Chapter 3

Substantive Representation

: Nonwhites in political positions who are very concerned about the liberties and lives of nonwhite Americans. Political representatives must be drawn from nonwhite communities but also be committed to working on behalf of those communities. (Ex: Thurgood Marshall, first African American on the supreme court.)

Gov. George Wallace

Alabama governor, white backlash, blocked two black students from entering an all white university. cloaked a race specific issue in the idea of 'states rights'

Individualism

American idea that social problems and achievements are explained solely by individual-level characteristics. Whites committed to this norm are likely to reject policies aimed at uplifting disadvantaged racial groups.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

As result of this act, blacks were first able to participate in American democracy. Prohibited voter discrimination and literacy tests. Signed into effect by Pres. Johnson. Fed govt. could now oversee voter registration.

Third World Liberation Front

Asian American movement helped form this. multiracial organization formed at UC Berkley, challenged campuses Eurocentric curriculum

Superficial Representation

Process of appointing nonwhites who are disconnected from needs and problems of most nonwhite citizens to positions in politics

"coded language"

Right Wing Politicians used this to appeal to racial stereotypes and fears without explicitly defending white power structure.

Freedom Summer

SNCC needed help, created this project in which summer of 1964, 1000 white college student volunteers were trained in nonviolent tactics, sent to Mississippi to live with black families.

MIA (Montgomery improvement association) gave way to larger more powerful organization

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Led by Church-Driven Direct Action and Martin Luther King.

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Incorporated into one organization hundreds of politically mobilized young people (college students)

The NAACP

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People . Dominant black protest organization preceded the modern Civil Rights movement. Did battle against racial domination thru the court system. Won several supreme court cases dismantling legal barriers preventing blacks from voting

Civil Society

The area of social life where we find public debate, community organizing, and citizen-led political mobilization

Bloody Sunday

The first attempt at the Selma to Montgomery march. Demonstrators never made it out of Selma. Sheriff deputies and state troopers attacked the marchers with billy clubs and tear gas. Black hospital overflowed with victims.

SNCC

This organization consisted of hundreds of politically mobilized college students

Discursive Co-optation

When the same language of the civil rights movement is used to promote agendas aimed at dismantling the movement and upholding the white. Use MLK's statement about not judging by color of skin against the movement.

"CORE"

White and black members of a new group "Congress of Racial Equality". Tested outlawed racial segregation at bus terminals through the freedom rides.

"Social Movements in an Organizational Society"

Written by Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy. outlined two types of people attracted to movements: potential beneficiaries and conscience adherents.

The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing

act of racially motivated violence bombing the church where SCLC leaders met. response to the SCLC's desire to end segregation and begin integrating public places. 4 little girls killed.

Mexican American movement

addressed problems of migrant farm workers. Chavez battled against oppressive labor conditions.

multiracial social movements today galvanize around

affirmative action, death penalty, indigenous peoples' sovereignty. Fighting for reparations. White anti-racists.

Sharecropping

after blacks were freed by emancipation proclamation, unable to obtain jobs elsewhere. Forced back onto plantations through this system. System of informal slavery, where white planters gave blacks small piece of land to live/grow crops. In return, blacks gave white planters portion of their crop. Left them with only enough crops to survive on. Kept blacks in poverty through system of unending debt.

Suffrage

although black men won right to vote with ratification of 15th amendment, and women won right to vote in 1920, blacks were disenfranchised by backhanded tactics, terrorism, poll taxes, and literacy tests. Voting made nearly impossible

Institutional hub of Civil Rights movement? Why?

black churches, because isolated from white power structures of rest of society.

Harold Ford Jr.

black man running for senate, republican campaign used "I met harold at a playboy party" in an ad to tap into social taboo. Tried to make an implicit racial appeal, but was called out.

Fannie Lou Hamer

black woman spoke at 1962 democratic convention credentials committee, of widespread disenfranchisement of southern blacks, her own brutal beating... Asked, "Is this America?"

14th amendment

blacks had citizenship rights

Felon Disenfranchisement

clear connection with racial domination. we are the only country that denies felons and ex felons right to vote. conceived as effective way to diminish nonwhite political power. Prison emerged to replace slave plantation. Blacks would be imprisoned and therefore lose their right to vote, at higher rate than whites.

Communicative cues

coded language, implicit racial appeals

Civil Rights Act of 1964

cracked legal segregation. - Outlawed discrimination on basis of race, religion, sex, national origin in hotels theaters, transportation, restaurants, and workplace.

"Discursive co-optation"

discursive means language, ideas, meaning-making. Co-optation means strategic act of borrowing, manipulating, and deploying terms/ideas originally developed by political opponents. When the same language of the civil rights movement is used to promote agendas aimed at dismantling the movement and upholding the white. Use MLK's statement about not judging by color of skin against the movement.

Emmet Till's murder

energized Americans, black and white, to participate in Civil Rights Movement

Freedom Schools

established by young white college students during Freedom Summer, intended to teach black children reading writing and arithmetic, as well as self worth, critical thinking, and leadership.

American Indian movement

fish-ins, occupation of alcatraz island. protesters wanted island for indian education. resulted in cultural revival

Even after the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 by president Johnson, there is still modern day voter intimidation against nonwhites. Ex)...

flyers in black neighborhoods warning those with warrants/unpaid tickets that they'll be arrested if they show up to polls, native american voters in south dakota primary were asked to show valid photo ID, a mandate not required by general or state law. OC rep party circulated letter saying in spanish that if you're illegal or an immigrant, voting is a crime. Jim Crow lives in today, working to secure white political power thru strategies of intimidation and suppression.

13th amendment

freed black slaves

Role of the Media

journalists and reporters prime our racial dispositions. summon up racial cues and coded language. Ex) Obama's middle name is Hussein!!! Has substantial influence over our thinking about race.

The Selma to Montgomery March

landmark point in Civil Rights Movement. Organized by SNCC and SCLC together. Addressed problem with low voter registration for blacks in the south. Local residents, determined to secure for blacks the right to vote, staged massive demonstration, walking from Selma to the Alabama capitol building.

Freedom Summer

massive project in 1964 white student volunteers trained in nonviolent tactics, increase voter registration, bring quality education.

Whites living in mixed communities exhibit...

more racially conservative opinions than whites living in mostly white communities.

American electorate is racially polarized...

most white voters support republicans, most nonwhites support democrats.

The Social Movement that Need Not Speak It's Name

most whites are members of no social movement, product of whiteness's invisibility. When whites' racial interests are threatened they can come together to oppose measures that promote racial equality. Act as a solidified political force that dissipates when the threat is eliminated. Effectively mobilize to uphold the status quo.

White Backlash

mounted in direct response to Civil Rights movement, fueled by conservatives and liberals alike.

Social Movements Today

not as large/vibrant as antiracist movements of the 60s, but still many social movement organizations working to dismantle racial injustice. They are institutionalized (to dismantle racial injustice) or community-based (direct action, battle poverty crime and racism)

"color-blindness"

notion that public policies that address social problems created by racial domination are unjust. MLK's "Don't judge people by color of their skin" used against black people. Both Dems and Reps agreed to speak of race "no longer, for it is no longer significant".

SNCC and the freedom rides

offered replacement riders, encouraged rides to continue. Argued that violence would be seen as effective weapon against the movement if they stopped.

The New Conservatism

one concerned with preserving "moral values" and "law and order" covertly pandering to white majority at expense of racial justice. Direct response to civil rights movement. Right staged successful counterrevolution against civil rights movement. Embodied by Nixon (confront problems of crime and moral failure) and Reagan (opposed civil rights act, revived talk about states' rights and curbing power of fed govt., criticized anti poverty programs like welfare)

conscience adherents

one of the two types of people attracted to movements, as outlined in Zald and McCarthy's "Social Movements in an Organizational Society". In the case of the civil rights movement, white people who came down from the north to help out after seeing till's picture. People who decided they were going to do something about this. Doesn't directly affect them.

potential beneficiaries

one of the two types of people attracted to movements, as outlined in Zald and McCarthy's "Social Movements in an Organizational Society". People who are set to benefit from the movement who are fighting against conditions placed on them. (ex. blacks in the south during civil rights movement).

Asian American movement

organized and spoke out against racial domination, economic exploitation, and segregation.

Arab American movement

pan ethnic movement against America's unwavering support of Israel

Ella Baker

stepped in during SNCC crises speaking against disunity. Urged organization to form two arms focusing on both issues of direct action and voter registration to combat black disenfranchisement.

When it comes to nonwhite political leadership, distinguish between

superficial representation and substantive representation

Montgomery Bus Boycott encouraged people to focus their energy on

systematic racism, rather than the individual racist on the street

Montgomery Bus Boycott

the first major demonstration of Civil Rights Movement. Rose Parks refused to give her bus seat up to white man. Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) supported the boycott. Martin Luther King appointed to position to head the movement.

Modern Civil Rights Movement

the movement organizing shifted from model based on legal action (NAACP) to one based on direct action through Community based groups.

Gerrymandering

the process by which elected politicians redraw and manipulate the borders of political districts to secure political advantage. limit nonwhites ability to vote as a group.

Nonwhites and whites will rush to polls in large numbers if...

the ticket is racially mixed

Goals of the Freedom Summer

these white college students were to increase voter registration and bring quality education to Mississippi's poorest areas through establishment of Freedom Schools.

How were blacks disenfranchised despite having the legal right to vote?

told they had to own property, be accompanied by whites, forced to take complicated literacy tests, humiliating questions. as a result, most blacks not registered to vote.

Citizenship schools

under Ella Baker, SCLC schools that taught blacks to read to pass restrictive voting tests.

Two party system encourages candidates to pander to... resulting in...

white middle class... nonwhites go unheard)

The Threat Hypothesis: As the nonwhite population increases, so does...

white voter turnout and whites' level of racial intolerance. Whites who live near nonwhites (in heterogeneous areas) are more likely to develop racist attitudes about nonwhites.

in communities that are racially integrated (as opposed to homogenous)...

white voters are more politically mobilized

"Freedom Rides" of 1961

white/black members of CORE tested outlawed racial segregation laws at bus terminals by riding buses from DC to New Orleans. Beaten by white mob in Birmingham. Replacement riders guarded by JFK federal marshals.

SNCC participated in - students did 'sit-ins' at whites-only lunch counters

Displayed the absurdity of what was going on (paying customers being denied to give money).

United Farm Workers of America

Co-founded by Cesar Chavez, this group was a labor union dedicated to providing farm workers and other working people with tools and skills to organize against migrant worker exploitation

Civil Rights Movement (definition)

Collection of organizations and people who carried out political acts aimed at dismantling white power structure by abolishing racial segregation, nonwhite disenfranchisement, and economic exploitation

Principle-Implementation Gap

Gap between those who support the principle of racial inclusion but are unlikely to accept any policy measures intended to carry it out. Ex) whites claim to disapprove of race based poverty, but unlikely to support programs to help.

Freedom Rides of 1961

Group called Congress of Racial Equality chartered two buses and rode, white and black side by side from DC to Orleans to test outlawing of racial segregation...

HW Bush vs Dukakis

HW Bush used implicit racial appeals in his use of willie horton campaign against dukakis.

Tokenism

Houses of political power prefer appointing nonwhites who do not pose threat to white privilege

SCLC leaders began organizing another Selma to Montgomery march

King issued press release calling all US citizens to join him in Selma. Hundreds responded, and thousands of marchers set off again. Although hecklers lined the streets, they made the journey over the course of 4 days. Crowd of 25,000 strong gathered at capitol building and King addressed them.

"Black organizing tradition"

Modern civil rights movement drew inspiration from this. Ranging from slave revolts, thru reconstruction, thru the 60s.

bloc voting

Nonwhites ability to vote as a group

Crisis within SNCC (Pulled in two directions)

One group of activists wanted to continue engaging in direct action aimed at desegregation. Another wanted it to focus on voter registration

SCLC served as key organization in civil rights struggle. It

Organized mass demonstrations, marches, boycotts, rallies. Under Ella Baker, helped run Citizenship Schools, taught blacks to read to pass restrictive voting tests.

Tyrrany of the majority

Our political system is steered by majority interests that overrun minority rights.

SCLC

(southern Christian leadership conference) Group based on church driven action formed institutional hub of civil rights movement and mostly made up of black preachers and congregants.

Typologies

presented racial groups as fixed/immutable. Attached behavioral traits to physical characteristics (Europeans are naturally ingenious).

Superficial Representation

process of appointing nonwhites to political positions who are disconnected from needs/problems of most nonwhites. Only cares about diversity in skin color, not in political conviction. (Ex: Condoleezza Rice, Alberto Gonzales didn't leverage their political clout to dismantle racial domination)

Racial classifications justified

racial inequality by suggesting that inequality was natural. divine ordering of the world.

Civil Rights movement arose in response to

racial terrorism/segregation/disenfranchisement

When NAACP began fighting for integration of public schools, southern states demanded that they

release membership lists (dangerous to members) they refused, and were outlawed in several southern states.

Implicit Racial Appeals

rely on voters deep seated racial tendencies. can backfire when called out as explicit

Many white democrats given choice between white republican and nonwhite democrat will vote

republican.

15th amendment

right to vote for black men in 1870