In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s, Issue 2Harvard University Press, 1981 - 359 pages With its radical ideology and effective tactics, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was the cutting edge of the civil rights movement during the 1960s. This sympathetic yet even-handed book records for the first time the complete story of SNCC's evolution, of its successes and its difficulties in the ongoing struggle to end white repression. At its birth, SNCC was composed of black college students who shared an ideology of moral radicalism. This ideology, with its emphasis on nonviolence, challenged Southern segregation. SNCC students were the earliest civil rights fighters of the Second Reconstruction. They conducted sit-ins at lunch counters, spearheaded the freedom rides, and organized voter registration, which shook white complacency and awakened black political consciousness. In the process, Carson shows, SNCC changed from a group that endorsed white middle-class values to one that questioned the basic assumptions of liberal ideology and raised the fist for black power. Indeed, SNCC's radical and penetrating analysis of the American power structure reached beyond the black community to help spark wider social protests of the 1960s, such as the anti-Vietnam War movement. Carson's history of SNCC goes behind the scene to determine why the group's ideological evolution was accompanied by bitter power struggles within the organization. Using interviews, transcripts of meetings, unpublished position papers, and recently released FBI documents, he reveals how a radical group is subject to enormous, often divisive pressures as it fights the difficult battle for social change. |
From inside the book
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Page 230
... Carmichael has at his dis- posal to do what he wants to get done ? " Answering her own question , she asserted that Carmichael had been " the only consistent spokesman for the organization , and he has had the press not only available ...
... Carmichael has at his dis- posal to do what he wants to get done ? " Answering her own question , she asserted that Carmichael had been " the only consistent spokesman for the organization , and he has had the press not only available ...
Page 276
... Carmichael's relations with SNCC's central committee , for the Cuban speeches revived resentment toward Carmichael by other staff members . Bellamy , like other SNCC leaders , was disturbed that Carmichael once again had prompted ...
... Carmichael's relations with SNCC's central committee , for the Cuban speeches revived resentment toward Carmichael by other staff members . Bellamy , like other SNCC leaders , was disturbed that Carmichael once again had prompted ...
Page 341
... Carmichael Out as Head of SNCC , " Atlanta Constitution , May 13 , 1967 . 22. David Cooper , ed . , The Dialectics ... Carmichael Turns Up in Havana , Calls for U.S. Guerilla Warfare , " Washington Post , July 26 , 1967 ; " Stokely Calls ...
... Carmichael Out as Head of SNCC , " Atlanta Constitution , May 13 , 1967 . 22. David Cooper , ed . , The Dialectics ... Carmichael Turns Up in Havana , Calls for U.S. Guerilla Warfare , " Washington Post , July 26 , 1967 ; " Stokely Calls ...
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In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s, With a New ... Clayborne Carson Limited preview - 1995 |
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