The American Political System and
the Problem of Race
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the Problem of Race
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What is the American Creed?
The belief that America is the land of freedom equality and opportunity.
Define and describe the three models in the readings from McAdam used to explain the development of social movements.
Classical models: based on pluralism or the idea that roughly equal groups compete for power in American society.
Resource mobilization model: They acknowledge that some groups are more powerful than others, but according to McAdam, they give too much power to elites. Elites are powerful, but not all powerful. Resource mobilization models say that the masses need to rely on elites for resources (organized labor, foundations, etc).
Political process model: Doesn’t just explain why social movements arise, but how they are sustained and why they decline. The factors that explain are the levels of organizational readiness and the structure of political opportunities.
What is racial resentment?
This concept is defined as a blend of anti-Black attitudes and the belief that Blacks violate traditional American values.
According to Ture and Hamilton, what are the three “myths of coalition"?
Liberal whites are the ideal allies of Blacks.
Groups That Vary in Power can Still Be Effective Allies
Shared Ideology is a Basis for a Stable Coalition
Contrast Sales’ view of the BPM with McAdam’s View.
Sales rejected McAdam’s View that the BPM Represented the Movement in Decline. Instead Sales argues that the CRM was in crisis or transition as early as 1963, and that the Black Power phase actually prolonged the movement.
What is the American Dilemma?
Failing to live up to the outwardly expressed ideals of equality, freedom, dignity of the individual, and inalienable rights
According to McAdam, what are the two factors necessary for the formation of social movements?
Levels of organization in marginalized communities (Mobilize community resources, Supply leaders and participants, Communication networks to facilitate the use and dissemination of different tactics)
The “structure of political opportunities.” (The migration of Blacks to the North where they could vote, the growth in enrollment at HBCUs, the growth of urban Black churches, and the emergence of the Cold War).
What is biological racism?
This concept is built on the belief that Blacks are innately (biologically) inferior to Whites.
According to Ture and Hamilton, which group represents the best prospect of allyhood with whites?
Poor Whites. Ture and Hamilton argue that if only poor whites could be educated about their interests, then they would be willing to form a coalition with blacks.
What is Black nationalism?
This concept is defined as “the support for Black autonomy.”
According to Williams, how are benefits for Blacks and Whites different?
Benefits for Whites are often “hidden” (mortgage interest tax deduction). Benefits for Blacks are visible and stigmatized (welfare).
What are “negative inducements to bargaining?”
This term is used to refer to social movement tactics that are so disrupt to the normal functioning of society that the opponents to the movement grant concessions.
Define internal and external efficacy.
Internal efficacy is the extent to which individuals believe they can influence the political process and affect change.
External efficacy is the extent to which individuals believe government is responsive to their needs/demands.
Ture and Hamilton believed that the role of liberal whites in the movement, should have been to do what?
Teach anti-racism and non-violence to other whites.
Malcolm X argued that “The Negro Problem” was really a World Problem. Why is this?
There are more people of color in the world than there are whites and Black people all over the world were facing the same struggle.
Many of the African & Caribbean colonial subjects of the British and the French were also relocating in the so-called mother country, such that these countries were also experiencing problems with their darker-skinned citizens.
What is one lesson offered by the rise and fall of the Freedmen’s Bureau?
Federal efforts to assist Blacks are short-lived, under-funded and half hearted (Initially designed to operate for only one year, and then eventually 6, Restricted clientele to Blacks initially and then only to the “deserving (orphans, the disabled, Union soldiers’ families)
Name at least one tactic that was a part of the FBI Disruption strategy?
Infiltration, creating tension between rival groups, and assassination
Explain how threat affects decision -making based on Pheonix's model. Give an example of how this works.
Threat --> Alert System --> Fight or Flight
Ture and Hamilton distinguish between two types of racism. Name them and define them.
Institutional and individual racism.
Individual racism occurs when one person takes into consideration the race of another to subordinate, control or otherwise against an individual.
Institutional racism is when the normal and accepted patterns and practices of a society’s institutions have the effect of subordinating or discriminating against an individual or group on the basis of race.
According to Sales, Malcolm X was responsible for 5 ideological innovations that influenced the BPM. Name one.
Injecting the concepts of Nationalism and Pan-Africanism into the movement.
Critiquing non-violence on both moral and strategic grounds.
Highlighting the importance of international alliances.
His position on working with whites
Combining reform and revolution.
Outline an essay comparing and contrasting the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Civil War Veteran’s Pension Program?
First, and most obvious, the Veteran’s Program served a primarily White clientele. Blacks made up only about 10% of Union forces.
Unlike the Bureau, the Veteran’s program provided generous cash assistance rather than mostly goods and services.
Unlike the Bureau, the Veterans program became more expansive over time. For example, although initially authorized in 1862, by 1890, the Veteran’s program was extended to cover veteran’s who had become disabled after their service in the Civil War.
The Veteran’s program was also not means-tested, or conditional on destitution
McAdam highlights several tactical innovations and adaptations during the CRM. What were some of the adaptations to bus boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides? Name 4.
Mass arrests by the police; The passage of anti-trespassing ordinances; The permanent closure of the lunch counters; The establishment of various biracial negotiating bodies to contain or routinize the conflict; Legal obstruction and extralegal harassment; Physical violence; Economic intimidation; Bogus fines; Bombing homes of movement activists
As discussed in lecture, racial resentment is a controversial measure in political science. Why might some scholars argue that the measure is not tapping into new forms of prejudice ?
RR may tap into nonracist individualism (groups should work hard to overcome obstacles and not rely on government assistance);
RR is highly correlated with old measures of racism;
Articulate the two reasons Malcolm X gave for not allowing whites to join or contribute financially to his organization.
When Whites joined Black organizations they invariably ended up co-opting the organization.
Secondly, he argued that the psychological effects of white supremacy had made Blacks question their own abilities and the only way to combat this self-doubt was to take a leadership role in their own struggle.
What was a benefit of making the Black struggle for equality an international struggle?
In theory, making the struggle an international one would limit elite’s ability to use repression.