Final answer:
The instructor compared the shifting balance of civil rights to a pendulum (option b), which swings based on the national security needs during war and peace. African-Americans used their role in wartime to fight for civil rights, while Eisenhower's warning about the Military-Industrial Complex reflects the challenges of maintaining democratic principles during periods of increased military influence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Your instructor has compared the shifting balance between civil rights in times of war and in times of peace to a pendulum. This analogy points to the idea that civil liberties can swing back and forth, being more restricted during times of war due to security concerns and more expansive during times of peace when there is less perceived threat to national security.
Throughout history, African-Americans have leveraged wartime service to push for greater civil rights and to highlight the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom abroad while facing oppression at home. For example, the rhetoric of World War II, emphasizing freedom and democracy, was used by African-Americans to call for those same principles to be applied within the United States, sparking what some consider the origins of the modern civil rights movement.
Eisenhower's farewell address highlighted concerns about the Military-Industrial Complex, wherein the increased power and influence of the military and defense industries could have detrimental effects on democracy. Balancing this power within a democratic framework continues to be a challenge. During periods like McCarthyism, fear was used for political gain, often undermining civil rights and associating civil rights leaders with disloyalty or communist sympathies, complicating the battle for civil rights during the Cold War.