Nonviolent Resistance In The Civil Rights Movement

During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, two prominent forms of protesting emerged. The act of nonviolent resistance, which was influenced by Martin Luther King, Jr., was a way to protest peacefully, without attacking groups that opposed the movement. The effects of direct action, which were highly influenced by activists such as Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X, were more violent and aggressive. Had these forms of protesting stood alone during the civil rights movement, America may not have garnered the same results it did after the crusade to obtain equal rights was over. Although peaceful activism proved to be a very strong form of protesting, if it had not been reinforced by the moving speeches from the likes of Malcolm X and other
Beginning in February 1960, after “four black freshmen at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, North Carolina, decided to integrate the public lunch counter” the sit-in movement would eventually evolve into an extremely significant element in obtaining civil rights (Berkin, 749). Northern states were typically more successful when it came to integration, but elsewhere, especially in the Deep South, participating parties were subjected to extremely violent forms of aggression. Eventually, as the movement grew, “civil rights groups moved to incorporate the new tactic and its practitioners” (Berkin, 749). The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was a new civil rights organization that emphasized nonviolence. Despite this, SNCC members were more militant when it came to fighting for civil rights. “As one member stated, ‘We do not intend to wait placidly for those rights which are already legally and morally ours.’” (Berkin, 749). Another form of peaceful protest came with the freedom rides, which would eventually lead to the desegregation of buses and train terminals. Thousands of riders left Washington D.C. and made it to Alabama before being savagely attacked by infuriated whites. After finally reaching Mississippi, many freedom riders were arrested. Despite this, the Interstate Commerce Commission decided to “uphold the Supreme Court decision prohibiting
Within Los Angeles, the area of Watts experienced many issues, including overcrowded schools and a police force with a record of racism and brutality. An arrest would eventually lead to the emergence of a large-scale riot, and for many African-Americans, “Watts demonstrated a rejection of hopeful nonviolence and a demand for concrete changes” (Berkin, 761). People were disillusioned with simply sitting around and waiting for things to transform into something better. Stokely Carmichael was a civil rights activist that would eventually lead SNCC after its change from a biracial organization to Black Power resistance movements. He, along with others such as Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, would rely on independence from white allies to achieve his goals. Malcolm X believed that “integration with a white society...emasculated blacks by denying them power and personal identity” (Berkin, 761). His speeches were able to move people; his speeches were able to convince others into joining the fight against white superiority. He believed that if it had to come down to it, violence would be used. The Black Power movement itself would eventually grow to be adopted by other minority groups that felt social change was not occurring quickly enough. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., riots erupted in several