Summary
Highlights
Stokely Carmichael, speaking at a student conference, sarcastically refers to the 'white intellectual ghetto of the West.' He announces his intention to run for president in 1968, though he acknowledges he is ineligible as he was not born in the United States. He dismisses discussions around 'black power' as 'intellectual masturbation' by advertisers and reporters.
Carmichael quotes George Bernard Shaw, stating 'all criticism is autobiography,' implying that white critics' views are self-serving. He then delves into the philosophical question of whether a man can condemn himself, aligning with Fanon and SNCC's view that one cannot. He provides examples of Nazis and individuals involved in the Philadelphia murders in Neshoba County, Mississippi, to illustrate that those who commit atrocities cannot condemn themselves because their actions reflect the values of the society that empowered them. He concludes that 'white America cannot condemn herself' and therefore, 'you stand condemned.'
Carmichael asserts that American institutions are inherently racist. He argues that integration, when initiated by blacks, was a 'subterfuge for the maintenance of white supremacy.' He states that true liberation was not about 'sitting next to white people' but about removing obstacles to Black people's freedom, emphasizing that Black people were fighting against white supremacy, not for the right to integrate.
Carmichael rejects the 'fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom.' He argues that 'a man is born free,' and white society's role is to 'stop denying black people their freedom,' not to grant it. He extends this idea to Civil Rights bills, arguing they are for white people.
Carmichael asserts that every Civil Rights bill passed in the U.S. was 'for white people, not for black people.' He explains that Black people already know their rights (e.g., to go into public places, to vote, to live anywhere) and it's white people who need laws to be told not to infringe upon these rights. He concludes that the failure of Civil Rights bills is due to 'incapability of whites to deal with their own problems inside their own communities.'
He challenges white people, as the majority, to make democracy work, asserting they have 'miserably failed' in the U.S. and globally (e.g., Vietnam, South Africa, the Philippines). Carmichael states that America not only deserves condemnation for its internal actions but also for its external policies, declaring that 'this country is not God and cannot rule the world.'