Civil rights struggles Notes

How Have Groups Fought for Equality?

What are civil rights struggles?

1. Civil rights struggles are movements where groups push for equal treatment, equal protection under the law, and basic freedoms that others already enjoy.
2. These movements often respond to discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or identity.

The U.S. Civil Rights Movement (1950s–1960s)

1. Why did African Americans fight for equality?

1. African Americans faced segregation in schools, housing, transport, and public spaces under “Jim Crow” laws.
   1. Jim Crow laws were state and local rules in the United States that enforced racial segregation and unequal treatment of Black Americans from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.
   2. These laws separated people in schools, transportation, housing, public facilities, and voting, creating a system of systematic discrimination and second-class citizenship for Black Americans.
2. Voter suppression (poll taxes, literacy tests) blocked political participation.
3. Economic discrimination limited jobs and fair wages.
4. Key factors driving the movement:
   1. Deep inequality despite constitutional promises.
   2. Growing Black middle class willing to challenge injustice.
   3. Awareness raised by WWII (Black soldiers fought for freedom abroad but returned to segregation at home).

2. How did people fight for equality?

1. Nonviolent protest, legal challenges, boycotts, marches, sit-ins, and civil disobedience.
2. Media coverage of brutality against peaceful protesters created national pressure for change.

3. How did the U.S. government respond?

1. Mix of resistance and reform.
2. Some states violently resisted desegregation (e.g., Arkansas, 1957).
3. But federal government eventually passed major laws.
4. Key reforms:
   1. Civil Rights Act (1964): Ended segregation in public places; banned employment discrimination.
   2. Voting Rights Act (1965): Protected voting rights by banning literacy tests and enabling federal oversight.
   3. Civil Rights Act (1957): Created a federal Civil Rights Commission to investigate voter suppression.
   4. Civil Rights Act (1960): Strengthened federal inspection of voter registration and introduced penalties for obstructing voting.
   5. 24th Amendment (1964): Abolished the poll tax in federal elections.
   6. Civil Rights Act (1968) / Fair Housing Act: Banned discrimination in housing sales, rentals, and financing.
   7. Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional.
   8. Executive Order 9981 (1948): Desegregated the U.S. military.

4. What was the outcome?

1. Legal segregation was dismantled; voting rights were expanded.
2. Still ongoing challenges: racial profiling, economic inequality, and systemic racism.
3. What the U.S. movement teaches us:
   1. Nonviolent protest + strong organisation + media exposure can shift national attitudes and force political change.

Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa (1948–1994)

1. Why did Black South Africans fight for equality?

1. Apartheid legally divided the population by race (White, Black, Coloured, Indian).
2. Black South Africans were denied political rights, land ownership, quality education, and freedom of movement.
3. Pass Laws controlled where Black people could live and work.
   1. Pass Law Act (1850s–1900s): Early colonial laws requiring African workers to carry passes to enter urban areas.
   2. Natives (Urban Areas) Act (1923): Restricted Black residence in cities; allowed only those “needed” for labor to stay.
   3. Natives Registration Act (1927): Required all Black people to carry identity documents (“passes”).
   4. Natives (Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents) Act (1952): Centralized and expanded the pass system; required every Black adult to carry a “reference book” at all times.
   5. Group Areas Act (1950): Assigned racial groups to specific residential and business zones; forced removals of Black communities.
   6. Natives Labour Regulation Act (1911 & 1932 updates): Controlled African employment contracts and movement for labor.
   7. Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act (1970): Stripped Black South Africans of national citizenship and confined them to “homelands.”
   8. Bantu Homelands Consolidation Act (1971): Expanded forced removals by assigning Black families to designated territories.
4. Key factors driving the movement:
   1. Extreme racial discrimination and inequality.
   2. Forced removals (e.g., Sophiatown) and homeland policies.
   3. Harsh police repression created anger and solidarity.

2. How did people fight for equality?

1. Political organising
   1. The ANC and PAC built national networks, created youth wings, held meetings, drafted strategies (like the Freedom Charter, 1955), and coordinated campaigns such as the Defiance Campaign of 1952.
   2. After being banned in 1960, these movements reorganised underground and operated from exile to keep resistance alive.
2. Protests
   1. The Sharpeville protest (1960) challenged pass laws; police opened fire, killing 69 people, sparking nationwide outrage.
   2. The Soweto Uprising (1976) saw thousands of students march against the compulsory use of Afrikaans in schools, leading to violent police repression and international attention.
   3. Regular township protests confronted local councils, rent increases, and police brutality.
3. Boycotts
   1. Black South Africans organised consumer boycotts of white-owned shops to pressure business and government.
   2. Trade unions encouraged workplace boycotts and refusal to handle certain goods.
   3. International movements launched boycotts of South African products, pressuring companies economically.
4. Strikes
   1. The 1973 Durban strikes mobilised over 60,000 Black workers demanding better wages and conditions, signalling the resurgence of organised labour.
   2. In the 1980s, COSATU coordinated nationwide stay-aways and industrial action to undermine the apartheid economy.
5. International pressure
   1. The global anti-apartheid movement pushed for economic sanctions, divestment campaigns, and arms embargoes through the UN.
   2. South Africa was banned from the Olympics, expelled from international sporting bodies, and faced cultural boycotts.
   3. Countries worldwide cut diplomatic ties or imposed trade restrictions, isolating the apartheid regime.
6. Armed resistance
   1. After peaceful protest was banned, the ANC formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, carrying out sabotage attacks on infrastructure (railways, power stations) aimed at damaging the apartheid state without mass casualties.
   2. The PAC’s armed wing, Poqo (later APLA), also carried out attacks in the 1960s and 1970s.
7. Cultural resistance
   1. Musicians like those performing freedom songs, poets, and artists used culture to build unity and spread political messages.
   2. Protest theatre, such as the work of the Serpent Players, challenged apartheid narratives.
   3. Schools and community groups preserved African languages and traditions despite state efforts to enforce the Bantu Education Act.

3. How did the South African government respond?

1. Extreme repression: banning political parties, imprisoning leaders, censorship, and violent crackdowns.
2. Mandela and others were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964.
3. But by the 1980s, apartheid became internationally isolated and economically unsustainable.

4. Impact of global events (including WWII)

1. WWII weakened European colonial powers, increasing global pressure against racial oppression.
2. The rise of the UN and Universal Declaration of Human Rights set international standards for equality.
3. Many African soldiers fought in WWII and returned unwilling to accept second-class citizenship.
4. Specific impact:
   1. Anti-racist ideas gained global legitimacy.
   2. The Cold War complicated alliances but eventually pressured South Africa to reform.
   3. International anti-apartheid activism (especially in the 70s–80s) grew stronger as post-colonial Africa shaped new norms.

5. What was the outcome?

1. Apartheid laws were dismantled.
2. Nelson Mandela was released in 1990 after 27 years in prison.
3. First multiracial elections held in 1994, Mandela became President.
4. New constitution guaranteed equal rights for all citizens.
5. What South Africa teaches us:
   1. Long-term struggle + global solidarity + political negotiation can overcome deeply entrenched racial systems.

What can we learn about civil rights struggles?

Key patterns

1. Inequality → organisation → resistance → government pressure → reform.
2. Both movements used mass mobilisation, symbolic leadership, and global awareness to achieve change.

Key differences

1. US: nonviolent strategy dominated; change came through legal reform.
2. South Africa: mix of nonviolence, armed struggle, and international sanctions; change came through negotiation and political transition.