The primary objective of this research project is to examine the legacy of the African American civil rights movement in the transatlantic region since the 1960s from a transnational and interdisciplinary perspective. In doing so, the project aims to shed light on the roots and enduring commitment to the two key concepts of the Black struggle for freedom—human dignity and human rights—within their various social and cultural contexts.

The first of these two concepts was rooted in the Christian faith. As early as the late 17th century, for example, Quakers who had immigrated from Germany organized the first public protests against slavery in Pennsylvania. They were convinced that every human being carries a spark of divine light within them and therefore, all are entitled to the same God-given dignity. This conviction was carried forward into the modern civil rights movement of the 20th century. In addition to these religious convictions, the concept of natural law, originating from the Scottish and English Enlightenment (Hobbes, Locke), was also of great significance. It formed the core of the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 and played a central role in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights).

The rights guaranteed therein for all Americans ultimately became the most important foundation for all legally grounded demands for the emancipation of enslaved people.

Although the combination of these two concepts is by no means self-evident from a philosophical and theological perspective, it was precisely this dual strategy that contributed decisively to the success of the abolitionist movement. This strategy proved particularly effective in mobilizing resistance in the struggle against social and political exclusion, discrimination, and exploitation, from which a large portion of the Black population continued to suffer even after the abolition of slavery in 1865. Not only Martin Luther King Jr., but also numerous other African American leaders—such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, and Jesse Jackson—repeatedly employed both concepts to emphasize their demands for equality and social justice.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has unfortunately been a marked increase in racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic violence across the Atlantic. In this planned project, we aim, on the one hand, to examine the main causes of these conflicts and, on the other hand, to use specific examples to explore how activists—whether consciously or unconsciously following in the tradition of the African American civil rights movement—have waged the struggle for human dignity, human rights, and civil rights for marginalized minorities since the 1960s.

Our topics will include, among others: the moral-philosophical and socio-political significance of the term “human rights” in various spatial and temporal contexts; the rhetoric of various civil rights movements and their public perception; the role of literature (e.g., Afro-German poetry or African American prison autobiographies) as a means of influencing public discourse, the national and international impact of the Black Lives Matter Movement, the situation of Afro-Germans and other Afro-Europeans, aid organizations, and advocacy groups for minorities in the U.S. and Europe. The focus here is, first, on the motivation and background of the actors; second, on the forms of national and transnational cooperation; and third, on the concepts and strategies employed and to what extent they have proven effective and successful.