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XULAneXUS

Publication Date

4-1-2009

Abstract

In this paper, I investigate modern liberalism by using radical expressions of protest against the position of blacks in American society as a paradigm. As examples of radical protest, I primarily use Nat Turner‟s vision, but also incorporate the ideas of John Brown, Malcolm X, and Black Power, while I use the modern civil rights movement as an example of modern liberalism. Using these examples, I make the argument that unlike modern liberalism, which justifies an oppressive global political and economic system, radical protest movements epitomized by Nat Turner‟s revolt refused to settle for material concessions at the expense of liberation.

In investigating both radical protest movements as well as the civil rights movement, I rely heavily on primary source analyses. These include written documents and speeches by leaders of the various movements, as well as newspaper articles by contemporaries of the movements. Secondary sources were used to gain further information regarding the context as well as different interpretations of the ideologies of the movements. After analyzing several primary sources I come to the conclusion that radical protest, epitomized by Nat Turner, is fundamentally different than the ideology of civil rights and modern liberalism. Radical protest involves complete, rather than ideological or abstract, love of the victims of our society. This calls for a denial of personal interest and a rejection of the dominant political economy.

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