Black Power Ideologies: An Essay in African American Political Thought

Chapter VII: What Is Black Power?

VII What Is Black Power? The term Black Power has a range of related but distinct meanings. Because of this it is impossible to find anyone summary definition that encapsulates the essence of the mo~ement as a whole.1 To seek the latter would at best yield a lowest common denominator of the Black Power ideologies, which if done well would describe that which is common to them, but at the same time such a definition would be so schematic that the unique value of each expression of Black Power would be lost. Instead of attempting to arrive at a summary definition of the Black Power Movement, I will develop a conception of Black Power by delimiting the factors that link the movement into a "family resemblance" or unity and from that show the uniqueness of each of the types of Black Power.2 The chapter will be organized in the following fashion. First, a description of the range of meanings that have been suggested for the term Black Power will be given. Second, some of the characteristics that bind the meanings into a rough "family resemblance" will be articulated. Third, the ideological differences between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his Black Powerite opponents will be reviewed to illustrate the perennial conflict and competition between Black Nationalist expressions and those of their integrationist competitors in the African-American experience . The Range of Usages of the Term Black Power The views of Professor Charles Hamilton, one of the few scholars and Black Power activists who has attempted to categorize systematically the meanings of the term Black Power, underscores very well 111 Copyrighted Material 112 CHAPTER VII the difficulties involved in such a process. Hamilton correctly points out that to some people the Black Power Movement was associated with violence and an effort to "destroy the political and economic institutions" of the United States;3 in other circles it was seen as an effort "to rid the Civil Rights Movement of whites who had been in it for years"; some saw it as black hatred of whites; others saw it as using "pressure group tactics" in the accepted tradition of American politics; yet others saw it as an "attempt to instill dignity and pride in Black People." Hamilton, writing in the late 1960s, concluded, "Ultimately , I suspect, we have to accept the fact, that in this highly charged atmosphere, it is virtually impossible to come up with a single definition satisfactory to all.". Instead of one authoritative definition, Hamilton sees the individuals and organizations that espouse Black Power falling into roughly four categories. The first category, the "political bargainer," conforms to the established political process, because he or she can "work within the two party system," and has as a major goal "equalizing opportunities to produce goods and services." Individuals like exCongressperson Shirley Chisholm, Representative John Conyers of Michigan, ex-state representative Julian Bond of Georgia, and black political organizations like the Black Congressional Caucus are excellent "real world" examples of the political bargainer category. The second category, called the "moral crusader," is more interested in "saving the soul of society" than in goods and services, is usually nonviolent, is not averse to making deals with the status quo, and because of a willingness to compromise is frequently "open to the charge of 'sell-out.' "5 The third category and the one in which Hamilton includes himself , is that of the "alienated reformer."6 The alienated reformer is "cynical about the possibilities of effecting change through the existing system," supports the concept of black control of black communities , and wants a transformation of society, but one premised on a revitalized black community. The alienated reformer is also interested in "bread and butter issues" like the political bargainer, but unlike the latter, is "contemptuous of 'white middle class values' " and takes pride in black culture worldwide. The final category is the "alienated revolutionary." Like the alienated reformer, the alienated revolutionary is also "cynical about existing power structures" but argues that progressive change can only come by the use of "calculated acts of instrumental violence." Hamilton argues that the alienated revolutionary is likely to start out as an Copyrighted Material What Is Black Power? 113 adherent of one of the other approaches but "is pushed by traumatic defeats into the category of 'alienated revolutionary.' " Hamilton suggests that this latter type of Black Powerite is likely "to call for a black...