What short-term impact did black power and black radicalism have on the black civil rights movement in the period 1965-69?

Black power can be seen as having a big short-term impact as it changed the civil rights movement pushing it away from integration, to separation with a more superior black race. The main positive accomplishment for the movement was that it “raised morale of many black Americans” by giving a new found pride and improvement of black “Self image.” However, the movement was flawed, as it created a rift between the peaceful movements of the NAACP with the militant black movements being advocates of violence.
“One of the few areas of unanimity was the emphasis on black pride and black culture” as it provided a new outlet that helped “galvanise many young blacks.” This can be seen two years later as in Karriema Jordan’s school she saw how “everyone adopted African names” as they wanted to embrace their heritage and not be held back by the “physiological entrapments of white supremacy.” Verney supports this view as during this time, black Americans were seeking to “rediscovery their African roots… by adopting Afro-style haircuts and African dresses.” This showed that black people were not afraid to “embrace black nationalism” and for the first time show off their race and heritage with “new celebrations of blackness that had been absent from civil rights struggles.” It is clear from this, in just a short amount of time, how influential Black Power was on raising the spirits of black Americans and provided them with a new perspective that many arguably needed.
Black Power importantly addressed the issue of black Americans on a local level and through the Black Panthers; they provided “useful practical help.” In 1968, as the “level of economic deprivation was high,” Floyd McKissick, leader of CORE, believed that the “growth of black economic power” would be the only way to secure real power for black Americans. Carmichael supports this opinion as the fact black Americans ‘are poor,’ would need to be addressed if black Americans were to progress. The Panthers began to tackle the ‘improvement of self image’ and ‘economic power’ by introducing schemes such as the “breakfast for children program” and “medical health care clinics” to primarily help unprivileged black communities. According Bobby Seale this was important as it was the first advances for black people in ghettos and showed that Black Power wasn’t just an idea. It also showed that the improvements was not just limited to one state but was “spreading across the country.” The Nation of Islam was also successful in “redeeming drug addicts, alcoholics and criminals.” This naturally helped win the hearts and minds of many black Americans who would then join the movement. Although having mainly local improvements, it is still an example of how Black Power was able to have a positive influence black Americans lives.
Another factor of positive short time impact was how Black Power acted as a alternative to the non violent groups and was able to unify the disillusioned youths and many black Americans with its wide spread appeal it “echoed in communities from Oakland to Newark.” The “growing impatience” suggested by the New York times showed that the lack of continuous development for the non-violent groups dispirited the younger black Americans. This led to growing support of more alternative radical groups with “5000 full time working members… mostly college students” joining the Black Panther movement. As Bobby Seale showed how the movement had rapid growth, it can be explained by Ogbar in how the “organisation echoed the demand for self expression and independence” which appealed perfectly to the mood of the youthful black Americans. In 1966 Stokely Carmichael provided a new angle with black power, which symbolised everything needed to elevate their spirits. Cleveland Sellers shows how “the crowd was right with him, they picked up his thoughts immediately.” Verney supported this view as Black Power with “an appealing slogan” could be interpreted by black Americans to mean what ever they wanted it to be. This unified black Americans to take control of their lives.
However, one of Black Power’s most damaging impacts was how it divided the civil rights movement with a split between the non-violent groups and the more radical. The “growing militancy” Stokely Carmichael described was an aspect of this. The increasing Black Nationalist groups also began to become increasingly separatist in their views as integration was starting to be seen as a “subterfuge for the maintenance of white supremacy.” This view proved damaging for both movements as the exclusion of white Americans “ignited a white backlash and alarmed an older generation” and was labelled ‘anti white’ organisation. Fairclough shows how the creation of a “black colony” isolated black Americans meaning that no real improvements could take place as in order for Floyd Mckissick’s target, “growth of black political power,” to be met was through the support of white Americans. These divisions can be seen as one of the main reasons why Black Power lacked in significant progression as the promotion of separation incited white Americans to react against the movement.

“These black boys had no respect for anything or anything or anyone” showed that the Black Power gained bad publicity, which in turn, through the movement’s questionable methods, also gained police attention. The movement however was targeted from the beginning as the “FBI were watching us” which provided a major obstacle. Verney presented that once they moved into the public eye it “resulted in tense relations with law-enforcement agencies” as the police set out to destroy the all aspects of the radical, militant, groups. With the main members of the party all being involved in petty crimes it made it easy for the police to sabotage the movement from being anywhere near as effective as it may have been if it was able to continue. The media showcased how Black Power publicly demonstrated violence, which struck “fear into many whites.” The New York Times suggested how the police had left some “beaten, brutalized and sometimes killed.” Verney supports this view as the police acted with “brutality against ghetto residents” due to a direct link to the bad publicity the movement was gaining. Overall this contributed to the demise of what had been an effective civil rights movement.
Finally, Black Power had limited achievements as in terms of achieving its aims it largely failed. Cook displays that “blacks provided their own interpretations of Black power” as it didn’t have a singular definition. This meant that all the organisations differed in their overall aims and objectives. Floyd Mckissick described how black power aimed to “secure power for black Americans” but could arguably have made them over-simplified and lacked attainable goals. Black separation was also very unrealistic and created a divide; this created tension and had no presidential of government support, which they would have needed if they were ever going start a black leadership and begin to influence policy. Carmichael showed that the only way to secure power for black Americans was to improve the “lack of education” available although no real significant effort was made. This can be seen as increasing frustration for black Americans during this time as the movement had no real direction and only depicted where the problems were but didn’t actually contribute to any “genuine social change.”
To conclude, the movement’s short-term positive impacts were limited. Its main positive impact was that morale was raised for many black Americans. The significance of the promotion of “self image,” enabled black Americans to embrace their culture ultimately leading to the unification of a younger generation. Black pride became the heart of the movement, which held the view of black Americans during the time; even non-violent organisations supported Black Power. However, Black Power’s practical help was limited, staying only at a local level and largely still “failing to find an answer for the ghetto problems.” The promotion of separation was very unpopular; gaining no support from both the non-violent organisations and white committees. This in turn can be regarded as one of Black Power’s largest pitfalls, and a contributing factor to its failure. Although the movement did not achieve its primary goals in the short term, its existence was arguably necessary in that it provided a platform upon which to emphasise black culture, something which, despite the eventual failings of the moment, was not lost.