With different technological resources allocated, contrasting hierarchal leaderships instituted, but the same goal being fought for, the question begs to differ what kind of impact each movement brought about. Whereas the monumental legislation passed and the landmark Supreme Court cases won were the hallmark of the CRM's legacy, the BLM impact is concentrated more upon a grassroots cultural revolution to change the footing of black people in American society.
In his essay, Wayne Santoros statistically examines, through survey data administered to “ordinary” blacks, the relative success of the CRM, in addition to defining what the word success actually entails. He points out that, in regards to “policy inclusion” and to the individuals who had already “enjoyed a degree of privilege”, the movement was successful, as the decade saw the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the black household income increased by 53%. However, for the majority who were not already well off from the beginning, blacks experienced little change, remained residentially “hypersegregated,” economically disadvantaged, and culturally excluded.
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"If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it."
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In regards to successes, the CRM was legislatively monumental for African-Americans: ended the omnipresent segregation in public places in the Jim Crow South, banned employment discrimination, and elevated state and local restrictions on the ability to vote. Nonetheless, even with the leaps that the CRM took in advancing the African-American cause, it did not completely eliminate confrontations between white police officers and African Americans. These continued acts of violence are what spurred the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Whereas the action that the CRM was taking was more aimed towards legislative change, the BLM movement was looking more for a cultural revolution in regards to race. As the conciliatory approach was a hallmark of the CRM, the BLM took on a more radicalized and direct approach. Confrontational style and combative rhetoric became central to the movement’s mission because BLM activists want to force the general public to stop being bystanders and become active participants.
Obama ordering transfer of military-grade firearms from police departments, political candidates listening to activists’ demands, firing of police chiefs, and high-profile protests at universities were among the successes that the movement has sparked in the past few years. However, not every expert agrees. Michael Barbaro and Yamiche Alcindor discuss in their article how it might be the combative rhetoric that will lead to the downfall of the BLM, as the Dallas police shooting sullied the image of BLM, angering right-wing conservatives and distancing former sympathizers of the movement.
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Both movements, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement, have fundamentally changed race relations in the United States for the better. It remains to be seen whether either movement will reach its utopian goal of equality for all.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" -Martin Luther King Jr.
Image Citation:
- Header: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/woman-calmly-protesting-at-black-lives-matter-rally-identified-w212576
- Image 1: http://www.southerncoalition.org/tough-act-to-follow-50-year-old-civil-rights-law-still-the-environmental-justice-standard/
- Slideshow 1: http://www.juancole.com/2016/03/bernie-sanders-path-forward-the-disappointed-generation.html
- Slideshow 2: http://prospect.org/article/bernie-and-new-left
- Slideshow 3: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/officers-dead-shot-protest-downtown-dallas-article-1.2703354