How Did Economics Affect The Civil Rights Movement

When people think about civil rights, often they think about segregation in the schools, and having separate drinking fountains and other issues of the time. Economy is not something that people take into consideration when thinking about the civil rights of African Americans. Economics was a big part of their struggle for equal rights. During the 1960's the majority of African Americans struggled economically and often couldn't afford to feed and house their families, they lived in the slums. Civil rights movement activists came up with several different ideas on how to change their economic standing. One way civil rights activists wanted to improve their economic standing was to completely create their own business world. African Americans felt as if they needed to educate themselves to run their own businesses to create a separate economy from the white people. "We have to learn how to own
and operate the businesses of our community and develop them into some type of industry that will enable us to create employment for the people of our community so that they won't have to constantly be involved in picketing and boycotting other people in other communities in order to get a job"(Breitman).
African Americans were tired of fighting to earn a job in a community where they were unwanted. To conquer their issues they believed they needed to separate themselves, more than they already are separated to create a stable economy for themselves. The second idea the activists came up with is to stop buying goods from the businesses that refused to hire African Americans. The idea behind this one is the economy of those businesses and people running them would fall greatly. This would then, force these companies to hire African Americans get business back and to stop their collapsing economy. African American activists wanted to make a change in the economy for themselves without boycotting and violence. "There is nothing quite so effective as a refusal to cooperate economically with the forces and institutions which perpetuate evil in our communities"(King). Civil rights activists like King himself really wanted to make an impact on the economic and social life of African Americans. Both of these ideas can bring great improvement to the economic issue of African
Americans. The first idea of African Americans are creating their own economy is a good idea because African Americans deserve to be able to be educated and run their own businesses and create and support their own economy. The only negative thing involing this solution to the African Americans economy is that separating themselves more from the white community isn't going to solve their equality issue is, it only creates a larger barrier between African Americans and whites. The second solution creates a better solution to solve more than just the economy problem with civil rights. African Americans creating and finding a way into the economy that is already built in the United States. "In the past six months simply by refusing to purchase the products from companies which do not hire Negroes in meaningful numbers and in all job categories, the Ministers of Chicago under SCLC's Operation Breadbasket have increased the income of the Negro community by more than two million dollars annually"(King). It made white people realize they needed African Americans to keep buying their products to keep their business running. This is a better solution because it was making an African Americans economic position stronger and was also solving other civil rights issues as well. In conclusion, Civil rights is much more than segregation to African Americans. It affected the way they lived. Both the solutions presented to the public solved the issue, but the idea of creating a separate economy for African Americans can only push equality further away, then pushing the two races together and making the United States a stronger country.