Civil Rights Movement
Most of us, being United States citizens,
would like to believe that
everyone in this country is living in conditions
of utmost freedom and equality.
Although according to the constitution
this is true, anyone who has ever been
the victim of oppression knows not to
take equality for granted. Our society has
slowly grown to accept the
different types of people that live in our country;
it is now a lot less
common to see people’s rights such as freedom and
equality being abused.
However, the influences of the past, when the living
conditions were far less
then equal for many groups of people, can still be
witnessed today. A fine
example of this could be seen through the way in which
housing discrimination
led to the colonization of Blacks into their own
neighborhoods and
communities, which eventually led to the creation of ghettos
and gangs.
Racism, in itself, is a belief that a person holds; it forces another
being
to be placed at a lower status within one’s mind and in the society as
a
whole. Keeping Blacks and other minorities at a lower level was the
principal
state of mind for many of the whites during the early part of the
twentieth
century. This kind of mentality exists in our society till this day
among
certain groups of people. The cold and harsh manner with which the
Blacks were
treated takes us all the way back to slavery. Back in those days
the majority of
this country’s population accepted it. The oppressed African
Americans
eventually began to become more organized and started to fight for
the civil
rights they deserved as citizens of the United States. Despite the
attempts of
the Civil Rights Movement, much damage was already done;
unfortunately many
minds were already tarnished with negative images of what
the Black person was
and could ever be. In spite of the fact that many Black
people were working
towards moving up and making a life for themselves,
racism continuously kept
them from advancing in the society. In the early
part of the twentieth century
racism placed a strong precedent for the way in
which Blacks are today. After
the civil war more and more free Blacks began
to migrate north. They were
seeking the possibility of "better social and
economic opportunities"
(Abrams 10). The high hopes were soon brought back
down, as the Blacks were
welcomed to the cities by the overwhelming mentality
of the masters looking down
on their slaves. They encountered landlord after
landlord turning them away
because of their unwillingness to rent to Blacks
and other newly migrated
minorities. It was this constant refusal to
integrate housing that eventually
caused the creation of minority driven
neighborhoods. Since the majority of the
whites turned their backs on Blacks
and the other minorities, African Americans
were forced into forming the
types of communities that contained people of their
race and poor financial
state. Many of them came looking to move ahead in their
new lives that they
were recently granted by the constitution; but they were
only pushed to join
the fairly new neighborhoods, which were slums compared to
those inhabited by
the dominating white residences. The reason for this type of
segregation
could be explained as another tool of racism for the white man’s
advantage.
The effects of these neighborhoods were more damaging then the
simple
prevention of Blacks and other minorities from integrating with the
whites. By
zoning the individual into compartments determined by color, it
excluded the
opportunity for a fusion of interests. By confining children to
separate
neighborhood schools and playgrounds, it sharpened the lines of
distinction and
developed illusions of superiority...It was in housing that
segregation received
its greatest impetus and momentum. Once rooted there the
segregation pattern
spread unattested until the Negro ghetto became an
accepted part of the American
landscape (Abrams 7). "Local authorities used
every available weapon to keep
the blacks divided; housing was simply the
physical expression of this racial
policy" (Rudwick 10). Even if a family was
able to afford housing in a
predominantly white neighborhood, they were still
not allowed to move in there.
Despite the slow improvement of their
economic status Blacks still possessed
"...no freedom to move elsewhere.
American slums (were) no longer exclusively
the product of a discrepancy
between rent and wages" (Abrams 10). After being
forced to confine themselves
to such neighborhoods it was only a matter of time
before it was not just the
housing that was segregated, it was also an abundant
amount of social
segregation as well. Blacks came to larger cities hoping to
find a piece of
the pie and a deserving amount of acceptance, but instead they
were given
ghetto style housing environments and the same type of racist
attitude they
had previously lived with in the south. These people had no choice
but to
come together as equals within their own ghetto community where an
abundance
of acceptance and support might be felt. The Black Panther Party was
founded
in 1966, it was one of the first organized Black "gangs". This
organization
was created to help in the efforts towards the survival of the
black race
(Meier 23). Despite the changes made as a result of the Civil
Rights
Movement and all its court cases very little was done to change
the way in which
the Blacks were seen. It was therefore up to the Black
community to either
continue being oppressed or to come together and help one
another to fight back
for equality and their rights. "Emerging in the Fall of
1966 from the most
depressed sections of the white police-ridden Black ghetto
of Oakland,
California, the Black Panther Party for Self-defense (had) in
a remarkable short
time been raised by its leadership to be an extremely
significant force in the
political battles against the American reaction"
(Newton 163). The soon to be
Black Panther Party was formed from the
people who were basically given no
choice but to band together using the
neighborhood that they were being
restricted to as their only shelter. One
big difference between the Black
Panther Party and the gangs of today is
that the Panthers originated with
certain survival goals in mind. There were
a total of ten points involved in the
program that the Party initially worked
for, ranging from freedom, to
employment, to education, to military
exemptions, all the way to equality in
housing (Newton 31). In working
towards these goals it was essential to pay
close attention to the Panthers’
primary job, which was "to provide
leadership for the people" (Meier 46).
Leadership lessons had to be taught to
the followers in order to gain a
larger following through study, observation,
and experience (Newton 14). The
duties and goals that the Black Panther Party
had sat forth for itself to
pursue were overwhelming and "for a time the Black
panther Party lost its
vision and defected from the community" (Newton 45).
Despite the fact
that a giant step had been taken away from unity and away from
the movement
towards change and integration, the organization was still able to
stay
together. The Ten-Point Program was said to be the reason that the group
was
able to have survived those times and also "because it (served) the
true
interests of oppressed people and administer(ed) to their needs" (Newton
46).
Another aspect of the Black Panther Party was the fact that it
temporarily
separated itself "from the Black community so that it was a war
between the
oppressor and the Black Panther Party, not a war between the
oppressor and the
oppressed community" (Newton 51). The Party took hold of
one side of the
battle in an attempt to be able to change the way in which
"the oppressor",
or the white man, was working against the Black community.
In a sense, the
organization was a mediator in this fight for change. It was
"originally a
political weapon of self-defense by Black people" (Meier 23).
When more and
more Black people began to come together it became easier for
them to fight for
the causes that they believed in. It was easier to be
noticed as an influential
group and viewed as a possible threat when a large
amount of organized
individuals were pulled together to make noise and work
towards change. "We
have drawn a line of demarcation and we will no longer
tolerate fascism,
aggression, brutality, and murder of any kind" (Newton 21).
The Black Panther
Party in pursuing their goals also chose to be a
Marxist-Leninist party; they
chose to use both theory and practice (Meier
37). This approach had not yet been
pirsued within the Civil Rights struggle
and succeeded in gaining attention. The
Blacks worked towards what were
considered "real goals: survival, liberation
and freedom" (Newton 189),
rather then the often times unrealistic goals set
forth by some other Civil
Rights movements. The concepts that the Black Panther
Party worked with
were seen as threatening, but at the same time inspiring.
After all, how
could success not be reached when a race came together to fight
against those
who ridicule them and treat them unfairly. The efforts were many
and they
tried to work closely with the powers that could make the desired
changes.
Unfortunately not everything could be changed with the officials who
sat in
the higher levels of say. Furthermore, the environment that Black
citizens
were living in contained just too many economically and
sociologically
disadvantaged Blacks. A lot of these people failed to allow a
grander and more
permanent change within the ghettos that they called their
homes. Today Blacks
are often stereotyped as being useless trouble causing,
gang affiliated
nobodies. In some areas of the country the previous statement
can be considered
true. In many of the larger cities, such as Los Angeles,
there are many gangs
along with and problems associated with the majority of
blacks and other
minorities living in certain areas. Although these large
cities are considered
diverse, they are more correctly a haven and a melting
pot for those people who
have been permanently glued to the ghetto lifestyle.
These neighborhoods are
constantly being criticized and looked down upon. The
individuals residing in
these ghettos are stereotyped as hoodlums who will
get nowhere. The faces that
live within these ghettos and those that are part
of the gangs of today can
serve to explain why these stereotypes are so often
true. Many of the people
living in the big cities have no other place than
the streets to turn to. In the
streets they find other kids, much like
themselves, who have formed a gang in
order to survive. Within the gang all
the members work together to take care of
one another. In this ghetto city
lifestyle support, even if it is in the form of
a gang, is very important.
Many city officials, however, are frightened by the
figured that are related
to the gangs. New policies are being discussed to
determine what
characteristics can be associated with possible gang members, in
order to
catch them. All this is done in an effort to reduce the amount of
gang
members wandering on the streets. In an extreme tactic it was suggested
to close
off entire neighborhoods to Black youths who have done nothing more
than dress
in blue or black clothing or associate with others who do so; they
would
authorize criminal penalties for ordinary, non-disruptive acts of
walking or
driving through a residential neighborhood with a relative or a
friend (Shoop,
Gang Warfare 12). Although most of the law officials in
the San Jose area, where
this proposal was first suggested are in agreement
with this type of strategy,
many activist groups are saying that this type of
enforcement will cause"fairly large restrictions on freedom" (Shoop, Gang
Warfare 13). It is not
enough to have the law officials continuously trying
to arrest and threaten a
group of unguided kids, whose numbers are
continuously growing due to the lack
of community involvement and support. If
the government wants to see change it
must work with the cities to turn
things around, starting at the bottom, or
rather the beginning of the
problem. I don’t know how much can be done to move
these minority groups away
from the ghettos, but perhaps with some help
something can be done to right
the wrong that began over a hundred years ago (Shoop,
Image of Fear 12).
In similar case law enforcement agencies also developed
profiles for youth
that may be associated with gangs. Despite all the negative
reactions to this
idea, the law enforcement believes that "it is a logical,
efficient way to
identify and mother dangerous youths" (Shoop, Image of fear
12). Civil
rights advocates who are against this proposal believe that the
police will
be finding and arresting more youth due to the fact that they fit
their
profile rather then whether or not they really do associate with a
gang.
It is believed that the profiles that these teens share are similar
regardless
of whether or not they are involved with a gang. Already teens
have been"thrown out of shopping malls, ejected from amusement parks, and
stopped and
searched by police, who may later enter their names and photos
into the computer
databases" (Shoop, Image of fear 14). In my opinion this is
definitely a
violation of certain civil rights. Police are taking action
before they have
proper cause to do so. Although I do agree that much of the
gang activity is
becoming quite out of control, I feel that it is necessary
to have a crime
committed before going ahead and labeling these teens as
gangsters just based on
their appearances. It may appear to be easy for an
outsider to suggest that
these people should simply find their way out of
these hopeless neighborhoods
and cities and start new lives. Once again, as
it was already proven in the
past, this is not as easy as it may seem. The
lives that these people are living
are not ones that they were forced to
accept and live with. Although the initial
gangs were created as a type of
defense, the gangs eventually escalated towards
taking action on hate and
tension that they have towards other rival gangs, even
against gangs whose
races are both primarily the same. The issue of civil rights
and equality,
which were the major factors, involved with the gangs of the
sixties, evolved
into the often materialistic issues that today’s gangs fight
and kill for.
Territory and mere hate are the principal factors that are
involved in the
tensions between gangs today. Even if we were to understand the
cause of what
created these gangs, we are not guaranteed that we could find a
solution to
put an end to that sub-culture. There are no signs that the end of
gang
violence will be reached anytime soon. It is important to see that
because
the discriminations Black people had to deal with in the early part
of the 20th
century had a very significant effect on the lives of the future
generations.
Forced to live in designated neighborhoods, Blacks were
never able to break the
cycle of poverty that they lived in and continued to
raise families in the same
type of environment. Although gangs are a big
issue in the ghetto type cities,
it is important to understand and to realize
that gangs were not placed there
because a group of rebellious juvenile
delinquents wanted to cause problems.
They were eventually created
because of the prejudice that another group felt
towards their race and
community.
Bibliography
Books Abrams, Charles.
Race Bias in
Housing. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, Inc., 1964. Meier,
August;
Rudwick, Elliot. Black Protest in the Sixties.Chicago:The New York
Times
Company, 1970. Newton, Huey P. To Die For the People. New York:
Random House,
1972. Rudwick, Elliot; John H. Bracey, Jr and August Meier,
eds. The Rise of the
Ghetto. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc.,
1971. Journals Shoop, J.G.
"Gang warfare: legal battle pits personal
liberty against public safety."
Trial. V34, n3 (1998):12-16. Shoop, J.G.
"Image of fear: minority teens allege
bias in ‘gang profiling.’" Trial. V30,
n10 (1994): 12-15