Textbooks and educators often portray the history of African Americans receiving rights as simple and harmonious. Sadly, it was not that simple and many Africans Americans lost their lives for trying to use their “rights.” What some saw as a privilege, others saw as a right. There needs to be a different approach for educating younger generation the realities of what really happened during the time of Civil Rights. By looking at historical accounts, Supreme Court cases, and works of those in the African American community, we can depict the theme of violence against African Americans and analyze the differing positions between having a right and having a privilege

In Stokley Carmichael’s “Black Power,” we see that throughout American history there are a lot of cases of African Americans who could not use the rights set by the constitution without being attacked. Also, we can see that there is a big correlation between violence against African Americans and the debate between what is a right versus a privilege. A right is defined as something granted by society to people for the purpose of function, while a privilege is granted by an individual or group as a reward. Carmichael argues that every man is born free and with being free that things were not a privilege, but a right.  He states that “I could vote and that wasn’t a privilege; it was my right… every time I tried I was shot, killed, or jailed, beaten, or economically deprived” (Carmichael 315). This is an example of historical prejudice where African Americans, men specifically, who tried to perform their civic duty were hurt when they were doing what they rightfully eligible to do. The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution “prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.” The government provided a path to correct the issue of providing and protecting voter rights to African Americans. However, a procedure to enforce the Amendment was lacking. As a result, some Caucasians, males specifically, attacked African American men when they when showed up at the polls to cast their vote. The adversaries of the Amendment failed to understand that African Americans now had the right to vote; it was not simply a privilege. This resulted in extreme tension which was a catalyst in the creation of what would become the Ku Klux Klan.

The Ku Klux Klan, most commonly referred to as the KKK, first emerged in the late 1800s and early nineteenth century. They were a group that supported white supremacy and white nationalism. They were known to use violence against African Americans. The KKK also aimed to overthrow the Republican (of that time) state government for its support of providing African Americans individual rights and lack of support for white supremacy. Looking back at the title of Carmichael’s speech “Black Power,” we can see that he wants to steer people away from white supremacy and focus more attention on the power of blacks. He states “in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom” (Carmichael 314). Carmichael wants us to believe that no person can just determine if someone is free or not. As previously referenced, he said that every man is born free and there should not be a need for a rule or law to be added to the constitution to ensure that blacks have the same rights as whites.   I am in agreement with his position.  Every individual, regardless of skin color, should have the same rights.  It is unfortunate that a change to the law had to provide the guarantee of the rights and freedoms that should be available to every American Citizen. It is not a matter of gaining a privilege but it is a right.

Some argue the point that if African Americans want to be assumed rights instead of a privilege, that they should stand up for themselves and do something about it. This is the primary ideology behind black power which was initiated to enable black Americans to fight for equality and recognition in society. However, it was not that simple back in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. White versus black relations were not as tense during the time period of WWII because they realized they had to treat each other as a unit to accomplish what they needed to for their country. This helped African Americans lose their fear of being beaten or in fear in general of the white population. After WWII relations grew a bit tenser again.  But, because African Americans no longer feared white people, they started to push hard for black power and fight for their rights; not privileges. There is historical documentation of how Blacks would gather in groups and organize giant sit ins and venture to places where they were not accepted. This led to numerous arrests and attacks on them.  Whites became more fearful of the protestors than most blacks were of the repercussions.  This resulted in the weakening of white prejudicial actions and made the African Americans stronger.

Stokley Carmichael addresses the claim that the problems of fear in the white communities are not the fault of the Africans Americans, but is the fact that there is an “incapability of whites to deal with their own problems in their own communities…that is the problem of the failure of the civil rights bill” (Carmichael 315). I think that this is very true, there have been many cases in history were people blame their problems on minorities as a scapegoat to try and defer the issue on someone else. Although the circumstances are different, I can see some similarities of white supremacy and racial prejudice in the United States to Adolf Hitler’s assault and stereotyping of Jewish population. This is exactly what white supremacists did back in the late 19th and 20th century.  Obviously, there was nothing wrong with the black citizens.  The idea that slavery was justified and that blacks were “violent savages” or just “property” had been projected and stuck in people’s minds for generations prior to the Civil War.  

Carmichael talks about how this country started to move in the wrong direction as soon as it started determining slaves by the color of their skin. He states “if one was black one was automatically inferior, inhuman, and therefore fit for slavery… we are oppressed as a group because we are black, not because we are lazy, not because we are apathetic, not because we are stupid…we are oppressed because we are black” (Carmichael 316-317). This is unjust to assume that blacks are the perfect type of people to be slaves because of their skin color. The idea of “violent savages” comes back into play and really defines what would be white supremacy and a need for black power, hence the title of his speech. Although, the African American population are far from being where they would like to be in society, they have come a far way since the people faced in the late 19th and 20th century. There were bigger battles to face and it took the work of major influencers at the time to make a huge impact.

There were some major influencers that arose during the origins of the Civil Rights movement that tried to speak out for the Black population as a whole and tried to appeal to the general public. One of the most famous influencers of the time period was Martin Luther King Jr. He wrote a letter that appealed to a wide variety of population with his major use of pathos and logos. Pathos appeals to things such as moral and logos appeals using logic. In King’s “Letter,” he uses pathos to “stimulate shame and moral awakening in white readers, as well as a collective self-consciousness based on controlled anger, pride, and commitment to the movement among African Americans” (McClish 51). This attacks the issue of finding a way to change the viewpoints from both sides. King tries to make whites feel shameful for treating Africans Americans with little respect and view them as easy targets of the argument privilege. He wants them to realize that they can’t treat their rights as a reward for acting civilized, but it is a God given right. King also wants to continue to motivate the African community to fight for their rights and let their voices be heard.  Some of the techniques he used to enhance pathos in his “Letter” are “masterful use of repetition” and “deployment of vivid metaphors” (McClish 52).

One very powerful simile King used was “a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its pus-flowing ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light” (McClish 52) This appeals to both the white and black audiences in different ways. He brings up the racial oppression perpetuated by the white population and the “messy and painful” means of restoring the public body. A boil is a red painful bump under the skin and in this context it used to describe society feeling a sense of pain over this issue whether African Americans should have the rights given by the constitution. In order to fix this boil, one must stop trying to cover it up or fight the issue but open it essentially for the ugly mess it is and resolve the issue. This was the major problem at the time in the 20th century because the tension between whites and blacks were too high and no one would be able to settle down for an agreement and accept that Blacks indeed have rights.

Looking at logos, King approached this concept on the basis of arguments and thought through counterarguments. This is essentially a turnaround strategy in which someone supports his opponents claim and then come back with a counterclaim. This is extremely effective because it shows that they agree with what the white community has to say, but it is not all necessarily true and can help reform their viewpoints. Looking back at privilege versus rights. It is like saying one agrees with African Americans having privileges, but there needs to be a different way to define who defines a privilege. Not one group or individual should be held accountable to make the decision whether someone has a privilege. It should be up to the government to decide, which they did with the amendments to the constitution. King describes this turnaround method as a “prime way to establish the reasonableness of one’s argumentation and for strengthening one’s ethos to call explicit attention to warrants, premises, or assumptions that ground one’s case” (McClish 55). I believe that the turnaround method is essential in arguments. Going back to high school when I had to write argumentative essays, I was expected to always include a counter-argument paragraph after the introduction paragraph. This allows the writer to present information and explain the argument that they are going to write throughout the paper to the reader and then after they explain what a common misconception people have they go and explain how that initial opinion is not exactly the best. I found myself using this in my second paper when I tried to go and explain that the word prison is a paradox. 

Supreme court cases had a big impact on defining what rights and privileges would come about for the African American community. The supreme court is the law of the land and has had a major impact on what sparked controversy between the white and African American community. Cases have progressively gotten more controversial and progressed after the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. In 1857 the Dred Scott v. Sanford case was one of the earliest cases recorded of an African American member of society. Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri and fought for his freedom since he lived in a time during the “free” territories. Sadly, the supreme court ruled against him saying that under the constitution he was his master’s “property.” The fact that a slave was still considered property even if they were in a free territory is not right. This definition of what is a right versus a privilege by the constitution was in my opinion unjust especially since the court came back and said it was unconstitutional to deprive slave owners of their property. 

In 1896, one of the biggest cases involving what would be defined as rights and privileges for African Americans came about in the case Plessy v. Ferguson. This case “upheld a Louisiana law requiring restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and other public places to serve African Americans in separate. But equal, accommodations” (The Leadership Conference). Even though African Americans gained “rights” by the constitution, they are being treated as to they have privileges by not allowing them to be able to live the same life as those in the white community. The white community helped decide that they would ensure that African Americans had the same “rights” but often these accommodations were in no way the same quality as other members of society were given. This is the harsh reality of the Civil Rights movement in the sense that slavery was abolished, they were granted rights, but still were not treated fairly in society which was what they wanted most. The phrase “separate but equal” is still being referenced today in the sense that members of the black community do not believe they are still at the same level as other in society and view this as a restriction similar to what was stated in this court case.

Another and more recent case, was the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education. The case brought about questioning over the integration of African American and white children in public education. The case was described with “Chief Justice Earl Warren, reading his first major opinion from the bench, said: "We conclude, unanimously, that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." (The Leadership Conference). It took 60 years for progress to be made with the term “separate but equal” which is not fast enough. This is why Carmichael wanted to stir up the black community to fight for black power in the United States. He said that “they have miserably failed to this point…they have never made democracy work, be it in the United States…” (Carmichael 315). The supreme court is in the judicial branch of the democracy in the United States and this proves with the court cases that it is failing. Progress is being made too slow and today still there is little progress in advancing the African American community due to stereotypes and other things that could have a big effect on the workplace or other parts of society.

In conclusion, one can see how there was a harsh reality of the civil rights movement and that there is a big debate between defining a right and a privilege. Looking at Stokley Carmichael, historical accounts, major influencers. and supreme court cases, one can see that there is a big debate between a right and a privilege. One can see dating back to the late 19th and early 20th century that there have been multiple and inconsistent accounts of trying to define these two words in society. One can look at Stokley Carmichael’s speech to see his supporting argument and historically can look at people such as Adolf Hitler to understand his claim. Looking at historical figureheads such as Martin Luther King Jr. one can see how there is a modest approach to take to support the African American community’s upbringing in society and how attacking people’s personal arguments, providing counterarguments, and appealing to things such as pathos and logos would help change public opinion for the advancement of the black community. Lastly, one can see how Supreme Court cases progress over time and that they were also inconsistent in giving blacks their rightful rights and needed reform to speed up the process in which rights were achieved. In today’s society, I believe we have a better knowledge of the history and to avoid repeating it we could learn from our mistakes and keep an open mind to still advance the African American community. 
