Black Activists

1960s was a turbulent decade for the political socialization of college youth. protests by black students against southern segregation mushroomed rapidly and drew harsh reaction from white southerners, resulting in new laws and ordinances, physical abuse, and large scale arrests. These actions in turn fanned the flames of militancy, and the civil rights movement which up to that time had been led by middle-class black adults was rejuvenated.1 empirical research on the black student movement2 focuses on the causal antecedents in order to explain the structural conditions and socialization characteristics of students who are most likely to participate in the student movement. There are no published studies tracing the effects of the movement on the early black activists. One of the most extensive studies on blacks in politics did, however, predict that black student activists of this period would become a militant leadership class in the following decades.3 Matthews and Prothro found that black student activists *Work on this paper was supported in part by a National Institute of Education Grant NEG 00-3-0312 and a National Institute of Mental Health Special Fellowship 1-F03-MH 58378-01X1. authors thank Vernetta Young for her data gathering assistance and the Institute for Quantitative Studies in the Social Sciences, University of Washington, for programming assistance. lAnthony M. Orum, Students in (Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association, 1973). 2See: E. C. Harrison, Unrest on the Campus, Journal of Education, XLI (Spring, 1972), 113-120; Durward Long, Black Protest, in J. Foster and D. Long (eds.), Protest! Student Activism in America (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1970); G. A. Lowe, Jr., and S. F. McDowell, Participation-Nonparticipation Differences in the Howard University Student Protest, Journal of Education, XL (Winter, 1971), 81-90; Donald Matthews and James Prothro, Negroes and the New Southern Politics (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966); Joan M. Orbell, Protest Participation Among Southern College Students, American Political Science Review, LXI (June, 1967), 446-456; Orum, op. cit.; Ruth Searles and J. Allen Williams, Jr., Negro College Students' Participation in Sit-ins, Social Forces, XL (March, 1962), 215-219; and Charles U. Smith, The Sit-ins and the New Student, Journal of Intergroup Relations, II (Summer 1961), 223-229. Smith also discusses earlier protest activities in Activism, Benign and Scholarly Irresponsibility, Florida A & M University Bulletin, 20 (September, 1974), 65-76. 3Mathews and Prothro, op. cit

Black history · Political science · Sociology · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Gender Studies · Race, History, and American Society · Youth Development and Social Support

• The biographical consequences of protest and activism

  Sara Vestergren, John Drury et al.•Social movement studies•2017

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