Mainstreaming Black Power

by Tom Adam Davies

Panracial class solidarity, then, was an exception, rather than the rule, in both New York and Los Angeles. The clear trend of racial identity politics in both cities’ antipoverty programs reflected the growing strength of nationalist ideologies in black and other minority communities. It also underlined the War on Poverty’s capacity for nurturing racial nationalism, something most clearly visible in the organizations examined in the following chapter. Lastly, racial conflict between minority groups over antipoverty jobs and resources further discredited the War on Poverty and lent weight to white criticism that it was a liberal, pro-minority program that put taxpayers’ money in the hands of fractious, militant inner-city communities that brought unwelcome disruption to public life.