




In October of 1966, Stokely Carmichael stood in front of a mostly white audience at UC Berkley and gave a speech on “Black Power” that addressed ending the oppression and changing the way white people treated African Americans. Black people were not given the right to vote and they also could not live in certain areas, attend certain schools and other public places like busses, churches, stores, etc. Carmichael in this particular speech, breaks all of the social boundaries. He is speaking directly to the white population addressing their own created issues with African Americans. Carmichael believed that eliminating racism in America requires the changing of how American institutions operate. After closely examining the information Stokely presents in his speech “Black Power”, a new interpretation can be made about the civil rights act, Vietnam War and police brutality from what is presented throughout history. The new interpretation is that even though black people were given certain rights, it was still solely benefitting the white population.

Carmichael believed that every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people. Black people knew that as a human being, they had the same rights as white people but they were being denied their freedom (315). They knew that they had the right to go into any public place, vote and use the same bathrooms as white people. No law needed to be created for them to know this. There is no real benefit coming from African American stand point. One of the acts that Stokely is referring to is the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, and enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. It did not end discrimination, but it did open the door to further progress. Carmichael suggests that the white people were the ones that needed these laws. Carmichael interpreted that the civil rights bills did not fail because of the black political party’s rebellions, it was due to their own problems within their community. The perspective that Stokley presents on the civil rights bills sheds a new light on the laws itself. It was not a law intended to solely benefit African Americans but the white population as well. It was created to give consent to white people that blacks should have the same rights and they are human beings just like them. An example would be if a black person walked into a place full of white people, the people would have to allow the black person the right to be there.

It was also not just considered an injustice for black people to not be allowed in certain places but also them going to war and not having any benefits. Carmichael also talked about African Americans going to war in Vietnam to fight for a country they had no rights in. These black men were shot and killed, then sent back to America were they could not receive a burial of their own. He also states, “Anyone fighting in the war in Vietnam is nothing but a black mercenary. Anytime a black man leaves this country where he can’t vote to supposedly deliver the vote for somebody else, he’s a black mercenary” (Carmichael 320). This is the way Africans Americans felt at the time. The article, “Chronicles of A Two-Front War: Civil Rights and Vietnam in The African American Press” by Ann White and Dolores Flamiano talks about how the African American press used the Vietnam War to report on the Civil Rights movement struggles to achieve equality in the United States. The press did not see how the government thought it was acceptable to have African Americans fighting for a country they had no rights in. This is another way of showing how Black men were being mistreated and discriminated against.

There was a double standard in America because African Americans were expected to fight overseas but not respond to what is going on in the United States. White and Flamiano’s article supports that white people did not have respect for black lives and nor did the government. Throughout history black men were fighting for the lives of white people who thought their lives were meaningless. This is what the black press was trying to expose in America to put pressure on the government to make a change (White and Flamiano). Black parties used this injustice as a platform to gain their equality. This is just another example of how injustice existed, African Americans were fighting for nothing. This historical information makes us question was there any other way for African Americans to avoiding fighting for the country they had no rights in.

In addition to how they were being treated, the police were not making it any better for the lives of African Americans. White people were afraid of African Americans so they sent policers to black communities and if the black person even moved wrong they were shot. “They are afraid. That’s a fact. Carmichael says, “they’re afraid because they’d be beat up, lynched, looted, cut up, etcetera, etcetera”. It happens to black people inside the ghetto every day, incidentally, and white people are afraid of that” (page 325). Carmichael was trying to make the point that white people were afraid to go in the ghetto at night, they thought that black people would harm them which led to them shooting immediately because they were afraid. White people were afraid because they knew that they were mistreating black people and black people were enraged by this. The whites also did not want to see black people coming together. The same situation that happened in 1966 is happening now. 

Fast forwarding to today, police brutality still exists but on a different level. Michael Brown was an unarmed 18-year-old African American that was shot by a white police officer. Before Michael was shot he had his hands up and he yelled “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting, but he shot him anyway” (Onyemaobim). Wilson racially profiled Michael based on the color of his skin and the assumption that he was a criminal. The article, The Michael Brown Legacy: Police Brutality And Minority Prosecution written by Onyemaobim regarding police brutality, discusses the case of Michael Brown. In this article he mentions that police officers are meant to protect and serve all citizens but their fear of African Americans has quickly resorted to physical violence. The new interpretation of what Carmichael is addressing is that white people were afraid of African Americans which led them to killing without a real reason, it was simply because of the color of their skin. 

When it comes the violence the whole focus was on Black people. Carmichael says, “Lyndon Baines Johnson is busying bombing the hell out of Vietnam- don’t nobody talk about nonviolence, white people beat up black people every day - don’t nobody talk about nonviolence” (Carmichael 325). Carmichael is referring to white people’s response to black political parties such as the Black Panther Party. People focused on the violent approach of this party rather than the positive programs that they pushed to empower black people. The article, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised': Community Activism And The Black Panther Party” by Ryan Kirkby starts off by giving back ground information about the Black Panther Party community projects from 1966 to 1971. These projects were known as the survival programs that empowered the Black ghetto population. These programs such as criminal justice, health care, human sustenance and education where created to avoiding the violent approach of Black people. 

The violence that the Black Panther Party took place in was in response to the environment that surrounded them and a response for immediate change and justice to the black community. In this speech, “Black Power” it mentions that the Black Panther was chose as a symbol because it never attacks first until he is backed up against a wall and there is nothing else he could do. The reason for black people reacting violently towards the white government was because they felt like they did not have a choice. This is what Carmichael is trying to get across. He also raised the question “why is it that they’re bombing and killing people in Vietnam but no one is complaining about violence” (Carmichael 320). He feels that there is a double standard. 

In conclusion, Carmichael was addressing the white population about the way African Americans were being treated. In order to eliminate racism in American Carmichael felt like it required the way how American institutions operate. Carmichael’s approach in his speech was to go against the grain and to be completely honest to white people about how African Americans are viewed. Looking at historical information it gave a new interpretation about the Civil Rights Act, Vietnam War, police brutality and political parties. It allows the reader to understand where Carmichael and all the other African Americans were coming from at this time.





