Black Power Movement

Background

U.S. history is marked by instances of racial inequality. For the first 89 years of the nation's history, the practice of slavery was completely legal in many parts of the country. Black slaves with few or no legal rights toiled in the fields of their masters, facing harsh punishment if they misbehaved. After slavery was finally abolished throughout the U.S. in 1865, many states continued to segregate public places, enforcing separate "White Only" and "Colored Only" bathrooms, drinking fountains and swimming pools.

A movement to achieve full civil rights for all Americans, regardless of their skin color, began to gain steam in the 1950s. Many black and white religious leaders, grassroots organizers and politicians argued against segregation on moral grounds. By the late 1960s, some black activists, announcing that they were frustrated with the slow pace and compromising stance of mainstream civil rights efforts, began organizing their own groups dedicated to a form of black nationalism known as black power.

First used in 1966, the term black power became a rallying cry for black Americans who argued that U.S. society, with its legacy of slavery and segregation, was inherently racist. They contended that the only way to undo that ingrained racism was by drastic and often bloody means. Some black power leaders espoused the founding of a separate nation for blacks; some suggested that violence should be used to prove their point. All expressed profound disillusionment with the U.S. culture at large, which they said actively promoted poverty in black communities and maintained a racist status quo throughout society (Blattman and Miguel, 3-57).

Some tactics used by black power advocates raised eyebrows, however. Organizations like the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense preached the necessity of taking up arms in the ongoing struggle against policemen, who the Panthers said were racist and corrupt. Many historians associate Black Power with violent race riots such as those that broke out in 1965 in the Watts section of Los Angeles, which left more than 30 people dead as rioters shouted "Burn, baby, burn!" while setting cars and buildings aflame (Buhaug, Cederman and Rod, 531-551).

Were the militant tactics and divisive rhetoric of the Black Power movement necessary to overturn the racist status quo? Or did they hinder rather than help efforts to achieve racial equality in the U.S.?

Opponents of black power argued that compromises had to be made in order to undo the evils of racism. Only by working and cooperating with those in power could racial justice be attained, they said; black power was racially divisive, which harmed the civil rights movement. Also, the rhetoric of black power advocates fed into racist stereotypes that blacks were violent and angry, critics maintained, and few positive results were achieved by the movement as a whole (Collier, Elliott, 16-54).

Supporters countered that the so-called extreme stance of the black power movement was merely a reaction to what they described as an extremely racist society, which still felt the repercussions of the inhumane institution of slavery. Proponents further argued that blacks ...