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STOKELY CARMICHAEL SPEAKS TO BLACK PEOPLE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

(Speech by Stokely Carmichael: Presented at Citizens Conference on Education at Frogmore, South Carolina, January 28, 1968. Delivered by Press Secretary Ethel Minor in behalf of Mr. Carmichael)

Brothers and sisters:

It's good to be here today with all my beautiful black brothers and sisters at
Frogmore—you know I feel especially close to all of you, since a few weeks ago I
spent a most soulful Christmas on St. Johns Island and was really at home with some
of the most together black folks I've ever come across. But just being "together"
in our thinking is not enough—what we must do is to act and come together now—
for this reason I'm not going to waste time today on jive stories and silly jokes.

Cause brothers and sisters, time for us, for our very survival as black people,
is running out, and running out fast. We have no time, no time to mess around, talk
and argue. But what we must do is to come together. In Washington, D.C. we have
formed the Black United Action Front which includes all the organizations in the
black community from the NAACP to SNCC; we have all sat down together in D.C. and
formed this broad based organization which has pulled together for the first time in
our history black people with all kinds of political views and beliefs.

And that is what you must do right here in South Carolina. You've got to come
together and unite on common points that all of us can agree on—I don't care if
you're a Baptist preacher, a school teacher, a farm worker, or a SNCC worker—
you've all got many things in common—one thing is we're black and we're oppressed
—messed over by the man....Now that's the most important thing we can come together
on—and once we do that, all other things will flow from that, we will find we got
a whole lot of problems in common and won't find it so hard to reach common
solutions.

Now, I'd like to get right down to the nitty-gritty and talk about South Carolina
and where you as black folks stand in this state. Of course, you know, the man, the
white man has us in a bag all over this country, but you brothers and sisters have
some extra special problems here in the home of the notorious drunkard Mendel Rivers
and some of the largest U.S. military bases in the world. I'll say more about these
two monsters later, but let's focus on this Educational Conference here—because
whether you realize it or not, this is probably one of the most important meetings
ever held here in South Carolina—it's important because number one—you have made
the first step toward forming a broad-based black organization which can begin to
solve the problems you face and have faced for over 400 years; it is broad based
because it includes so many groups in the black community—students, parents,
teachers, preachers, and grass-roots community people.

It's important—number two—because you have come together around a key issue
in our struggle—and that is education. You know, education is really very central
to what we are talking about—and I speak of the kind of education, the direction
of education that our people get. Let me make it crystal clear that I am not

(continued)

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speaking about integration or desegregation, because that's irrelevant to our problems. Whether or not we sit next to white folks in a white school has nothing to do with the kind of education that we as black people need. Most of you know very well that our present educational system is nothing but the white man's tool that he uses to keep his system going and keep us in our place. It has served him well for over 400 years---but it has never served us at all, and cannot possibly do so---because it was created to perpetuate his way of life and his laws---which clearly have us in the bag we now find ourselves in. Integration would not solve the problems of our students in the white man's schools, since we would still be getting the same type, the same kind of education.

Now, there are some very important questions that you must ask about the present school structure here in South Carolina. The white school system here is far below the average level of education in the United States---and the black schools are even far below the white schools---so where does that leave you? This means that you're getting a 10th rate education --or perhaps I should say a 10th rate "white man's education." Now, you know, South Carolina led the way in passing laws to keep slaves from learning---even up into the 18th century. And to this day I understand that Benedict College is the only school in the state that has a Black history course. In fact, brothers and sisters, our schools only turn out drop-outs and so-called graduates to become cannon fodder in Vietnam. And what do our students learn in school about Vietnam? Do they learn that our young black men make up at least 40% of the casualties and deaths in Vietnam, do they learn that the real reason L.B.J. sends us over there is for America to control Vietnamese minerals and get a base close to China? Do they teach our young brothers that not one black man sits on the South Carolina draft board? And--not this is important---do our students learn that South Carolina representative Mendel Rivers has control over 75% of the U.S. National Income---that he uses this money for the defense fund---to make war---to send our black brothers over to Vietnam, to kill yellow people---so that he, Mendel Rivers---can sit in Charleston, drink another fifth of Johnny Walker Red, and keep on messing over black folks---right here in South Carolina, on St. Helena Island, on Johns Island. And with all the military bases here, Mendel Rivers has made war the main industry in South Carolina---do they make that clear in your schools here? No--instead our students are taught about Dick, Jane, Spot and Sally!

Now---I know that you brothers and sisters are in a good position to take control of the schools in your community. You are 40% of the total population in the state, and 56% of the population around here in this area. Now--it is clear, and it should be crystal clear to all of us that 56% of the population---if organized---if united---can take control of the schools in your community. And when you get your schools together, you get your minds together, then you can move to get your politics together.

Now, you know Brothers and Sisters, you folks walk in the footsteps of one of my favorite black heroes. I speak of Brother Denmark Vessey, who planned and led the armed slave rebellion in Charleston, South Carolina in 1812. And he had planned to take control of Charleston---yes, brothers and sisters---he was moving to take over Charleston. He would have succeeded, but an Uncle Tom slave messed up and exposed the plot to his white masters.

That's another problem that you've got to deal with---asyou organized--- the Toms. Cause they'll mess you up as much as their white masters mess over you! There's a lot of other things I wanted to touch on today, but I didn't know how much time I had. And--as I said before, time for us is running out, we can't just keep on talking, but we've got to take care of business. You--brothers and sisters, must leave this meeting with clear intentions of organizing the black community into action. The schools is a key issue to start with--and from there, other problems and solutions will flow. I leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

> "THIS GREAT HUMANITY HAS SAID ENOUGH; AND HAS STARTED TO MARCH FORWARD!

Thank you.