Ronnie S Hartman

The term Civil Rights Movement refers to the non-violent struggle for the rights that were guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution but were denied to Black citizens on the basis of their race. It combined legal and mass-oriented approaches such as sit-ins, picket lines, boycotts and demonstrations that applied economic but especially moral pressure on those in positions of power. For the first time in America, large groups of people directly confronted their oppressors, over a large area and over a sustained period of time, using non-violent tactics. Historians tells us that although many people would date the modern movement to the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1956, the struggle dates back much further, notably including the March on Washington Movement organized by A. Philip Randolph in 1941, and the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of 1953, led by Rev. T.J. Jemison. Early participants included churches, CORE and the NAACP, with support from the Highlander Folk School, the Southern Conference Educational Fund, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The effectiveness of these tactics today would be limited according to the type of situation. When, for instance, a television show engages in objectionable portrayals of an ethnic group, citizens can write letters, phone networks, and boycott the products sold by the show's sponsors, applying both economic and moral pressure. By the same token, boycotts can be effective in policing the behavior of business leaders who reveal bigoted attitudes or engage in discriminatory behavior. But many of the problems facing the Black community today are not responsive to these tactics. Issues of economic and social justice must be addressed by our elected officials and by business interests, and self-defeating behaviors that prevent people from taking advantage of opportunities for success must be addressed through social interventions. I am not in a position to comment on the relationship between the Black Arts Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. I am familiar with a variety of African-American writers, as well as with African-American oral and vocal traditions, and I am well aware of the community's overwhelming contribution to, and influence on, American music through call-and-response, signifying, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, rap, etc., etc., but I don't know beans about art and am not familiar with what you refer to as the Movement. As to the most important issues affecting the Black community today, one is the struggle for economic and social justice. Even when rights are guaranteed, they are not much use to people who cannot find jobs or housing, and these problems face low-income inner-city residents of all ethnic backgrounds: the replacement of highly paid manufacturing jobs by poorly-paid service jobs, the loss of community-owned businesses, an inadequate public transportation system to transport inner-city residents to jobs in the suburbs, inadequate day care facilities, inadequate affordable housing, the high crime rate in the inner city, the prevalence of drugs and of gangs, high drop-out rates in the schools, out-of-wedlock births to youngsters who are not yet financially secure and able to support children, etc., Another issue is the concern addressed by some African-American commentators that tactics which furthered survival efforts under slavery and Jim Crow have become counter-productive in present circumstances, notably the cool pose that mitigates against studying hard and staying in school, and that encourages risk-taking behavior aimed at proving manhood. Efforts like Hennepin County's African American Men Project, which was recently featured in a newspaper article, appear to me to be targeting precisely these issues. I am not sure that what we have today can be called a Civil Rights Movement, at least not in the historical sense that we use that term. I think of current efforts as being a movement for social and economic justice, rather than a movement for civil rights, per se - although the battle over affirmative action could be so termed. However, many people obviously do not see affirmative action as falling in the same category with rights such as fair employment, fair housing, the right to use public accommodations and public services, or the right to vote. I think that energy might be better spent on early intervention to make sure that children are properly prepared to compete academically regardless of which way that fight goes. Lastly, it seems clear that police-community relations are an ongoing issue. Since there is a tendency on the part of the police to react fearfully and therefore forcefully to the presence of young Black males affecting a certain style of dress, and since crime and drugs are in fact a greater concern in certain geographical areas than in others, this is likely to continue to be a serious point of contention - one which protests of the sort perfected by the Movement are unlikely to resolve. One wonders if self-policing efforts, whereby concerned adults create a presence in public places where clashes are likely to occur, might have a salutary effect. Control: Slavery, Jim Crow laws, and officially sanctioned violence were all used to control the lives of Black citizens and thereby prevent them from sharing power with whites, keeping control of power and resources in white hands. Dehumanization: The effect on the Black population of these practices, which also permitted those maintaining the system to feel justified in what they did. The system, as has been pointed out by many Black writers, also dehumanized the aggressor. Stigma: Was the mark of shame attached to anyone considered inferior by virtue of skin color or ethnic background. Traumatization: Was the effect of being stigmatized and subjected to constant emotional violence and the constant threat of physical violence by this system. Loss: Includes loss of humanity by the perpetrator, and the loss of dignity, of rights, of security, and of everything from oneีs family to oneีs life, for the victim. Identity: Is oneีs sense of self, which is largely created by oneีs life experiences, and which is therefore savagely affected by slavery, by Jim Crow, and by racism of all kinds, but reclaimed by oneีs experiences with loving family and friends, and by fighting for oneีs rights. Survival: Is the goal of myriad tactics and techniques developed during 300 years of slavery and another hundred years of Jim Crow. Hope: Is the belief in ultimate triumph that enabled the victims of slavery, Jim Crow and racism to survive. Closure: Signifies the feelings experienced at the successful conclusion of an episode in oneีs life. While closure is experienced when a given battle is won, there is always another issue to address, making closure a highly unlikely goal. In response to the question as to how I became involved. My twin sister and I grew up in a home where political and social issues were routinely discussed by our parents. While in high school, I began to research the treatment of Native Americans and African-Americans. Upon enrolling at the U of M, I stumbled on several political and social action groups, which became the focus of my activity and of my friendships throughout my undergraduate days and afterward. Freedom Summer followed, but having completed my undergraduate degree, I was free to continue working in Louisiana until the project there terminated, at which time I returned home and went to work for the State Commission Against Discrimination. I should add that my sister joined a CORE project in South Carolina. Like many if not most civil rights workers, incidentally, we went on to work in the anti-war movement, and to support the women's movement and the gay liberation movement. In response to the question about our family. Our family provided unqualified support for our activities in the Movement. My mother had been a longtime subscriber to I.F. Stone's Weekly and to P.D. East's Petal Paper, so they were well acquainted with the struggle in the South. They contributed to CORE for many years, including bail for the Freedom Riders and rent assistance to the Louisiana CORE project. They weren't crazy about what they perceived as the dangers involved, but we reminded them that it was their "fault" that we had become activists.

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