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Emily Cribas
CAS137H
November 8, 2013
Race Relations in America
The phrase paradigm shift first came into use by Thomas Kuhn in his book The
structure of scientific revolutions in 1962. He described it as a series of peaceful
interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions" that cause "one conceptual
world view to be replaced by another view.
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According to his book, what prompted this
new term were the ideological changes that occurred during the counterculture era in the
1960s. Before the 1960s, whites were what we now consider to be racist towards blacks.
Today, in contrast, the United States is frequently considered a cultural melting pot where
the range in values, religions, and races is unrivaled. This transformation in America
from having a highly conservative ideology to being the most culturally diverse and
accepting in the world can be pinpointed to the Civil Rights Movement, in this case, the
Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Context
In colonial America, the concept of white supremacy was first established. At the
time, the fact that slavery was the cheapest source of labor enforced the idea of black
inferiority. At this time, the south discovered the marketability of cotton, an abundant
cash crop that required a large, cheap source of labor, slaves. Inventions like the cotton
gin made cotton production very efficient, helping the industry escalate and, by
association, slavery as well. During this first century of Americas existence, influential
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leaders such as Thomas Jefferson publicly approved of the supremacist ideology. In his
book, Notes on the State of Virginia, he wrote, I advance it therefore, as a suspicion
only, that blacksare inferior to the whites in the endowments of body and mind.
1
In
other words, blacks were seen as mentally incompetent compared to whites.
This belief was further validated by the scientific proof provided by Samuel
Morton, a racial scientist with the biggest skull collection in the world during the 1830s.
His data concluded that Caucasians had bigger skull size on average which meant that
they had greater mental abilities.
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Years later, the Dred Scott case in 1857 confined black and whites into two
separate and define roles in society. The Chief Justice declared that blacks have "no
rights which any white man is bound to respect."
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The separate but equal ruling in
Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) further fueled and established the norm of white superiority.
For over a hundred years, the idea of white supremacy was instilled in American society
by the influence of leaders, science, and the government. This created a social norm of
racial inequality.
Despite all these losses for African Americans, they had some groundbreaking
successes before the 1960s including the passage of the 13
th
, 14
th
, and 15
th
amendments.
The emergence of civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
were also great triumphs. One of their biggest victories was the landmark Supreme Court
case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 which struck down the separate but equal
doctrine previously held by the courts and started integration in public schools.
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These successes contrasted with the concrete supremacist norm created a
dichotomy in American values, setting up the stage for a violent clash of ideologies.

The 1960s
With the 1960s came an era of change and controversy. Americans experienced a
continued higher standard of living, a shift in fashion and music, and the Civil Rights
Movement.
After winning World War II, Americas economy was booming. This boom
resulted in Americans having a higher standard of living and being able to afford more
luxuries and commodities such as cars and television.
The television industry skyrocketed since it first became available to Americans
in the 1930s. By 1960, there were 52 million sets in American homes, one in almost nine
out of ten households.
2
This new form of communication between the people and the
government made it easier to mainstream the racism issue. For the first time, African
Americans could make their movement known to the typical American and raise
awareness. Television also became a way for Americans to see the race issue, including
gruesome acts of lynching and public beatings by public enforcement towards blacks,
adding a new, humanizing dimension to what was once a detached issue. By covering
news stories with particularly horrendous lynching, it emitted a sense of pathos by
viewers. This proved to be an effective way to get citizens, especially the younger age
groups, involved in the race issue.
Another aspect of television that added to a growing dichotomy concerned black
entertainment. The small screen had shows like I Spy, which included Bill Cosby as one
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of the main characters. The big screen released movies like Star Trek and Mission
Impossible, which included black characters.
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Both of these occurrences were unheard of
before this time. The little amount of programming for black shows as well as the lack of
development and popularity of black characters mimicked the inequality and
misunderstanding between the two races. In television productions made by
predominantly white producers and writers, the white person was often portrayed as
having a full character development and likeable personality, while the black character
was dull and uncomplicated, uncharacteristic of the typical African American. This
disparity between the two races on television showed how discrimination and social
segregation existed off-screen as well.
Other forms of entertainment , such as music, influenced race relations as well.
The rise in popularity of Motown, the music that came from the Motor City of Detroit,
Michigan opened up even more opportunities for black music to be popularized.
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More
freedom and acceptance was given to blacks in the music industry as groups like The
Temptations and Jackson Five captivated America with their catchy records. Louis
Armstrong, a popular black artist with predominantly white audiences, became a cultural
ambassador for the United States, performing jazz internationally while still making his
views on racism clearly known.
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While some black artists united white audiences through
entertainment, some united blacks in the fight for justice through emotionally-stirring
lyrics, such as those in Louis Armstrongs song (What Did I Do To Be So) Black and
Blue?:My only sin/ Is in my skin/ What did I do/ To be so black and blue?
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It seemed
reasonable to thing, based on past events, that blacks should be treated as equals, and
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Armstrongs lyrics questioned why that wasnt so. Clearly, there was a growing contrast
in how blacks felt they should be treated, and how they acturally were treated.
African Americans werent the only ones discontent with society. An America
full of capitalism, consumerism, and materialism also emerged as a result of higher
standards of living. Because of this, much of the youth was disenchanted with what
American society had become.
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The reasoning behind this dealt with the materialistic
and capital greed America has embraced to the point where young men were dying in
order to infringe on the rights of other culturesat least this is how many in the younger
generation viewed U.S. intervention in Indochina and the Vietnam War.
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Popular
opinions like these also arose from environmental concerns validated by the car craze and
Rachel Carsons revolutionary novel, Silent Spring (1962). This dissatisfaction with the
country encouraged the youth to develop a defiant take on the government and their
decisions, including those on race relations.
Along with resentment by the antiestablishment youth, blacks were filled with
resentment as well due to the climb in numbers of lynching and the Jim Crow laws that
were adhered to in the south. Many blacks, unhappy with a lack of civil rights
enforcement, organized themselves. Race riots were also common and televised in this
decade, the most striking being the Detroit Riot in 1967. This extremely violent riot was
the result of rapid demographic changes, lack of adequate housing, and economic
inequality.
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The increasing unfairness of these riots and public lynching provided the
needed exigency to bring these injustices to light before congress and the public.
The rise of nonviolent protestors like Martin Luther King, Jr. brought up a league
of supporters that were part of protests and sit-ins, including the March on Washington
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where MLK gave his famous I have a dream speech, leading to Kennedys passage of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This first Civil Rights Act was meant to prevent racial
discrimination. Unfortunately, many southerners still refused to follow this act of
legislation, claiming the law unconstitutional. This led to more clamor for equality by
protest groups. Their demands were temporarily met with the passage of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. This act dealt with racial discrimination by direct government action
or so it seemed. Why then, did it not stop there?
Although these acts did, to some point, help the movement, not enough was being
done as some southern states were still not responding well to the legislation. For most
whites, the idea of racism was so engrained in their minds that it was unconsciously
there. This belief could be attributed to xenophobia, upbringing, or just a need to feel
better than others. Its not rational, but rather an emotion. How, then, is it possible to
reach stasis when emotions are ever-present? At that moment it was not, so race riots
continued throughout the decade, and factions started to appear within the peaceful
protesters as some grew more impatient than others.
The increasing violence and racism in the south prompted leaders such as
Malcolm X and Steely Carmichael to advocate for a much less passive approach. For
example, I am for violence if non-violence means we continue postponing a solution to
the American black mans problem just to avoid violence,
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said by Malcolm X,
expressed the frustration and impatience felt by many blacks both by constant race
violence, the ineffectiveness of the passive movement, and the slow government
response.
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Therefore, these enraged leaders encouraged Black Power, a belief that blacks
should have the right to defend themselves and fight back. This erupted from police
frequently taking advantage of and harassing blacks, which frequently led to the
aforementioned race riots.
As time passed, and blacks gained more equality in different realms of American
society, they pushed for more legislation because their peaceful (and some violent)
protests were finally having tangible effects. This led to a big conclusion, the Civil Rights
Act of 1968. This act provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed,
or national origin.
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This final act closed any and all chances of encouraging racial
discrimination in the United States.
While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 dealt with solving ambiguities in the 14
th

amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 dealt with avoiding any obscurities in the
15
th
amendment, the final Civil Rights Act added more breadth to eliminate
discrimination in the government, the key first step towards improved race relations.

Looking Back
The counterculture era was a time where the Civil Rights Movement was in full
effect and the prominent conservative ideology of race relations in America transformed
into more liberal and accepting beliefs.
This transformation, epitomized by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
was caused by several factors including music, television, capitalism, materialism, and
acts of social violence. Based on the context of the time, blacks reacted the way they did
because they were aware their constitutional rights had been violated. Written in the
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Declaration of Independence is the famous sentence: We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.
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Just as colonists felt their rights were being infringed upon, African
Americas felt the same and fought for their rights despite the global perspective at the
time.
Even with the passage of these acts, racism and racial discrimination did not end.
The last act only provided a clean slate of equality that both sides had to adhere to. Even
today, there is still racism to a much lesser extent, and many of us still hold stereotypes
and prejudices.
Guided discussions like World in Conversation here at Penn State are a great start
to tackle these problems, but from personal experience, when the topic of race relations
comes up, the room grows silent. The topic connotes a bad history that we might not be
comfortable talking about yet. In future years, we could be headed down a road where
these kinds of discussions wont need to be guided and uncomfortable, but can become a
part of normal conversation.
Nationally, the Civil Rights Movement encouraged many other movements
including La Causa for Hispanic Americans, a similar movement, and many womens
rights movements shortly thereafter. The far ranging effects have included the election of
Barrack Obama in 2008, gay rights activism, awareness of the abortion controversy, and
many more. This movement has impacted and set a precedent for any minority groups
that ever feel their rights are suppressed, something America is internationally known for.
As citizens of the United States, we all deserve to live the American Dream.
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Work Cited
1. "Race Timeline.. N.p.. Web. 27 Oct 2013.
<http://www.pbs.org/race/003_RaceTimeline/003_01-timeline.htm>.
2. Jordan, Winthrop. The Americans. Boston: McDougal Littell, 1996: 798.
3. "Blacks on Television." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol.
7: 1960-1969. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 Nov.
2013.
4. "Motown." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 7: 1960-1969.
Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
5. Teichroew, J. "Jazz Music and Civil Rights - A Profile of Civil Rights in Jazz."
About.com Jazz. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.
<http://jazz.about.com/od/historyjazztimeline/a/JazzCivilRights.htm>.
6. "The 1960s: Fashion: Overview." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et
al. Vol. 7: 1960-1969. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web.
5 Nov. 2013.
7. Herman, M.. N.p.. Web. 5 Nov 2013.
<http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_index.htm>
8. Malcolm, X.. N.p.. Web. 5 Nov 2013.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/malcolm_x.html>
9. Hysell, P.. N.p.. Web. 5 Nov 2013. <http://www.examiner.com/article/civil-
rights-act-of-1968>.
10. Jefferson, T.. N.p.. Web. 5 Nov 2013.
<http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/>.
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