How Marcus Garvey was Different from Civil Rights Leaders
When discussing the history of American civil rights, the leaders that often come to mind are figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. However, there was one prominent figure who was doing the work of advocating for civil rights and social change decades before these more familiar leaders. Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican-american activist who led one of the largest and most influential movements for civil rights in the early 20th century. While both Garvey and the latter civil rights leaders fought against racism and discrimination, Garvey’s approach and messages differed significantly from those that came later.
Vision for African American Empowerment
Garvey’s movement, known as the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association), was founded on a vision of African diasporic unity and economic empowerment. Unifying under the slogan "Africa for the Africans," Garvey worked tirelessly to promote black awareness, pride, and Pan-Africanism. By contrast, the civil rights leaders that followed focused mainly on ending segregation and discriminating laws, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leading the charge of non-violent protests through organizations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Methods: Peaceful vs. Laissez-Faire Confrontation
Garvey adopted a laissez-faire approach when confronted by authorities, where he often chose to release those arrested and avoid prosecution by fleeing the country if necessary. This approach did not garner the same positive public opinion as the passive resistance movements led by Civil Rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
African Reparations
Garvey took the idea of African nations owed reparations for crimes committed during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Despite never actually achieving reparations during his lifetime, it paved the way for black-led efforts to push these reparations forward in their communities. In contrast to later Civil Rights leaders whose main focus was on direct social and political change without an emphasis on reparative justice.
The Problem with African American Leadership within Garvey’s Movement
Some within Garvey’s UNIA movement criticized that his autocratic manner of leadership stifling opposition to his views through aggressive policing of dissent on issues, such as Africa repatriation. African Americans have historically had more mixed experiences with Garvey and the UNIA movements’ approaches to addressing discriminatory barriers and social injustices, resulting in both some individuals feeling empowered and protected within Garvey’s collective work while others were ostracized or silenced at any suggestion of opposition in response.
Garvey’s Message of Black Emigration and Repatriation
Another significant difference can be found in Garvey’s belief in the efficacy of black emigration away from countries where they struggled under white supremacy. Instead, Garvey held onto a vision of moving his followers to Africa by advocating for the establishment and empowerment of African colonies along with self-governed Black cities in the rural American South. Contrast with Civil Rights leaders would push for integration and coexistence with white Americans more openly in the United States and around the world and other leaders who emphasized ending discriminatory practices and achieving complete civil and political equality to create an inclusive society across different groups.
Civil Rights vs. Human Right’s
Garvey envisioned human rights as an ultimate solution, where black autonomy could only be achieved alongside black solidarity and the international support from African nations around the world. Within this view, he took it a step further for many people by pushing and striving for a black led social justice movement that can unite in the face of international resistance and the broader anti-racist and liberal community in the fight, ultimately hoping to bring real political change and recognition while giving an African identity based sense of belonging and meaning.
