Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, and Music

The Civil Rights movement in the United States was a long struggle. African Americans were discriminated against ever since the end of slavery, and the segregation of the races was the painful reality of soldiers going to and coming back from Vietnam. They were faced with racism wherever they went. I remember seeing a documentary on the war and a soldier brought up this quote about African Americans and war:

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship."

Frederick Douglass

(Weidman, 1999)

The Civil Rights Movement was a long haul, and the music of the time reflected this struggle when it was nearing an end. I chose to embed this video in which The Staple Singers perform the song "When Will We Be Paid" because I think that it gives a voice to all the hard work and trouble that these American citizens had gone through. You can listen to this song here. Other notable protest songs of the Civil Rights Movement include: "We Shall Overcome" by Peter Seeger, "Oh Freedom" by Joan Baez, "We Shall Not Be Moved" by Mavis Staples, and of course, some Bob Dylan songs.

Sources:
Freeman, Elsie, Wynell Burroughs Schamel, and Jean West. "The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War." Social Education 56, 2 (February 1992): 118-120. [Revised and updated in 1999 by Budge Weidman.]

Ruehl, K. (n.d.). Civil rights songs. Retrieved from http://folkmusic.about.com/od/toptens/tp/CivilRightsSong.htm

The Staple Singers "When Will We Be Paid", 1971 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25Fudv9bT3I