Social Movements

Social Movements

Social movements are informal groups of people or organizations that rise to execute a certain mandate. Their focus is on either a political or a social issue affecting society at a given time. Becker argues that modern social movements rose to power because of increased education and awareness among the populace (201). In addition, they were influenced by the increased mobilization of labor as well as industrialization of the 19th century (Mieder 345). Over the years, social movements have played a critical role in the democratization of nations. Indeed, their power and effectiveness have motivated the oppressed in many parts of the world to use them as a tool of bringing transformational leadership. To realize their objectives, the movements employed several tactics in their operations. This paper will evaluate some of these tactics in light of the objectives set by the leaders. Specifically, the paper will focus on why some of the events took place, as there was a certain motivation behind every action.

Social movements used several tactics to achieve their objectives (Becker 208). These strategies were started by a small group, mostly the leaders, and spontaneously gained support from other people. The motivating force behind the use of these tactics was that they had been used successfully by others in the fight for equality (Goodwin and Asper 27). For instance, Martin Luther King was greatly influenced by the non-violent protest of Mahatma Gandhi of India (Mieder 247). The tactics used included sit-ins, boycotts, protests, and marches. Using rousing and inspirational speeches and leadership, he and his fellow protesters organized boycotts of the buses and other businesses that were discriminating against the black people. His movement, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) advocated for peaceful protests (Mieder 442). Another force that used non-violent means to achieve social justice was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAAP). They wanted to achieve their objectives through non-violent ways (Mieder 22). The main objectives of Dr. King and the civil rights movement was equality of the races, where people are “ not judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character” (Mieder 244) in terms of jobs, politics, services, judicially and even socially. On of the most successful events was the boycott of the Montgomery city buses. The genesis of the boycott was that a forty-three-years old African woman had refused to give a white passenger her seat, after being instructed to do so by the bus drive. During this time, drivers were mandated by city ordinances to assign passengers seats (Mieder 473). The boycott lasted for one whole year, bringing the Civil Rights Movement to the limelight. The boycott of buses forced the repeal of city by-laws consigning blacks to the back of the bus.

Apart from boycotts, sit-ins were also organized in restaurants and other establishments to force them to abandon their racist regulations (Mieder 48). During the late 1950s, activists started experimenting with sit-ins as a way of mobilizing citizens to agitate for equality among the people in America. These sit-ins became the power behind most of the success of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s (Goodwin and Asper 259). For instance, the NAAP Youth Councils, CORE chapter, and SCLC affiliates were the leaders in mobilizing the blacks to engage in these non-violent strategies.

Sit-ins were used as a non-violent strategy of civil disobedience to force the government to act on numerous cases of discrimination. Several groups used sit-ins to overcome many racially motivated barriers in America. One example of a successful sit-in was one conducted by members of Father Divine and the International Peace Mission in conjunction with the Cafeteria Workers Union in 1939” (Wilkerson, et al 432). The protest was used as a means of overcoming racial discrimination in the hiring process at the Shack Sandwich shop in New York. The groups went into the restaurant and bought cups of coffee, and refused to leave after taking their coffee. Customers and other patrons could not get sits as the protesters had occupied all of them (Goodwin and Asper 276).

The wave of sit-in continued in many parts of America to protest the many form of segregation that were supported by the states. In one of the early sit-ins, a group of three women and four men from Durham, NC, staged a sit-in in one of the restaurants in the city. Their sit-in was in protest of segregation that was rampant in the city. However, although they were arrested and charged with trespassing, their bold move and actions were an inspiration to others.

The 1960 Greensboro and Nashville sit-ins created nationwide awareness on the widespread cases of segregation in America (Wilkerson, et al. 293). Most of the participants were college students, who later became champions of the Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s. The students were thorough in their planning that amazed the white storeowners and government representatives. In a matter of days, several sit-ins were carried out in major cities targeting stores and public utilizes that practiced segregation. The largest and the most successful sit-in was the one in Nashville. It was hailed because it was well planned and had a proper groundwork support. The sit-in attracted thousands of participants and culminated in the “successful desegregation of Nashville lunch counter” (Wilkerson, et al. 293)

The judicial system was used to bring down discriminatory laws culminating in the Supreme Court declaring most of the laws as unconstitutional, such as Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka that led to the de-segregation of schools and education in general. The Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka ruled state laws that allowed segregation of school were illegal and violated the constitution. This decision went against a previous court ruling (Plesssy v. Ferguson) that allowed racial segregation in schools. Bus rides called freedom riders were organized into territories that prohibited blacks from sharing the same public accommodation or other public utilities with whites.

Protests and marches were held to highlight the injustices executed by governments and the whites on fellow citizens based on the color (Mieder 459). The largest peaceful protest was held in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C in 1963 and it agitated for jobs and freedom. In this protest Dr. King gave his famous speech ‘I Have a Dream’ to a mammoth crowd (Navarro 444). The mainstream America was astonished by the record crowd that turned up for the rally signifying widespread support for the civil rights movement. Using what became known as ‘Jim Crow’ laws, local officials had disenfranchised the black population blocking them from voting in their representatives Hence the civil rights movement tried to organize the black population to register as voters in order to pursue their cause politically. The media was used to engage the white people to expose the indignities and unfairness the black population was being subjected to in a so-called free, fair, and democratic nation (Wilkerson, et al 352).

There is no gainsaying the impact of the sit-ins, protests and other means used by the advocates of the civil rights movements such as Dr King. The protests were non-violent and brought down institutionalized discrimination. In addition, they brought to the attention of the whole world the plight of the marginalized people in society. In America, legislations including the 24th Amendment outlawing the poll tax used to discriminate against black voters, Civil rights Act criminalizing forms of discriminations in education, jobs, and other spheres of life with a U.S Commission on Civil Rights and a civil department to enforce this law, were made possible by the power in these protests. In addition, a Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity was formed by President Kennedy to ensure equal job opportunities, thanks to power in the tactics employed by the advocates of equality in the social movements (Goodwin and Asper 420). The Voting Rights Act which aimed at enfranchising the black voter by giving the federal government authority to overrule local councils, notorious for using spurious grounds to bar black voters were actualized by the forces of social movements (Goodwin and Asper 22). Indeed, these are some of the direct results of the social movements. They indicate the magnitude and power of the methods used to challenge the status quo.

Works Cited

Navarro, Bob. The Country in Conflict: executives and events during the American Civil War. New York: Xlibris Corporation, 2008. Print.

Wilkerson, et al. Tennessee Women: their Lives and Times. New York: The University of Georgia Press, 2009. Print.

Goodwin, Jeff and Asper, M. James. The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts. New York: Blackwell Publishing, 2009. Print.

Becker, Marc. Packakutik: indigenous movements and electoral politics in Ecuador. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. Print.

Williams, Juan.Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 19541965 , Campbell, CA: Paw Prints, 2008. Print.

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