How far did the aims of Civil Rights Campaigners remain the same in the years 1865-1992?
Throughout the years 1865-1992, civil rights campaigners regarding African American rights had
remained fairly similar overall. Aims had remained the same in respect of combating segregation and
AA antipathy and striving to achieve improvements economically via employment growth, whilst
also endeavouring to achieve political and voting improvements. However, it is clear that due to the
climate and environment in which activists were campaigning in (especially prior to the 1930’s), and
the hostility towards the notion of AA rights during this time, it meant that earlier campaigners were
often unable to be as ambitious as later AA leaders as seen in the 1960’s. Therefore, it is seen that in
the earlier years of the period 1865-1992, civil right aims differed somewhat to the aims of later
campaigners such as MLK, Malcom X and Huey Newton. Nevertheless, by and large, economically,
socially and Politically, aims of civil rights leaders during this period had remained rather consistent
throughout.
Economic aims of AA civil rights Campaigners between 1865-1992 had remained relatively similar in
terms of combating employment discrimination and unemployment all the way up to 1992, via
boycotts, riots as well as campaigning for affirmative action. The first campaigns for employment
enhancements were prominent in the 1930’s, where more AA’s started to take the view of aiming to
achieve economic prospects, through rapid change as a result of direct action. This was initially, seen
through the ‘don’t buy where you can’t work’ campaigns. These were campaigns organised in the
1930’s by Adam Clayton Powell in the Northern states, to confront de facto employment
discrimination. The campaigns sought to boycott white stores in black communities that refused to
hire black employees, consequently forcing these stores to hire AA’s in skilled and white-collar
positions. However, the aim of ceasing employment discrimination had not ended there, but rather
was seen again during the WW2 and even during the following 40-50 years. During WW2, A Phillip
Randolph, with the purpose of challenging the employment policies of the federal government, had
threatened a march on Washington in 1941, pressuring Roosevelt to end discrimination in the war
industry. As a consequence of the threat, Roosevelt, issued an executive order 8802 which
prevented discrimination in the defence industries. In addition, a Fair Employment Practices
Commission was established to investigate complaints of discrimination. Likewise, these
employment aims were then seen again in 1960’s through the Poor Peoples Campaign of 1967.
Although being a failure, it was seen as a necessity to campaign against the Economic and
unemployment problems faced by AA’s. This was because Black teenagers were nearly twice as likely
to be out of work as white teenagers, and one person in ten had an income under $5000 a year,
whereas for black people it was one in three. Finally, civil rights aims regarding employment
improvements were seen through the campaign for affirmative action and positive discrimination in
the 1970’s. As a result, Nixon had implemented the programme for Affirmative action, in which
employers were forced by law to ensure that a certain percentage of their workforce was drawn
from black and minority groups known as the quota system. By 1972, these policies had been
extended beyond the construction industry to over 300,000 firms. Therefore, it is without doubt,
that through the ‘don’t buy’ campaigns, the threat on the march on Washington, the poor people’s
campaigns and the campaign for affirmative action that economic civil right aims had remained the
same during this period.
In contrast, Booker T Washington (BTW) who was ones of the most influential African American
leaders of the 19th century, believed in the notion, that hard work, education and personal
improvement, would lead to African Americans showing their true worth and thus increasing their
prosperity and gaining white confidence. He emphasised that this should be achieved through the
idea of ‘dipping your bucket’, essentially meaning accepting white supremacy and segregation for
the time being and building yourself up in order to gain this confidence. Therefore, he stressed that
black people should focus on education and economic opportunity rather than fighting for social
