The Past & Future of American Civil Rights

Daedalus ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Massey
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Formation ◽  
First Century ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
The Past ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
American Society

Although American society will not become race-blind anytime soon, the meaning of race is changing, and processes of racial formation now are quite different than those prevailing just two generations ago. Massey puts the present moment in historical perspective by reviewing progress toward racial equality through successive historical epochs, from the colonial era to the age of Obama. He ends by exploring the contours of racial formation in the United States today, outlining a program for a new civil rights movement in the twenty-first century.

The English-Only Movement in the US and the World in the Twenty-First Century

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Pac
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
English Only ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Us ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
1960S And 1970S

AbstractIn this article, I examine the English-only movement in the United States and other countries in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Elaborating on research on the hegemony of English, this examination demonstrates English-only ideology, both linguistic and visual, as a primary means of restricting language and ethnic minorities’ access not only in the US, but also globally. First, I will present English as a social construction of the Anglo-Saxon elites in the process of the subordination of other language groups throughout American history up to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Second, I will briefly introduce the legislation of the Civil Rights Movement to show that language access increased the political presence of language minorities. Third, I will discuss the reemergence of the English-only movement appealing to nationalist sentiments in order to diminish language and ethnic minorities’ rising political presence in the US in the twenty-first century. Fourth, I will examine the spread of English-only ideology within the context of global capitalism, led by the US, in order to show forced compliance to the superiority of English by various diverse social groups on the global level.

Southern Strategy 2.0

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Edge
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Impact

In the rush of excitement over Barack Obama’s nomination and ascension to the presidency of the United States, many media figures were loathe to analyze the impact of race on both the rhetoric of the election and the actual results. From across the political spectrum, pundits argued that race did not play a major role on Election Day, without offering any context to such comments. Likewise, conservatives in particular have used that idea to assert that racism is no longer a hindrance to advancement in American society. This article seeks to examine the role of race in the election, both in political attacks on Barack Obama and in an analysis of the voting patterns, with a particular emphasis on how conservatives have tried to shape the contours of these discussions. Their purpose, it is argued, is to launch Southern Strategy 2.0, which seeks to use Obama’s victory to attack some of the results of the civil rights movement that helped make his rise possible. At the same time, it still plays on some of the overt racism of the first Southern Strategy, using Obama’s racial identity and politics to challenge whether he is “American” enough to lead the nation. Thus, conservatives use Obama’s image as a sign that racism is dead, while simultaneously attacking him with the same race-based tactics that have played such an important role in the recent history of the Republican Party.

“Will the Jungle Take Over?” National Review and the Defense of Western Civilization in the Era of Civil Rights and African Decolonization

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 997-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
JESSE CURTIS
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Western Civilization ◽  
Scientific Racism ◽  
White Supremacist ◽  
National Review ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Global Threat

During the 1950s and 1960s, conservative intellectuals in the United States described African decolonization and the civil rights movement as symptoms of a global threat to white, Western civilization. In the most influential conservative journal of the period, National Review, writers such as William F. Buckley grouped these events together as dangerous contributors to civilizational decline. In the crucible of transnational black revolt, some conservative intellectuals embraced scientific racism in the 1960s. These often-ignored features of conservative intellectual thought provided space for white supremacist ideals to continue to ferment on the American right into the twenty-first century.

What Do These Memories Do? Civil Rights Remembrance and Racial Attitudes

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 594-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry J. Griffin ◽  
Kenneth A. Bollen
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Race Relations ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Racial Attitudes ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
The Past ◽  
Racial Policy

Scholarly inquiry into collective memory has fostered a host of innovative questions, perspectives, and interpretations about how individuals and communities are both constituted by the past and mobilize it for present-day projects. Race is one of the more important current issues demonstrating how the presence of the past is both potent and sorrowful in the United States. It is therefore critical to examine how memories of racial oppression, conflict, and reconstruction shape race relations. Studies of race relations, however, generally ignore collective memory's role in shaping racial norms and attitudes. This article uses the 1993 General Social Survey to address the silences in the collective memory and race relations literatures by examining how Americans' recollections of the civil rights movement influence their racial attitudes and racial policy preferences. Although we find that Americans' opinions about government programs targeting African Americans are unrelated to civil rights memory, respondents who spontaneously recalled the civil rights struggle and its victories as an especially important historical event generally expressed more racially liberal opinions than did those with different memories. Our findings both support the basic presupposition of collective memory studies—memory matters—and point to a fruitful innovation in the study of racial attitudes.

scholarly journals Acts of Becoming

Loading ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (24) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Adam Tompkins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
The Past ◽  
Racial Issues ◽  
The Future

This article examines the rich historical subtext in the future-focused storylines of Quantic Dream’s 2018 release Detroit: Become Human (PS4) and illuminates many of the thematic continuities in racial issues between the past and the future. Much of the subtle historical symbolism appears to have went unnoticed by many reviewers who maligned the videogame and its creator David Cage for relying on lazy tropes that clunkily connect the African American civil rights movement to the narrative of woke androids engaging in a struggle for greater equality in society. Following scholarship that has examined the development of racialized thought in the past, this essay recognizes “race” as a powerful, yet malleable social construct, that sometimes changes over time. Racial concepts in the game do not perfectly align with historical or contemporary understandings of “race” in the United States. Androids, in short, all belong to the same “race.” This article then contends that the storylines of all three playable characters in the game resonate with well-crafted historical parallels and that the narrative geography in the gameworld often closely tethers to the historical geography of Detroit. The characters Markus, Connor, and Kara have intertwining stories that represent different elements of minority life in the United States with the clearest parallels to the historical experience of African Americans. Detroit: Become Human, nonetheless, is a science fiction game about androids. Framing the struggle for equal rights in the future with a group of beings that do not yet exist has the potential to disarm gameplayers of latent biases that may otherwise color their view of contemporary racial issues. The article asserts that the wedding together of past and future through experiential gameplay nurtures an empathic understanding of minority concerns that may carry over to the present to impact understandings of contemporary racial issues.

scholarly journals Human Rights: Negative and Affirmative Aspects of Environmental Justice

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Abasi Sarmadi Mehdi ◽  
Reza Asadi Khomami
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
United Nation

After Second World War by establishment United Nation, to support of right of life, survives and peace for human, Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued. In later years, second and third generations of human rights were established which respect for human rights is obligatory for member states.Environmental destruction as outcome of Progression of industry and technology, is another important problem which is outshining human life. In the second half of the twentieth century, several international conventions were formed in order to protecting the environment and preventing its destruction. On the other hand, in the United States, The civil rights movement in the 60s was the source of another movement called environmental justice. At the international level, In the 90s of the twentieth century coincided with the UN plan for sustainable development, the environmental justice movement arose. With the start of the twenty first century, environmental activists and followers of the environmental justice movement found out the common points of environmental justice and issues raised in the generations of human rights and attempts to link these two movements and beginning to find their common points. In the second half of twenty century. With increasing of activity of United Nation many conventions were ratified by countries that guarantee some rights of people but conventions about human rights and environment were separated. This article examines positive and negative characteristics governing environmental justice in comparison with the international documents.

Diversity and Multiculturalism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floyd Beachum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
The Right ◽  
Personal Philosophy

The words diversity and multiculturalism are ubiquitous in the contemporary educational lexicon. They are certainly hallmarks in many educational conversations. Recent trials, tribulations, and triumphs in the areas of diversity and multiculturalism are not without historical context or educational precedent. The evolution of diversity and multiculturalism in the United States has been and continues to be a struggle. The lofty language that is immortalized in the United States Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance promises all U.S. citizens the right to life, liberty, safety, happiness, and so forth. However, this promise has not always been kept for all U.S. citizens. The full recognition of one’s rights in the United States has depended on one’s race/ethnicity, gender, social class, religious beliefs, ability status, and so forth. Consequently, the United States has also denied, ostracized, and oppressed groups of people based on these same aforementioned identities (e.g., slavery, segregation, sexism, etc.). This resulted in amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the American Civil Rights Movement, and the Women’s Rights Movement, as well as others. These movements were no panacea; they simply weakened overt manifestations of bias, and allowed for more nuanced, covert, and/or institutionalized forms of bias. The elimination of overt bias also creates the illusion of success. People begin to think that the problems are solved because they are not obvious anymore. This highlights the need for diversity and multiculturalism in order to identify and expose covert bias and remind people that the struggles of the past are not just part of history; they undergird the problems we face today (e.g., achievement gaps, disproportionate discipline, and misidentification for special education). Ultimately, diversity/multiculturalism has the ability to provide a kind of interconnectedness among people by having them face the perplexing problems of equity, equality, social identity, and personal philosophy. Embracing and understanding diversity/multiculturalism is the key to unlocking its transformational power.

The 1970s

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Borstelmann
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Free Agency ◽  
The World ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
American Society

This book looks at an iconic decade when the cultural left and economic right came to the fore in American society and the world at large. While many have seen the 1970s as simply a period of failures epitomized by Watergate, inflation, the oil crisis, global unrest, and disillusionment with military efforts in Vietnam, this book creates a new framework for understanding the period and its legacy. It demonstrates how the 1970s increased social inclusiveness and, at the same time, encouraged commitments to the free market and wariness of government. As a result, American culture and much of the rest of the world became more—and less—equal. This book explores how the 1970s forged the contours of contemporary America. Military, political, and economic crises undercut citizens' confidence in government. Free market enthusiasm led to lower taxes, a volunteer army, individual 401(k) retirement plans, free agency in sports, deregulated airlines, and expansions in gambling and pornography. At the same time, the movement for civil rights grew, promoting changes for women, gays, immigrants, and the disabled. And developments were not limited to the United States. Many countries gave up colonial and racial hierarchies to develop a new formal commitment to human rights, while economic deregulation spread to other parts of the world, from Chile and the United Kingdom to China. Placing a tempestuous political culture within a global perspective, this book shows that the decade wrought irrevocable transformations upon American society and the broader world that continue to resonate today.

Religion, Race, and Sports

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Scholes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
The United States ◽  
Baseball Player ◽  
Sports History ◽  
Jim Crow Era ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
African American Race

Race, religion, and sports may seem like odd bedfellows, but, in fact, all three have been interacting with each other since the emergence of modern sports in the United States over a century ago. It was the sport of boxing that saw a black man become a champion at the height of the Jim Crow era and a baseball player who broke the color barrier two decades before the civil rights movement began. In this chapter, the role that religion has played in these and other instances where race (the African American race in particular) and sports have collided will be examined for its impact on the relationship between race and sports. The association of race, religion, and sports is not accidental. The chapter demonstrates that all three are co-constitutive of and dependent on each other for their meaning at these chosen junctures in American sports history.

scholarly journals STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE W. E. B. DU BOIS INSTITUTE

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Louis Gates
Keyword(s):  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Color Line ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
The Past ◽  
Considerable Work ◽  
Public Policy Decisions

In 1903, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois famously predicted that the problem of the twentieth century would be the problem of the color line. Indeed, during the past century, matters of race were frequently the cause of intense conflict and the stimulus for public policy decisions not only in the United States, but throughout the world. The founding of the Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race at the beginning of the twenty-first century acknowledges the continuing impact of Du Bois's prophecy, his pioneering role as one of the founders of the discipline of sociology in the American academy, and the considerable work that remains to be done as we confront the “problem” that Du Bois identified over a century ago.

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