Revisiting the black struggle - Lessons for the 21st century

This article critically examines the cumulative successes and failures of the African American struggle for liberation and equality, and it hints at the future direction of the Black movement in the United States. Specifically, it demonstrates how the Black movement legally dismantled direct institutional racism and why it failed to eliminate indirect institutional racism. This article also explains why the objectives of cultural self-determination and fundamentally transforming Black America were not successful. By looking at the major problems of the Black community today, this article emphasizes the need to learn critically from the past struggle and leaders in order to incorporate the best experiences in the future struggle for economic development, self-determination, and multicultural democracy.