
Black power is a very controversial movement in history, and an often misunderstood one at that too. This phrase is often misconstrued by people who do not understand the true meaning behind the term, and is not a racial slur like white power is or even anything remotely close to it. Black power is not a term meant to put one race above the other at all really. It is about equality; equality for African Americans specifically. African Americans have always lagged behind when it comes to civil rights, and during the fight for increased rights the movement took this term on to represent their struggle. Black power is a term about black achievement and fighting for equal ground, which is nothing close to the term white power which stands for a racist movement of white supremacy. Looking through historical lenses one can come to the conclusion that black power is a term for racial equality and equal footing for African Americans in society, and not a disparaging term that is meant to hold one race over the other.

The definition of black power according to Merriam-Webster is, “the use of political and economic power by African-Americans especially as part of a social movement to promote equality and racial justice in the 1960s” (Merriam-Webster).  The black power movement really began in this time period and this is where it really took off. The black power movement was in response to the centuries of slavery and discrimination, and it slowly built up steam and eventually became a full-fledged movement for equal rights. One key thing to note is the phrase itself black power. Why is it important that the word is black in black power and not anything else such as colored? Black is a word that was chosen by the African-American community, it is not a term assigned to them by a majority group such as the n-word or any variation of it. Stokely Carmichael says as much in his black power speech when he says, “black people will have the right to use the words they want to use without white people giving them sanction to it; and that we maintain, whether they like it or not, we are gonna use the word “Black Power” (Carmichael 316). The choice of the word black in black power is the African-American community metaphorically breaking free from the chains of oppression and standing up for themselves. The movement reflects that stance. The black power movement throughout history has always revolved around gaining equal ground in terms of the political atmosphere and the economic atmosphere. According to Joseph Peniel, an expert on the black power movement, “the Black Power movement represents one of the most social, political, and cultural movements of the century” (Peniel 4). The black power movement really revolves around three core tenants: economic improvement, political improvement, and returning to cultural roots. None of these have anything to do with racial supremacy, the black community being regarded as higher than the rest. They just want equal power and equal rights, two things that have been stripped away from them wrongly. Their demands have merit and are all about equality, and not being held above any other race. The movement from the beginning got a bad rap when it began simply because of what the white journalists labeled it as. According to Carmichael, “We chose for our emblem a black panther to symbolize the strength and dignity of black people, an animal that never strikes back unless its backed into a corner” (Stokely 324). Simple and peaceful enough right? Wrong, well at least according to the white journalists in Alabama. Carmichael continues to say, “They never called it the Lowndes County Freedom Organization and instead called us the Black Panther Party. Why didn’t they call the white supremacist party known as the Alabama Democratic Party the White Cock Party?” (Stokely 325). This is a good point to make, the white media at the time strongly disproved of these black power groups and stereotyped them as racists off the bat. The media at the time helped to cultivate the viewpoint that the Black Panthers were a racist group when in fact they were not. 

The black community really struggled about the way to best represent the black power movement and their struggle for equality. Some men like Martin Luther King looked at peaceful resistance and marches as the way to go about it, while others like Stokely Carmichael saw fighting in the streets as the only way to take what is theirs and stand up against racism. However, all of them saw the black power movement as a way to regain pride in their race, the key point is they want pride in who they are and owning their race. Stokely Carmichael says as much when he says, “we need to restore the dignity and respectability to the black color which centuries of humiliation have turned into a color of inferiority and backwardness” (Edmundson 9). One of the big things the black community wants to accomplish with the black power movement is to not only hold equal ground with white people on a variety of things such as rights and representation in society, but they also want to have a sense of pride in their race again. To take back the power that they really never have had, but truly do deserve since they are human beings. African Americans throughout American history have been denigrated and treated as if they were animals. They were not given equal human rights at all. African Americans had to fight to free themselves of whips and chains, through the oppressive Jim Crow laws, through the discriminatory glances people give them late at night, and so much more.

 It’s still an ongoing struggle too. While things today are much better than they once were, they are still not ideal. The thing is, African Americans are only oppressed because, as Stokely Carmichael says, “We are oppressed because we are black, not because we are lazy, not because we’re apathetic…we are oppressed because we are black” (Carmichael 316-317). The reason why they were discriminated against and put down was because they are black. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the reason why the African American community uses the term black power. They want to regain power and take power over their race, as compared to being oppressed and having their race controlled by white people. Their race has always been looked down on and shut down by others. Not anymore though. Through the term black power and through the black power movement they’re trying to regain their lives, their original culture. Stokely Carmichael’s quote about bringing respectability and dignity back to their skin color which American culture has looked down on as inferior and weak reflect this. The black power movement is about regaining what they believe to be theirs, and frankly there is nothing wrong with it. This is in stark contrast to the term white power and the white power movement though. That movement and term are racist are and about reinforcing the idea of white power and white supremacy, which are both wrong. That movement did not originate as a fight for equal rights like the black power movement. It is all about oppressing minority communities, especially the African Americans, and their fight for equal rights. Both of these movements are on the opposite end of the spectrum. One, the black power movement, is all about fighting for equal rights; while the other, the white power movement, is about oppressing that fight. The distinction needs to be made clear, for it is a common misconception to correlate the two together, and quite frankly that is extremely distasteful because of how different they are. The black power movement is all about equality, the thing is that the movement is about fighting for equality for African Americans since society has put them down throughout history and oppressed them. Stokely Carmichael does a great job outlining that in his speech. The black power movement is all about putting others up, specifically the historically oppressed black community, and fighting for freedom, not putting others down.

The black power movement is a movement that is centered around equality for African American’s and getting them fair economic status, political status, and equal rights. All of these have been held away from them for so long, and that is why the black power movement is such a controversial one. It brings up the history of oppressing the black community and not giving them what they deserve, which is equality across the board. When discussing the movement however, one always needs to keep in mind that it throughout history it has been about gaining equality. No more, no less. This is what African American men in the black power movement, such as MLK and Stokely Carmichael, have preached and continue to preach. They just want equality. No more, no less.
