Where Do We Go From Here

Content Warning: This section discusses the author's analysis of racism and the history of enslavement and contains outdated terminology about Indigenous peoples.

The mid-1960s was a crucial point for the future course of the freedom struggle. King explores the accomplishments of the civil rights movement and envisions its future as the idea of Black power began to emerge. King attempts to counter the growing resentment of the African American community regarding the slow progress in social change. He notes that the movement had achieved, through nonviolent action and resistance, the historic victory of dismantling “the entire edifice of segregation” in the South, which was the “stronghold of racism” (13). For King, by attacking racism at its heart, the movement paved the way for the future. He stresses that progress is nonlinear and full victory always demands “many short-term encounters” (12). King seeks to galvanize Black people and encourage them to continue their fight against injustice.

King recognizes the limitations of the first phase of the civil rights movement, arguing that up to the mid-1960s, its scope was limited to the South. As Black people in the South fought for survival against brutality and murder, their scope remained focused on regaining their dignity. Social unrest in segregated communities of the North concerned King, and he shifted his focus toward the North after the Watts riots in 1965, putting the issue of economic justice to the forefront. Despite constitutional reforms on civil rights and voting, discrimination persisted. King analyzes the economic struggle of Black people, particularly in the segregated “ghettos” where they faced “substandard housing” due to real estate discrimination, unemployment, a lack of education, and high rates of mortality among Black youth. To emphasize the significance of the movement for the future, he stresses that “the real cost lies ahead” (5). King indicates a necessity for reconsideration of goals, anticipating future developments in the racial struggle. King moves beyond the idea of integration to emphasize that improvement in education, jobs, and housing against growing “white resistance” would be “harder and costlier to create” (6) than desegregation. Addressing such future challenges, King signals that the racial struggle is ongoing.

While King remains skeptical about the strategies of the Black power movement, he provides his own perspective in supporting demands for empowerment. King defends nonviolent resistance and opposes the idea of self-defense as an organizing tactic, suggesting that it would proliferate violence and aggression. For King, “nonviolence is power” (61) and the most effective strategy to achieve change. King rejects the idea of “power” as the domination of one group over another. Instead, he advocates for a multiracial coalition in which power hinges on “racial understanding” and love. King rejects the ideology of Black separatism but supports Black people’s empowerment and racial pride. He stresses that power should be pursued not for its own sake but to bring about “social, political or economic changes” (37). Political power, “a call to manhood” (39), humanity, self-assertion, and pride in Blackness are key for King in the quest for justice. King also emphasizes that his anticolonial, anti-war, and international approach to racial justice overlaps with Black power values. King opposes the Vietnam War, calls for multiracial alliances, and condemns Western militarism and materialism. In King’s view, Black people will be empowered when community, hope, and love prevail over hate, violence, and despair.