BLACK POWER
211
of preexisting ideas. (People may have disagreed on how "Bread and
Land" or "Forty Acres and a Mule" or even "Freedom Now" were
to be precisely achieved, but the idea was clear enough.) Now we have
a slogan for which we must find meanings, a form in search of content.
It is perhaps a sign of the times, this reversion to magical symbolism.
The new route takes us beyond protest, around politics, to incantations.
In the beginning, of course, were Stokely Carmichael and his follow–
ers chanting the words on the Mississippi March. Since then; "Black
Power" has been echoed by different people for different reasons. What
we should really be talking about is who these people are, what they
want and how they propose to get it. These are the considerations that,
interacting with the response of white America, will determine the
~ctual,
concrete meaning of "Black Power."
-.
There is space here only for some assertions and a few comments
on Martin Duberman's perceptive article.
1) The ambiguity which Mr. Duberman notes in "Black Power"
stems in my opinion less from press distortion of SNCC and CORE
statements than from the slogan having become a grab-bag for diverse
tendencies within the Negro movement. (No doubt the mass media have
not done justice to the full range and complexity of Rap Brown's philos–
ophy; still, when his pronouncement on nearly every social problem is
"Better get you some guns," little room is left for further distortion.)
The difficulty is that "Black Power" now embraces: would-be guerrilla
warriors
a
la
Frantz Fanon and Che Guevara; advocates (in Christopher
Lasch's words) of "traditional 'nationalist' measures ranging from co–
operative businesses to proposals for complete separation," many of
whom are associated with CORE; various Negro intellectuals and pro–
fessionals in whom the degree of integration we have achieved has
induced an identity crisis; old-line politicians who see in "Black Power"
a potential instrument for erecting or shoring up ghetto machines;
small businessmen seeking to enter, preserve or expand all-black
markets; preachers who have long held their black congregations to–
gether with sermons about self-help and "the chosen people"; artists,
actors and entertainers who are exploring the Negro's history and cul–
ture for new forms of expression; etc.
2) Obviously, some facets of "Black Power" can be absorbed by
this society; they conform with our tradition and value structure. In this
category are the emphasis on self-help and the tacit acceptance of segre–
gation. Other facets will be nominally accepted but really undermined.
Thus, Negroes will be encouraged to open small businesses, while the
trend will be toward more big business consolidation and domination;
Negroes will be given increasing control over ghetto education and poli-
