The Vietnam War and Black Power: The Deepening Divide, 1966
The Vietnam War and Black Power: The Deepening Divide, 1966
Chapter 4 describes the deepening divisions in the civil rights movement in 1966 and the concomitant rise of Black Power. On January 3, the murder of Sammy Younge Jr., a navy veteran and SNCC activist, motivated SNCC to come out against the war. SNCC's antiwar stance created a national uproar, as its members were accused of treason and the moderate wing of the civil rights movement distanced itself from the group. Later in the year, SNCC would embrace racial separatism. The ramifications of opposing the war are highlighted by the controversy surrounding Julian Bond. Though elected to the Georgia legislature, Bond was denied his seat when he failed to repudiate SNCC's antiwar statement. Meanwhile, Black Power became a public sensation in the summer of 1966 and further destabilized the civil rights coalition. Increasingly consumed by the war, Johnson's commitment to the Great Society and civil rights legislation dimmed. The Democrats’ defeat in the midterm elections in November seemed to validate concerns about a white backlash. As African American casualties mounted in Vietnam, the civil rights movement seemed to be at a crossroads.
Keywords: Black Power, African American history, Vietnam War, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), civil rights movement, Stokely Carmichael, Julian Bond
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