You are walking down the street and see a man dangling by his neck from a telephone pole, what would you do? In the mid 20th century it was common practice to hang African Americans as a medium of punishment. The worst part is, the mass majority said nothing about it and even contributed to these murders. Looking back to this period in the United States, it is important to look at the details of what was happening. Often times there is more than just meets the eye when looking into situations like this, and in order to fully grasp what was happening you need to look past the superficial truths. Similarly, when reading about a topic such as the Civil Rights Movement it is important to examine contemporaneous events from all points of view rather than limiting yourself to how one individual perceived a give situation. The connection of outside resources to a primary source will allow for a more thorough understanding of the main topic.  

Throughout my years of schooling I have learned on several different occasions, that African Americans were mistreated on many different levels by white Americans. A speech delivered by Stokely Carmichael to white students at the University of California Berkley, illustrated some of the adversities black people encountered while living in the mid 20th century. His main focus in this speech was that white people created their own sense of supremacy over blacks and rather than blacks fighting for equality with whites, whites need to learn that they aren't better than blacks because of the color of their skin. In trying to prove this point he brings up an example about how African Americans criminals are punished more severely than white criminals. He does this by saying "Can you name me one black man who's killed anybody white and is still alive" (Carmichael). This example in particular resonated with me most because I have never heard this claim before in all the times I have studied the Civil Rights Movement. This is most likely due to the fact that we as a country don't want younger generations to learn about certain aspects of these times in our countries history. However, the reason history is studied is because history tends to repeat itself, and if the generations to come don't learn about these things, it is possible to relapse and fall back into old practices. A New York Times article titled "Courts Termed Unfair for Blacks: Study Rules Out Genetics as Factor in Crime Rate" by Deirdre Carmody talks about the findings Dr. Marvin E. Wolfgang found through his research, which in part discussed the relationship between crime and skin color. 

Through his research, Dr. Wolfgang found that whites and blacks were dealt with much differently in regards to judicial punishments. In the article, this statistic shows the relationship between the raping of individuals with the same skin color " ... between 1940 and 1964 in Florida, 125 white men were convicted of raping white women and 68 black men were convicted of raping black woman. In each category, approximately 4 percent of those convicted were sentenced to death" (Carmody). Although the rapists arrested were dealt with equally, in regards to the percentage that were killed, there is a clear distinction between the number of rapists that were actually arrested between the two races. The most plausible reason for these lopsided totals is that black citizens were regarded as the outcasts of society so no one cared if they were beaten up, raped, or murdered. A second statistic mentioned in this article discusses the number of black and white rapists killed after raping females of the opposite sex reads "84 black men were convicted of raping white women and 54 percent of them were sentenced to death. Eight white men were convicted of raping black women and none were sentenced to death" (Carmody). This statistic created an illustration that I had never before seen because is shows the extent in which racism was present in American society. Black people weren't just treated as the scum of society; white people were given special privileges while African Americans had their privileges as free human beings taken away from them. Sometimes in order to see the extent of a certain situation you need to examine the facts, and after I did, my ability to interpret this quote was substantially increased and my ignorance of the severity of racism in the mid 20th century was greatly diminished. When I read the quote by Carmichael now, I can almost hear the anger in his words because I now have an understanding of the extent in which African Americans were mistreated. Where as before I read this report, I was lacking the knowledge of the information in which Carmichael's speech was inspired.  Besides what I found in this article, I was also able understand the quote by Stokely Carmichael in greater depth after reading "Time and Distance Overcome" by Eula Biss.

In the story "Time and Distance Never Come", Biss writes about the invention of the telephone and the erection of telephone poles throughout the country. However, the majority of the story focuses on the fact that these telephone poles were used as gallows for the hanging of African American men. Throughout the story she describes over 20 different instances in which telephone poles were used to hang these men, each of which was because of something they had done or was accused of doing to either a white male or female. The description in this story allowed me to understand the quote from Carmichael's speech in greater detail because it gives different examples about the general idea of black inferiority in the eyes of the judicial system. Never in this story did she speak of a time in which a black man was lynched because of what he had done to a person that shared his skin color. This makes me think that white people, specifically the white people that were members of the judicial system, didn't care what happened to black people. In contemporary times, when a member of any race is accused of a crime they are given the right to prove that they are not guilty. However, at this time it seems as if the United States judiciary didn't want to waste their time on a black man's freedom. Instead they turned their head and looked the other way, letting the white people of society deal with the African American criminal as they saw fit. If the judiciary did accept a case of a black man, it often resulted in their execution anyway as stated in the findings of Dr. Wolfgang's study. Ultimately this story elaborates on what Carmichael is saying in that, no matter the situation it is never wrong to kill a black person regardless of if they are guilty or not. In realizing this, I was able to see why Carmichael said this, and why he was fighting so whole heartedly to end white superiority and show people that no matter what color your skin is, we are all equals and consequently should be treated as such. 

Seeing events from various point of view is always helpful when trying to find the truth of any given situation. In the example of me attempting to understanding the quote from Stokely Carmichael's speech, by examining "Time and Distance Never Come" and the Dr. Wolfgang's study report, I was able to interpret the quote more in depth by learning what was actually taking place at that moment in time. This new found knowledge allowed me to connect with Carmichael on a deeper level and fully grasp what he was trying to say. It is important to not always try to examine just the face of an argument. By doing this you are cutting yourself short what the argument is actually trying to prove. By expanding your knowledge, you open the door for further connections and a more thorough understanding of what is ultimately trying to be portrayed. 

