"In Boston," he continues, "you see Irish power. In Newark, you see Italian power. Cities are a series of ethnic powers. I see the black community fitting into that equation." Nor does he believe it will take blacks very long to build up ethnic power though they have been in North America for over three centuries. "In one way, this is the first black generation in America. Or, I mean, it is the first black generation of urban dwellers. It is the first generation of urban dwellers. It is the first generation in which black awareness and pride could develop because of closer communication in the cities."

To Farmer, black power means economic power--but not exclusively. Some militants have been embarrassed by the similarities between black power and Richard Nixon's "black capitalism." Not Farmer: "I don't favor simply black capitalism. Blacks can exploit just as badly as whites. There is, of course, some advantage to having our own people be the exploiters. But I would prefer a mixed economy with cooperative ownership to just a few entrepreneurs."

Even so, he admits, Nixon has the right idea. "He does not need as much reorientation to understand black power as the old-time New Deal liberals do. 'What! Build up the ghettos,' they say. They don't believe us. They think we should try to escape, pretend our black skin is invisible. Now conservatives, they understand power. They know power is necessary before there can be negotiation. 'Do you have power?' they say. 'Good, then let's sit down and talk.'"

There's nothing wrong with economic power, but it will be far more difficult for blacks to build their own economic institutions in 1968 than it was for the Mormons in 1848. Nor does Farmer clarify what forms the "cooperative ownership" would take in a capitalist, competitive economy. In their eagerness to "deal" with the conservatives from a position of power, Farmer and the militants may be overestimating how much economic power they can muster.

His acceptance of black power marks a serious change of heart for some black leaders. They have tired of being mothered by the Democrats. Some look forward to new coalitions, even to Richard Nixon--or at least Farmer does. He wants the black man to become "unwedded from the machine," to use his ballot as a "swing vote" that would reward friends and punish enemies. "Black people," he says, "unless I am mistaken, don't want to be loved. They want to be respected."

Farmer correctly senses the new distrust of blacks towards integration. "Right now we want to remember our blackness. Someday, maybe, we will be able to forget it. We'll keep on using the appeal to the white conscience, but we need something more. Integration still has relevancy, but not in my lifetime, nor my children's lifetime, nor my children's children's. Right now power is relevant: nothing less, nothing more."