Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The role of African Americans in gaining civil rights - Coggle Diagram
The role of African Americans in gaining civil rights
Booker T. Washington
Social
:
he was respected by the white community as he was not radical with his aims
he was an educator as he tried to improve education about African Americans to try and change people's views about them.
Economic
:
little economic contribution, but he believed that African Americans having economic freedom and the ability to prove themselves as productive members of society gave black people true equality
Political
:
co-operation with white leaders made progress with the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s. This approach continued to work for decades after
He was invited to the White House in 1901 and became an informal advisor to President T. Roosevelt and President Taft
Limitations
:
he told African Americans to 'dip your bucket' and take responsibility for their own progress and to accept white supremacy
he promoted opposition to Jim Crow Laws but did this in secret as he was fearful of antagonising the white south and losing progress he had made
WEB Du Bois
Social
:
The Niagara Movement, founded in 1905, pressed for more radical change and laid the foundation for the NAACP in 1909
Du Bois accepted the alliance with white supporters and as director of research and publicity he was the only African American to hold office in the organisation, publishing the influential journal ‘The Crisis’.
Believed in Pan Africanism
Economic
:
Not much economic contribution, but he outlined the gains in the economy.
Du Bois recognised that there had been gains:
by 1913, African Americans owned 550,000 homes, 937,000 farms and 40,000 businesses;
there was a 70 per cent literacy rate,
40,000 churches,
35,000 teachers and 1.7 million pupils in public (state-funded) schools.
Political
:
Du Bois organised a protest march in New York, anticipating later civil rights marches.
Limitations
:
Very focused on the need to publicise civil rights through the press. This may have swayed attention away from other issues.
Did not agree with Washington
Marcus Garvey
Social
:
Strong believer in pan-africanism and separatism
His speeches drew large crowds and he stressed the proud African traditions and the inherent strength and worth of Africans.
Garvey’s slogan ‘Africa for the Africans at home and abroad’ and his glorification of Africanism in some ways prefigured Black Power
He collected the considerable sum of $10 million and attracted very large amounts of support.
Political
:
he claimed the UNIA had 4 million members, making it the biggest African American organisation
Economic
:
Set up the Black Star Line Company in 1916, which was to trade with African Americans world wide.
Set up the Negro Factories Corporation to promote manufacture and trade among Africans.
Limitations
:
Opposed by Du Bois, who did not believe in separatism and stressed that effort should be focused on equal rights within the USA and attempting to integrate African Americans and secure justice and equality for them, not stressing their separate identity.
Economic gains collapsed when he was imprisoned for fraud
Martin Luther King
Economic
:
campaigns for economic equality, but less success due to wider aims
Social
:
supported the bus boycott
Conducted the March on Washington
Major role in marches and demonstrations - arrested 29 times
Political
:
good friends with Kennedy, helped right the civil rights act
Limitations
:
Without the work of his predecessors he would not be able to do the work he did
Inconsistent and hesitant with his leadership
Malcom X criticised him, said he did very little
ideas themed around religion
Malcom X
Limitations
:
Given the aims, it was not possible for him to claim the sort of success that King could claim over the civil rights legislation.
He had less popular support than Garvey at his height and perhaps a less coherent strategy.
Alienates a lot of people due to radical ideas, and his imprisonment
Social
:
Skilled in speaking and writing.
He preached violent revolution, urging African Americans not to reject any means for change.
Economic
:
No economic contributions
Political
:
He was imprisoned from 1947 and 1952 and underwent a conversion to Islam, joining the small radical group the NOI.
Philip Randolph
Limitations
:
Paved the way for civil rights but not very famous
Economic
:
He used the economic power of organised labour.
Social
:
active union organisor for AA workers
Understanding of the power of nonviolent mass demonstration was Randolph’s key contribution to the civil rights movement.
Political
:
Randolph pressured Roosevelt to end discrimination in the war industries in 1941 by threatening a mass march on Washington.
The use of marches, demonstrations and effective organisation, working with white sympathisers and putting pressure on administrations paid off in the long run,