Social Change

 Abstract

Social change involves a shift in the existing status of the society to an improved social status. These social changes are mainly caused by a social movement that entails a group of people who share a common goal of agitating for the initiation or prevention of change in a society as a whole. Social movements are well organized and mainly last for exceptionally long periods of time. The research covered the civil rights movement in the United States during the slavery and racial discrimination periods. There are various types of social movements which include, the alternative, redemptive, reformative and transformation types. Topics covered in the research include the history of the civil rights campaign; stages of development and; the challenges and the accomplishment of the movement.

Initial unrest and agitation

The civil rights movement started in the mid 19th century (Branch, 120) mainly by the blacks who wanted to enjoy their civil rights (Young, 96). At this period, the Black Americans were undergoing a period of slavery and racial discrimination and yearned to free themselves from the oppression. The movement was reactive in the sense that it strived to abolish the institution of slavery and racial discrimination. It was also a transformative movement that aimed at setting Africans free from slavery and racial discrimination. Many Africans were sold out as slaves to the whites to work as laborers in their farms and denied access to public resources because of their race. They were further subjected to unfavorable working conditions such as long working hours with extremely low wages and could be whipped. These conditions led to the use of mainly non violent means-pleas, petitions to government official-by the oppressed blacks to achieve a steady improvement of their status (Young, 100).

Many of the African American citizens were denied their human rights even though they were entrenched in the constitution. Indentured servants and Africa slaves did not have the rights to life, vote, liberty and happiness. They were further not regarded as American citizens thus not protected by the constitution of the United States of America. The constitution on the contrary entrenched laws that protected slavery by legalizing the importation of slaves and the return of escaping slaves to their states. The expansion of the boundaries of the United States led to resistances from the natives who were opposed to conquests and absorption into other states. Individual states made laws independent from other states determining human rights on their own. Voting rights were limited to the white males and other rights such as the right to own land was granted on the basis of race or a person’s gender. This led to rebellions by the oppressed slaves and the blacks who were racially discriminated by the majority whites.

Resource mobilization        

In the first half of the 19th century, the civil rights movement successfully pushed for the abolition of the restricted voting rights which however, resulted in the establishing of more restrictions on the free blacks. In 1831, Nat Turner revolt erupted in Virginia leading to the passage of laws by the slave owners discouraging activism against slavery. Slave owners further prevented teaching of slaves on how to read and write. A good number of African Americans countered the repression by escaping or, they could purchase their freedom by negotiating through employment wages. In the northern states, most of the black communities had become free and large in number which was sufficient to hold regular meetings and conventions. The movement used used posters to invite people in their meetings. It also raised money through donations and charity from established organizations.

Organization

The first headquarter of the civil movement was located in New York but, in 1986, it was moved to Baltimore, Maryland. It also has branches across the United States and, runs a bureau in Washington, D.C. Movement leaders met regularly to discuss on strategies to be used to advance their racial struggle. In 1883, a small group of whites joined black antislavery crusaders forming the American antislavery society led by William Lloyd garrison. Ex-slaves such as Fredrick Douglass held public awareness talks exposing horrible slavery activities such as wiping of slaves. Booker T. Washington emphasized on the importance of economic development whereas, W. Du Bois advocated for unity among Africans.

Proponents of racial equality together with Du Bois formed the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). The movement mobilized people through mass gatherings heightening public awareness of the American civil rights. The movement gets funds from support groups such as the Pan-African movement and organizations campaigning for equal civil rights. The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People is headed by a president who oversees the general operations of the organization. The president is aided by other officers such as the chief financial officer who oversees the company’s financial operations. In the first stages of growth, the civil movement had a clearly defined organizational structure indicating the organization stage was successful.

Institutionalization of the Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement was able to be institutionalized into the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, which runs the affairs of the civil movement in carrying out civil rights campaigns all over the United States. The organization has consolidated to gain dominance as the key civil rights campaigner and handles its operations in a well established leadership structure. It managed to sponsor cases in courts against racial discrimination and violation of civil rights of which they won most of the cases. For example, in 1954 the Supreme Court ruled out segregation in public schools as unconstitutional, which led to a majority black support to the movement. This is a clear indication of how the organization was institutionalized and how effective it was in its operations.

Challenges and possible resurgence

Even though, the civil movement had a lot of accomplishments, it encountered a lot of setbacks that curtailed its operations in many ways. The main challenge facing the civil rights movement was the lack of funds to carry out its operations. Sourcing funds were an exceedingly difficult task due to poor relationship with the government agencies that would provide funds. The government was opposing the campaigns spearheaded by the movement which mainly criticized their oppressing policies. Hostility from the majority whites also posed a big challenge to the civil whereby, they could stage attacks to intimidate the civil rights activists and their leaders. Martin Luther King Junior’s house was at one time bombed by people believed to have been sent by opposers to the civil rights campaigns. The hostility later led to his assassination in April 1966 followed by intense government repression but, this did not stop the movement from its crusade but slowed down its aggression. Eventually a fair status was reached where the blacks could enjoy their civil rights and not discriminated because of their race and colour. Slavery and racial discrimination was abolished by enacting laws that prohibited slavery and allowed acquiring of property by all the races.

Work cited

Branch, T. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63 1988.

Young, A.  An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America.        New York: HarperCollins, 1996.