
Since the birth of our nation, oppression has existed and primarily been the backbone of our developing country. Beginning first with Native Americans who lived on the land before us to the African Americans who were brought over on boats, chained together, treated like animals rather than human beings. The oppression of minority groups has been highlighted in events such as the Trail of Tears to the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. 

Stokely Carmichael delivered a speech, “Black Power,” to discuss the white supremacy occurring in the United States. Although Carmichael and Martin Luther King Jr. had similar views, they did not align the same course of action on resolving the matter.

The gaps between white and blacks are so vastly different, not only with rights, but also with the mindset to solve problems. Carmichael references a lot of organizations and elements common within the black community to promote racial equality in his speech, describing the efforts of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to discussing political leaders during the 1960’s to the Black Panther Party to historically black universities and colleges. All of these influenced the speeches he gave during this time period because he attended Howard University which happens to be a historically black university. The political leaders he discussed impact his life because in his speech he references the Vietnam War, when efforts could have been better spent within the United States, specifically to improve racial equality. 

Stokely Carmichael’s speech, “Black Power,” discusses white supremacy and white people being unable to take responsibility for their actions and the creation of their unequal institutions. He highlights this idea in his speech by claiming, “it is incapability of whites to deal with their own problems inside their own communities” (Carmichael, 315).  His claim is not something unrealistic, since in “The Call for Unity: Public Statement by eight Alabama clergymen” the clergymen reinforce Carmichaels statement. At the end of the public statement, they plead with the audience of mainly black people to focus internally on the black community and focus on improving it to result in an overall better community of Birmingham.  The clergymen are unable to sympathize to the black residents of their community. They are in the majority group with all their rights at their fingertips, they ask the black community to wait for the legal system to solve their problems; however, the legal system is notorious for lengthy results. The clergymen’s statement allows us to have a deeper understanding of Carmichael’s speech, and helps us understand what the black community faced daily. Their rights and freedoms were legally given, but not allowed, due to the white population coming up with loopholes to prevent the black community’s accessing these freedoms. Jim Crow laws, for example, were enacted at the end of the Civil War and were not abolished until 1965. White people reigned over black people solely based on skin color. 

Through the course of his speech, Carmichael references people such as Martin Luther King Jr., an activist commonly known for his nonviolent protests. Carmichael states his admirations for MLK and that more people like him are what society needs, however he is doubtful about the effectiveness of MLK’s endeavors, thinking they will not be executed in a timely manner. Carmichael aligned with MLK’s form of peaceful protesting, however was a part of the Black Panther Party, which was not opposed to violence, only inciting violence if it was incited by someone else first. Two seemingly different approaches have a common goal in mind: end racial segregation. In MLK’s, “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” he responds to “The Call for Unity.” In the letter, MLK writes that bringing the white elephant of racial segregation out is necessary to develop tension and from the tension, progress can finally be made. Both Carmichael and MLK thought that whites must acknowledge the inequalities for progress. 

“Black Power” was delivered in front of a white audience, which I thought was particularly interesting since Carmichael depreciates the general beliefs of the white community. However, I thought it was a pivotal move, going and speaking directly to the source of the issue and making the white audience become aware of their actions and implications. I also do not know what impact his speech had, because it all depends upon the willingness of the audience to actually hear and process what Carmichael was saying rather than just being present and not gaining anything. If Carmichael had delivered his speech in Alabama or another southern state, rather than California, the results would have been completely different, the crowd would have been unwilling to hear the plead for change from an African American. In 1964, the political platform of the democratic party ran on the ideals of promoting social equality between races. During the election of 1964, California voted democratic, which could be described as the political party of Civil Rights.  Meanwhile Alabama tends to be more conservative went republican during the 1964 election. 

With the research I conducted, I was able to read “Black Power” through a different lens. It allowed me to understand the tension between races. The clergymen embody the wealthy upper-class, who are white and privileged, they trust the legal system which favors them. Not affected by the time it takes for the legal system to resolve cases, since the legal case did not pertain to allowing them rights. I was able to understand the frustration that Carmichael, MLK and blacks everywhere felt. I was able to understand the passion behind Carmichael, making an impression on the way he spoke and how he felt his course of action was best for the future. King and Carmichael came from different backgrounds and geographic regions, but fought for the end of racial segregation in their own regions. MLK was very active in the Deep South, since he grew up in Georgia. Carmichael however, was an immigrant and grew up in New York and was predominately more active in the North. Knowing this allows us to realize that segregation was not only an problem in the southern states, which tends to be what most people think, but rather it was a nationwide issue.

“Black Power” gave me a new perception on the 1960’s. There were a multitude of events that occurred during that era and by reading the speech, I was able to gain more knowledge about more Civil Rights activists. Stokely Carmichael was never someone I learned about in history class, so the speech provided additional insight. With the newfound perspective, I was able to see how on a large scale it affected the whole country. I also learned about the many organizations that were part of the Civil Rights Movement Carmichael was a member of. 
