Civil rights and White supremacy are concepts that have historically been prevalent in the generalized society of the United States of America and have continuously offered grounds for a systematically discriminatory country. The White race, through influence, authority, and power, has managed to ensure that African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Asian Pacific Americans are deprived of constitutional needs that define equal social, political, and economic opportunities resulting in the emergence of civil rights movements to combat White Supremacy. Also, it is examined that the racial discrimination propagated towards the four “inferior races” was done similarly although the specifics are different as exploitation was based on the need of the White race and the urgency of the skillset needed by the Whites to grow socio-economically through social injustices. (Thesis Statement-) The United States was built on white supremacy as the Anglos took over the Americas whilst treating the people of color poorly, causing the fight for social reform through civil rights movements throughout history. To fight against social injustices stemming from white supremacy, Native Americans stood up for themselves in finding their voices through the American Indian Movement (AIM), African Americans through the Black Panther Party (BPP), Mexican-Americans through the Chicano Movement, and the Chinese through the Asian Americans Movement.
Firstly, a critique of the Native Americans examines that the race was exploited through massacres which left their land to be occupied by the White race whereas they were settled in reservations spread across the United States. For instance, there was the American Indian Movement action towards Alcatraz Island, where there was public outcry because the White race in the government enacted policies that specifically aimed at making sure that there was the destruction of the cultures and the systems (Kahle., pg 12 -15) which were followed on the Native land. Therefore, context highlights that there is a different reason as to why the American Indian Movement was formed as opposed to the root causes that facilitated the creation of the Black Panther Party, the Chicano Movement, and the Asian Americans Movement. For instance, the land was being stolen from the Native Americans so that the African American slaves could offer more service to their White-raced masters through farming on larger plantations. The case of the civil rights movements of the American Indians was unique as their generations were being “forced” to attend boarding schools where they were alienated from their traditions, customs, and culture and were being brainwashed.
Additionally, it is realized that the Native Americans movement, formed the civil rights movement because they were not being treated humanely and had to fight policies of alienation such as the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 where the Native Indians were being relocated from the reservations to be exploited economically in cities (Jacobs., pg 40-42). Therefore, it is determined that the civil rights movement of the race had the objectivity of seeking anonymity as the race did not want assimilation and control which was being implemented to make sure that the race loses its influence on political, social, and economic grounds. The assimilation and control that was being fought was pushed systemically through ensuring that the Native Indians were impoverished and through police brutality there was social harassment which ensured the continuity of the American Indian Movement. The opposition to joining the mainstream American society was based on the Indian Termination Act which led to the realization of more Native Indian activism within the urban centers as they championed change that would improve their conditions and also ensure that Native Indian tribes were respected and that their sovereignty was guarded through treaties. Nonetheless, the civil rights movement of the Native Indians in the United States was fought systematically through mechanisms such as police brutality as discussed.
Secondly, a critique of the African Americans brings about the examination of interesting concepts as their civil rights were eradicated through slavery and systemic discrimination which made sure that they remained inferior to the White race. Through the Black Panther Party, which was formed as an association of Black race members, there is a realized insight into how the civil rights movement wanted to ensure that the Black race experienced equal social, political, and economic opportunities. The Black Panther Party was formed so that the Black ace would fight against labor exploitation which was the main reason why the White race forcefully migrated the Blacks from the African motherland to the United States. As a revolutionary organization, Black Nationalism was at the core of its existence so that there was the actualization of self-economic sufficiency through the facilitation of race pride among African Americans (Goldmann., pg 5-8). Concerning the effects of the lack of civil rights, such as having freedom without freedom, the Black Panther Party had mechanisms that ensured socialism was propagated as poverty was being affected by making sure that there were social classes within the society and there was no social development being experienced by the Black race, who were the majority at the public sector.
More so, there is the resultant effect of the civil rights movement on the African American race, the Black Panther Party, as cruelty and police brutality, were specifically projected to the race since their population was significant as compared to the Native Americans, Chicanos, or the Asian Pacific Americans. For instance, it is examined that the civil rights movement of the Black race was characterized by armed self-defense (Burgos & Khalil., pg 3-5), especially against the police who were predominantly White. It is solely based on the fact that whenever peaceful protests, strikes, and boycotts were conducted, the police departments, especially during the 20th Century, reacted with excessive force hence the need for African Americans to learn defense mechanisms to combat the police when need be. Additionally, racial profiling and the African American race are integrated and the Black Panther Party offered social and political security to the Black race who were being exploited through the Jim Crow laws which were dominant in the Antebellum South during the 19th and 20th Centuries to effect racial segregation. Therefore, through the Black Panther Party such exploitative mechanisms were fought but as history has it there are shortcomings because of the systemic White superiority that is experienced to date as exposed through police brutality, which inspired the Black Lives Matter movement (Holt et al., pg 22-25); a modern civil rights faction.
Thirdly, a critique of the Mexican-Americans through the Chicano Movement highlights that the civil rights movement had a full humane scope of the aspects that needed to be improved and were being impeded by the White race. Given that the objectives of the civil rights movement were politically and socially motivated, it is realized that one of the most exploited races in the United States has been the Mexican Americans who have been structurally segregated and racism has resulted in their disempowerment. There is a similarity that is examined between the Chicano Movement and the Black Panther Party because both organizations faced systemic challenges such as being infiltrated by informants from groups financed by the White race as they were surveilled and some of their leaders had assassination attempts on their lives. There was the need to give the Chicanos a voice so that they would oppose exploitative actions such as forced cheap labor and loss of land to the White race (Mendoza., np), and with influence from the Black Power movement, there was combat against the structural racism. Hence, there was solidarity which was needed to make sure that there was empowerment of the Chicanos. Nonetheless, the civil rights movement faced shortcomings because the federal government enacted deportation policies and mechanisms that ensured that the Chicanos were muted systematically.
Furthermore, it is examined that despite the actions of the Chicano Movement, the “dirty work” was still associated with the Mexicans in the urban centers whereas the African American race was trapped in the slavery of the Antebellum South. Nevertheless, through strikes, there was cultural revitalization which was achieved by the Chicano Movement because one of the objectives was to fight the assimilation that was being conducted and enforced on a greater scale nationally (San Miguel., pg 12-16). In doing so, there was the attainment of community empowerment and more Mexicans could enroll in other industries in the public sector and have other professions which necessarily did not entail having a “dirty job.” Since the Mexicans and the African Americans suffered a great deal and were oppressed through similar mechanisms, it is examined that the Black-Brown races joined forced and merged ideologies to champion community empowerment and liberation from the White race. It is realized that Black activist organizations such as the Black Panthers Party influenced factions such as the Brown Berets comprised of exploited Mexicans who had a political, social, and economic agenda that championed against racism and White supremacy.
Concerning the concept of the civil rights movement and the Asian Pacific Americans, it is realized that the Pacific Islanders have a demography that has historically suffered under the authority of White supremacy (Spencer et al., pg 49-53). Apart from the African Americans and the Chicanos, the Chinese Americans are another race who have suffered low pay and exploitation through their forced labor. Therefore, there are the aspects that are examined to be interconnected with the Asian Pacific Americans civil rights movement and were highlighted through the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned the immigration of Chinese into the United States. Precisely, the law was discriminatory given that America is a country comprised of immigrants from other continents and the White race impeding the Chinese from settling in America had also emigrated from Europe. The law highlights that the White race wanted to have racial control of social and economic prosperity, a reason why the Chinese were given mere compensation compared to the amount of labor they provided.
For instance, it is realized that the emergence of Chinatowns in all urban settings was a result of the discrimination that the Chinese Americans were facing from the White race. The Asian Pacific American civil rights movement also wanted to have preservation of culture and mitigate the assimilation strategies which were employed by the White race to “water down” Chinese culture, aspects such as food, traditional temples for worship, and other elements of identities were disallowed in the United States. It is the sole reason why the Asian American movement anticipated to rally the race and protest against the systemic racism that was being propagated by the White race through manipulating civil rights. As examined through the Yellow Peril movement, it is realized that racism against Asians was predominant as the White race saw them as a threat hence the need to enact systems that view them as “inferior humans.” Given that the Chinese Americans’ labor imbalanced the demand for White race labor, because of their lower compensation rates, there was a socio-economic backlash (Yang., np) which emerged and was being countered by the Asian Pacific American civil rights movement. With the capabilities of the Chinese Americans, the White race was threatened by their productivity and resilience at work hence the need for them to start a strategic racial annihilation act towards the Chinese Americans, then presumed to be inferior to the whites.
(Conclusion-) Given that the United States of America was built on White supremacy, as the Anglos took over the Americas whilst treating the people of color poorly, it is evident that the fight for social reform through civil rights movements throughout history was necessary. With the Black Panther Party, for the Black race, and the Mexican-Americans through the Chicano Movement having many similarities, it is realized that the Chinese Americans, the Black, and the Brown races were racially discriminated against and segregated primarily because of labor whereas the Native Americas were exploited for their land, all which influenced the respective civil rights movement. In contemporary society, the White race has always been found guilty of propagating social injustices towards the Native Americans, the African Americans, the Chicanos, and the Asian Pacific Americans, but now employ modernized mechanisms, such as incarcerating the Black race and deporting or denying Chicanas immigration into the United States, which are ingrained in systems to make sure that White Supremacy lasts. In the same measure, the civil rights movements have morphed to combat the modern challenges experienced by the respective four races.
Sources Provided
Spencer, Michael S., et al. “Environmental justice, indigenous knowledge systems, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.” Human Biology 92.1 (2020): 45-57. https://doi.org/10.13110/humanbiology.92.1.06
Holt, Lanier Frush, and Matthew D. Sweitzer. “More than a black and white issue: Ethnic identity, social dominance orientation, and support for the black lives matter movement.” Self and Identity 19.1 (2020): 16-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2018.1524788
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