Editing Tokenism (section)

==History==
The social concept and the employment practice of ''tokenism'' became understood in the [[popular culture]] of the United States in the late 1950s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nesbitt|first=Paula D.|date=1997|title=Gender, Tokenism, and the Construction of Elite Clergy Careers|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3512083|journal=Review of Religious Research|volume=38|issue=3|pages=193–210|doi=10.2307/3512083|jstor=3512083|issn=0034-673X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the face of [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]], tokenism emerged as a solution that though earnest in effort, only acknowledged an issue without actually solving it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whowhatwhy.org/2014/05/12/the-plague-of-tokenism/|title=The Plague of Tokenism|last=Wallis|first=Victor|date=12 May 2014|access-date=August 6, 2017}}</ref> In the book ''[[Why We Can't Wait]]'' (1964), [[civil rights]] activist [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] discussed the subject of tokenism, and how it constitutes a minimal acceptance of [[black people]] to the mainstream of U.S. society.<ref>{{cite book|last=King|first=Martin Luther|year=1964|title=Why We Can't Wait|publisher=Harper & Row|isbn=978-0451527530|title-link=Why We Can't Wait}}</ref>

When asked about the gains of the [[Civil Rights Movement]] in 1963, [[human rights]] activist [[Malcolm X]] answered: "Tokenism is hypocrisy. One little student in the University of Mississippi, that's hypocrisy. A handful of students in Little Rock, Arkansas, is hypocrisy. A couple of students going to school in Georgia is hypocrisy. Integration in America is hypocrisy in the rawest form. And the whole world can see it. All this little tokenism that is dangled in front of the Negro and then he's told, 'See what we're doing for you, Tom.' Why the whole world can see that this is nothing but hypocrisy? All you do is make your image worse; you don't make it better."<ref>{{Cite web|last=X|first=Malcolm|date=January 23, 1963|title=Malcolm criticizes early desegregation victories as 'tokenism.'|url=https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/mxp/speeches/mxa25.html|access-date=December 10, 2021|website=Columbia: Speeches&Interviews}}</ref> Malcolm X highlights that tokenism is used as a tool by America to improve its image but fails in its attempts. For instance, in 1954, the United States ruled [[School segregation|segregation]] in public schools unconstitutional through the ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' case. Malcolm X references [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], where nine students sought to fight for their rights to attend school. On September 4, 1957, Arkansas National Guard troops were sent around Central High School to prevent the entry of nine African American students into an all-white school, defying federal law.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Karen|date=August 2004|title=The Little Rock School Desegregation Crisis: Moderation and Social Conflict|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27648479|journal=The Journal of Southern History|volume=70|issue=3|pages=603–636|doi=10.2307/27648479|jstor=27648479|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] federalized the Arkansas National Guard and enforced federal troops to uphold the law.<ref name=":5"/> While this marked the day that ignited change within Arkansas' school system for African-American children, desegregation did not constitute equality. All nine of the students were brutally bullied by white students and this behavior was encouraged by the school's administration.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Breen|first=Daniel|date=January 30, 2020|title=Elizabeth Eckford Recounts 'Hell' Of Little Rock Central High School Desegregation|url=https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2020-01-30/elizabeth-eckford-recounts-hell-of-little-rock-central-high-school-desegregation|access-date=December 10, 2021|website=UALR Public Radio}}</ref> Malcolm X's example of Little Rock exemplifies how tokenism can be intended to create the impression of social inclusiveness and diversity without bringing about any significant changes to the inclusion of underrepresented groups.