Activism V. Conservatism: A Battle on The Domestic Front

From the 1960’s to today, conservatism in the United States has been making headway regardless of the radical activism that has been taking place at the time. Conservative political beliefs and ideas are making their way into even liberal ideals. Conservatism has become more popular since the 1960’s because of many reasons, both those internal and external. Conservatives prey upon the fears of the working class, whether decidedly of the liberal party or not, and get the working class to side with them. They manage to do this even though the working class values are not the same as the Conservative values. This is done by instilling fear. People will do anything to avoid something of which they are fearful. By instilling fear of their neighbors, fear of the economy, and then bringing about beneficial programs, such as ‘Affirmative Action,’  the Conservatives brought more people under the span of their power even though the Civil Rights Movement was happening at the same time. This span of power continues to grow and spread on a domestic as well as an international level.

The Civil Rights Movement was a major movement that brought about many changes for African Americans. In Michael Goldfield’s piece, The Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement, he tells of an example of one of those changes when he states that the, “1954 Brown v. Board of Education… case… [had] outlaw[ed] segregate[ion in] schools” (264). There were many similar cases before this one and cases that followed this one.  These cases gave African Americans and other minorities more power legally but were the legal powers given to them only temporary?

The very rights that African Americans had achieved through the Civil Rights Movement have been diluted by the mass incarceration of men of color. Michelle Alexander argues in, The New Jim Crow, that, “Mass incarceration has been normalized, and all of the racial stereotypes and assumptions that gave rise to the system are now embraced (or at least internalized) by people of all colors, from all walks of life, and in every major political party (176). She is saying that people, even minorities, have come to see people of color and associate them with certain crimes, so that it is not as big of a surprise to them when they see those same men imprisoned. These stereotypes have become ingrained within us over time and generations. These stereotypes help promote the imprisonment of minorities.