Since the beginning of our country’s history there has been inequality among races. It started out with slavery, became segregation, and while today according to the United States constitution all men and women black or white are given the same rights and treatment under the law, we have seen this proven false countless times. There is undeniable police brutality which we continue to see on the news more and more frequently each night. There are an incredibly disproportionate number of African Americans who are currently imprisoned today. Even our political leadership reflects this problem. It wasn’t until 2008 that we had our first African American president, nearly fifty years after African Americans were granted the right to vote. These issues stem largely from the double standard inexistence for African Americans and the racism that is so deeply ingrained into our society and our brains. Stockely Carmichael’s speech, Black Power, was delivered to a mostly white audience in 1969, delving into the problems African Americans faced during that time period. By supplementing this speech with scholarly journal articles, it becomes apparent that the main struggle faced was the double standard created between whites and blacks since the advent of our country. This double standard continues to serve as a divide in our modern day political system.

The New York Amsterdam News article “Racial double standards—And what has happened to the GOP?” by Christina Greer discusses the double standard for African Americans in United States politics. Greer highlights the different treatment and standard president Obama is held to solely as a result of his race. As an example, Greer challenges her readers to imagine if President Obama had campaigned a twice divorced man, married to a woman twenty-four years younger, having five children by three different women. Greer additionally emphasizes drama which has been publicized about other political families. She notes that the American public would not have found this to be acceptable had it come from the Obama Administration. The article is incredibly biased and anti-republican. Greer even goes as far to call the GOP “a culmination of Republican chickens coming home to roost” (Greer 1). While this does take away some reliability, the article sheds a light on a very important issue currently plaguing the United States. Many of Greer’s claims are valid. In addition, Greer, an African American woman herself, is appalled by the fact that Donald Trump has offended such a large portion of the population for example- Blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, and women. She does not understand how Trump could have said such highly offensive things to so many groups, yet still possess such a large following. Greer points out that this following alone is a reflection on the American public. To make her point current, I would like to add that electing Donald Trump as the president of the United States only further proves how deeply ingrained this racism is in both our institutions and brains.

Along the same lines, Carmichael addresses the reputation of the Black Panther political party and how they are not treated in the same ways as their opposing white party. Carmichael explains that each political party chooses an emblem to represent themselves and this particular group chose a panther, because panthers symbolize strength and dignity. The organization’s real name is the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, however, this is never what they are referred to as. He goes on to explain that there is another group, the Alabama Democratic Party, who are constantly referred to by their real name. Carmichael elaborates pointing out that they would never be called the White Cock Party after their emblem because of their privilege, this double standard does not apply to them.

I grew up at a fairly liberal school in New York and have always been taught that the Black Panthers were a political party who fought for racial equality. Recently, I have heard of the party’s history being taught in different ways amongst my peers. For example, a “violent protest group” or the “black KKK”. These explanations are highly offensive to the party and people who continue to fight for equality generations later, yet they are still repeated by parents and educators. The topic of double standards is one which is often overlooked, but when we pay attention closely, the differences in treatment among races is evident. This is explained in further depth in Strickland and Bill’s “Things Fall Apart: Black Struggle in Imperial America and the Need for Adequate Theory of Emancipation for the 21st Century.” The authors note, 

“THIS IS THE NEW RACISM: legal, flexible, deniable and ubiquitous. It racially profiles us on the streets, the highways, and the shopping malls. It strip-searches black and Latino women in airports under the pretext that they may be "drug mules." Its juvenile courts send young blacks and browns to prison six times more often than young whites for the same offenses, while its federal courts apply the drug laws in a notorious and blatantly discriminatory fashion” (Bill and Strickland).

They explain that racism is no longer depriving African Americans the right to vote or having segregated schools but it is rather treating people differently and targeting them because of their race. This article is important to read in connection with the speech because we can see how far our country still needs to come in order to live in a truly equal place and gives us present day context.

In correlation, Carmichael’s speech highlights the double standard for African Americans in terms of nonviolence. He notes that when there is black on black or white on white conflict nonviolence is never brought up. Adding, that even whites being violent towards blacks is not looked down on, “White people beat up black people every day --- Don’t anybody talk about nonviolence” (Carmichael 13). This is an incredibly important idea to pay attention to. Carmichael goes onto say, “But as soon as black people start to move, the double standard comes into being” (Carmichael 13). Carmichael continues by explaining that African American’s feel as though they cannot defend themselves because they are automatically labeled as violent criminals yet they are attacked all of the time with the whites who attack them facing no consequences. This puts African Americans in a nearly impossible position with little to do to even defend themselves.

In parallel, the justice system in the United States is comparably as flawed today as it was when Carmichael’s speech was written nearly fifty years ago. According to an article “Beyond Crime and Punishment: Prisons and Inequality” written by Bruce Western and Becky Pettit, “By 1999, fewer than one percent of working-age white men were behind bars, compared to 7.5 percent of working-age black men” (Western and Pettit 2). They go on to explain, “Figures for young black unskilled men are especially striking: 41 percent of all black male high school dropouts aged 22-30 were in prison or jail at midyear in 1999” (Western and Pettit 2).  We know that African Americans aren’t prone to committing more crimes from birth, so we can conclude that this large difference stems from two main places. First, the circumstances they are born into, “45.8 percent of young black children (under age 6) live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children.” (Pettit and Western 3). Secondly, their likeliness to be arrested or pulled over as a result of racial profiling. Being targeted because of race is not a problem for whites.

Moreover, while we have come pretty far from where our country started in terms of racial equality, we still have a very long way to go. There is an institutional racism so deeply ingrained into our society that double standards often occur with few even realizing what is going on. This racism is harmful not only to the African American community but the white community as well. Carmichael’s speech along with the scholarly articles allow us to gain a deeper understanding of the problems which were going on in terms of racial equality during his time period as well as what is still happening today. This further explanation is crucial in understanding his speech and could not be more relevant today as we as a nation continue to work for equality while fighting against bigotry and hatred. 
