The Civil Rights Movement: The Black Power Movement

The Black Power movement is recognised as a more radical group of civil rights campaigners who believed in separatism amongst black and white Americans. They were known to approach the civil rights issue using more revolutionary tactics than those of other civil rights seekers, for example, Martin Luther King’s. However, their intent was not always violent; their goal was to give black Americans equal health service, education, etc. Although most of their efforts resulted in bringing negative impact on the civil rights movement, the Black Power movement also had positive impact on the social and economic status of African-Americans.

Black Power divided the Civil Rights Movement.

The reason Black Power was introduced to the herd of civil rights

The problem with this was that the population of black people in the North was majorly made up of young people who had socialistic views due to their living conditions in the ghettos of large cities – the complete opposite of the quality of life in the South. Martin Luther King had no appeal to them as he once stated that, “You cannot solve the problem [of inequality] by turning to communism, for communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept.” (3) Contrarily, when asked about Communism, Malcolm X simply said “I don’t care who opens the door and lets me out.” (2) He implied that he would accept any help, even if it came from the Communists. During the 50’s and 60’s, Americans (particularly white Americans) were strongly against Communism due to the Cold War, thus many white supporters of the Civil Rights Movement, including those in power, were wavered by Malcolm X’s beliefs. Elizabeth Campling thus said, “Black leaders were forced to rethink their goals and methods, and the Civil Rights Movement split.”

Black Power groups gave particularly young blacks in ghettos a sense of racial identity and belonging. “Many historians have said that Malcolm X helped raise the self-esteem of black Americans more than any other individual in the civil rights movement.” (11) As displayed in the 1968 Olympics, African-American athletes gave the Black Power salute at the awards, and “the whole world became aware of the Black Power movement” (11). This way, Black Power gave exposure to the struggles of blacks in the