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the black power movement focused on
fighting to improve the economic prospects for black Americans . they worked in the inner city ghettoes of Detroit and Chicago . for example Black Power groups provided breakfast for city schoolchildren so that they would be better able to learn at school
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when were the race riots
1965-67
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African Americans in cities such as Chicago and Detroit didn't face the same problems of segregation as in the southern states , but they were
disconnected because of economic deprivation , poor housing and inadequate schools .
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in Chicago ....% of young black youths were unemployed and only ...% of ghetto children graduated from high school . this meant that an explosive situation was developing in the ghettoes of many US cities
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when were the watts riots
1965
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a brutal attempt by police to arrest a black drunkard driver sparked off
a huge riot in the Watts district of Los Angeles . it lasted 6 days and resulted in 34 deaths and $40 million of damage as mass looting occurred
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further major riots broke out in
Detroit and Newark in 1967 sparked by police arrests in areas where racial tension ran high
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both ... and .... worked in the ghettoes , distributing information on education , health , housing
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Seeing such poverty and deprivation at such close quarters made both CORE and SNCC become
even more militant
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in what year did Stokely Carmichael leave SNCC
1967
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what did he do then
he joined a group called the black panthers
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the black panthers was set up in
1966 by Huey Newton after the Watts Riots
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The aim of the black panthers was to
promote the ideas of black power and self defence .
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the black panthers had links with
communist freedom fighters all over the world and demanded "land , bread , housing , education , clothing , justice and peace"
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black panther patrols would
shadow police police patrols and if the police started harassing black Americans then the panthers would intervene to help the blacks .
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in response to this , California decided to recruit more black police officers into the force
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there were a number of .... .... between the .... and ..... ..., and the leading ..... ... were hunted down by the ...
- gun battles
- police
- black panthers
- black panthers
- FBI
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In ....... their leaders had been arrested and the organisation died out
1970
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when were the Mexico Olympics
1968
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the most famous black power salute was given by
two black US athletes at the Olympic games of 1968
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Tommie Smith and John Carlos were members of an organisation called
OPHR (the Olympic games project for human rights) which protested that blacks were discriminated against in sport .
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both athletes were asked to
boycott the games altogether , to gain media attention for the plight of black athletes , but they decided on another course of action .
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Smith won gold and Carlos won bronze in the 200m so
they used the opportunity of the medal ceremony to demonstrate their commitment to black power . They did not wear shoes on the podium to show the poverty of black Americans , and John Carlos wore beads to represent all those black Americans who had been lynched or who had died on the middle passage . They wore one glove each to create an arc of power and of unity .
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Smith later said
"we are black and we are proud of being black . Black American will understand what we did tonight"
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the athlete who won the silver medal was an Australian called
Peter Norman
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Peter Norman was very supportive of what Smith and Carlos intended to do and even
wore an OPHR badge during the ceremony to show this support .
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There was widespread condemnation for this action as the
Olympic games are not supposed to be used for political action . Smith and Carlos were suspended from the Olympic Team and when they returned to America they were criticised by the media . Their families received death threats .
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When Peter Norman died some years later , Smith and Carlos attended the funeral and helped to
carry his coffin
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the black power movement posed a threat to the
civil rights movement
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the black power leaders threatened to
split the movement
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if the civil rights leaders became entangled in internal arguments they would not be able to
put up a united front against the white racists whop opposed them
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Black Power leaders like Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X believed that the time had come for
black Americans to use violence to defend themselves against racist attacks
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black panther leaders despised
MLK as they believed that he was too timid .
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MLK did not want to frighten white supporters as he spoke about
"striped power" meaning that black and white would share power equally
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MLK did not approve of the
separatists ideas of Malcolm X but Malcolm X said that MLK was a fool . Malcolm X thought that one charismatic leader was not enough and that people with fresh ideas were needed to lead the movement
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tension broke out between MLK and Carmichael in
1966 when they were both on a march in Memphis .
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Carmichael wanted
the march to be blacks only but MLK objected to this
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during the march the state troopers
(who the governor said were there to protect the marchers) tear gassed and clubed them , and this lead to people like Carmichael to lose patience with the ideas of non-violence .
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Carmichael and his supporters shouted
"we want black power" and the crowd echoed his call . MLK tried to start another chant with "we want freedom" but the split between the leaders was clear . Carmichael then sang "oh what fun it is to blast/a trooper man away" which horrified MLK
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