

In October of 1966, Stokeley Carmichael, the leader of the SNCC delivered a speech to the University of California Berkeley. The SNCC was a committee established to form peaceful integration between blacks and whites. However, his speech “Black Power” is now considered to be Stokeley Carmichaels transition from tranquil and nonviolent organizations to more violent movements of Black Power. Black Power was the movement for Blacks to reclaim their social rights and power back from Whites. There are many historical texts that can support the exact ideas which Stokeley Carmichael was talking about in his speech.

This speech, given to an audience of mostly white people was meant to highlight what was fundamentally wrong with society and government at the time and the things that needed to occur to repair them. Stokely Carmichael begins his monologue by comparing Sheriff Rainey and American government to Nazis’ and the Nazi movement. He makes this comparison by stating that America has not been able to condemn Sheriff Rainey and his deputies for killing 3 black men, because in doing that they would essentially be condemning themselves. Stokeley then states that America is built upon racism. Carmichael asserts that the underlying problem is no longer racism but white supremacy. One of the main issues Stokeley Carmichael addresses is that every civil rights bill is passed because ‘white people fail to acknowledge that black people are human beings’ and that black people have been knowing this but white people now need to be told. Furthermore, Stokeley Carmichael states that in order for America to even flourish and be successful racism in and of itself must die out completely. Another issue Stokeley Carmichael has with the American government is the war in Vietnam and that black people must say “Hell no!” to the draft, among many other things. Another point Carmichael tries to make is that a double standard occurs when black people begin to defend themselves. Stokeley saids that it is when black people begin to arm and defend their civil rights that America wants nonviolence. Carmichael ends his speech by saying that white people must overcome their own agendas and end racism in order to have a fully functioning society.

One of Stokeley Carmichael’s main messages is the idea that whites have felt superior to blacks and have looked down upon them for hundreds of years.  In an article written by Ryan J Kirby he states “Of all the civil rights and Black power groups to emerge from the tumultuous environment of the 1960s, the Black Panther Party (BPP) remains one of the most misunderstood and controversial”. He goes on to say that the Black Panther Party is immediately recognized as just a forceful violent group, when in reality they have created an array of social programs in education, criminal justice, and health care.  Ryan J Kirby states that these programs were essential to the aim of the Black Panther Party. The whole directive of Stokeley Carmichael and the Black Panther party was for the black community to thrive and flourish, which is what these programs allowed for. However there is a shrewd misconception in history of what the Black Panther Party was truly about. Ryan J Kirby asserts this by saying “This pattern of emphasizing violence but not community activism, or discussing community activism and revolutionary violence as if they were separate strategies for change, is misleading, as it creates a fractured image of the BPP that prevents us from seeing the Panthers as they truly were.” In essence he is saying that at the time violence was needed for the advancement of blacks in society but violence just for violence sake was not their goal. 

“Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement” is an article which records the trials and tribulations of many civil rights activists in the 1960s. One of the main civil rights groups during this time was Stokeley Carmichael’s group the SNCC. In this article Steven Lawson describes how many of the peaceful demonstrators at Selma were shot and murdered, he states “he responded to the Reverend King's summons for clergy to journey to Selma after local police had bloodied peaceful demonstrators”. This is a perfect example of the white supremacy Stokeley Carmichael predicates about. Demonstrators are being shot simply because they are exerting their first amendment right. This article later goes on to show that not only are innocent black people being killed but also their white allies. Steven Lawson states  “Eagle correctly contends that the outcome of the trial was predetermined. The crime represented the clash of two cultures.”, when talking about the murder of a white activist Jon Daniels. White people who believed and defended the idea of black power were also being murdered by other white people. 

Stokeley Carmichael’s ‘Black Power’ criticizes all the things fundamentally wrong with government, society, and people in general at the time. Several articles and historical texts can support his claims about white society and white supremacy at the time.
