|
Black separatism is a separatist political movement that seeks a separate homeland for black people, particularly African-Americans. Parallel to white separatism, there also exists a similarly politically marginal black separatist movement, particularly in the United States. Black separatists generally think that whites are racist oppressors of blacks and that there can be no remedy for black advancement within contemporary white-dominated society. They believe the only solution for blacks is to break away and create a separate society controlled by persons of African descent. The more specific goals were historically in flux and varied from group to group. Martin Delaney in the 19th century and Marcus Garvey in the 1920s outspokenly called for African Americans to return to Africa, by moving to Liberia. Benjamin "Pap" Singleton looked to form separatist colonies in the American West. The Nation of Islam calls, much more quietly, for an independent black state on American soil. Much more mainstream views within black separatism hold that blacks would be better served by exclusively black schools and businesses, as well as by black local politicians and police. The mainstream black separatism is sharply opposed by anti-segregationists and integrationists within the African American community. They generally hold that blacks can and should advance within the larger American society and call on them to work to achieve that through personal improvement, educational achievement, business involvement, and political action. Martin Luther King, who was a key speaker and leader in the political effort to overthrow segregation in the 1960s, and Malcolm X, who until May 21, 1964 was known as a black separatist from the Nation of Islam, may personify the opposition between the two views.
Compare Links | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||
 |
|
| |