A History of the Civil Rights Movement

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A History of the Civil Rights Movement

An Alternative to Nonviolence: Black Power Not all African-American activists believed in nonviolence. One of those who didn’t was Malcolm X (1925-1965). Malcolm X was a member of an African-American religious group called the Nation of Islam. He was a powerful speaker. His words and ideas excited many young African Americans. He made them proud to be black.

Malcolm X thought nonviolence was fine—if it worked. But if it didn’t, then he thought black people should fight back against oppression. In one of his speeches, he said, “Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” Malcolm X didn’t believe that white people would ever grant blacks equality. The solution, he thought, was for blacks to create their own society, separate from that of whites. Others came to feel the same way. In 1966 Stokely Carmichael, the head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, began to use the term “Black Power” to describe this idea.

Malcolm X

The Black Power movement was confrontational. Its leaders spoke out against predominantly white-controlled state and local governments and their police departments. Supporters of Black Power were not afraid to use the tactics that whites had used against civil rights marchers. They bombed courthouses and government buildings, and fought back when police tried to arrest them. The encouraged riots as a way to express black anger about racist police forces and discrimination in housing and employment. One of the most notorious Black Power groups was the Black Panther Party, which was founded by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in 1966. Although the Black Panthers were known for their confrontations with police, they also established schools, medical clinics, and social programs to help poor African Americans in urban areas.