American History Class Address The Civil Rights Movement

Every American history class address the civil rights movement. Yet, author Timothy B. Tyson, in his novel Blood Done Sign My Name, specifically discusses the use of violence in this well-known movement. As a way to draw attention, many groups turn to acts of violence to attempt to rectify social injustice. Although violence may not directly change a negative situation, it indirectly helped the civil rights movement by drawing attention to the rising racial conflicts in Oxford, North Carolina, in hopes to find racial equality. The American Civil Rights movement holds a reputation for being a peaceful revolution, based on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s doctrines of nonviolent civil disobedience. Unfortunately, the general public has an†¦show more content†¦Tyson revisits Dr. King’s last speech before his assassination. In this speech, King calls for a â€Å"revolution† to change the entire government and an extreme redistribution of power. Although King’s radical ideas stemmed from his desire to find true equality, their interment in American history shows that history only remembers the good of the victorious. This also explains why many aspects of the movement are also absent from American memory. Along with Martin Luther King Jr.’s extreme ideas, many history books leave out the incredible amount of violence that actually took place on behalf of the African-Americans as they begged and fought for civil rights. Quite frequently, history textbooks acknowledge the violence perpetrated by unjust white men and women on the helpless black community, but rarely does the focus shift to the violent protests and actions taken quite frequently by the black population in response. This skewed perspective of history teaches students that standing up for beliefs in a peaceful manner will resolve any conflicts without violence. By viewing the civil rights struggles as one of complete amity, the plight of the African-American people sounds more appealing and lends credence to their movement. This positive view of the black community’s struggle for equal rights is far more desirable that the harsh and unappealing truth of radical violence. This desirable portrayal has created a flawed memory for the modern generation in