Post 4: Segregation, Sexual Violence, and Resistance

The movement to obtain rights and equality for black individuals was motivated by the unforgettable demonic treatment of these individuals.    To further explain the ways in which people were impacted, I will divide this post into three groups.   1. Sexual violence among black females.  2. Peaceful retaliations as described by Dr. King, and 3. The cause for forceful retaliations as described by Malcom X. 

African American women had for long been exploited sexually since the years of slavery.  It was common for slave-owners to take advantage of these woman using their position of power and authority to rape slave women, as described in our readings, even in the presence of their husbands and families.    Slave women were considered property to their masters, who used sexual violence to show their power and ownership, and to degrade women to a status of ownership.   

 Our readings later describe freedom as being "meaningless without ownership and control over one's body." This was said because as time moves on and slavery is abolished, black women were still made to feel inferior to the white male.  Countless occurrences of rape and other forms of sexual violence were made against these individuals often without consequence.  If a white man raped a black women, for instance, it would be common if the white man was deemed innocent, even in the court of law.  Had a black man raped a white women, the opposite would have occurred.  The black man would suffer public lynchings, beatings from police, and life sentences of prison and even execution. 

There was only one way for women to retaliate, and that was to speak out. Speaking out loud and clear against their offenders whether it be in the streets or the court of law had been the best way to "reject the stereotype used by white supremacists to justify economic and sexual exploitation, and to reaffirm their own humanity."  White some men spoke out in their protection, many remained silent for it was often dangerous to do so publicly.      Exploited women then put together councils and support groups to help spread the word and to gain support for equal rights, eventually pushing lawmakers to act justly in the creation of protective laws and while enforcing freedoms. 

At the same time, African Americans in general were fighting for their basic rights and freedoms.  It was Dr. Martin Luther King that described the social setting for blacks in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 

Dr. King was a leader for black rights, and was a face for many movements in which served to create equality amongst the different cultures.  In his letter, he describes that the clergymen deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, but fail to express concern for the conditions that brought such demonstrations. 

He later describes his tactics to the peaceful demonstrations in which he stood for, but were yet deemed as illegal in the state.  1. Collection of facts to determine whether injustices exist.  2. Negotiation.  3. Self Purification  and 4.  Direct Action.  

The direct action described by Dr. King was the peaceful means to demonstrate the need for black rights.  Workshops on non-violence were created which challenged equal rights advocates to accept blows without retaliation.  The direct action program also included economic withdrawal, hoping to pressure business merchants into accepting change.    Sit-ins and marches were the first step to fight for negotiations, for "tension" was nothing to be afraid of.    These actions were hoping to open the doors for negotiation.    

He supports his vision and his works by reflecting on the history of his people, which included sights of vicious mobs lynching brothers and sisters, hate-filled policemen acting viciously against this people, and seeing millions of black individuals smothering into poverty stricken living conditions.  King wanted to avoid violence in order to create peace.  

Malcom X had the same vision of peace and equality, but claimed that another step must be taken in order to claim the desired dreams.  It was "the Ballet or the Bullet" in which could give people the power for change.  

He encouraged his people that they were all in the same boat, "catching the same hell from the same man, who happens to be a white man."    He also explains that it is important to be anti-exploitation, and anti-degradation, but not anti-white.    X then began to encourage a more aggressive approach to gaining their deserved freedoms.  " It'll be liberty, or it'll be death.  The only difference about this kind of death--  is that it will be reciprocal."  "...It takes two to tango; when I go, you go."

Malcom X didn't encourage unjust fighting and the same torment caused by white supremacists.   By ballot he meant freedom, and by bullet, he meant using force to avoid murder in cold blood, and to protect black individuals from the extreme actions of hatred given by whites.  He was encouraging his people not to stand alone with weakness, but to use force against those that use force against you and others.  In his views, this was a louder and more evident way of gaining public attention, and a more humane way of standing up for personhood and ones rights.