The stories that we hear about the
Civil Rights Movement most often do not include women and their influence on
both the movement and those involved in it. This is one of the major blunders of
the movement. It makes it seem as if the success that came from the movement
came from the men that were in powerful positions or titles, not from women who
actually made a difference. The sad truth is that this marginalization still
happens today.
Ella J. Baker is an example of one
of the women that were marginalized during the movement. She helped start the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). One of the primary reasons this was started
was because Baker wanted the students to be independent. She wanted leaders
such as Martin Luther King Jr. and James Lawson to step back and not have a big
influence on the students. She wanted to create a breathing room for the
students. Also, the students were more open and receptive to innovation, where
male leaders of the movement were rigid in their opinions and strategies and
would not allow themselves to be influenced by the voices of others. [1]
Rosa Parks is another example of a
woman that was silenced when she wanted to speak up. Her case was the perfect
case to start the bus boycott, but MLK and others would not let her give a
speech about it because they believed that they had it under control. Yes, the
Civil Rights Movement’s main goal was to end segregation, but it was said that
the goal would only be reached if everyone worked together, black or white,
male or female. This was most definitely
not the case. It looked good on paper, but there was not as much teamwork in
the movement as there should have been.
There was one positive thing that
came out of people not paying attention to women. They had a bigger influence
than some men because of how under the radar they were. However, I do not
believe that their full potential was reached compared to what it could have
been if they had the freedom to speak and lead how they would have preferred.
Not much has changed from the 1960s.
Women are still oppressed and talked over. This can be seen in day-to-day life,
in the workplace, in school – the list goes on. The question is, what needs to
change so we see substantial progress?
Women’s marginalization and lack of recognition in the civil rights movement is undeniable. I believe that the civil rights movement would have benefitted if women were allowed to more power in the civil rights movement. White segregationists viewed black women as less of a threat than black men, giving black women a little bit of an advantage over black men in being able to act with less fear of getting abused or even killed by a white person for their actions. A woman’s power, whether today or 50 years ago, should not be undermined.
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