The Power of African Americans Sample

Paper Instructions

Type of paper – Question/Answer
Topic Title – The Power of African Americans
Instructions:

Black Power 2.

What inspired the wave of urban riots in the 1960s?
Why had such upheavals not occurred more frequently in earlier decades?
Why did so many black communities erupt in violence even as the federal government adopted a more active and influential role in ensuring African Americans’ political rights?

Most black Americans did not align with the black power movement, preferring to work through the established political system. Yet the era of black power overlapped with an expansion of black Americans’ mainstream political force.

Assess the significance of the black power movement in this light.
Did posing a radical, militant alternative contribute to the gains made by the black community generally? Or did its militancy hinder the black community more than it helped it?

Sample

Q: What inspired the wave of urban riots in the 1960s?
A: Unemployment among African Americans was far higher than the national average, and one-half of all black Americans (as opposed to one-fifth of whites) lived in poverty (“Race Riots Of The 1960s”, n.d.). While the Civil Rights Movement achieved some notable triumphs, it also revealed the persisting racial inequities experienced by black communities. Critics said that the Civil Rights Movement’s nonviolent method, spearheaded by individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr., was ineffectual in addressing the deep-seated challenges of African Americans.

Q: Why had such upheavals not occurred more frequently in earlier decades?
A: Several causes can be attributed to the absence of regular upheavals in previous decades. Many black activists advocated a ‘gradualist’ approach to civil rights throughout the 1940s and 1950s, aiming for modest advances through negotiation and legal methods. Additionally, between 1940 and 1970, more than 4 million Black people migrated as part of the Second Great Migration, often known as the Great Migration (Fouka et al., 2021). Such circumstances aided in the establishment of strong black communities, resulting in an emphasis on community building rather than confrontational approaches.

Q: Why did so many black communities erupt in violence even as the federal government adopted a more active and influential role in ensuring African Americans’ political rights?
A: Adopting a more active federal government role in safeguarding African Americans’ political rights did not immediately end the conflict. While considerable steps were achieved, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, these improvements were insufficient to solve the profoundly seated racial concerns confronting black communities. Discrimination and economic inequities continued, fueling mounting tensions in violent riots.

Q: Did posing a radical, militant alternative contribute to the gains made by the black community generally? Or did its militancy hinder the black community more than it helped it?
A: When evaluating the relevance of the Black Power movement, it is apparent that its militancy had both beneficial and harmful consequences. On the one hand, its radicalism pushed the boundaries and brought greater attention to the challenges confronting African Americans, resulting in improved civil rights and increased political representation. On the other side, the violent aspects of the movement created preconceptions and resentment, impeding some efforts toward progress.

References

Race Riots Of The 1960s. Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/race-riots-1960s#:~:text=The%20commission%20identified%20white%20racism,the%20part%20of%20many%20blacks.

Fouka, V., Tabellini, M., & Calderon, A. (2021, July 20). Racial diversity and racial policy preferences: The Great Migration and civil rights. CEPR. https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/racial-diversity-and-racial-policy-preferences-great-migration-and-civil-rights