Black Power
The emergence of black power
- The Civil Rights Movement focused on ending segregation in the South
- Northern states ® still discrimination
- By 1965, many African Americans lived there ® poor housing, schools & high unemployment
- Many were descendants of African Americans who moved from the rural southern states in the late 19th
century & early 20th centuries
- They had escaped the harsh segregation laws of the south, but the North didn’t give them the same
opportunity as whites
- As the 1960s progressed, they came to reject the non-violent methods which MLK Jr & the SCLC
advocated
- By 1965, the leading civil rights group began to drift apart
- New leaders emerged as the movement turned to the North, where African Americans faced racial
prejudice despite desegregation
- Impatient at the slow rate of change, they adopted more radical tactics of ‘Black Power’ Movement
- The growth of the movement coincided with a wave of riots in American cities in mid 1960s
- Main causes of riots ® poor living conditions & police brutality in the ghettos
- The problem facing African Americans in the North ® de facto segregation
De facto Segregation:
- Segregation that exists by practice and tradition
- Can be harder to fight than de jure segregation ® eliminating it requires changing people’s attitudes
- Activists would find it more difficult to convince whites to share economic & social power with African
Americans than to convince them to share lunch counters & bus seats
- De facto segregation intensified after African Americans migrated to Northern cities during and after
WWII
- This began a ‘white flight’ in which great numbers of whites moved out of the cities to the nearby suburbs
- Most urban African Americans lived in slums, paying rent to landlords who didn’t comply with housing
and health requirements
- The schools for African American children deteriorated along with their neighbourhoods
- Unemployment rates were twice as a high as those among whites
- Whites did not understand African Americans’ anger after south was desegregated
- Some realised that African Americans wanted and needed economic equality of opportunity in jobs,
housing & education
, Black Power Movement:
- Philosophy & grassroots movement (from children upwards) rather than a political organisation
- During the Meredith March against Fear in Mississippi, SNCC Chairman, Stokely Carmichael called
marchers by chanting “We want Black Power”
- Rejected the term ‘Negro’ ® referred to themselves as ‘black’ instead
- Emphasised the importance of racial pride, self-sufficiency & equality for all people of Black and African
descent
- Supporters of Black Power believed that MLK Jr did not go far enough to protect & promote black
interests
AIMS:
- To promote black pride in black culture, traditions & history
- To promote a distinct black identity ® used the slogan ‘Black is Beautiful’
- Urged solidarity with Africa
- Supported black political and cultural institutions rather than seeking equality & acceptance by whites
STOKELY CARMICHAEL:
- Born in Trinidad but went to high school & university in the US
- 1961 ® Joined the Students Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) & was involved in the CRM as a
Freedom Rider (Freedom Summer Project)
- 1966 ® became leader of the SNCC
- June 1966 ® James Meredith (first black student to enrol at the University of Mississippi) shot by a sniper
while walking alone in a ‘March against Fear’ from Memphis to Jackson, to protest against racism
- Carmichael, MLK Jr & others continued the march to honour Meredith
- Meredith re-joined the march after recovering in hospital
- During the march, Carmichael and other were arrested
(27th time he’d been arrested for taking part in Civil Rights protests)
- After he was released from jail, he made a famous speech using the term ‘Black Power’ for the first time
- He called on African Americans to ‘unite, to recognise their heritage, and to build a sense of community’
and to form & lead their own organisations
- NAACP & SCLC rejected some of Carmichael’s ideas and accused him of black racism
- Adopted the slogan ‘Black is Beautiful’ ® promoting black pride and rejected white notions of style
(followers wore Afro hairstyles and African-style clothing)
- Became increasingly critical of other leaders (MLK Jr) & their willingness to work with whites
- Later left the SNCC & joined the Black Panther Party, becoming its ‘honorary prime minister’
- When Carmichael spoke out against US involvement in the Vietnam War, the US gov. confiscated his
passport for 10 months
- After he moved to Guinea in West Africa, he wrote a book likening Black Power to Pan-Africanism
- Died in 1998
The emergence of black power
- The Civil Rights Movement focused on ending segregation in the South
- Northern states ® still discrimination
- By 1965, many African Americans lived there ® poor housing, schools & high unemployment
- Many were descendants of African Americans who moved from the rural southern states in the late 19th
century & early 20th centuries
- They had escaped the harsh segregation laws of the south, but the North didn’t give them the same
opportunity as whites
- As the 1960s progressed, they came to reject the non-violent methods which MLK Jr & the SCLC
advocated
- By 1965, the leading civil rights group began to drift apart
- New leaders emerged as the movement turned to the North, where African Americans faced racial
prejudice despite desegregation
- Impatient at the slow rate of change, they adopted more radical tactics of ‘Black Power’ Movement
- The growth of the movement coincided with a wave of riots in American cities in mid 1960s
- Main causes of riots ® poor living conditions & police brutality in the ghettos
- The problem facing African Americans in the North ® de facto segregation
De facto Segregation:
- Segregation that exists by practice and tradition
- Can be harder to fight than de jure segregation ® eliminating it requires changing people’s attitudes
- Activists would find it more difficult to convince whites to share economic & social power with African
Americans than to convince them to share lunch counters & bus seats
- De facto segregation intensified after African Americans migrated to Northern cities during and after
WWII
- This began a ‘white flight’ in which great numbers of whites moved out of the cities to the nearby suburbs
- Most urban African Americans lived in slums, paying rent to landlords who didn’t comply with housing
and health requirements
- The schools for African American children deteriorated along with their neighbourhoods
- Unemployment rates were twice as a high as those among whites
- Whites did not understand African Americans’ anger after south was desegregated
- Some realised that African Americans wanted and needed economic equality of opportunity in jobs,
housing & education
, Black Power Movement:
- Philosophy & grassroots movement (from children upwards) rather than a political organisation
- During the Meredith March against Fear in Mississippi, SNCC Chairman, Stokely Carmichael called
marchers by chanting “We want Black Power”
- Rejected the term ‘Negro’ ® referred to themselves as ‘black’ instead
- Emphasised the importance of racial pride, self-sufficiency & equality for all people of Black and African
descent
- Supporters of Black Power believed that MLK Jr did not go far enough to protect & promote black
interests
AIMS:
- To promote black pride in black culture, traditions & history
- To promote a distinct black identity ® used the slogan ‘Black is Beautiful’
- Urged solidarity with Africa
- Supported black political and cultural institutions rather than seeking equality & acceptance by whites
STOKELY CARMICHAEL:
- Born in Trinidad but went to high school & university in the US
- 1961 ® Joined the Students Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) & was involved in the CRM as a
Freedom Rider (Freedom Summer Project)
- 1966 ® became leader of the SNCC
- June 1966 ® James Meredith (first black student to enrol at the University of Mississippi) shot by a sniper
while walking alone in a ‘March against Fear’ from Memphis to Jackson, to protest against racism
- Carmichael, MLK Jr & others continued the march to honour Meredith
- Meredith re-joined the march after recovering in hospital
- During the march, Carmichael and other were arrested
(27th time he’d been arrested for taking part in Civil Rights protests)
- After he was released from jail, he made a famous speech using the term ‘Black Power’ for the first time
- He called on African Americans to ‘unite, to recognise their heritage, and to build a sense of community’
and to form & lead their own organisations
- NAACP & SCLC rejected some of Carmichael’s ideas and accused him of black racism
- Adopted the slogan ‘Black is Beautiful’ ® promoting black pride and rejected white notions of style
(followers wore Afro hairstyles and African-style clothing)
- Became increasingly critical of other leaders (MLK Jr) & their willingness to work with whites
- Later left the SNCC & joined the Black Panther Party, becoming its ‘honorary prime minister’
- When Carmichael spoke out against US involvement in the Vietnam War, the US gov. confiscated his
passport for 10 months
- After he moved to Guinea in West Africa, he wrote a book likening Black Power to Pan-Africanism
- Died in 1998
