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 Using interviews, transcripts of meetings, unpublished position papers, and recently released FBI documents, he reveals how a radical group is subject to enormous, often divisive pressures as it fights the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 72
... began in 1962 at the urging of a girlfriend : " If I wanted to be with her , we were going to be on the line together picketing . " Hall began attending NAG meetings and was impressed with the articulateness of its leaders ...
... began in 1962 at the urging of a girlfriend : " If I wanted to be with her , we were going to be on the line together picketing . " Hall began attending NAG meetings and was impressed with the articulateness of its leaders ...
Page 75
... began to lead them in the Lord's Prayer . Then they " began to sing , faces calmer now , voices weak at first , but gaining strength , ' We Are Climbin ' Jacob's Lad - der . ' " Sheriff Mathews interrupted the singing to announce that ...
... began to lead them in the Lord's Prayer . Then they " began to sing , faces calmer now , voices weak at first , but gaining strength , ' We Are Climbin ' Jacob's Lad - der . ' " Sheriff Mathews interrupted the singing to announce that ...
Page 125
... began to beat . . . I began to scream , and one white man got up and began to beat me on my head and tell me to " hush . " One white man- -my dress had worked up high - he walked over and pulled my dress down and he pulled my dress back ...
... began to beat . . . I began to scream , and one white man got up and began to beat me on my head and tell me to " hush . " One white man- -my dress had worked up high - he walked over and pulled my dress down and he pulled my dress back ...
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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