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The Failure of the Black Power Movement The Black Power movement is one of the most significant protest movements in U.S. History. The movement gets its name from the common rallying cry of Black Power, a term that was popularized by Stokely Carmicael.1 What differentiates this movement from its predecessor the civil rights movement, which emphasizes integrationism, is that it can basically be defined as a movement that seeks liberation for black masses via the advancement of racial pride, a redefinition of the black identity, and the solidarity of all black people around the world with one another in their common struggle against racist oppression. 2 This movement was marked by the rise of various autonomous groups that adopted ideas from a wide variety of influences . This movement was at its prime from 1965-1975, but many black power groups would come before and after then and may still exist today. In this essay I will argue that this movement was largely counterproductive due to the alienation of the larger society, its affiliation with crime and its factionalist nature. This essay will first establish the general context that generated the movement, the major players within it, the arguments against it and then counter arguments and refutations before the conclusion. The general context that produced the explosion of the black power movement is very important with regards to gaining an understanding of the movement. The list of influences can be narrowed down to three overarching categories: the counterculture era, the Watts riots of 1965 and the assassination of Malcom X. The counter-culture of the 1960s and 70s is defined as the era in which traditional values such as capitalism, marriage, misogyny, racism war and the consumer culture were rejected society and new virtues like: environmentalism, sexual experimentation, the use of

hallucinogenic drugs by a section of the society. 3 This segment, largely composed of the youths, was very revolutionary in its outlook in that it called for immediate radical changes in society. This segment is particularly well known for its opposition to the Vietnam. This was also an era of decolonization across Africa and the Caribbean along with the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the white community it produced the hippies. The Hippies were those who ascribed the culture of rejecting war, sexual monogamy, capitalism, and hard work in favor of sexual hedonism, peace, love, equality and recreational drug use (L.S.D. in particular).4 The reason why, in the black community, the counterculture shaped the black power movement was due to the continuing problem of racism against this demographic. The role this movement had in shaping the Black Power movement is that it fostered the revolutionary, militant perspective within the black youth that resulted in a sense of frustration with the civil rights movement. It also popularized the Marxist philosophy in the young black demographic at the time, a major running theme in most black power movement. The Watts Riots of 1969 was another major trigger for the movement. This riot was triggered in Watts, a district of Los Angeles California, as a result of the arrest of Marquette Frye, a black man, by a white police officer. These riots involved thousands of people engaging in the bombing of shops, gunfights with the police and the attacking of any why person who happened to stubble into the area. The riots lasted from August 11to August 16 as the local authorities could not get a control them. When the state did get these riots under control, with the use of the national guard, it was determined that 4000 people were arrested, 34 were dead and the damages amounted to near $40 million.5 What followed was a chain of urban rioting across the United States.

The riots erupted in response to racism in the form of de facto segregation and police brutality, despite all of the legal inroads made by the civil rights movement towards integration. This helped to shape the movement as it resulted in the disillusionment of blacks with the civil rights movement and thus making the more racially focused black power movement more relevant. The next big issue is the assassination of Malcom X in February 21, 1965. Born Malcom Little, he converted to Islam when in prison then changed his name to Malcom X and joined the Nation of Islam after his release in 1952. The Nation of Islam , founded in 1930, is the longest running Black Nationalist organization. It is in this organization that he becomes the charismatic champion of militant Black Nationalism and Pan- Africanism. Black Nationalism can basically be defined as the politicization of black personhood.6 Pan Africanism is the political, social cultural and social theory that states Africans from the continent and the diaspora are one people and that it is in their best interest to work together towards the ends of national and international self improvement.7 He was a believer in the creation of a separate African homeland for American blacks.8 He had learned these concepts from Marcus Garvey, one of the great early champions of these principles . He was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam as a result of a fallout between him and the N.O.Is leader , Elijah Muhammad . It is these two principles of Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism that resulted would be adopted by the movement. The result is that he became and still is a giant in the movement.

One of the most important early groups within this movement was the Black Panther Party for Self defense. Founded in 1966 by Heuy Newton and Bobby Seale, The Black Panther Party was a Revolutionary Marxist organization that was grounded in a ten point program that approached self-defense in terms of political empowerment, encompassing protection against joblessness and the circumstances that excluded blacks from full employment opportunities; against predatory business practices intended to exploit the needs of the poor; against homelessness and inferior housing conditions; against a prejudiced judiciary that convicts African Americans and other people of color by all-white juries; and finally against the lawlessness of law enforcement agencies that harass, abuse and murder blacks with impunity. 9 This organization was known for its military uniforms and its armed patrols in the Bay Area as a means of deterring police brutality against the blacks living there. Another Important early player in the movement was Stokely Carmichael, now called Kwame Ture. This man was , Trinidadian by birth, was responsible for converting the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) form an integrationist to a Black Power organization after taking it over in 1966. One major criticism of the movement was that of its alienation of itself from the larger society due to its polarizing stance. All of these groups were known for their militant, inflammatory, revolutionary approach to black liberation. One area in which this clearly polarization seen is in the rhetoric of these organizations. A good example of this vile polarizing speech comes from the N.O.I.s present leader, Louis Farakhan, who has made many hateful statements like basically stating that the white man created the welfare system to enslave

blacks.10 This movement is also associated with anti-semitism. A good example of this is the quote by Stokely Carmichael that the same Zionists that exploit the Arabs also exploit us in this country. 11 This can arguably be seen as reverse racism. In the case of the black Panthers it has been observed that their paramilitary style, their open wielding of fire arms made them seem like they were preparing for a violent revolution despite evidence to the contrary.12This threat would be used as the rationale justifying the infiltration and dismantling of the group by the state via the use of the COINTELPRO of the FBI. This criticism is significant as this polarizing stance is a means of advancing the empowerment of the black community is counter-productive. This is proven by an article that highlights the fact that the only way blacks have been able to gain political office is through avoiding Black Power as the blacks are the minority. 13This article goes further to state that the separatist rhetoric of many of these groups alienates them from white liberals who would have otherwise been helpful to them. 14 This article also states the fact that the idea of black economic self sufficiency spouted by many of these groups is economically unfeasible as the black community is too small.15 Another issue that is associated with the Black Power movement is its association with criminal activity. As mentioned earlier it was N.O.I. members who committed the murder of Malcom X. Huey Newton was a drug addict who killed in 1989 at the hands of a drug dealer. This affiliation with crime would be used to justify state investigations of the groups in the movement.

The next big problem with regard to this movement is the tendency of groups within the movement to break down into smaller, and therefore less effective, groups. A critical issue that factionalized the movement was the disillusionment of the women within it. Many black women within the movement felt that they were being discriminated against both by white racism and sexism by their male counterparts whilst at the same time being ignored by white feminists. The result is the development of Black feminism, the belief that only black women could understand perceive their own needs. 16A good example of a black feminist group was the Combahee River Collective that was formed in 1974. A good example of a black feminist is Angela Davis. She admits to joining the black Party but never becoming a full member. 16This is due to what she said was its masculinist culture that promoted women as objects of sexual desire for men. 18 This factionalism seems to be derived from two issues. The first issue is that these groups were very dogmatic and therefore uncompromising and the second issue is that there never seems to a general consensus on what Black Power means that these groups could agree on. One could counter argue that that there have been productive groups in this movement. A good example of this is the fact that along with the police patrols, the Black Panthers had breakfast programs for school children in cities like New Heaven and Oakland. I would refute this by saying that in the long run their ability to help the community was undermined by the aforementioned problems.

One could use Stokelys argument that one cant accuse the movement of being a reverse racist as the nation is racist and that the state should focus on its own problems instead of attacking them. 19I would counter that wrongs do make a right and it hurt the credibility of the movement be associated with this kind of behaviour. In summary the major issues that triggered the black power movement was the Watts
riots of 1965 , counterculture era, and the assassination of Malcom X. The problemsof the

movement that were mentioned were valid, and the counter arguments were refuted as invalid. Therefore one can conclude that the Black power Movement had largely failed due to factionalism, alienation of the society and an affiliation with criminal activity.