
As white Americans became more African American in cultural outlook and African Americans became more like other Americans, African American identity became more conflicted. When the 2000 census allowed people, for the first time, to choose more than one category to identify their ancestry, more than 7 million Americans did so.
As the meaning of race continued to be debated, African American historical memory became more essential. Rather than being rooted in African ancestry or the shared experience of oppression and resistance, African American identity came to be increasingly rooted in understanding African history.
Democracy and the Legacy of Race.
Martin Luther King II charged that the presidential election of 2000 was a distortion of democracy, pointing to the removal of more than 94,000 Florida residents from the voter registration rolls. King’s complaint about the erroneous disqualification of voters was only one way the contested election highlighted the continuing relationship between African American history and American democracy.
The Electoral College system, which advantages sparsely settled states, was another, as the election raised Guinier’s concern that an electoral system should accurately reflect the votes of all adult citizens.
Though George W. Bush became president with minimal black support, he appointed African Americans to high poste, including
Colin Powell as secretary of state and Condoleezza Rice as national security advisor. Their prominence was atypical, however, and in the war on terrorism that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001, and especially the invasion of Iraq, African American critics of America’s foreign policy reflected their distinctive experiences and awareness of the struggles and sacrifices required to achieve freedom and democracy at home, much less abroad.