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Key references
Black Power Movement
The Black Power movement stemmed from and was concurrent with the civil rights movement, and strove to unite and mobilize blacks in the United States. The ideas and goals of the movement varied greatly, from creating a group consciousness based on history and heritage to gaining economic and political power and independence for blacks. The term "Black Power" was first popularized by Stokely Carmichael, who reorganized the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee so that blacks would have more power in the organization. Other organizations, such as the Nation of Islam, of which Malcolm X was a leader, and the Black Panther Party, used the ideas of the Black Power movement in the political and economic arena. And individuals, such as Harold Cruse, influenced literature, music, and other arts with their ideas about the importance of Black Power to black culture.
Miscegenation Laws
Laws against interracial marriage had been enacted as early as 1661 in Virginia. Many states adopted similar laws over the years, and laws ensuring that mixed-race children became slaves or indentured servants. Later, in the mid-19th century, the pejorative term "miscegenation" was coined from the Latin words for "mixing" and "race," and the concept of "eugenics," the "purification" or "improvement" of the white race, was formed. These ideas about race and purity led to more and even stricter regulations forbidding interracial marriage and restricting immigration throughout the first half of the 20th century. By 1950, approximately half of the states had banned interracial marriage. However, in 1967, the case of Loving v. the Commonwealth of Virginia went to the Supreme Court, which decided that laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional. Eventually all state constitutions that had made interracial marriages illegal were amended, and in 2000, Alabama, the only state in which interracial marriage was still illegal, repealed its law. However, there are still many social obstacles and barriers that make it difficult for two people of different races to marry.
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