Jack Salzman, Cornel West Struggles in the Promised

Nation Time! \\ 345
In spite of the Creole origins of the United States, America's principal white
architects, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, invented dominant
visions of the nation as a white nation; American nationalism has thus been envisioned
as white American nationalism. Since the founding of the United States,
Black Americans, especially integrationists and assimilationists like Frederick
Douglass, have rejected such racialized and, for them, self-effacing characterizations
of the American nation and American nationalism. From their perspective,
both the American nation and American nationalism are intrinsically hybrid and
inclusive. For them, the Black liberation struggle was principally an uphill battle
to have the Black nation accepted within the family of nations which constitutes
the larger American nation. 8
In the first half of the nineteenth century, the reform of a racist white
American nation and nationalism struck moderate Black nationalists like the
Reverend Lewis Woodson, as well as militant Black nationalists like David
Walker, as important but ultimately secondary. Most important for these Black
nationalists and their successors has been Black self-articulation and Black-led
efforts toward group-based "autonomy, unity, and identity." 9 In spite of the Creole origins of the United States, America's principal white
architects, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, invented dominant
visions of the nation as a white nation; American nationalism has thus been envisioned
as white American nationalism. Since the founding of the United States,
Black Americans, especially integrationists and assimilationists like Frederick
Douglass, have rejected such racialized and, for them, self-effacing characterizations
of the American nation and American nationalism. From their perspective,
both the American nation and American nationalism are intrinsically hybrid and
inclusive. For them, the Black liberation struggle was principally an uphill battle
to have the Black nation accepted within the family of nations which constitutes
the larger American nation.
Black nationalism,
then, has been primarily about extending strengthened boundaries of community
outward as a way to realize a viable Black nation.
In the late 1960s, these boundaries expanded exponentially to include a revitalized
connection to Africans throughout the world, especially those engaged in
national liberation struggles on the African continent. In addition, this African
American nation bound itself with an increasingly powerful coalition of nonwhite
nations throwing off the shackles of colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialism:
the Third World, An accelerating tendency toward interpreting the
world in racialistic and Manichean terms greatly intensified with the emergence
in 1966 of Black Power as the liberation struggle's principal rallying cry.
8
In the first half of the nineteenth century, the reform of a racist white
American nation and nationalism struck moderate Black nationalists like the
Reverend Lewis Woodson, as well as militant Black nationalists like David
Walker, as important but ultimately secondary. Most important for these Black
nationalists and their successors has been Black self-articulation and Black-led
efforts toward group-based "autonomy, unity, and identity." 9 Black nationalism,
then, has been primarily about extending strengthened boundaries of community
outward as a way to realize a viable Black nation.
In the late 1960s, these boundaries expanded exponentially to include a revitalized
connection to Africans throughout the world, especially those engaged in
national liberation struggles on the African continent. In addition, this African
American nation bound itself with an increasingly powerful coalition of nonwhite
nations throwing off the shackles of colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialism:
the Third World, An accelerating tendency toward interpreting the
world in racialistic and Manichean terms greatly intensified with the emergence
in 1966 of Black Power as the liberation struggle's principal rallying cry.
II
On the evening of June 16, 1966, SNCC's Stokely Carmichael was the last speaker
at a Greenwood, Mississippi rally. This proved to be a pivotal stop along the
march of various civil rights leaders who had rushed to continue from Memphis
to Jackson the ill-fated trek of James Meredith, who earlier had been shot by a
sniper. That evening Carmichael issued a resounding call for "Black Power." The
effect on the audience was stunning. His SNCC colleague Willie Ricks joined
Carmichael and asked the audience: "What do you want?" The reply was immediate
and thunderous: "Black Power!" 10 On the evening of June 16, 1966, SNCC's Stokely Carmichael was the last speaker
at a Greenwood, Mississippi rally. This proved to be a pivotal stop along the
march of various civil rights leaders who had rushed to continue from Memphis
to Jackson the ill-fated trek of James Meredith, who earlier had been shot by a
sniper. That evening Carmichael issued a resounding call for "Black Power." The
effect on the audience was stunning. His SNCC colleague Willie Ricks joined
Carmichael and asked the audience: "What do you want?" The reply was immediate
and thunderous: "Black Power!" This electrifying call-and-response eventually
died down, but it proved to be a defining moment. The civil rights movement
would never be the same.
The subsequent white-dominated and mass-mediated furor over Black Power
was extraordinary, largely for its concerted and often racist opposition. The wildly
conflicting interpretations of its meanings among Blacks and whites reflected
10 This electrifying call-and-response eventually
died down, but it proved to be a defining moment. The civil rights movement
would never be the same.
The subsequent white-dominated and mass-mediated furor over Black Power
was extraordinary, largely for its concerted and often racist opposition. The wildly
conflicting interpretations of its meanings among Blacks and whites reflected