South African Apartheid and its Effect on Black Culture (Spencer Weigand)
In many ways, the Vietnam War encapsulated the titanic struggle between the east and the west in the mid-twentieth century.This war was not only the epitome of the ideological differences between that of communism and capitalism but the difference in the numerous communities in the United States. One such community was that of Black Americans. For blacks the debate between Communism and Capitalism also meant a choice between nationalism and internationalism. In his work Black Is a Country Nikhil Pal Singh Sates "What distinguished the black versions of popular front politics, however, was that they also reflected a far less compromising, and more broadly informed, commitment to struggles for radical justice at home and abroad within the black public sphere." Not only did countless black leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., speak out against the war itself, but the community as a whole neverwere blinded by nationalism, there for nevr lost sight of the global picture. However, as historian Jill Lepore puts it in her work A New Americanism: Why a Nation Needs a National Story, many historians believed that: "if they stopped studying [nationalism], it would die sooner: starved, neglected, and abandoned." The obvious flaw in this being the fact this is not what happened. Instead, Lepore goes on to show that nationalism was instead twisted to form a false narrative, one that supports a dogmatic of the group currently in power. While trying to write a history that all people feel accurately represent a country as chaotic as the united states, doing so would inevitably bring up important historical points that are currently mute in mainstream history. A key example of this being that as the rest of the country was focused on the issue of the Vietnam war, the black community never lost sight of its international struggle for freedom. In doing this, the black community was able to look internationally and see the crimes of Apartheid in South Africa, which in turn shaped the conversation in black communities in a way much like the way Singh argument implies they would, however, the fact that they are forced to identify internationally only serves to strengthens Lepores idea of a need for a united national identity..
DOCUMENT 1:
As the rest of America focussed on a decades-long war of attrition, members of the black community gathered outside the Chase Manhattan Bank in order to protest the loans the bank had been giving to Apartheid South Africa. This protest was six years in the making, as during the Student NonVoilent Coordinating Comimty’s (SNCC) founding, the memebers announced: “We identify ourselves with the African struggle as a concern for all mankind.” This clear statement meant it was only a matter of time before SNCC took issue with the South African government due to its continued oppression of it black citizens. However, it is important to note that this message also applied to The American involvement in Vietnam. in both cases the black comunity was able to see that America was opressing foreign beliefs under the cover ofNationalism. this was further exemplified when the black issue with South Africa began to take shape in 1965, when the first of many protests against the Chase Manhattan Bank began to take shape. While most of America was focused on the final hours of the Vietnam war 400 protestors showed gathered to protest the bank. Despite the popular American frwas blinded by nationality, SNCC and the black community showed their international focus by not becoming blinded like the rest of America.
DOCUMENT 2:
After years of shadow boxing between the South African Government and SNCC, the gloves would finally come off at the All African Peoples Conference (AAPC) of 1977, in which the United Black International Front corner the South African Government. however this battle would be waged without the support of the use government, who still openly supported south Africa at the time. This was largely because blacks were not see as a true part of the American identity, but instead seen as a form of counterculture. this is exemplified by the inaugural all African peoples, as described by the CIA, which was held in 1958 and was formed to “Create a mechanism through which the independent countries of Africa could assist the dependent territories to gain their independence.” This mission continued to expand of the years until, in 1977, focusing on the ending of apartheid in South Africa. As the article to the left describes, this is also where SNCC began to participate in the conference. However, this move did not have the support of cold war America, as evident by the aforementioned CIA report. This, intern, is a prime example of Lepore’s point on a national story, as America feared this move because of a lack of understanding of the united black international front.
CONLUSION:
Unbeknownst to the majority of Americans South African Apartheid was deeply intertwined with Black American culture. This is largely covered up by a lack of understanding that only emphasizes Jill Lepore’s point on a common national story. However, underneath this lack of understanding is an important dynamic, showing how blacks were focused on the global picture during a time when most of America was focused on a single national threat. This difference in perspective exemplifies the importance of diversifying perspectives in education.
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