LAHORE, Feb 26: During the 60s, the press was a vital part of portraying the horror of the civil rights struggle to the entire nation because many of the sits-in, boycotts, marches and other protests were televised to view on the nightly news, says US diplomat Lyngrid Smith Rawlings.

She said this at a seminar, ‘Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s: A Black Woman’s Perspective, Then and Now’, on Monday. The seminar was organised in connection with the US commemoration of the ‘Black History Month’ at Kinnaird College.

Rawlings traced the African-American history from 1619 onward and said that the struggle for equal treatment was destructive, disruptive and demeaning for the black Americans’ psyche and family structure.

“Much progress has been made since the 60’s. Struggle for equality and full recognition can be characterised as a time when African-American and other minorities are moving towards a more just society,” she said.

During the 1960’s, she said, the rate of economic, social, legislative and political progress was much more significant to the total community. During this period, many African-Americans began to believe the United States was willing to change in ways that there would be more freedom and justice for all citizens.

Rawlings said the struggle for freedom, justice and equality had been challenging and each generation continued the fight to full citizenship. “Each generation has had to rededicate itself to making the nation and the world a better place for all. Today, the struggle for African-American is economic opportunities in our inner cities and rural areas, but we have made significant progress towards gaining our rightful place in America,” she added.

In February, ‘Black History Month’ is held to honour the struggle and triumph of millions of black Americans, who overcame the most devastating obstacles — slavery, degradation, injustice, hatred, prejudice and poverty — as well as their contributions to the nation’s cultural, economic, intellectual and political life. The year 2007 marks the 81st celebration of a Negro History Week, which was instituted in 1926 by Carter G Woodson, a noted scholar and historian.

On the occasion, an exhibition was held at the college’s Haldia Hall by the US consulate’s public affairs section highlighting various aspects of the civil rights movement. —Staff Reporter