Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

This Competency Assessment assesses the following outcome:
SS238-5: Evaluate the role of civic agency and special interests in public policy.
PC-4.3: Apply concepts* of multiculturalism and diversity to become an agent of change.
“People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically ... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
--Rosa Parks
Interest groups and social movements can and have significantly affected public policy.
Interest groups are non-profit, voluntary organizations that seek to affect public policy. Although there are a number of ways to classify interest groups, for the sake of simplicity we shall use this model:
- Business/Labor/Professional Interest Groups: organizations that want to affect financial, public policy that benefits their members.
* Examples: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Medical Association, and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
- Ideological Interest Groups: organizations that advocate public policy based on a set of beliefs
* Example: American Conservative Union
- Public Interest Groups: organizations that want to affect public policy that benefits not just the members but also society.
* Example: Sierra Club
- Single Issue Interest Groups: organizations that advocates one public policy concern.
* Examples: Human Rights Campaign
Social movements are civically engaged groups of people who wish to affect a public policy concern. There are three types of social movements:
- Social movements that advocate a public policy change.
* Example: The Tea Party movement
- Social movements that resist change
* Example: the anti-nuclear movement
- Social movements that advocate for those without power
* Example: American civil rights movement)
Source: (Jasper, 2009).
Often, interest groups lead social movements. The United States 1942-1968 Civil Rights Movement is a prime example that illustrates how interest groups led a social movement. In this case the civil rights movement advocating for equal rights and social justice were led by a number of ideological interest groups:
- The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
- The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Source: (ICNC, n.d.)
During the Civil Rights Movement, thousands of Americans, black and white, came together in various locations to advocate for public policy change that then segregated African Americans from white society: segregated schools, segregated drinking fountains, segregated housing, segregated public facilities, etc.
These courageous men and women engaged in several civic engagement activities, including boycotts, voter registration drives in the South, marches, sit ins and general civil disobedience. These were all in an attempt to shine a light on the disparity in the treatment of African Americans. In the end, the civil rights movement was a success because of the actions of famous figures (Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, Ralph Abernathy) and less famous individuals (anonymous housewives, schoolteachers, college students and factory workers), interest groups, and an American society challenged as a result of the social movement (Williams, 1987).
Directions: within a 400-word essay please include:
- An introduction
- Select one of the following interest groups that lead the Civil Rights Movement.
The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) (https://kinginstitute(dot)stanford(dot)edu/encyclopedia/fellowship-reconciliation)
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) (https://kinginstitute(dot)stanford(dot)edu/encyclopedia/southern-christian-leadership-conference-sclc)
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) (https://kinginstitute(dot)stanford(dot)edu/encyclopedia/congress-racial-equality-core)
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (https://kinginstitute(dot)stanford(dot)edu/encyclopedia/national-association-advancement-colored-people-naacp)
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) (https://kinginstitute(dot)stanford(dot)edu/encyclopedia/student-nonviolent-coordinating-committee-sncc)
- Summarize the 1942-1968 Civil Rights movement.
- Summarize the chosen group’s participation within the Civil Rights movement.
- How did your group affect public policy change?
* Identify two strategies used by the group.
- Why were these strategies successful or unsuccessful?
* Support your conclusions with information from the text and at least two, additional academic sources.
* A conclusion.
* Correct grammar and syntax.
* APA format.
Minimum Submission Requirements
* This assessment should be a minimum of 400 words of text.
Introductory paragraph
* APA formatting (including in-text citations and a separate Reference Page following the narrative)
* Conclusion
* Three sources (including the class text and two additional outside sources)
**** *** Be sure to review the attached Competency Assessment Rubric to understand the criteria on which you will be evaluated. **** ***