Black/White Race Relations in the 20th Century

Material to be used in the essay will be a biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1 Alex Haleys's rendition on the life of Malcolm X,2 an epic of blackwhite relations within the context of four families in the late 20th century,3 and the story of a local segment of the civil rights movement in Tuskegee, Alabama.4. The essay will be divided into six major sections; each section will compare and contrast the different interpretations of each author. The sections will include: an overview of race relations in the 20th century, the changing features of race relations, the principal causes of the civil rights "revolution" in the 1950s and 1960s, comments on the

1 Stephen B. Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound  The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York: New American Library, 1982).

2 Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (New York: Ballantine Books, 1964).

3 J. Anthony Lukas, Common Ground  A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, (New York: Vintage Books, 1986).

4 Robert J. Norrell, Reaping the Whirlwind  The Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee, (New York: Vin

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Americans became more prosperous, the gulf between Blacks and whites became more obvious. Combined with that, the articulate nature of people like Martin Luther King, the radical nature of people like Malcolm X, and the innumerable small victories won by moderate citizens all acted in congruence to make the public more aware of injustice.13 Similarly, one should not forget the influence of the media in bringing the message of racial inequality to the forefront of the political and social arenas. "The more places [Malcolm X] represented Mr. Muhammad on television and radio, and at colleges and elsewhere, the more letters came from people who had heard me. I'd say that ninetyfive percent of the letters were from white people."14 ____________________ 12 Norrell, 209. 13 Oates, 11112; Haley, passim. 14 Haley, 266. Clearly, one of the greatest successes of the civilrights movement lay in the awareness it brought to the public. In publicity appearances all over the nation, Martin Luther King brought his message of racial coexistence, equality, and freedom for all people.15 Not only did this message bring greater attention to the problem, but in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was enacted. This was a great step forward and
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Rights Act, Luther King, George Wallace, America Newsweek, Blacks Instead, King Jr, Blacks American, Vintage Books, Civil War, , civil rights, rights movement, civil rights movement, martin luther, martin luther king, luther king, race relations, luther king jr, vintage books, king jr, york vintage books, york vintage, racial equality, norrell 209, rights movement tuskegee,
Approximate Word count = 1894
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)