Black Power has always been a point of struggle.  From misconceptions, peoples refusal to understand, and frequent cries of reverse racism, the term has had many knocks to prevent legitimacy.  Stokely Carmichael knew that this would be the case.  In his speech, "Black power", he made the point that its time for Black people to stop trying to defend the moves they wanted to make before whites gave it approval.   His stance was to have his people to say or do what they wanted to without looking for White people to sanction it.  Black power movement was a movement that was justified within itself because the people were tired of waiting on the civil-zed government to move.

The movement that Carmichael pushed for was one of anti racism.  There was no such thing as a society run by racists that could accomplish or stay true to the cause it was set out for.  America was meant to be a nation that was democratic and true to its people.  Stokely Carmichael saw this as a hypocritical stand point.  "The adoption of the concept of Black Power is one of the most legitimate and healthy developments in American politics and race relations in our time. The concept of Black Power . . . . is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community.  It is a call for black people to begin to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations and to support those organizations. It is a call to reject the racist institutions and values of this society." (Carmichael and Hamilton 44)  The speech Black Power demonstrates that in order for black people to eliminate the negative self evaluation for incoming generations, then they are going to have to be seen in positions of power.  They must demonstrate things for themselves.  Stokely made the point that every time there is a black person trying to do something,  there is a white person there showing them how to do it.  This raises the problem negative self evaluation.  You could tell that Carmichael was very avid with this message as he continues the argument in another of his speeches entitled, "What We Want".  "The need for psychological equality is the reason why SNCC today believes that blacks must organize in the black community. Only black People can convey the revolutionary idea that black people are able to do things themselves. Only they can help create in the community an amused and continuing black consciousness that will provide the basis for political strength, In the past, white allies have furthered white supremacy without the whites involved realizing it." (Carmichael)  They begin to question if whites are really better than them.  Blacks must not accept having whites coming into the community to work.  No one is a reverse racist in this instance.  The idea is just to save the psychological  health of the Black community.

"Integration as a goal today speaks to the problem of blackness not only in an unrealistic way but also in a despicable way. It is based on complete acceptance of the fact that in order to have a decent house or education, black people must move into a white neighborhood or send their children to a white school." (Carmichael)  The thought of integration was a huge step forward in the civil rights movement.  To some it meant that their children could have the chance at a better education and improve the quality of life of their family.  To others it was another way that the government was continually putting a subliminal message that the White way was the Right way.  The way some view success, is by moving out of the ghettos, into the nicer upscale town houses in nice white neighborhoods.  Once you do this, you are "respected" person who has made it.  An example of this is a show such as The Jefferson's.  A black family that has worked hard and is now 'movin' on up" as the theme song says.  The novel a raison in the Sun is a slightly different example of this same instance.  The black family is in this white residential neighborhood with an attitude of "we are just as good as you", or "you're no better than us".  I believe that Carmichael would agree that these are false mindsets that bring harm into the psychological state of the people.  True integration would have been them sending white children to black school houses.  They pick a small percentage to move and "integrate" to try and appease the multitude.  They said, "look we are making progress as a nation" while using this false ideal.  Stokely Carmichael thought that integration was a subterfuge for continuing the idea of white supremacy. 

 "The very idea of Black power has to be understood in context of a mid-1960's discontent with modern liberalism from a variety of places.  Black Americans were understandably impatient with a significant lack of progress on race relations and, more importantly, on economic advancement." (Greene II)  We cannot speak on human relationships until we completely rebuild our current system.  The obvious inequalities of race were made even clearer and more straight edge through the showings of economic insecurities.  Many of the nations dreams turned out to be lies or were non-existent to the black communities.  In the Black Power speech it was promised to Americans that working hard and success were hand in hand.  Carmichael said, '  if that were true we would own this country lock, stock, and barrel.  The question was posed, if white liberals, who are economically secure, are willing to share their salaries with the economically insecure black people they love so much?  Stokely believed in the gaining of power because he was convinced that this country was not governed by morality, love, and nonviolence.   

"For a century, this nation has been like an octopus of exploitation, its tentacles stretching from Mississippi and Harlem to South America, the Middle East, southern Africa, and Vietnam; the form of exploitation varies from area to area but the essential result has been the same, a powerful few have been maintained and enriched at the expense of the poor and voiceless colored masses."  Carmichael's approach to the problem of oppressive forces is that the oppression is coming from the eyes of "helpers".  There cannot be a group of oppressors going to the oppressed telling them how to get rid of the oppressors.       

It seems as though there is no cure for the racism in our world but to start over and make everything anew.  The work Carmichael describes is that which is impossible for an entire nation to do.  I think that is his point.  He explains that it is up to the black people as a collective group to decide, despite the whites do, to come together and decide who is an ally and who they can say will help and what they can help with.  This is how the Black Power movement was justified.  It was not a racist act but just a group of people who wanted to come together and help themselves in a nation where they felt they were misplaced.   

