African Americans & Black Power

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African Americans & Black Power

Advantages

  • Increase of interest in African American history, music, dress & appearance
  • African American culture courses appeared in schools/unis
  • Focus on aesthetics: 'black is beautiful'
  • Greater publicity of inequalities and African American identities (Black Power salute at Mexico '68)
  • Local communities and groups promote African American rights and economics (1972 National Black Political Convention to urge reform)
  • Shifted form conventional politics to 'identity politics' which impacted on a range of issues

Disadvantages

  • White & African American division led to fears and repression which weakened the impact of the movement
  • Association of Civil Rights & separatism, violence & radicalsim alienated many and weakened support
  • 1967, MLK criticises movement's failure to see progress requires inter-racial co-operation
  • Power of US States too great, considerable police repression was used against radical leaders
  • Movement ceased to exist by mid 1970s
  • Diversity of aims and lack of central body led to groups breaking away

Evaluation

Progress was fully enacted by this period, however shift to radicalisation led to many being alienated by the movement, thus the period was full of change, yet the movement was rather backwards

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