ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses almost exclusively on “black consciousness” and the politics of identity. Beginning with the rationale for a shift toward greater autonomy, the chapter quickly moves back to the early days of protest and the rise of the Civil Rights Movement. Washington, himself born a slave, saw the hope of his people—at least in a southland of deeply rooted segregation—in the development of pride and self-esteem, and in the learning of skills of the honest tradesman. A speech of his, delivered at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895, has been branded as a classic in acquiescent thinking. The implication was clear: black people were not ready to take their place beside whites. Demands for, and the establishment of Black Studies programs were not the only manifestations of conflict between conservatives and radicals, integrationists and separatists, or Jews and African Americans. Campuses also came under increasing pressure to alter traditional standards for admission to facilitate the entry of more minority students.
