




Shortly after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, Stokely Carmichael gave a speech given the name “Black Power.” In this speech Carmichael talks about many things that troubled our nation during the Civil Rights Movement. Specifically, Carmichael discusses issues surrounding the white supremacy ideals that ran rampant through the streets within this time period, and how these ideals delayed change. One of the main reasons this delay occurred was because of the many racist white leaders that ran our country during this time. Even when bills were passed they were not always enforced like they should have been. The speech “Black Power,” given by Stokely Carmichael, depicts the lack of equal rights for people of color during the Civil Rights Movement even after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Carmichael’s speech gives us insight on the reactions of African Americans because of how black people were treated when they tried to vote.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed on August 6, 1965. This act was signed into law by president Lyndon Johnson. It finally gave African Americans the ability to exercise their right to vote. This piece of legislation is one of the largest victories during the Civil Rights Movement, and, for most, signified that America was nearing the end of the period of blatant racism that thrived in our country. However, for others it was proof that racism was nowhere close to being left behind, and that black people were still considered second class citizens. Furthermore, there was proof of this act as being ineffective. For black men and women to vote after the voting rights act of 1965 was signed, they had to pass a literacy test. Seems simple at first, but when a closer look is taken it is very evident that these tests were designed to fail those who had to take it. The tests would include impossible questions that not even god himself would know the answer to such as, how many drops of water are in the Mississippi River? Even if someone could pass this impossible test, they were met with heavy backlash by the community. Those who were against black people having the right to vote would meet at wherever votes were taken at the time and protest the act. As a push against black people voting the local newspapers would put the name and address of every black man and woman who showed up to vote that day in an article. They did this so that people would show up to the black voters’ houses and discourage them from going back to vote in the next election. Along with the literacy test and protests, black people who wanted to vote ran the risk of being physically abused by their neighbors and the police that were meant to protect them. Therefore, people like Stokely Carmichael continued to speak out because these laws, while they were passed, were not being fairly enforced like they were intended.

Even with the passing of these acts, black people were still kept from voting. One of the most well-known racists during the Civil Rights Movement was Jim Clark. He was the sheriff of Dallas county, and reigned with an iron fist over the black people of this county. In an article called “The Black Woman Who Punched Out Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark,” the author talks about an isolated incident having to do with voter intimidation. This incident involved a woman named Annie Lee Cooper who was poked in the back by Jim Clark’s bully club. After feeling this Mrs. Cooper turned around and “dropped him to the ground with a right hook” (34). Along with many black people, Stokely Carmichael was tired of this racism and wanted it to end. Carmichael believes that the bills passed giving African Americans the right to vote were not passed for black people, but instead passed for white people. His explanation for this was as follows, “So some boys had to write a bill to tell that white man, ‘He’s a human being; don’t stop him.’ That bill was for that white man, not for me. I knew it all the time” (315). Furthermore, Carmichael even mentions that the civil rights bills had failed because of white people’s inability to deal with the problems in their own community (315). He has a very negative view on these bills because of incidents like the one with Annie Lee Cooper and later the event of “Bloody Sunday” where Jim Clark and his deputies beat peaceful protestors. These acts, therefore, show that the bills are illegitimate because they are not achieving what they were meant to.  Additionally, it was not Stokely Carmichael’s dream to reach equality, it was to go beyond that. Carmichael states “We went to get them out of our way; and that people ought to understand that; that we were never fighting for our right to integrate, we were fighting against white supremacy” (314). With this quote Carmichael is saying that he is not fighting to be a part of the white culture, but instead sweep them aside and replace white culture. The people within this movement simply wanted to be able to act on the rights that every man and woman born in America is born with. However, the white elite was keeping them from acting out these basic rights.

Before the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, there were many other acts that were passed that supposedly tried to give black people the right to vote. However, these attempts at equality were futile until the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “To correct the failings of prior legislation, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 presents a single, unified program to achieve voting equality” (468). This quote was from the “Duke Law Journal,” and depicts the main purpose of this bill which is to distribute voter equality to all people of America. One of the most helpful aspects of the act was the elimination of literacy tests which was the main obstacle holding African Americans back from voting. The laws prohibiting literacy tests were also enacted as soon as the voting rights act of 1965 was signed because of the triggering formula. They could also be monitored by federal examiners, but only if twenty meritorious complaints were given to the District Attorney. Thus, people could still act unlawfully as long as they could keep the number of meritorious complaints down. There were a few ways to get around this law, but all in all it made it much more difficult for people to be denied because of the color of their skin. African Americans still faced the mental and sometimes physical abuse of the people living around them, however, they laws were becoming more and more strict on those who committed race crimes. Even famous sheriff Jim Clark was put on trial at one point for his crimes during the Civil Rights Movement. With the passing of the law many felt good things were coming, but Stokely Carmichael was not finished. In his “Black Power” speech in 1966 he talks about the significance of this act. He believes that while the passing of this bill is a great thing, the need for it should never have occurred. Carmichael says in his speech that “a man is born free. You may enslave a man after he is born free, and that is in fact what this country does” (315). This line shows that Carmichael believes all men are born with the right to freedom, and that the only way that man is not free is when it is taken away from him at birth. This is exactly what was happening in America because of the institution of slavery and the racist ideals that surrounded black people long after slavery died off. “Seems to me that the institutions that function in this country are clearly racist, and that they’re built on racism” (Carmichael 314). Just like this quote states America was founded on racist ideals, and grew due to sweat and blood shed by enslaved African Americans. Without the institution of racism America would not be the economic powerhouse it is today, but we would have far less issues concerning civil rights and race conflicts. By saying this, Carmichael is shedding light on how racism founded and built this country. This is the main reason for all the backlash surrounding the Civil Rights Movement. Slavery seems to be engrained in Americas DNA. Carmichael calls for change, not in the legal realm of America, but rather the social realm. This is where the racist ideals are so deeply engrained because of the history of America. 

The acts of the racist white elite throughout the Civil Rights Movement depicted the struggle that the black community had to face. However, their hard work and determination prevailed, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed finally giving African Americans the right to vote. Even though the act did not fix all of the social issues within the United States regarding racism, it was a huge step in achieving equality for African Americans. These achievements would not have been possible if not for people like Stokely Carmichael who led the battle against Civil Rights in different ways. Specifically, Carmichael used his speech “Black Power” to tell the minorities of America that while these acts were a great victory, there was still a lot of work to be done to fix the many years of racism that have plagued out great country.