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imperialism and greater privileges for the already privileged. The trend
is so pronounced, and there is so little effective opposition to it, that it
begins to take on an irrevocable, even irreversible, quality.") Black
Power people are not idealistic; rather, they have enough energy and
courage and confidence to take on such formidable forces. Instead of
constantly moaning, it would behoove some whites to engage themselves
in the meaningful struggle. One of the problems we noted with many
white students who went South to "help" the poor blacks in the delta
and the black-belt was that the former were too quick, frequently, to
opt out of the struggle. They were on the run from sterile, irrelevant
middle-class white America, and they rendered themselves useless, in
many instances, by their inability to come to grips with the bare harsh–
ness and embedded racism of the society. The southern blacks had no
illusions about this; they knew the struggle was intense - and they are
still there engaged in it, while many of the white students are off pluck–
ing flowers and tuning out. Perhaps this is what James Forman of SNCC
meant at the 1967 National Conference of New Politics convention in
Chicago when he said: "We will liberate you (the whites) too."
Duberman mitigates the Lowndes County, Alabama, episode. This
we see as a viable way to link up black people to the federal govern–
ment. Only when black people are able to control their local communi–
ties (wherever they can) can they begin to relate in a meaningful way
with the federal OEO and HUD and HEW. This is the plan; this is
the hope. It is
not
a matter of pitting little black Lowndes County
against
the national monolith. No, if the white decision-makers and their
constituents are not willing, ultimately, to effect a viable rapprochement
in
this way, then the decision is white America's to make.
They
hold
the key to further chaos and possible apartheid. But if they opt for this,
let no one - white or black - be sanguine that whites can maximize
their
civil liberties. It is clearly in white America's self-interest to come
to terms with the legitimate demands of black America and Black
Power.
This brings us to the point of the new sense of worth and pride
developing
in
the black community. Not nearly enough attention is
paid to this aspect of Black Power by commentators. The concept has
been the focal point for countless black people to reassess their role
as
black people in a white racist society. Black Power unequivocally
calls into question values which relegate the black man to a position
of subordinance, values which require black people to deny themselves
in
order to be "integrated." Black Power emphasizes the culture and
heritage of black Americans, and Duberman gives only passing mention
to this. Some have suggested that this emphasis on "blackness" could
