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Why the Civil Rights Movement Was an Insurgency, and Why It Matters
Blog them out of the Stone Age ^
| 04 May 2009
| Mark Grimsley
Posted on 12/17/2009 3:19:38 PM PST by BGHater
A video of the talk I gave at the Army Heritage Education Center in mid-March is now available online:
Mark S. Grimsley, Ph.D.
Harold K. Johnson Visiting Professor of Military History, U.S. Army War College
Most Americans fail to appreciate that the Civil Rights movement was about the overthrow of an entrenched political order in each of the Southern states, that the segregationists who controlled this order did not hesitate to employ violence (law enforcement, paramilitary, mob) to preserve it, and that for nearly a century the federal government tacitly or overtly supported the segregationist state governments. That the Civil Rights movement employed nonviolent tactics should fool us no more than it did the segregationists, who correctly saw themselves as being at war. Significant change was never going to occur within the political system: it had to be forced. The aim of the segregationists was to keep the federal government on the sidelines. The aim of the Civil Rights movement was to capture the federal government to get it to apply its weight against the Southern states. As to why it matters: a major reason we were slow to grasp the emergence and extent of the insurgency in Iraq is that it didnt and doesnt look like a classic insurgency. In fact, the official Department of Defense definition of insurgency still reflects a Vietnam era understanding of the term. Looking at the Civil Rights movement as an insurgency is useful because it assists in thinking more comprehensively about the phenomenon of insurgency and assists in a more complete and therefore more useful definition of the term.
You can view a video of the presentation (and/or download it) if you visit this link and scroll down about halfway. Its to the left of the presentation description.
TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: civlrights; insurgency
1
posted on
12/17/2009 3:19:38 PM PST
by
BGHater
To: BGHater
To: BGHater
To: BGHater
4
posted on
12/17/2009 3:34:16 PM PST
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: diverteach
And this leads to the civil rights act that most of the democrates voted against, right? Nice to hear the rats preach about thier support and undying dedication to this monumental achievement. Understandably they are all a product of government run education, where American history is neutered
5
posted on
12/17/2009 4:56:20 PM PST
by
ronnie raygun
(Leaders who refuse to lead will be lead by the people)
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