Black Power 1-3

While reading Black Power, it introduced me into some new ideas on racism that have not been brought up yet in this course. For example, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark argues, "The dark ghettos are social, political, educational and--above all--economic colonies" (pg. 2). He's saying that racism in the United States is actually like colonialism. After reading Ture and Hamilton's examples validating this uncommon argument, it became clear to me that the Negro problem in America could actually be considered a unique case of colonialism. Next, I want to acknowledge some of the similarities I have found between this piece and some of the material in Malcolm X's speeches. Malcolm X says that the "Negro leaders" are a bunch of clowns that the white higher-ups have control over. Ture and Hamilton explain, "Those hand-picked 'leaders' have no viable constituency for which they can speak and act. All this is a classic formula of colonial co-optation" (pg. 31). I believe these two are reinforcing the same thing Malcolm was saying in the way that they all believe these leaders are part of the problem. In addition, Ture and Hamilton bring up the same idea that Malcolm X presented in one of his speeches when they said that blacks need to develop a sense of community on common grounds (pg. 39). Both parties believe that this is an effective way to to start to deal with the problems of racism. Lastly, Ture, Hamilton, and Malcolm all believe that integration is not a solution to the Negro problem. Ture and Hamilton argue, "'Integration' as a goal today speaks to the problem of blackness not only in an unrealistic way but also in a despicable way" (pg. 54). They believe that integration would not only make African Americans lose their identities and heritage, but it would also abolish the black community (pg. 55). 

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