The main differences between these two groups of African-Americans were their aims in the civil rights struggle. The more influential blacks and mainly those in the North wanted equal rights for blacks and whites. In contrast, the masses and mostly blacks that lived in the South wanted their own farming land. This made any progress in the struggle difficult.
By the late 1870’s and beginning of the 1880’s African-Americans once again were discriminated against-states started to put up barriers such as poll tax and literacy tests to take away African-Americans’ right to vote. This then led to state government overruling the 14th Amendment and segregation began in the 1880’s. More devastatingly than this, was the revival of lynching in the 1890’s.
To protect themselves, African-Americans started to move away and settle in their own ghettos. This destroyed any type of unity within African-Americans and also stalled the civil rights movement, as they projected an image of division between blacks and whites.
During this period of racial tension, two leaders emerged and started to gain momentum and support. However, each had different aims and ideology and contrasting one another. This divided their support and is a typical example of disunity in the civil rights struggle.
One of these emerging leaders was Booker T. Washington. In 1881 he set up the Tuskegee Institute. He believed that African-Americans should just accept that they could not ‘beat’ the whites and should settle for jobs such as being skilled workmen. He thought that African-Americans should blend in rather than stand out and demand too much as this would cause agitation and tension. Washington was supported by the masses, as his aims seemed more attainable and reasonable. Washington’s most memorable moment was in 1895 -his speech called the ‘Atlanta Compromise’. It was then when he laid down his ideas.
Washington’s ideology angered many black leaders including W.E.B Dubois. He considered the ‘Atlanta Compromise’ and the ideas of Washington as a betrayal to African-Americans and felt that black intellectuals should be able to go as far as they could. In 1905, Dubois set up the Niagara Movement. This movement wanted recognition of the rights and freedoms of African-Americans. Unlike Washington, Dubois only had lukewarm reception.
Even though the two aims of these two leaders opposed each other and caused division, their institutions went on to benefit many. The Tuskegee Institution benefited young African-Americans and the Niagara Movement brought the injustice to light.
In 1909 the National Association of the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) was founded. It aimed to uphold the 14th and 15th Amendment and also aimed to stop segregation. Most of the support of this association was from whites, however it did bring about self-awareness again among the African-Americans. This was important as the majority of African-Americans lived in ghettos and either had little or no knowledge or had even forgotten their lack of rights. This self-awareness was also important because in this period there was an ever-present racial tension. Sometimes this was put into action. Such as the death of 11 African-Americans in North Carolina in 1898. Self-awareness also questioned the standard of living of blacks- 9 out of 10 Southern blacks lived in poverty in 1910.
This suffering was reflected in the works of artists and writers in the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920’s. Even though their inspiration came from suffering, they were still able to form a type of unity by connecting with the masses and understood their difficulties. During the 1920’s the Jazz Age started as well. This was a spread of black music throughout America. Even though this cultural explosion did not affect civil rights, it did project a positive image of African-Americans to naïve whites as it showed that they could be their equals, even though it was just performing. Another example of self awareness came from the returning 360 000 black soldiers who had fought in Europe, in the First World War and saw the injustice of their own homeland.
During the 1920’s there was hardly any advancement in civil rights. In the beginning of this decade the philosophy of Marcus Garvey ‘black is beautiful’ spread rapidly. It glorified African roots and emphasised on being proud in being a black person. It was done through the expanding black press, such as Blackstar. He did also have a lot of support from the ghettos. His philosophy did pull together some African-Americans however it did not help the civil right advancement as it segregated blacks from whites. Garvey was arrested in 1923 and convicted of fraud.
Many supporters of the NAACP, Washington and Dubois did not like Garvey’s methods as they thought he was being too forceful. This again spilt the African-Americans. Even though each group wanted civil rights, they did not have the same aims and the same strategy and so little was achieved.
Another factor that affected this slow rate of achievement was the spilt between social classes. The emerging African-American middle classes were not sympathetic to the needy and poorer African-Americans. The Southern blacks were also reluctant to assert their rights, unlike African-Americans in the North. The middle classes supported the NAACP, but the African-Americans who lived in the poorer urban areas thought that the legal struggle was just too long.
After the Wall Street Crash in 1929, strangely enough, made the spilt African-American community shared the same views. As many African-Americans were not affected by the Depression because they had nothing to lose in the first place, the general mood among African-Americans was to support more left wing. They also thought that African-Americans should support the campaign of the NAACP to solve the unemployment problem. Another cause that showed unity among the African-Americans was when 63 African-Americans were lynched between 1933-35. A campaign was started to try to stop lynching and to make it a federal crime.
This unity continued till the 1960’s. After the Second World War, the membership of the NAACP rose from 50000 to 20000. This might have been because of the violence witnessed in the Second World War made Africa-Americans realised that there are diplomatic ways in achieving equality as well. Their message was easily spread through television, as pictures of the violence endured by blacks in the South were put on broadcast. The improvements in transport meant that campaigners were able to travel around the country spreading the cause. This showed that African-Americans was prepared to take on a more active role in achieving civil rights. During this period, much of the American population agreed that there had to be integration. This was because of the realisation of the integrated societies in Europe and also of the Cold War. The Cold War made segregation hypocritical, as there should be freedom for all in the nation.
A real turning point and highpoint for the civil rights movement was the bus boycott that started in the 1956 and lasted for a year. The bus boycott showed extreme endurance of African-Americans and also involved all social groups in the black community. It was a disciplined and non-violent protest and gave exposure to the injustice of the segregation laws. During this bus boycott an emerging leader rose through the ranks and kept morale up with his inspirational speaking abilities, which gave the movement the media coverage it needed. He went on to become one of American history’s most influential figures. Martin Luther King campaigned strongly for justice and believed that it was God’s will to do so. MLK’s campaign had massive support and united African-Americans in the struggle for civil rights. This climaxed in summer 1963, when thousands of African-Americans were involved in the March on Washington. It was here when MLK made his infamous ‘I Have a Dream Speech’. This was a major turning point as it was shown to millions on the news and it also pushed President John F. Kennedy for a civil rights bill. The bill did eventually pass in the autumn of the year. However, the easy passing of this bill through congress was mainly because of the assassination of Kennedy, which resulted in sympathy politics. Nonetheless, the March on Washington showed the federal government the strength of opinion.
Even though MLK united the masses, two main organisations within the movement started to bicker. The NAACP was suspicious of the priorities and aims of the SNCC, whereas the SNCC was starting to get impatient with MLK. Being so memorised by the movement, some African-Americans started to become impatient as the legal process just took too long and was not effective enough to solve any social problems and also did not satisfy their expectations. This led to the expansion of other groups during the late 1960’s-70’s. Once again the black unity was broken as some African-Americans looked elsewhere for leadership and other methods in achieving their goals. The Black Muslim community taught its followers that all whites were devils. Other more militant organisations started as well, such as the Black Panthers in 1966. The main rift in the unity of African-Americans emerged when the Muslim leader Malcolm X started to preach to thousands on the ideology of ‘Black Power’. At this crucial stage of civil rights, there were two opposing sides, which therefore led to nothing being achieved through legislation.
There is not a measurement of how unified African-Americans were in their struggle for civil rights as African-Americans went through periods of unity and disunity. During the periods of disunity little was achieved as opposing leaders or organisations were confused over what was to be done. In the early years of the period 1865-1980, more was achieved due to the actions of the more liberal whites. Self-awareness then aided the process and informed many African-Americans on what could be achieved and what should be achieved. The civil rights movement during the latter of this period seemed to take on a faster pace this was because African-Americans were now aware and also the message was spread through press and television. Influential leaders were no longer scared to express their views and were prepared to take action. This physical action included events such as the bus boycott and the March on Washington, involved thousands and therefore shows unity within the black community.