Black Power Movements as A Violent Force to Ending Racial Oppression
Millions of Americans were shocked when Olympic runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the award platform at the 1968 summer games in Mexico City bowed their heads and raised gloved fist hands during the playing of national anthem of the United States. In contrast, millions more people around the world excited to seeing two fearless African Americans and a white Australian, Peter Norman, standing solidly before the world showing the dissatisfaction of human inequality in their homeland. For their stand, the three men were equally vilified and suspended from the team of their corresponding countries. Nearly four decades later, in 2006 Smith and Carlos participated …show more content…
They argue that the two men’s gesture of so-called “Black Power Salute” represented loyalty to fragment of Americans not the nation as whole. Though, the gesture of the two Athletes revealed what DuBois termed a half century previous as the two-ness of African-American condition in America “An American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder (DuBois 1903).” Yet it signified an act of unity with all those fighting for equality, justice and human rights. One such struggle was the Black Power movement in US. The main idea behind Black Power was to address and find a solution to the issues of economic, political, as well as social inequalities the African American community faced. This essay discusses the historiography of Black Power movements and their attempt to advance equality in the United …show more content…
The overwhelmed European Americans interpreted the expression as African American domination and possibly regarded it as a declaration of race war. Even media, for instance Time magazine considered the revolt drive as “a racist philosophy,” violent, and anti-white reverse-racism effort (Joseph 755). Moreover, reporters such as John Hart, James S. Doyle, and Martin Agronsky on CBS's “Face The Nation” aforementioned interview pushed repeatedly that Stokely define the meaning of Black Power; and no matter how wisely he explained, the media understood it as sinister. However, Stokely Carmichael sometimes gave the term an extreme meaning. On one occasion, speaking to African American crowd Stokely stated that “When you talk of 'Black Power,' you talk of building a movement that will smash everything western civilization has created” (NY times 1998). Speeches like this characterized Stokely and the movement he shaped persistently seen in the United States as non-empowering movement, rather destroying African Americans’ quest for political
Millions of Americans were shocked when Olympic runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the award platform at the 1968 summer games in Mexico City bowed their heads and raised gloved fist hands during the playing of national anthem of the United States. In contrast, millions more people around the world excited to seeing two fearless African Americans and a white Australian, Peter Norman, standing solidly before the world showing the dissatisfaction of human inequality in their homeland. For their stand, the three men were equally vilified and suspended from the team of their corresponding countries. Nearly four decades later, in 2006 Smith and Carlos participated …show more content…
They argue that the two men’s gesture of so-called “Black Power Salute” represented loyalty to fragment of Americans not the nation as whole. Though, the gesture of the two Athletes revealed what DuBois termed a half century previous as the two-ness of African-American condition in America “An American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder (DuBois 1903).” Yet it signified an act of unity with all those fighting for equality, justice and human rights. One such struggle was the Black Power movement in US. The main idea behind Black Power was to address and find a solution to the issues of economic, political, as well as social inequalities the African American community faced. This essay discusses the historiography of Black Power movements and their attempt to advance equality in the United …show more content…
The overwhelmed European Americans interpreted the expression as African American domination and possibly regarded it as a declaration of race war. Even media, for instance Time magazine considered the revolt drive as “a racist philosophy,” violent, and anti-white reverse-racism effort (Joseph 755). Moreover, reporters such as John Hart, James S. Doyle, and Martin Agronsky on CBS's “Face The Nation” aforementioned interview pushed repeatedly that Stokely define the meaning of Black Power; and no matter how wisely he explained, the media understood it as sinister. However, Stokely Carmichael sometimes gave the term an extreme meaning. On one occasion, speaking to African American crowd Stokely stated that “When you talk of 'Black Power,' you talk of building a movement that will smash everything western civilization has created” (NY times 1998). Speeches like this characterized Stokely and the movement he shaped persistently seen in the United States as non-empowering movement, rather destroying African Americans’ quest for political