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At this difficult juncture, the omens are perhaps more favorable than otherwise. One of the more thought-provoking conclusions of a poll of the U.S. Negro community reported by Harvard Sociologist Gary Marx suggests that tolerance for the white man increases in proportion to Negro civil rights militance. The black to fear is the one who has not yet been exposed to the discipline of self-pride—the unawakened 75% Negro majority that lies outside the civil rights movement, and has felt almost none of its effects. This Negro has nothing to lose by venting his frustrations in violence. The new Negro knows how much damage violence can do to his own cause.
In the broad spectrum of the Black Power movement, there is indeed a regrettable taint of reverse racism. With this comes the risk of erasing much that has been accomplished in all the years of civil rights activity. Within the movement, too, are seeds of violence and destruction. Yet, at its moderate best, it can be a powerful force to develop the Negro's pride and the control of his own life. On those terms, and as a temporary phenomenon, it can be a power for good and can become a step toward the truly integrated society that must be the ultimate objective of black and white alike.