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Select ONE (1) of the following questions to answer. Make sure to incorporate evidence from this week's readings to support your argument:
1. A longstanding debate among scholars who study the Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is whether or not to look at the movement from the top-down or the bottom-up. Scholars who favor the top-down approach focus on the actions of the government (the President, Congress, Supreme Court) and legislation and the leaders of organizations (MLK, Malcolm X, etc.). However, bottom-up scholars focus on the activities of the rank and file members of civil rights organizations and the activists operating on the local/ground level. The readings for this week mostly lend to a top-down approach to the Civil Rights Movement. Drawing upon this week's readings on the struggle for voting rights, why is it important to focus on the actions of the government and leaders when discussing and analyzing civil rights? Also, what is missing from this narrative when you focus on the top? What other elements are important to understand this movement that might be left out or obscured without using a bottom-up approach?
2. Popular histories of the Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s have tended to ignore the complexities and nuances in strategies of civil rights organizations and leaders. Select two speeches from leaders of the Movement from this week's readings (Ella Baker, John Lewis, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Carmichael). Then, compare and contrast your two selected speeches. Address similarities and differences in these speeches and how they reflect similarities and/or differences in strategy. Also, address how your analysis of your selected speeches highlights complexities and/or nuances that need to be highlighted when examining the Movement.
Your Initial Post is worth 30 points and should be 300 - 500 words in length, which is equal to about 1.5 to 2 pages of double-spaced writing in Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman 12-point font in a Word document.
· The Civil Rights Act, 1964 Did Not End the Movement for Equality
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Please read this resource which examines the background and impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
· Various Readings: Voting Rights Act of 1965
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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights provides information on the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
· “North Carolina Shows Why the Voting Rights Act is Still Needed”
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The article "North Carolina Shows Why the Voting Rights Act is Still Needed" explains how the repeal of a certain section of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) will harm minorities' ability to vote in North Carolina.
· "John Lewis: Return the Soul to VRA."
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The Root explores the ramifications of recent changes to the VRA by interviewing Congressman John Lewis in "John Lewis: Return the Soul to VRA."
· Speeches by Civil Rights Leaders: John F. Kennedy, June 11, 1963. Televised Speech
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t would be naive to think that all African Americans felt the same way about integration and racial progress in the 1950s and 1960s. Here, we’ll look at the seminal speech by President John Kennedy that steered the federal government from maintaining a "hands-off" policy to taking an active role in supporting equality for African American citizens.
· Speeches by Civil Rights Leaders: John Lewis, August 28, 1963
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John Lewis gave a speech at the March on Washington. He was the youngest speaker, and was urged by the march organizers to tone down his speech, which they deemed too radical.
· Speeches by Civil Rights Leaders: Malcom X, November 10, 1963. “Message to Grassroots”
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For Malcolm X's opinion on where the civil rights movement was headed, read "Message to Grassroots," Nov. 10, 1963
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Read Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermon delivered on February 26, 1965 at Temple Israel of Hollywood.
· Speeches by Civil Rights Leaders: Stokely Carmichael
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Read Stokely Carmichael’s speech, delivered in October 1966, titled, "Black Power Address at UC Berkeley."
· Speeches by Civil Rights Leaders: Ella Baker
Video
Watch this YouTube clip of Ella Baker explaining her philosophy on how to make change happen.
