How far is it accurate to say that the Black Power movements of the 1960s achieved nothing for Black Americans?

The government were suspicious of the black power movement and believed that it was linked to communism, due to the Black Panther Party having Marxist beliefs. They were also worried that there would be a violent “black uprising” or a communist revolution. Therefore they were often persecuted by the government, and an example of this was the FBI’s organisation COINTELPRO, which forged letters and infiltrated the Black Panther party, which led to the loss of a lot of members, who felt they could no longer trust the leaders of the organisation. It also played on the already weakened relationship between the leaders of the party, who disagreed about the way the party should go and what they should focus on. This meant that the party disbanded by 1977.

However the black power movement in general had a lot of achievement, and one of the main things was to change the idea of “black identity.” The movement aimed to create more positive black role models, and represent black people in media. One of their slogans was “black is beautiful” and the movement encouraged black people, especially women, to embrace their appearance, denouncing skin whitening creams and hair relaxers. One of example of this was Angela David, a campaigner for the Black power movement and women’s rights, who wore her hair in an afro style and made this look stylish for many young black people in America. They also promoted black musicians, as many white musicians at the time were becoming popular by playing music originally created by black musicians, and the Black Power movement wanted this to stop.

In conclusion it is true that the black power movement failed to stop racism and solve the social and economic problems caused by racism, and the regularity of police brutality against black people in America today shows that the Black Panther Party failed to stop police racism, however these movements still made everyday life different for black people. They improved healthcare and education and also politicised a lot of young black people who were disillusioned, and this is vital in ending racism, as it is something that takes generations of people to do. For this reason, the Black Power movement was significant in the 1960’s and changed the lives of black Americans.