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 Using interviews, transcripts of meetings, unpublished position papers, and recently released FBI documents, he reveals how a radical group is subject to enormous, often divisive pressures as it fights the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 22
... early 1950s he had chosen to go to prison rather than serve in the military during the Korean War . After being paroled to the Methodist Board of Missions , he spent three years as a missionary in India , where he studied Mahatma ...
... early 1950s he had chosen to go to prison rather than serve in the military during the Korean War . After being paroled to the Methodist Board of Missions , he spent three years as a missionary in India , where he studied Mahatma ...
Page 249
... Early in April about 150 stu- dents chained and padlocked entrances to a university building , while hun- dreds of other students expressed their dissatisfaction by sitting down on a campus street . Soon after this protest , Houston ...
... Early in April about 150 stu- dents chained and padlocked entrances to a university building , while hun- dreds of other students expressed their dissatisfaction by sitting down on a campus street . Soon after this protest , Houston ...
Page 261
... early as 1964 SNCC had criticized FBI director J. Edgar Hoover for directing public attention away from the issue of black oppression in the South by suggesting that Communists had infiltrated the civil rights movement . Hoover ...
... early as 1964 SNCC had criticized FBI director J. Edgar Hoover for directing public attention away from the issue of black oppression in the South by suggesting that Communists had infiltrated the civil rights movement . Hoover ...
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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