<p> The Nixon Administration broke diplomatic relations with Sweden in 1972 after its prime minister denounced the human cost of U.S. air raids over Vietnam. <em>TV Guide</em>, published by Nixon's patron Walter Annenberg, ran a cover story condemning Swedish television for “anti-Americanism.” Why so much fury directed at the land of Ingrid and Ingmar Bergman? Did the truth hurt? </p> <p>Out on DVD, <em>The Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975</em> follows the reporting by Swedish television on America during a tumultuous time, focusing on its coverage of African-American radicalism. Assembled into a documentary narrative by Goran Hugo Olsson with contemporary commentary by Danny Glover, Talib Kweli, Harry Belafonte, Erykah Badu and others, the Mix Tape is a fascination examination of the U.S. through the eyes of outsiders. Much of what was shown in the old Swedish TV footage should have been obvious enough even to American politicians. All this talk of the land of opportunity rang truer in the ears of whites than blacks. </p> <p>As a transitional figure between Martin Luther King and the Black Panther Party, Stokely Carmichael was given much attention in Sweden's news broadcasts, probably because he visited the country and toured Europe seeking support. Calm, imperturbable and eloquent, Carmichael questioned King's assumption that a non-violent campaign for civil rights will move the conscience of a nation. While paying King great deference, Carmichael maintained that the civil rights leader was mistaken for believing America had a conscience. It was a call to arms. </p> <p>Before long, the more inflammatory rhetoric of the Panthers and their public faces, Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton and Angela Davis, gave the American media cause for alarm. In Sweden, however, their views were aired with dispassionate curiosity. The footage from the final years covered by the <em>Mix Tape</em> shows the dream of black power deteriorating into the nightmare of heroin addiction in the inner cities and all the crime that accompanies the spread of hard, illegal drugs. Already conspiracy theories on the source of the trafficking were afoot. </p> <p>The conclusion many Americans will draw from the Mix Tape is that the U.S. has come a long way in some respects but has slid backwards in others. One of the important points raised by Martin Luther King toward the end of his life, and given a Marxist spin by Angela Davis, concerned the immorality of an economic system geared for the few. A living wage? Free health care? King spoke of these things in the months before he was killed and opposition to those ideals has only grown more fervent. </p>
