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• Black Power


  A new way to protest that emerged alongside nonviolent direct action from 1963
• Beliefs and ideas of black radical groups using the 'Black Power' slogan

  • Encouraged black people to be proud of their heritage and culture
  • Rejected help from white people and argued that black people should rely on themselves
  • Argued against forced integration
  • Were influenced by Malcolm X
  • Used militant language and spoke about revolution
• Black Power movement


  • Had the most support among the poor
  • Talked not just about power but also about a social revolution to improve the lives of poor black people, especially in ghettos
  • Campaigns were focused on local issues and they often achieved results
• Slow progress of non-violent direct action and legislation


  They had gone as far as they could
• The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts

  Did not solve segregation or voter registration problems in the Deep South
• Anger at continuing problems

  • Discrimination in work and education, all over the USA
  • Ghetto conditions worsening and being ignored
• Black Power groups got results on local issues e.g. occupied construction sites to force employers to hire more black workers
• Black Power campaigners told black people

  • To demand equality from white politicians
  • To be proud of their race and their roots
  • To defend themselves, not to accept violence
• The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts


  Meant many civil rights supporters (e.g. students) protested about other issues, such as the Vietnam War
• Civil rights campaigners (even King)

  Shifted focus to poverty or employment
• Stokely Carmichael


  • Set up the Lowndes County Freedom Organisation as a party to represent Black Americans
  • The party symbol was a panther and it became a symbol of black rights
  • Carmichael was elected chairman of SNCC
  • He brought more people who believed in Black Power into SNCC and started more SNCC campaigns in the North, especially in city ghettos
• The March Against Fear

  1. June 1966: James Meredith led the March through Mississippi, protesting about the violence black Americans in the South faced

  2. Shot on the second day, while in hospital, King and Carmichael led the march

  3. King stressed the need to be non-violent, but Carmichael's speeches were more militant and he urged people to demand Black Power
• CORE and SNCC


  Became less welcoming to white supporters, but they lost a significant number of their original black members who disagreed with their new, radical, policies
• Black Power groups


  • Used symbol of a raised, clenched fist at the 1968 Mexico Olympics
• The Black Panthers


  • Set up in California in October 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale
  • They attracted media attention when they went to the State Capitol in Sacramento carrying guns, to protest against a proposed law to stop people openly carrying guns
  • They believed that white officials and police were not supporting black communities, and said black people needed black officials and police who would work for the community
  • Each group had their own version of the 'Ten Point Programme' and each had their own version of the Panther 'uniform': black beret, black trousers and black leather jacket
  • Most Black Panther groups saw themselves as the police and social workers that their black communities needed but did not have
• What the Black Panthers did

  • Patrolled the streets in black communities to keep them safe
  • Worked to create 'rainbow coalitions' to encourage cooperation between non-white city gangs that usually fought each other
  • Controlled the traffic around schools with no pedestrian crossings, where children were regularly hit by cars
  • Continually pressed local government officials to provide street lighting, pedestrian crossings and various kinds of aid for ghetto communities
  • Ran courses on black history and citizens' rights
  • Carried guns for self-defence and tape recorders so they could tape police harassment
  • Organised medical clinics and provided free shoes for poor black people
  • Ran breakfast clubs for poor black children before school
• The Panthers did, at a local level, help to improve living conditions in ghetto communities. Their health clinics and breakfast clubs were particularly successful, and improved the lives of many black Americans
• Some Panthers were arrested for robbing banks to fund the projects
• Their policing of the streets was, for many groups, as much about provoking the police and engaging in shoot-outs as it was about policing the community
• In July 1967, California passed a law that made it illegal to carry guns in public places. Huey Newton was then badly wounded in a shoot-out with the police in October and charged with murder
• The publicity led to more people joining the Panthers. By 1968 there were 25 cities with Panther groups and there were more than about 2,000 Panthers
• Causes of the riots between 1964 and 1968

  • Police discrimination - the police seemed concerned with harassing young black men
  • Discrimination - city officials did not respond to complaints about issues such as badly-repaired roads or landlord harassment
  • Jobs - workers mostly had unskilled, low-paid jobs
  • Poverty - landlords, mostly white people, crowded them into cramped, over-priced housing
• Pattern of the riots

  • While over 80% of the rioters were young black men, they had support in the community
  • Many black people saw the riots as a reaction to the actions of white people
  • Black violence during the riots was mostly aimed at property (such as white-run stores that discriminated against black people) not white people
• The Watts riots


  Led more black people to join Black Power groups, and more white people to react against calls for equality
• The publicity drew attention to ghetto problems. Martin Luther King visited Watts during the riots and decided that the SCLC must campaign in the North. President Johnson said the riots convinced him to put more money