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 Using interviews, transcripts of meetings, unpublished position papers, and recently released FBI documents, he reveals how a radical group is subject to enormous, often divisive pressures as it fights the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. |
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Page 39
... become involved in voter registration work . They recognized that this was an im- portant activity , since the paucity of black voters , especially in the deep South , prevented blacks from acquiring the political power necessary to ...
... become involved in voter registration work . They recognized that this was an im- portant activity , since the paucity of black voters , especially in the deep South , prevented blacks from acquiring the political power necessary to ...
Page 43
... become its executive secretary , replacing Ed King , who re- turned to college . Someone less dedicated than Forman might have regretted the deci- sion to join SNCC after encountering the conditions at the headquarters . He described ...
... become its executive secretary , replacing Ed King , who re- turned to college . Someone less dedicated than Forman might have regretted the deci- sion to join SNCC after encountering the conditions at the headquarters . He described ...
Page 145
... become an ideal community within an injust and increasingly hostile world . SNCC had been a community in which black and white activists could rid themselves of many of the racial prejudices that infected American society , yet most of ...
... become an ideal community within an injust and increasingly hostile world . SNCC had been a community in which black and white activists could rid themselves of many of the racial prejudices that infected American society , yet most of ...
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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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accepted action activists activities Albany American arrested Atlanta attempt became become began believed black power Brown called Carmichael charged City civil rights Cleveland Committee conference continued County criticisms delegates demonstrations direct discussions early efforts established experiences expressed federal field force Forman freedom gain goals going House ideas important initial interview involved issue jail John joined June King later leaders leadership Lewis liberal meeting MFDP militancy Mississippi Moses move movement Nashville Negro nonviolent northern organization participation party police political position problems programs Project protest racial radical registration remained Report representatives residents responsible result Revolutionaries role Sellers Sherrod sit-in SNCC staff SNCC workers SNCC's social South southern spring staff members statement struggle summer tion United University urban violence volunteers vote voter Washington World York young