American Civil Rights Recap: Leadership

                                                        Leadership and Activism: Modern vs Historical

         Racial inequality has been at the front of American social concerns for over a century and a half. In this discourse I will examine leadership and organization during a critical era for African American Civil Rights, which is the 1950 and 1960s. This era is of historical significance due to the victories of the Civil Rights movement in this time, which attempted to give African Americans (at least on paper) the same legal rights as the white man. The Civil Rights Movement was able to achieve these victories through activism, which would change American society. Secondly, modern activism’s leadership and organization will be investigated in this discourse. Afterwards modern activism will be compared and contrasted to that of the historical Civil Rights era activism in order to attempt to understand both better, and discover any relationship which they might have to each other. Overall, my findings indicate that modern activism’s leadership and organization is much less centralized.

                                                                                      Background

          Through the activism of the African American Civil Rights Movement, desegregation and legal reforms were achieved. These achievements embody the Voter’s Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the ruling of Brown v Board of education case. All of these acts in the 1950s and 1960s collectively aimed towards institutional racial equality. In another sense, the Civil Rights Movement may be understood as “a product of the organizing efforts of activists functioning through a well-developed indigenous base” (Morris, A. D. 1984). This means that the Civil Rights Movement was a movement marked by the achievements of African American activists functioning in their communities in order to achieve institutional change towards equality.

         The historical movement includes activists, pastors, and lawyers from many regions and associations. In the Civil Rights movement a few influential organizations were the student non-violent coordinating committee (SNCC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the southern Christian leadership conference (SCSC). The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership was formed in June of 1963 as a civil rights coalition between several organizations, some of which were more radical, and others were more conservative (Eagles, C. W. 1986). The CUCRL organized the famous march on Washington. A large amount of its mass organization and attention can be accredited to celebrity leaders. The most known of these celebrity leaders were the “big six”, which was composed of John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr, James Farmer, Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, and Asa Philip Randolph (Cone, J. H. 1991). In online activist movements such as #BlackLivesMatter the role of individual leaders tends to be less discussed.

         Many of the early civil rights leaders focused their efforts of opposing segregation in their own region or town with local chapters of NAACP (Ling, P. 1995). This is also similar to modern activism, for example local chapters of #BlackLivesMatter movement respond to police violence in their communities. A less discussed aspect of the Civil Rights movement is micro-mobilization (Ling, P. 1995). This is to be expected though, as celebrity leaders are generally the first thing the public remembers about the Civil Rights Movement. On the contrary, micro-mobilization emphasizes the individual commitment to collective action, and those who are generally not credited but were involved in catalyzing the Civil Rights movement as a grassroots movement. National organizations became more prominent during the height of the Civil Rights movement. However, there were still some early examples of national organization. Notably, the Citizenship Education Program (CEP) of the Highlander Folk School from South Carolina trained hundreds of civil rights activists (Ling, P. 1995). A few famous civil rights leaders who received training there were Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Park, and John Lewis. The CEP of the Highland Folk School also trained leaders who could bring about educational reform in black communities.

          Prior to the 1950s, Civil Rights issues and leadership were closely involved with labor issues (Korstad, R., & Lichtenstein, N. 1988). Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers (FTA) was formed in 1944 involving people who worked on Tobacco farms in the south. Some union members in R.J Reynolds Tobacco Company complained about middle class leaders stepping up in Winston-Salem to represent them, claiming that they themselves (the laborers) are the legitimate leaders, and that the middle-class leaders are not able to understand their struggle as a black laborer. Once formed though, the organization fostered civil rights ideology, and they were able “to violate southern social conventions” (Korstad, R., & Lichtenstein, N. 1988 p. 791). Unlike organizations such as the NAACP which focused on court cases and Congress, the laborers and communists of the 1940s focused on locally initiated protests (Korstad, R., & Lichtenstein, N. 1988). The FTA challenged laws which kept African Americans in poverty in Winston-Salem, Carolina. This included “challenging the powers of registrars to judge the qualifications of black applicants” (Korstad, R., & Lichtenstein, N. 1988 p. 793). Similar unions appeared elsewhere (notably Detroit), and the NAACP would be influenced by the activism of these laborers. It is important to note that prior to this point several labor organizations were not on good terms with civil rights groups.

         During the 1950s to 1960s some leaders such as the Baptist pastor Reverend M. L. Price fought for higher quality education in black communities rather than focusing on activism and integration into traditionally white schools and areas (Behnken, B. D. 2005). Reverend M.L. Price had a humanistic approach to his religion which encouraged civil rights, while he avoided radical activism. In the South, religion had become a very integral place for African American community life (Ross, R. E. 2003). Churches had an important role as a community center where civil rights ideas could spread. Churches had much to do with the organization of the civil rights movement, and helped spread a widespread message of non-violence. In general, Churches have functioned as a support system for African Americans (Taylor, R. J., & Chatters, L. M. 1988). Despite this, religious interpretations in the African American community did not necessarily result in a pro-activist interpretation. Across denominations though the Black Churches have functioned

          Religious-affiliated leadership is generally less common than during the historical Civil Rights Movement. The southern Christian leadership conference (SCSC) was an important religiously affiliated organization in the height of the Civil Rights era in the 1960s. However after the death of Martin Luther King Junior, it faded out of relevance. Churches prior to the Civil Rights era more commonly were conservative and not as commonly involved in activism. This returned to being the status quo in several places after the historical Civil Rights movement (Hanbury, H.C. 2016.) However, Black Churches are still intimately connected to their community issues. Even when not directly involved in Activism, Churches support African American citizens who suffer as a result of bias. However, conservative Church goers do not necessarily get involved with #BlackLivesMatter which many view as more radical.

          Activist leadership and organization varies depending on the specific type of inequality being approached. The improvement of education for minorities bridges the gap between current issues and the Civil Rights movement. In some forms of this activism many of the organizers are community educators, whose objectives mirror the Civil Rights era Citizen Education Program (CEP) by providing education to their communities. Historically, the ruling of Brown v Board in 1954 decided that the “separate but equal” ruling of Plessy v Ferguson earlier was unconstitutional (F.G. Kevin, Bowman, K.L. 2014). Therefore, it was decided that state segregated schools were “inherently unequal”, but unfortunately no concrete deadlines or detailed plans were made to definitively end school segregation (F.G. Kevin, Bowman, K.L. 2014).

          Many educators still emphasize the inequality in education. In a recent study, it was found in research that public schools with higher amount of minority students or students on free lunch program also tend to have teachers with lower credentials (Bowman, K. L., Clotfelter, C. T., & Ryan, J. E. 2014). Some argue that the local authority of school systems result in lower quality and racially biased education (Bowman, K. L. 2014). There have been a number of lawsuits between the 1970s and today arguing for higher payment of school districts, and that to do otherwise would be continued racial segregation. These lawsuits include Milliken v. Bradley and Missouri v Jenkins (Bowman, K. L. 2014).

          Some background on modern activism is required. Several activist organizations are known for taking legal action. A relevant activist organization in modern times is the Southern Poverty and Law center (formed in 1971). Long-standing Civil Rights organizations such as the NAACP are also still active. However, online activism and social media is now an unavoidable factor in activism and mobilization. These are social movements working in an extralegal context. #BlackLivesMatter exists as a trending hashtag with media attention, but includes a physical activist movement which includes demonstrations held in reaction to police killings of unarmed civilians and jury rulings in the favor of the police. Modern activism is generally focused on perceived issues of racial bias, addressing similar issues such as education, quality of housing, and violence which still remain controversial.

            Organization has fundamentally changed in modern activism. In modern times, much online activism is catalyzed by initiators on social media. Initiators are the social media accounts whose posts trend. An example of initiators are the accounts who initially post reactions to the events in Ferguson, which begin to trend afterwards. In a case study on initiators (Welles, Brooke; Jackson, S. 2015), it was found that the original posters of trending tweets about Ferguson did not have many followers. Since most people have immediate free access to information, ordinary people can easily initiate action independent of celebrity leaders. Hashtags may be used by anyone mentioning it, regardless of the opinion they carry. Internet activism also allows communities to mobilize and organize demonstrations effectively. This form of communication exists in counter public networks (Welles, Brooke; Jackson, S. 2015), which are networks formed by communities generally excluded from or ignored by the mainstream public.

                                                                                                    Analysis

            The historical phenomenon of the Civil Rights movement can be understood in context of a series of struggles which began immediately after the emancipation proclamation. In the south areas were segregated following the emancipation proclamation. However these legal and socioeconomic factors did not just effect the south. In Detroit, segregated housing existed from the 1920s to 1960s. In addition to this, sundown towns were still a feature of northern states, further demonstrating the widespread racism in the United States. This struggle has resulted in near nonstop activism towards racial equality. Formally, legal segregation (that is separation by race) was banned since the Voter’s Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the ruling of Brown v Board of education case.
A counterargument is that it is not important to study leadership in activism. Some argue that the most important factor which defines the historical Civil Rights movement is the specific legal changes which came out of it. According to this perspective, the importance of activists was the change which they catalyzed, not their structure or organization. . In this way, the legal legislation and societal change which resulted from the Civil Rights era is the most important factor which defines it. This is true historically insofar as to how we define the Civil Rights era, but this argument ignores details concerning the organization and origin of the Civil Rights Movement. We can still study the general trends of leadership and organization in activism. During the height of the Civil Rights Era in the 1960s, activist organizations were more unified and mobilizing on a large scale to push for change. However, the CUCRL coalition still struggled to be formed for the famous March on Washington (Eagles, C. W. 1986). The ideologies of Civil Rights activists historically varied. Despite this, when people agree enough to push for change leadership and organization that can be discussed emerges

            It may be beneficial to discuss whether or not the historical Civil Rights Movement was a grassroots movement, or an organization run primarily by celebrity leaders. Most evidence points towards the civil rights movement being a grassroots organization, as the NAACP and the labor organizations of the 1940s influenced later activism. In the famous Brown V Board case, the plaintiff Oliver Brown was a pastor and also member of his local NAACP chapter (Kansas Office of the Governor. 2013). Famous Civil Rights leaders all had only grown in popularity over the span of years, and had gathered media attention as their own acts or the demonstrations gained momentum. Based on the evidence in the background section, the leadership and organization of the Civil Rights movement originated in the communities most effected by the issues of racism and segregation.

            The Civil Rights Movement leaders were still subject to violence and discrimination. In the Civil Rights Movement many leaders “were well-educated and widely connected” (Ling, P. 1995), but were not above the communities which suffered from segregation. Most opportunities were denied to African Americans regardless of social class due to widely accepted racism. It is very difficult to dismiss Civil Rights celebrity leaders as bourgeois and disconnected from the struggle of the people. The challenging of previously existing media narratives is a common theme between modern online activism and the Civil Rights Movement (Welles, Brooke; Jackson, Sarah J. 2015).  Activist responses are commonly not accepted until after the fact, and even hesitated.

            The successes of the historical Civil Rights Movement were massively influential. There are others who question how successfully racial equality and desegregation have been achieved in practice during and after the civil rights era. Despite this, the victories of the Civil Rights era were still massively influential. The existence of legal cases against discrimination being held after the Civil Rights era attests to the change of the Civil Rights era. In addition, the legal legislation of the Civil Rights era protected African American voters. Following the Civil Rights Movement era, there were many controversies about the meaning of having an equal right to public education, frequently coupled to socioeconomic questions. While segregation can no longer be overtly legally enforced, a deficit to the public education of minority communities is still present. This demonstrates the way in which much of the denial of responsibility of issues after the successes of the Civil Rights era was individual denial (Sokol, J. 2009).

            Educational reform is an important aspect of activism, both modern and historical. People can oftentimes ignore the activism of educational reform because it does not come off as violent or exciting as demonstrations. Other times, the educational system is ignored as it does not affect people due to their economic status. Because of the local nature of schooling systems, nobody is responsible for the quality of another nearby community’s education. This is where a lack of centralism in organization can hurt modern activism. Teachers can sometimes feel individually responsible to improve or better a community’s education, with no national or governmental responsibility. However, in the early Civil Rights movement, training educators was an objective of the Highlander Folk School which also trained famous Civil Rights activists. The CEP of the past saw citizenship as project which embodied both Civil Rights and educational improvement. Issues of inequality are treated as individual problems, and at other times the issue of racial inequality is sometimes seen exclusively of the past. This is another way in which modern activism is less centralized.

            Overall, modern activism is generally less centralized than the activism of the Civil Rights Movement. Modern activists are decentralized because the internet in hashtag activism is a decentralizing factor, where contributors can be any ordinary person. Although it is a trending media hashtag, the message of a movement can spread far and wide virulently. This factor contributes to the overall impact of social movements, so long as the online activism tends to correspond to real-world action. Online activism is able to correspond to local offline demonstrations in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Therefore #BlackLivesMatter may be compared as an activist movement to that of the historical Civil Rights Movement.

           A counter argument is that “initiators” are not a form of leadership, and therefore hashtag activism is not legitimate because there is still a need for a traditional leadership. Traditional leadership implies that there is not mobilization or action taken without a predefined and usually hierarchical group of people, or person a singular person in charge. While it may be true that there could be a need for traditional leadership, demonstrations and other events are still highly organized through social media. There is an observable trend of organization in the physical demonstrations of #BlackLivesMatter. This may be due to the presence of traditional leadership, but that does not make the movement any less legitimate on the basis that ordinary people also speak on its behalf through social media. Some more counterevidence to the argument that activism requires traditional leadership may be the faux demonstrations which were purportedly organized to occur, but no protestors showed up.

           Another counterargument is that Hashtag activism is a form of activism based on popular posts, and does not correspond to any real-world change. My response to this is that many of the tweets which trended on twitter were responses from within the effected communities, which were participating in a counter-public network (Welles, Brooke; Jackson, Sarah J. 2015). These opinions trended within these communities and caused demonstrations prior to garnering mainstream media attention. #BlackLivesMatter may be thought of as a general response towards police killings of unarmed black men, and a call against racism. In Brooke Wells’ and Sarah J Jackson’s abstract, it is stated that “While much of so-called ‘activism’ online is quite inactive in terms of sustained social change, recent work illustrates the enormous capacity for social media in general, and Twitter in particular, to elevate and sustain counterpublic voices and refocus the attention of the mainstream public sphere (Hamdy & Gomaa. 2012; Lewis, Gray, & Meierhenrich. 2014; Papacharissi & de Fatima Oliveira. 2012).”

          Some people try to dismiss #BlackLivesMatter as illegitimate activism on the sole basis that its protesters’ behavior is illegal or disruptive. The aggression with which activists act varies according to their ideology or view of the problems at hand. While rioters are made legally accountable for their illegal actions, people who make this claim often ignore the observable phenomenon of civil unrest, and label it as the same as petty crime. Legally both might transgress the law, however they are indicative of separate issues which cannot be conflated. Modern activists point out the prejudice when they are dismissed as just “ordinary criminals” in this way. Terms like “thug” seek to dehumanize and antagonize black males. In this way, modern activism’s populism offers an alternative to the “model citizen” offered by celebrity leaders in the past. Through collective action the community which is subject to this dehumanization is able to respond.

            Also, in terms of legality the same argument applies to the historical civil rights movement. The sit-ins of the civil rights movement were often in local restaurants and private areas. As such, these protests against segregation were illegal. However, this strategy allowed several towns and their businesses to be effectively desegregated (Pousson, E. 2011). Activists continue to break the law as a strategy. This is not a new or remarkable aspect of activism, despite the polarization it causes in the media. In modern activism, social disruption is still used as a method. This is used to display the presence of the affected community or the victims of discrimination. To the apathetic observer who does not care about the issues, this is an annoyance. The morality of disrupting a current social order will not be discussed here however, as the focus of this paper is organization and leadership of activism.

           Socially, modern activism is dynamic and very distinct from historical activism. People may act anonymously online, and are free to represent the #BlackLivesMatter movement while performing more extreme actions than most activists would. This causes much confusion. Online hashtags are used by anyone, including those who oppose the activist hashtag being used. People can speak on issues and gather attention regardless of whether or not they are informed on the issues. There is also a significant cultural shift between the millennial generation and the traditions of those who lived through the Civil Rights Movement. A part of the younger online activism culture which has formed through social media is in general much more informal and less strict in its organization, which can oftentimes lead to what can adequately be described as “slacktivist” (Collins, N. 2015). Despite this, #BlackLivesMatter still presents a fiercely counter public voice in its lack of centralism. The impact of this is that mainstream public perceptions are successfully challenged independently of public figureheads. However, general cultural opposition is not a substitute for activism that is able to cause concrete examples of change. Specifically, in the case of #BlackLivesMatter, the movement’s expectations are charges against police who have killed unarmed black civilians.

            Through comparing and contrasting the leadership of the Civil Rights Movement and modern activism one is able to understand the differences of circumstance between the activists of two different eras. The existence of internet communication and social media has changed the nature of activism. The problems which are addressed include education, violence, and housing or poverty, and are very similar to the historical movement. There are continued concerns for minority groups to be academically successful and successful career-wise. It is these concerns of academics and professionals that is not frequently taken necessarily or impacted much by online “slacktivists”. If these different issues are connected through a common purpose of racial equality and acceptance into society by activists, then there might be a movement as broad and encompassing as the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights movement had the strength of approaching several (racist) institutional factors which inhibited African Americans.

          On the other hand, the lack of centralism in modern activism could also be indicative of improvements in society. In the past, many ills of our nation were shown through the fact that the African American community had to defend their right to voting, education, decent housing, and common civil liberties. These issues may be more manageable since legal legislation are no longer required to “fix” such problems as a result of legal discrimination. However, racist practices do not stop overnight. As implied by the word “activist”, activists are the people who are active enough to step up and challenge perceived racist practices or bias. The opposite approach is to be inactive, which does not repair thoroughly ensconced racist and alienating practices. Racial disparity and alienation stem from the intentional racial segregation and Jim Crow practices historically used in America. These practices resulted in poverty and discrimination in almost every aspect of American life. With general Civil Rights having been secured on paper in the 1960s, the following activist efforts can be seen as trying to put racial equality into practice in circumstances where it is still ignored in principle. According to this interpretation, modern activism is the struggle of having to put Civil Rights and racial equality into practice. These ideas would have been dismissed in an earlier, more racist time period.

           The modern trend towards decentralized activism is important, because it informs how we respond to issues. Responses are still catalyzed at first within the effected community, but can rapidly gain attention through the use of social media. Issues gain attention within a short hashtag which trends. This oftentimes excludes the root of the problems in terms of how protestors will respond in a legal or political discussion. The Occupy Wall Street Movement was indicative of this, and was also decentralized. The historical Civil Rights movement had protesters who gave the community the means to respond to problems legally. In addition, the lack of centralism in modern activism can hurt the community’s ability to unify and give attention to activism surrounding several different related issues. This phenomenon may be due to a lazier “slacktivism”, while true activists may still engage the problems of the community. However, modern activism also gives the common person a voice. Leaders are no longer explicitly middle class model citizens, but are community members, and also vocal family members of the victims of police killings.

          In Conclusion, modern activism is more decentralized due to the role of the internet. Through investigating the historical Civil Rights movement it was found that the Civil Rights movement was a grassroots organization. Modern activism’s structure is even more decentralized by comparison due to its collective nature using hashtag activism. Leadership is diverse and varied in both ages of activism. Issues are also less related to each other or thought about by the “slacktivists” on social media. Much of the actual impact of this new hashtag activism may still have to be seen yet. However, online activism has proven itself to be an effective force in the mobilization and the organization of protests. Online activism corresponds to a real movement with a real social impact. This is all important, because we can understand a social movement better by looking at its structure and origins.

References
Taylor, R. J., & Chatters, L. M. (1988). Church Members as a Source of Informal Social Support. Review of Religious Research, 30(2), 193. doi:10.2307/3511355
 
Korstad, R., & Lichtenstein, N. (1988). Opportunities Found and Lost: Labor, Radicals, and the Early Civil Rights Movement. The Journal of American History, 75(3), 786. doi:10.2307/1901530
 
Ross, R. E. (2003). Witnessing and testifying: Black women, religion, and civil rights. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
 
Morris, A. D. (1984). The origins of the civil rights movement: Black communities organizing for change. New York: Free Press.
 
#Ferguson is everywhere: initiators in emerging counterpublic networks. Welles, Brooke; Jackson, Sarah J. (2015).
 
Ling, P. (1995). Local Leadership in the Early Civil Rights Movement: The South Carolina Citizenship Education Program of the Highlander Folk School (3rd ed., Vol. 29). Cambridge University Press.
 
Hitchens, C. (1993). For the sake of argument: Essays and minority reports
Wright, W. D. (1998). Racism matters. Westport, CT: Praeger.
 
Compared Carter S., Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby (New York: Basic Books, 1991) and Dumm T.L., “The New Enclosures: Racism in Robert Gooding-Williams ed. (New York: Routledge, 1993).
 
Behnken, B. D. (2005). “Count on Me”: Reverend M. L. Price of Texas, a Case Study in Civil Rights Leadership. Journal of American Ethnic History, 25(1), 61-84. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
 
Sarat, A. (1997). Race, law, and culture: Reflections on Brown v. Board of Education. New York: Oxford University Press.
 
Bowman, K. L., Clotfelter, F.G. Kevin, C. T., & Ryan, J. E. 2015. The pursuit of racial and ethnic equality in American public schools: Mendez, Brown, and beyond.
 
Carson, C. (2003). Reporting civil rights. New York: Library of America
 
Eagles, C. W. (1986). The Civil rights movement in America: : Essays by David Levering Lewis, Clayborne Carson, Nancy J. Weiss, John Dittmer
 
Cone, J. H. (1991). Martin & Malcolm & America: A dream or a nightmare. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
 
Sokol, J. White Southerners’ Reactions to the Civil Rights Movement. (2009, January). Retrieved April 8, 2016, from http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2009/01/20090106143801jmnamdeirf0.9369623.html U.S. Department of State
 
PBS NewsHour, Black, White, and Brown, (May 12, 2004).
 
Kansas Office of the Governor August 17, 2013 from http://www.kaaac.ks.gov/legislative-advocacy/news-events/meetings-and-signature-projects/events/2013/02/22/oliver-brown—first-plaintiffs-in-the-civil-rights-case-brown-vs-topeka-board-of-education-et-al-
 
Hamdy, N., & Gomaa, E. H. (2012). Framing the Egyptian uprising in arabic language newspapers and social media. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 195–211. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01637.x (referenced in quotation)
 
Lewis, K., Gray, K., & Meierhenrich, J. (2014). The structure of online activism. Sociological Science, 1, 1–9. doi: 10.15195/v1.a1 (referenced in quotation)
 
Papacharissi, Z., & de Fatima Oliveira, M. (2012). Affective news and networked publics: The rhythms of news storytelling on #Egypt. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 266–282. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01630.x (referenced in quotation)
 
Hanbury, H.C. (2016), Why the Church Should Support #BlackLivesMatter http://www.relevantmagazine.com/reject-apathy/why-church-should-support-blacklivesmatter
 
Collins, N. (2015) https://psmag.com/the-upside-of-slacktivism-2a93294941b0#.gl0vrh75a
 
Pousson, E. (2011) Why the West Side Matters: Read’s Drug Store and Baltimore’s Civil Rights Heritage. Baltimore Heritage Organization