Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies in East Tennessee: Gaining Economic and Political Power in the Black Community
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2021 Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies in East Tennessee: Gaining Economic and Political Power in the Black Community Lily Joy Crosby University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, Social Influence and oliticalP Communication Commons, and the Social Justice Commons Recommended Citation Crosby, Lily Joy, "Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies in East Tennessee: Gaining Economic and Political Power in the Black Community. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2021. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/6176 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Lily Joy Crosby entitled "Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies in East Tennessee: Gaining Economic and Political Power in the Black Community." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Communication and Information. Michael J. Palenchar, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Michael J. Palenchar, Derrick Holland, Michelle Brown Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies in East Tennessee: Gaining Economic and Political Power in the Black Community A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Lily Joy Crosby May 2021 ii Copyright © 2021 by Lily Joy Crosby All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to all the activists – past, present, and future. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the support of my department, committee, and professors. Dr. Michael Palenchar, Dr. Derrick Holland, and Dr. Michelle Brown, who have served as my thesis committee, have each played an important role in my academic career at UT. I am thankful for their guidance, wisdom, and encouragement that has helped me throughout my schooling. I also want to thank my friends, family, and local Knoxville coffee shops. I could not have done this without them, and their unending support, encouragement, and lattes. v ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to explore the contemporary Black civil rights movement in East Tennessee to gain a better understanding of the strategies being employed to mobilize publics. Though an important aspect of the public relations field, in public relations academia there is a lack of research centering on activism. Little has been explored outside of organizational settings, especially since the rise of technology and increased interconnectedness of the world. To learn more about the movement in East Tennessee, the researcher interviewed eight leaders of the contemporary Black civil rights movement across the East Tennessee region. The researcher asked a list of five open-ended questions with the potential for follow-ups with prompts. Questions centered on topics such as goals and strategies, and the researcher followed the Attride-Stirling data analysis model for thematic analysis. Throughout the analysis, several themes emerged. Basic themes included educating non- Black people on racial disparities and oppression, reforming the criminal justice system, developing unity among the Black leaders, and creating opportunity for Black people. The organizing themes that emerged included progressing power structures and creating allies and developing the Black community. The overarching theme of the movement is to gain economic and political power in the Black community. These findings indicate that in East Tennessee, while activists often rely on political and social events to spur the movement forward, creating a network of activists could help them more successfully gain economic and political power. The most important finding of this study is that more unity is needed in the Black contemporary civil rights movement for the movement to see the level of success that is desired. Keywords: Contemporary Black civil rights activism, strategies, community, Black, racism, social movement theory, political process theory, resource mobilization theory. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................3 History of American Civil Rights Movements ................................................................3 Strategies ....................................................................................................................3 Resolution ..................................................................................................................5 Contemporary Black Civil Rights Movements ................................................................6 Goals ..........................................................................................................................7 Strategies ....................................................................................................................9 Unforeseen Events ...........................................................................................................10 Donald Trump Presidency .........................................................................................10 COVID-19 Pandemic .................................................................................................11 2020 Police Killings ...................................................................................................12 Public Relations and Activism .........................................................................................14 The Rise of Social Media .................................................................................................15 Theories............................................................................................................................16 Social Movement Theory ...........................................................................................17 Political Process Theory ............................................................................................17 Resource Mobilization Theory ..................................................................................18 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................19 Research Question ...........................................................................................................19 Participants .......................................................................................................................19 Measures ..........................................................................................................................20 Analysis............................................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................23 Basic Themes ...................................................................................................................24 Educating Non-Black People on Racial Disparities and Oppression ........................26 Reforming the Criminal Justice System ....................................................................33 Creating Opportunity for Black People .....................................................................36 Developing Unity Among the Black Leaders ............................................................40 Organizing Themes ..........................................................................................................48 Progressing Power Structures and Creating Allies ....................................................48 Developing the Black Community.............................................................................54 Global Theme...................................................................................................................58 Gaining Economic and Political Power in the Black Community .............................58 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION................................................................................................67 Implications......................................................................................................................68 Limitations and Future Research .....................................................................................68 LIST OF REFERENCES .......................................................................................................70 APPENDICES