The Peace Corps And The Africa-Americans' Civil Rights Movement In The 1960s

In the 1960s,to meet the needs of the situation,the Kennedy Administration established a volunteer organization——the Peace Corps,aiming to provide service of "Middle Level Manpower" to developing countries.In front of the increasingly soaring black people civil rights movement at home,to protect its image from the influence of racism,the Peace Corps had made a great effort to recruit minority volunteers,especially black volunteers,which objectively promoted the black civil rights movement at that time.The African continent had undergone earthshaking transformation in the 1960s, and the overwhelming majority of African countries became independent during that period.In particular,the year 1960 is called "African independence year" for 17 countries in Africa achieved independence in that year.For the interest of the Untied States,the Kennedy Administration attached great importance to the Peace Corps' activities in Africa.Accordingly during the 1960s,the Peace Corps had dispatched one-third of its total volunteers to Africa.Both black and white volunteers had deeply realized that "everyone is equal",so that after they returned to their own countries,in front of the still existing racism,they actively pitched into the civil rights movement fighting for equality between the black people and the white people in one way or another.This thesis aims to explore the Peace Corps' contribution to the civil rights movement and the influence of the volunteers' experiences during their service in Africa on civil rights movement.This thesis falls into four parts.The preface of this thesis gives an introduction to the goal and significance of this thesis,as well as a brief summary of the researches in this field both at home and aboard in recent years.Part one of this thesis discusses the historical background of the establishment of the Peace Corps,and analyzes the basic situation of the volunteers in the Peace Corps in the 1960s.Part two discusses how the Peace Corps recruited volunteers and trained them according to the principle of "non-racism".It not only made some black people who had joined its service give good publicity to the Peace Corps after returning home,but also encouraged the volunteers to take part in the civil rights movement after returning home according to its non-racism policy.The Peace Corps had made its own efforts in the civil rights movement.Part three introduces the situation of Africa in the 1960s.The independence of most African countries is a roll booster of the volunteers actively involved in the civil rights movement after returning home.Part four is the focus of the thesis.It points out that the experiences of both white and black volunteers in Africa have given them the influence of correctly treating racism.Under such influence,both white and black volunteers plunged into the civil rights movement with immense zeal after returning to their countries.