Week Ten - Revolution or Reform? Civil Rights, The New Left, and the 1960s in America
Share an idea or two from this week's reading. What was most interesting to you? What was most strange? How does the reading this week fit into issues and discussions we have had in this class?
What I found most interesting from this week’s reading was the Casey Hayden and Mary King memo. This paper was of women in the civil rights movement based on their experiences as Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee volunteers. It was written to a number of other women in the peace and freedom movements and it focused on problems of women in the movement that were created by what they called a "sex and caste" system. Examples of such problems include problems in their work, in personal relationships, and institutionally. This memo is incredibly important because it is one of the first documents of the emerging women’s liberation movement and it began the fight for the rights of women, which has been a major topic that we’ve discussed in class. This memo had a huge impact on the future of women in the future and still has an impact on society today we continue to see inequality among genders.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting in the Statement of Purpose 1960 is that it is basically like a poster or flyer promoting nonviolence and explaining how love can transform hate. Also, how giving a chance to have people who are different can help humanity grow into one instead of being so hateful and distant towards each other. I totally agree with the concept. I think it is true that there is room for acceptance and love in everybody's heart if they allow it and then there will finally be peace.
ReplyDeleteI found the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's reading for this week the most interesting. While it was short in length, the message was still delivered. In short the writer discussed love over all else. It wasn't, at least from my perspective, a time period that was plentiful with hope and optimism. The writer spoke of love defeating hostility and all the while maintaining an unwavering resolve for change.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most interesting was in the Southern Manifesto was in the last paragraph claim to "try" and right the wrongs that had been done in the south. Although the document does attempt to solve the segregation problem in the south it does not ensure it. THe language used in the last paragraph, "agitators and troublemakers," creates the impression that the movement for equallity has been prodominatly violent. The statement of purpose by the Student Non-Violent Committee put into persepective the fight for equality. African Americans did not wish to be violent, infact they simply wanted to stop being a target of unnecessary violence. The goal of the Statement of Purpose was to make people aware they wanted to be equals not a target.
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ReplyDeleteThe reading "Southern Manifesto" was most interesting to me. The U.S. senator and House of representatives wanted to condemn the decision of segregation in regards of education. Brown v Board of Education stated separate but equal schools but under the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment education shouldnt be affected by segregation. It not up to the government to direct the lives of U.S. citizens. People should have the right to be able to go anywhere they want, I mean this is the land of the free right? Everyone should be equal.
ReplyDeleteI found the Statement of Purpose to be the most interesting. I enjoyed how the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee employed love and nonviolence as a means of integration. They also believed this was the first step to achieve true equality. I didn't find anything strange with this since it clearly demonstrated the purpose of the organization. We have talked about methods African Americans used in order to get their freedom and their rights. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee served as another way to get that freedom.
ReplyDelete"Love is the central motif of nonviolence" this quote really stood out to me. This quote was in the Statement of Purpose article. To me, this quote is saying that if everyone had love for one another then there would be no violence and that would create peace with everyone. If we all had love and accepted one another as a whole then there would be no such thing as violence. But that is for a perfect world. We do not live in a perfect world, but we could all try and come together as a whole and do away with such violence. That doesn't mean you have to like everyone, just get along with them. So to me this article is relevant and has a very deep meaning of telling America, who needs violence when you can come together and make peace and have equality.
ReplyDeleteThe reading from this week that I most enjoyed was Casey Hayden and Mary King's memo. In this brief memo, they discussed their experiences as Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee volunteers. I thought it was very interesting that this article is regarded as one of the first documents of the emerging women's liberation movement. In class we have discussed in depth the inequality faced by African Americans, and in the article they draw parallels between the treatment of blacks and treatment of women in society at this time. They describe a type of caste system that uses and dictates the role of women, often saying that women should focus on being a mother and wife, as jobs can be distracting. My favorite quote from this memo is, "That inability to see the whole issue as serious...often shapes our own response so that we learn to think in their terms about ourselves and to feel silly rather than trust our inner feelings." Women were taught to accept this inequality because "that's the way things are supposed to be", but Mary and Casey were calling for women to trust their inner feelings and fight for the rights they deserved.
ReplyDelete"The Southern Manifesto" is what I found most interesting. It brought a clear and comprehensive argument against the Supreme Court decision involving the desegregation of public schools. It stated the fact that the constitution does not give the federal government jurisdiction over education. Anything not explicitly stated that it is controlled by the federal government goes to the state. “Plessy vs. Ferguson … declared that under the Fourteenth Amendment no person was denied any of his rights if the states provided separate but equal public facilities.” Given this information, it is obvious that it is within the states jurisdiction to have separate but equal public schools, which could not be mandated by the federal government.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found to be interesting was Casey Hayden and Mary Kings's discussion on the sex caste system. They said that this caste system dictated the roles that women were to play. There were jobs that women simply were not allowed to do. This is still true today. There are still some jobs that women are not allowed to fill.
ReplyDelete"The Southern Manifesto" was a very interesting document to read. The document was one of the first that I have read that provided an insight on the ideology of racist Southern whites in the south. The document is a perfect example of how laws cold be enacted by Congress, but some states were able to evade these laws. I also understand in a sense why the South wanted to govern itself considering how the northern states were able to choose how to enact their policies. A very interesting thing that I noticed is still relevant today is the argument on the jurisdiction of the balancing of powers in the government. Many of the decisions that the supreme court has ruled as has had great debate in whether it suppresses the executive and legislative powers.
ReplyDeleteIn the memo made by Casey Hayden and Mary King related to their involvement as Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee volunteers during the civil rights movement, I found it interesting how many different rights that they did not have them that are available to women now. The thought of how much work and time that those women had to put in to allow women to live the way they are now is amazing. Another thing that I found interesting from this reading is the part about the careers available for women because the limited roles that women have in jobs are still prevalent in the world today. During those times, there were specific jobs that women could not get. In modern times, those jobs are offered to them but it is strange to that there are still jobs that are not offered to both sexes.
ReplyDeleteThe reading that I found the most interesting was "The Southern Manifesto". I found this reading interesting because it was different to look into the way that the people at that time who were against desegregation thought. Generally we are only shown one side of that part of history. It is interesting to see how the other side thought during this time and how they justified their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThe reading I found most interesting this week’s was the “Southern Manifesto” I found this reading to have a different view of things than the others. I really enjoyed how it gave a vivid illustration of how the people were treated and how they felt during that time. This reading also made it very clear about the supreme courts desegregation decision to segregation of the constitution. Stating that education shouldn’t be affected due to the color of one’s skin.
ReplyDeleteThe "Southern Manifesto" was definitely an interesting read--it illustrated the opposite side of segregation equality and how they felt. Their cries of Congress abusing their power and false racial relationships are sad, as I believe many people felt as if they (the whites) were doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteReading the SNCC's "Statement of purpose" was eye opening to me. They believed the idea of nonviolence and practiced it in everything they did. Their whole goal was founded on the principles of religion and love. Not only this specific group, but just a lot of the civil rights movement in general amazes me. I'm not sure if I could have kept calm in times like they went through. It took some very special people to persevere in a nonviolent way. This specifically was my biggest takeaway from reading this.
ReplyDeleteThe reading that I found very interesting this week was "Southern Manifesto" it showed the way the other side of segregation was. It demonstrated the way people felt and how they were being affected by others. There was no such thing as separate but equal because one group would always be better than the other. In other words one group will always be better than the other. In this reading we see the side of the people who are against to getting rid of segregation.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the Statement of Purpose I found it both interesting and strange when it came to the ideas and lifestyle it was trying to promote. It was interesting because they are values that could said to anyone in any walk of life at any time in human history and it be true and move them and their peers forward. Strange because even today people have to be reminded of these values and ideals. This article fits into this weeks discussions because we talk about the civil rights and the peaceful movements of Martin Luther King.
ReplyDeleteIn "Southern Manifesto" I found it interesting how it described the side of segregation that the "separate but equal" laws brought about. Those laws increased segregation rather than decreased it since the laws did nothing to help the minority. The separate but equal ideal was anything but equal, those laws brought down African Americans and caused them to feel horrible about themselves. They made them feel a lesser people just because they didn't look the same as the white people which made them be seen as outsiders and out of the norm.
ReplyDeleteIn "Statement of Purpose" the most interesting part was the approach towards spreading the ideas the people within the committee were trying to express. The committee's main focus value was love and nonviolence. They believed that love could overrule anything. The quote that spoke to me was, "Through nonviolence, courage displaces fear; love transforms hare." The committee is emphasizing that it is ok to be brave, and that love will overshadow the hate. Expressing that if one abide by this they will excel in life. This relates towards the Civil Rights Movement as peace was the main focus. The activist believed that peace movements would create a greater statement.
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