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Okay, I didn't mean to use the words "the only time" - that was poor word choice for the sake of rhetoric. Sorry. I am not saying that only white people can say it in a bad way. I am saying the reverse of what passthru said: that saying it does not necessarily imply that (you think) you are better than others.
Obviously I don't know why they really said it, but my best guess is that they meant it as a way to take back whatever power they perceived to have lost when the girls wouldn't give up the court. I'm guessing this because (1) when black people experience discrimination, it is a common thing to hear somebody bring up the civil rights movement and what a shame it is that MLK's vision isn't a complete reality (etc.), and (2) they were misguided enough to think that outnumbering and beating on girls was an appropriate behavior. (1) + (2) suggests to me that it is a greater likelihood that they were misplacing rage from previous experience with discrimination than asserting their superiority as a race when they said "black power." This is not fact. It is my opinion.
To restate my original point, saying "_______ power" does not necessarily mean you think you are better than people who aren't ________. My example of "girl power" is illustrative and I think that the point applies to the phrase "black power" as well - especially in this case.
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"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
(Michael Jordan)
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