The transition of non-violent protest to armed self defense may have come from the persistent poverty and employment discrimination they were facing during this time. There was widespread unemployment and underemployment. After so many years of non-violent protest, it seemed as they had only made a dent in the larger problem. New organizations who had developed more militant philosophies promoted black independence, self-defense, self-sufficiency, and race pride. Even with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it did nothing to change the violence directed at black people. There were also still issues with black voting rights and segregation was still prominent. The failure to address these issues only fueled militant philosophies.

2nd post: Segregation has always been in the US; it was just more in your face in the south. The Jim Crow south had life separated for both white and black people, and it was labeled so there was no secret, and no hiding their racism. The north and west were more subtle about their racism, but it was still there. But as it turns out the north was said to be more racist than the south. The west had segregation, but it was slightly tamer and aimed more towards the Latin community. Since segregation was more known in the south, no one thought that the north and west was nearly as bad. The northern cities had huge problems when it came to minorities living in their neighborhoods or building homes near their homes, problems that often led to violence against those minorities.

This racially charged violence led to people arming themselves in self-defense. Before black people would try to follow the nonviolent way and try to defeat the violence with peace, like what Martin Luther King was preaching. But as time went on and people noticed that the peaceful option wasn’t working for them, they started arming themselves. It makes sense because they have their lives and families to protect. One of the biggest examples of a black community arming themselves is the Black Panther Party. They found out that fighting violence with the same violence in return was the only way to keep their neighbor hood safe. This approach that Malcom X had preached proved effective in intimidation, but that was a bad thing. These armed groups and “radical” leaders were labeled as dangers to society and murdered for it.