I want to spend a few moments to talk about why the Civil Rights Movement failed. I know what a lot of you are thinking. What do you mean it failed? Things were so bad back then and its so much better now! Actually, thats false and here is why. During and before the civil rights movement black communities may not have been the most well off in the USA, but at least they had decent jobs and infrastructure available. Segregation forced blacks communities to have their own schools, hospitals, businesses. 1950-1975 was actually some of the lowest unemployment times for black people. The percentages were still high at 8-9% but considering how high they are today (14-20%), its hard to argue how much of an impact it caused. Many integration advocates thought that allowing everyone to mix would somehow change racism and promote equality. It did, but not how the public thought. If the goal was simply to promote integration and allow access to public services then it worked. As for equality, that is another matter entirely. America is still heavily segregated in the way of education, economics, and voting rights. Many urban schools in the black community are given poor teachers and funding. Many face severe economic depression status with black males seeing a 50% unemployment rate from ages 16-25. Voting rights are being heavily attacked in the South and in many other areas as legislators change polling requirements. They are also changing voting districts which split communities into smaller fractions which all but eliminate their voting power. people.ucsc.edu/~rfairlie/papers/published/aer%201997%20-%20RacialUnemp.pdf These troubling statistics and facts PROVE that the civil rights movement did not solve the problem of the post slavery racial divide in the USA. We have been given the illusion that everything is okay now and that we should just get over it and move on. Unfortunately the truth says otherwise. With voter disenfranchisement we can see a major attack on equality and what it really means to the black community. Basically what happens is a legislative body will change the voting requirements such as adding a voter ID card with a large fee imposed on it. This makes it incredibly difficult for poor blacks to afford and in turn can make many of them choose not to vote. Of course imposing fees on it is highly illegal and unconstitutional, many of these cases are still happening today with increasing frequency. Then factor in what changing voting districts actually does. You split a black community into several districts and mix their voting power in with other races and voting dynamics. In the USA, your votes aren’t directly counted towards a candidate in many areas. They count up all the votes and the city will pick the guy with the most votes and then it over rides the losing votes for the higher tiered election. This happens in electing a president as well in regards to the electoral college. While it rarely changes the outcome of a national election, locally it can be devastating. huffingtonpost/news/voter-disenfranchisement/ If you want to look at economics you can see that nothing has really changed in the black community compared to their white counter parts. While there is some small measurable progress in heavily mixed communities, generally speaking not much has improved over the years. washingtonpost/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/28/these-seven-charts-show-the-black-white-economic-gap-hasnt-budged-in-50-years/ Then look at the incarceration rates. These rates are beyond outrageous for a nation that supposedly promotes itself as the most free nation in the world. That’s actually the most false claim America can make being that in has more people in jail and prison than any other nation in the world. More than Russian, China, and North Korea. Black males are being attacked on every front in their daily lives and its shocking that they have remained as civil and peaceful as they have. washingtonpost/blogs/wonkblog/files/2013/08/SDT-racial-relations-08-2013-03-11.png Using the incarceration rates of black males in the USA and looking at the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, we know that SLAVERY NEVER ENDED. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, EXCEPT as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiii All of this being said is still not nearly all of the racial divisions we face today in the worlds most so called free nation. Police in the USA have killed 5000 citizens in the last ten years alone and you have a higher chance of being killed by cop, than a terrorist. Factoring in all these facts and statistics its not only safe to say, but highly logical to conclude that very little advancement of the black community has been achieved in the last 50 years. “But you have a black president! You have a world famous black physicist! You have one of the wealthiest women in the world! You have the best athletes! You have great actors! Etc etc.” No, having an extreme minority of successful people does NOT equal progression or equality. These people are statistical outliers and in no way benefit the black community as a whole. Most never share their wealth or success outside of their families and generally help and support white causes above the needs of their own. In conclusion I will say that even though it appears to be a more peaceful or equal day in the USA, much hasn’t changed and the trend is actually going backwards. With economic depression status in many communities, lack of proper education, police oppression and instigation, lack of access to proper healthcare, voter disenfranchisement, outrageous slave incarceration status, etc etc. We can see a disturbing trend where Americans live in a delusional bubble where they falsely believe everything is okay now. America is not equal in regards to race and the Civil Rights Movement failed.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 19:31:34 +0000