ABSTRACT
Radical Black movements in the United States are often judged according to the
feasibility of their aims and practices. This tends to overlook other ameliorative and even
revolutionary contributions that these movements make. While the Civil Rights Protest
Movement is well acknowledged for its ameliorative contributions to the just treatment of
Blacks in America, black radicals are often decried as having been impractical and
unrealistic. The impracticality of black radical movements often baffles scholars when
they try to rationalize the existence of these movements, and often sociological
justifications are sought.
This dissertation seeks to show that the sentiments of the black radical movements were
rooted in variables which are understandable and justifiable. Separatism and
revolutionism, by the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party respectively, were
direct responses to the situation of Blacks in America, in the past and in the future. The
past was that of brutal discrimination and exploitation, the future spelled out assimilation
and yet again exploitation. It made sense to the Nation of Islam that they should seek
separatism and self-determination within or without America, and it also made sense to
the Black Panther to seek revolution in order to end all exploitation and paternalism. The
history of Black/white relations could not be erased from the collective memory. In order
to denounce the past, the present was to be cursed. The callous past justified autonomy
and this autonomy was sought in separatism and revolution. The proponents of these
tenets were not deluded about the feasibility of the most extreme of their demands- the
tenets were a denunciation of America, the American national consciousness. The mere
adherence to these beliefs granted its proponents racial and class solidarity, dignity and
pride. These alone are enough to justify the noise that these movements made. This is the
argument of this dissertation. An attempt will be made, through textual analysis of some
of the documents of the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party to extract excerpts
that link to the ideals of racial solidarity, dignity and pride.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4840 |
| Date | 16 May 2008 |
| Creators | Gebhuza, Manwabisi Gibson |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 313990 bytes, 11365 bytes, 10133 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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