A New Civil Rights Movement?

A interesting discussion came up today in my African American history class. We were discussing the structure of the Civil Rights movement post-King assassination (consisting mostly of a band of King's followers and the Black Panther party) and the professor posed the question of how far have blacks progressed since 1968. This, in itself, is a question that can't possibly be explored in a blog post, or even a book. A few responses were heard, mostly consisting of the same argument: not much has changed. I sort of disagree with this (progress is relative, in my opinion), but I am more interested in the question he asked after. Could a New Civil Rights Movement occur?

It is a interesting supposition. Perhaps a more viable question would expand the definition of "Civil Rights" to deal with economic matters. In fact, Martin Luther King Jr. correctly moved from Civil Rights to Economic Rights (and consquently the Vietnam War) towards the end of his life. It was his assumption that poverty was at the heart of Civil Rights, and economic and political rights were essential the same. Once again, though, I digress and return to talk of a new Civil Rights Movement.

The crux of the argument would deal with the condition of minority youth today and it's ability to unity. Some might view this as a bit of a misnomer because many movement leaders were old in the 1960s. The fact remains, though, that older blacks are most likely content with their place in society. They have been through movement(s). The Youth gave the 1960s Movement its numbers and eventually its energy, producing leaders like Jesse Jackson. Thus, the youth will have to be the leaders of this so-called New Civil Rights Movement.

The notion of individualism verses collectivism is paramount to this discussion. America is a individualistic culture. This individualism existed in the 1960s, but only to a certain degree. Crisis unifies people and causes the emergence of a collectivist identity, and the aforementioned time period has its fair share of crises. Events like World War II, the murder of Emmit Till, Sunday Bloody Sunday, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott motivated a collectivist attitude to form. The question is whether or not Black youth could adopt this collectivist attitude.

On September 11th, America came together. Before that, I daresay the last collectivist galvanization occurred during the Vietnam War. This is due to the desensitization that has occurred in America towards violence and fear -- mainly due to the media. Black America is a "me" culture and a "we" culture is needed to be a catalyst for said political movement. A absolute plethora of products are produced as a result of the need to maintain a self-image rather then a group image. Therefore, it is easy to conclude that the black youth could not adopt a collectivist approach to the movement.

Still, the Populist message of Collectivism is heard throughout America during this election cycle with Barack Obama. It obviously is working to a degree -- and could be further expolited if put in the hands of a "right" leader. Unfortunately, Black America does not have this leader. And as much as Blacks want to adopt Obama as said black leader, it is abudantly clear that he is not a typical African American. His background, his culture, his life do not represent the struggle of the African American. Even if he was this atypical African American, his political sway would be greatly diminished if he replaced his populist message with a cry for Black rights.

Therefore, the only way a New Civil Rights Movement could exist would be for a Martin Luther King-esque figure to arise -- someone who is not interested in political power. This, coupled with the media's willingness to cater to such a message (which is very doubtful) could jumpstart this movement.