Contact and Assimilation Theory in Social Movements of 20th Century: Red Power Movement & Black Power Movement

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Contact and Assimilation Theory in Social Movements of 20th Century: Red Power Movement & Black Power Movement

Social movements of the 20th Century played a vital role in the understanding of social minorities and their relations with the dominant groups of society. An aspect under the umbrella of social movements is the existence of racial oppression and discrimination. Two social groups that generated waves in America during the 1960s and 1970s were the Native and African Americans. The Native American youth led the Red Power Movement with a focus on self-determination, self-pride, and return of land ownership. The Black Power Movement dominated by angered youth, called for economic, political, and racial equality. Despite the similarities in critical themes, differences existed concerning the elemental origins of the movements purpose. The approaches adopted by these groups in terms of social justice and economic freedom may differentiate but are applicable to dominant themes such as assimilation and contact theory.

Critical elements the two militant ideological movements shared are racial self-determination, garnering of media attention to expand their goals nationally and the increase of radical methods of combating oppression. The theme of self-determination was essential for the Native Americans to have the power that was stripped from them during colonization returned. Similar to the Black Power Movement, the Red Power Movement sought an assertion of their identity to be recognized in the prevalent society. The Native Americans were fighting for their cultures and lifestyles to be respected and not force the American culture upon them. In 1969, forty Native Americans invaded the island of Alcatraz in a sign of protest. This event is an example of utilizing the media and showcasing a radical method of protest. The Native Americans were donning traditional Indian clothes in a symbolic reclamation of their land. The protest was broadcasted on national television and despite the brief stay on the island, the protesters maximized their efforts to garner the sympathy of the American public. The protest was organized by the American Indian Movement (AIM), which was founded in the year 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The emergence of radical methods began with the establishment of AIM who became known for combating police brutality aggressively and entered into countless of confrontations with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). During a protest in Washington D.C., some of the protesters forcibly entered into the offices of BIA workers, committing trespass, and damaging property.

The Black Power Movement strived for similar key elements as the Red Power Movement. Racial self-determination represents a fundamental driving force in the ideology behind the movement. Principal figures of the Black Power Movement such as, Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, advocated that self-determination is a critical element towards the creation of equality. From this stemmed the instillation of racial pride in African Americans. The minority group popularized the slogan Black is beautiful during the time and they worked to increase self-determination by garnering control in various aspects of the American system. Examples of areas African Americans worked to seize power over were the school systems, welfare programs, and policing. Police brutality and protests during the movement contributed to the spark of media usage and radical methods of action. The Native Americans were influenced by the African Americans successful handling of public broadcasting. The role of the radio during the movement provided an expansion of the opportunities for the Black Power message to be amplified and surpass the physical boundaries into the airwaves reaching the ears of marginalized and non-marginalized groups throughout the nation. However, broadcasting is a double-edged sword that depicts the situation in a favorable or negative light. The Black Power Movement in the late 1960s began to represent more than the values they stood for. It began to be represented as a violent group of individuals who were turning towards brutal actions to overthrow the power of the majority.

Comparing the two minority groups and their respective movements reveals various differences. Focusing on the history behind Native Americans and African Americans in the United States, both are colonized minority groups but differ in terms of governing dynamics. Native Americans were in a constant battle with the dominant group over land, while African Americans were placed in a competition for labor. Due to the competition of labor, African Americans were under a system of repression. The Black Power Movement began with demolishing the oppressive system the group had been forced under since the beginning of slavery in America. In contrast, Native Americans were never seen as a source of labor but were viewed as a source of land. The way the dominant group manifested their control over the Native Americans was through colonizing their land and creating the reservation system. The Red Power movement was advocating for elements of self-determination and awareness but were equally concerned with the restoration of ownership in their lands and diminish the attacks on their culture. The dominant-minority relationship that existed individually between the groups differentiates the underlying origins of the Red and Black Power movements.

The Noel and Blauner hypotheses explain the idea of contact situation. Donald Noel, sociologist, identified that the contact situation leads to inequality between groups due to features such as ethnocentrism and competition. Robert Blauner, sociologist, analyzed contact situation and derived two initial groups, the colonized and immigrant minority groups. African Americans were affected by the contact situation with the development of slavery in America. Ethnocentrism, the tendency to judge other groups by the standards of ones own group, culture, or society, led to the negative consequence of African Americans becoming marginalized and imposed the obligation to assimilate to the dominate culture. Therefore, during the Black Power Movement racial self-pride was a focalized point in their agenda towards equality and dissolving cultural oppression. Noels characteristic of competition is land versus labor. African Americans were conquest to solve the issue colonials were facing with scarce labor. Economic freedom was included in the Black Power Movement and the group wanted self-determination to gain control of positions of power to be able to have the economic system better favor their group. Noel and Blauner hypothesis can be applied to the Native Americans approach to social justice and economic freedom. Competition existed in this dominant-minority group relationship through means gaining control of land. The Red Power Movement argued the return of this land and in turn would return their economic freedom of being able to produce and sell goods and resources. Socially, Native Americans were controlled by a paternalistic system and forced acculturation. The Red Power Movement emphasized a need for pride in cultural heritage and to end appropriations by the majority group. By wearing their tradition clothing to protests was a sign of cultural pride and bring to an end the stripping of cultures to appease the ethnocentric values of the dominant society.

In a extensive history of the tension-filled relationship between colonized minority groups and the dominating groups raised multiple social movements. The Red Power and Black Power movements both advocated for self-pride and determination, effectively handled the media to expand their message nationally, and groups within these movements developed radical methods of action. Differences existed as well in the purpose of the need of change, both groups stemmed from distinct origins with the competition of land versus labor being the underlying factors. Assimilation and contact situation can be applied to the approaches of social justice and economic freedom between these two groups. African Americans coming from oppression arising from slavery and fighting to break this cycle. Native Americans urging the end of acculturation and regaining their land to no longer be victims to the paternalistic system.

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