Leadership and power are closely linked; people tend to follow those who are powerful, and because others follow, the person with power leads (Mindtools, 2015).
As Black History Month comes to an end, I’d like to focus on three speeches that changed the face of our great Nation during the Civil Rights Movement. Yep, you guessed it, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are definitely players, but I’d also like to discuss a lesser known activist, Stokely Carmichael. All three had similar goals and reasoning behind those goals. However, they possessed differing points of view on how to utilize their power to achieve equality and battle racism in America.
When Dr. King was called to the stage for his “I have a dream” speech, the announcer introduced him as “the moral leader of our nation.” When called to the podium, Dr. King was able to send the powerful message that the oppressed would not give up by stating, “the sweltering summer of discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.” But to reach the goal of continuing the peaceful fight, he told his followers that “we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline.” He merely wanted America to recognize people of color as citizens of equal status and to do so without the use of violence. He wanted those citizens of our great Nation to “…not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Dr. King used a peaceful strategy to fully integrate our society.
Malcolm X’s stance, in contrast, was a bit more extreme. In his “Ballot or the Bullet” speech, he calls for all blacks in America to set aside their collective differences and join in a singular effort against their oppressors. He explains the importance of the “Black vote” while presenting his views on the Democratic Party riddled with the southern “Dixiecrats.” He explained his discontent with European immigrants receiving an immediate “American” status while Africans had “…been in the Nation all along” awaiting their rightful status. He presents an us against them theme and described the “white man” as the enemy against African Americans. In this speech, he used name-calling such as “southern cracker” and “hunkies.” He used offensive warning phrases such as “…if we don’t cast a ballot it’s going to end up in a situation where we have to cast a bullet.” Malcolm’s offensive stance raised tensions and placed the fear of revolution in the minds of many Americans, regardless of skin color.
Stokely Carmichael’s stance was, in-part, shaped by the peaceful teachings of Dr. King, but he was not a cookie-cutter reproduction by any means. According to Churcher (2009), Carmichael abandoned his belief in absolute non-violence because he believed King’s approach was not working. He argued that integration was never the intent of the movement and that the goal was to battle white supremacy. His argument took a more militant stance and presented the need for self-defense in an otherwise peaceful movement. During his “Black Power” speech, he made aggressive statement on the intent of defense: “move over or we goin’ move on over you.” His argument presented the need for black people to “…be seen in positions of power, doing and articulating for themselves.” Carmichael was essentially standing on the middle ground between Dr. King and Malcolm X. The American people had a choice to make…
The embrace of peaceful measures by King, more militant strategies by Carmichael, and the extremity of Malcolm X helped advance Civil Rights in the US through the use of power. The mere presence of extreme alternatives ushered in the general acceptance of Dr. King’s peaceful, integrative strategy towards equality and civil rights. Power, and the threat of power, guided mainstream society to choose the path of least resistance. These three individuals used their varying power bases to influence the Nation.
In a nutshell, power is the capacity to cause change, and influence is the degree of actual change in attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors (PSU, 2015). We can all see the fruits of their efforts today, but by breaking the power down into mutually exclusive categories we gain a better understanding. French and Raven (1959) described five distinct power bases in which people use to operate influence over others; these are expert power, referent power, legitimate power, reward power, and coercive power. Utilizing rational persuasion techniques, these individuals utilized all five power bases to the fullest extent.
Expert Power comes through subject matter expertise. All three of these individuals were experts in the subject of Civil rights. The movement was something they lived inside of every day through their association with activist groups. Carmichael and King gained expert power through formal studies, something that was out of reach for many African Americans at the time. Malcolm, on the other hand, gained his expertise through self study. They were all experts through education and practical experience in leadership positions. They each used this expertise to describe oppression and its associated corrective action in various ways. The nation knew they were experts in the field, and each gained and influenced many loyal followers as a result.
Referent Power is given by followers and available only through respect. All three of these individuals gained their referent power as their popularity with the citizens grew. As mentioned above, Dr. King was described as the moral leader of the nation. He was trusted and respected by the masses. Though their underlying principles varied, Carmichael and Malcolm also gained the admiration and respect of their followers. The referent power of each echoes today as we memorialize their efforts toward equality.
Legitimate Power is given and wielded through an assigned position that holds weight with a constituency; it is dependent on formal authority. Each of these individuals possessed some type of formal authority. For instance Dr. King was a founder and spokesperson of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (NAACP, 2015), Carmicheal was a prominent member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Ibiblio.org, 2015), and Malcolm was a lead spokesperson for the Nation of Islam. The placement of these individuals in their respective capacities gave them significant access to the power that spread their ideas.
Reward Power comes about when the leader has the ability to provide some type of desired outcome such as formal recognition, money, pride, freedom, equality, etc. The nation rallied behind these leaders because their arguments led to a reward. Those that understood the principles of humanity and equality found their reward in its achievement.
Coercive Power is the opposite of reward power; it is the ability to control others through the fear of punishment or the loss of valued outcomes (PSU, 2015). While Dr. King didn’t directly use coercive power, he described the current state of the nation as one of turmoil. His arguments were rooted in the fact that the American people were being punished and that if the situation remained the same, the citizens would lose the outcome of peace and prosperity. Carmichael and Malcolm, on the other hand, did use coercive power. They warned of increasing violence in the heartland. Attempting to coerce the nation, their varying militant stances towards the situation were alarming to say the least.
Five power bases were utilized by three individuals in hopes of change. In the end, it was the peaceful, integrative argument that triumphed, but only because of the sheer power of increasingly violent alternatives.
References:
Churcher, Kalen M., (2009). Stokely Carmichael, “Black Power”. Voices of Democracy 4.
Pages 132-148. Retrieved 1 March 2015 from:
http://umvod.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/churcher-carmichael.pdf
Ibiblio.org. (2015. SNCC-People: Stokely Carmichael. Retrieved 1 March 2015 from:
http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/carmichael.html
French, J. & Raven, B. H. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.),
Studies of Social Power. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
Mindtools.com. (2015). French and Raven’s Five Forms of Power: Understanding Where
Power Comes From in the Workplace. Retrieved 1 March 2015 from:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_56.htm
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. (2015). NAACP Honors Dr.
King’s Legacy. Retrieved 1 March 2015 from:
Lauren N Padgett says
Such an interesting analysis! I would be interested to see how future generations will look back and ours and analyze our leaders’ power bases. Furthermore, what will they say about what type of people we are so have succumbed to certain types of power. For example, much of the Civil Rights movement is remembered through MLK’s ethics via his referent power. It makes me think that his followers were most influenceable by morality and ethics. Would our generation today be the same? Or are we more influenceable by other types of power? Or does it entirely depend on the situation? Thanks for opening up so many thought provoking questions!
Willie Vigil says
All three individuals you reference have exhibited nearly all of the five taxonomies of power and the nine influence tactics. In the MLK speech you cite, I feel that Dr. King was utilizing expert power with his established experience within the civil rights movement, referent power because even the government appeared to give him credence as a civil rights leader. In the speech that you cite it appears that the Dr. King utilized several influence tactics to include inspirational appeals, such as “I have a dream.” Dr. King may have not lived to see Obama take office but his vision inspired men and woman to achieve that day.