Black Power Movement
Warm-Up:
Objective:
Warm-up (10/14/11)
⚫ What is de facto segregation, and how did it cause
New Problems
⚫ The Voting Rights Act of 1965 marked the end of the first phase of the Civil Rights Movement with nonviolent
demonstrations
⚫ De facto segregation (not by law, by tradition, custom, and practice) present in the North
⚫ Housing ⚫ Jobs
New Problems
⚫ Poor standard of living for blacks in the North
⚫ Unemployment rates for blacks nearly doubled that for whites
⚫ Higher rates of illiteracy and poverty
⚫ Shorter life expectancy
⚫ Race riots erupted in the black ghettos several American cities
⚫ Watts Riots in Los Angeles (Summer, 1965)
⚫ Chicago and Cleveland (1966)
⚫ Newark and Detroit (1967)
Race Riots
⦿ Watts, Los Angeles, California – August, 1965
⚫ Long-term causes – poverty, discrimination, and police brutality
⚫ Immediate cause – African American pulled over – his brother wanted to drive car home but police officer called impound lot – brother and mother arrested during argument – crowd gathered
⚫ Several days of arson and looting
Race Riots
⦿ Newark, New Jersey – July,1967
⚫ Long-term causes – Italian-Americans dominated local politics despite a large black population – blacks also
suffered from poverty, poor housing, discrimination, and police brutality
⚫ Immediate cause – incapacitated African American seen being taken to police station and rumors spread that he’d been killed while in police custody
Race Riots
⦿ Detroit, Michigan – July, 1967
⚫ Long-term causes – police brutality, poverty, and poor housing
⚫ Immediate cause – police raid on a blind pig (speakeasy) ⚫ $50 million in property damage
Race Riots
⚫ President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to study the causes of urban rioting.
⚫ Placed the blame on poverty and discrimination
MLK’s Actions
⚫
The riots convinced King that the civil
rights movement needed to move north.
⚫
King focused on Chicago in 1966.
MLK’s Actions
⚫ Chicago’s African Americans did not share his civil rights focus—their concerns were economic.
⚫ King discovered that some northern whites who had supported him and criticized racism in the South had no interest in seeing it exposed in the North.
Fractures in the Civil Rights
Movement
⚫
Conflict among the diverse groups of the civil rights
movement developed in the 1960s.
⚫ Many SNCC and CORE members were beginning to question nonviolence.
⚫ In 1966 SNCC abandoned the philosophy of nonviolence
Black Muslims
● Nation of Islam was a large and influential group
who believed in Black Power, founded in 1930.
● Groups leader, Elijah Muhammed preached a
message of black nationalism, self-discipline, and self-reliance.
● Young blacks, especially from the North’s urban ghettos
● Malcolm X, fiery minister, offered message of
Stokely Carmichael and SNCC
⚫ In 1966, Carmichael replaced John Lewis as head
● SNCC abandoned the philosophy of
nonviolence. Thus, CORE did as well.
● Black Power became the new rallying cry.
● Carmichael coined the term “black power” in
speech after being arrested during a voter’s registration drive in Mississippi
Black Power
⚫
Earliest known usage of the term "Black Power"
came from a 1954 book by Richard Wright
entitled
"Black Power.
⦿
African-American reaction to white resistance to
civil rights movement
⦿
Varied political ideologies – some adherents
advocated black separatism and/or the use of
Black Power
⚫ Overall movement saw blacks linked in a global struggle for rights and self-determination
⚫ The uniting of black people.
⚫ The development of black economic/political power.
⦿ Use of term “black” instead of “colored” or “Negro”
⦿ Celebrated African heritage by adopting African hairstyles, names, etc.
⚫ e.g., Stokely Carmichael became Kwame Toure
⚫ Heightened consciousness of black identity.
The Black Panther Party
● The Black Panther Party was formed in
Oakland, California, in 1966, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale
● Called for violent revolution as a means of
African American liberation.
● Members carried guns and monitored African
American neighborhoods to guard against police brutality.
The Black Panther Party
⦿ Socialist doctrine – “Ten Point” program included calls for “Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace”
⦿ Had four desires : equality in education, housing, employment and civil rights
⦿ Started urban poverty programs (e.g., free breakfasts for kids)
Decline of Black Power Movement
⚫ FBI director J. Edgar Hoover created a secret program,
COINTELPRO to keep an eye on groups that caused unrest in American society.
⚫ Hoover considered King and the Black Power movement a threat to American society.
⚫ The FBI infiltrated civil rights movement groups and worked to disrupt them.
⚫ Spread false rumors that the Black Panthers intended to kill SNCC members
Decline of Black Power Movement
⚫
Police raided Black Panther headquarters in many
cities.
⚫
Armed conflict resulted, even when Black Panther
members were unarmed.
Decline of Black Power Movement
⚫
SNCC collapsed with the help of the FBI.
⚫
H. Rap Brown, the leader who replaced Stokely
Carmichael as the head of SNCC, was encouraged to
take radical and shocking positions.
⚫
Brown was encouraged to take these positions by his
staff—many of whom worked for the FBI.
⚫
Membership declined rapidly.
Affirmative Action
⦿ Designed to correct racial imbalances in education, employment, etc.
⦿ Programs that gave preference to minorities and women in hiring and admissions to make up for past discrimination against these groups
⦿ Begun under Kennedy and Johnson-issued an executive order in 1965
⦿ Revised Philadelphia Plan, 1969 – under Nixon, affirmative action required for all federally-funded projects
⦿ Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – affirmative action for all federal government positions (civil service jobs)
Decline of the Civil Rights
Movement
⚫
Northern phase not as successful
⚫
King’s lack of success with Poor People’s Campaign
leads to decline in SCLC
⚫
King’s assassination, which results in increase rioting
⚫
The FBI infiltrated civil rights movement groups and
worked to disrupt them
Civil Rights Legacy
⦿ Legal segregation ended
⦿ Federal civil rights legislation enacted
⦿ Massive numbers of African Americans became registered voters
⦿ Affirmative action gave African Americans a foot in the door to economic power
⦿ Formerly unspoken issues of discrimination, inequality, and racism became part of public discourse
Possible Essay Questions for Exam
1. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had similar
philosophies but used different methods to campaign for civil rights.” To what extent do you agree with this
statement?
2. Why was the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the United States more effective in the years 1954 to 1964 than in the late 1960s?
