Speech-Keionna Bailey

Was the Black Panther Party a violent militant group?

During the Civil Rights Movement there were many groups that fought for equal rights for African Americans. Each group using various means to fight the war on equality. Some used sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides. Of the many groups there was one that the FBI deemed "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." The Black Panther Party for Self- Defense (BPP), during its commission the United States government used many tactics to paint the Black Panther Party as a violent, aggressive, militant group. However the BPP was created to stop police brutality and create an equal opportunity for the black community.

The Black Panther Party served as community of activists creating a variety of community programs to warrant communal development such as Free Breakfast for Kids. Breakfast for kids was a program designed to feed the children in the neighborhoods every morning. This started out in California and soon spread nationwide establishing nearly 10,000 programs alike. Healthcare activism was the source of the BPP’s programs. During the civil rights time period there was a lot of medical maltreatment towards blacks. Blacks didn’t have the newest medical treatments. Some healthcare services were completely nonexistent resulting in the drive for resources towards better health services. The BPP established free health clinics, nutrition classes, a pediatric clinic, a free dental program, and a Sickle Cell Anemia Research Foundation. They also encouraged young African American women to become nurses to help build a stronger network for blacks in the medical field. The BPP also worked towards helping their people in the legal department considering the large number of African Americans being charged with crimes they did not commit. In the words of one of the founding members Huey P. Newton, “the BPP was providing its own people with something the government was not.”

The full name of the Black Panther Party is The Black Panther Party for Self- Defense. The Self-Defense section of the title is often neglected to be mentioned when spoken of. The BPP was only about protecting their community but they protected their community with regulations and structure. One of the rules for the party was- No party member will use, point, or fire a weapon of any kind unnecessarily or accidentally at anyone. Violence was not a value they supported nor practiced. Other rules were: The Ten-Point Program and platform of the Black Panther Party must be known and understood by each Party member. This was a way to guarantee that each member accepted into the group would uphold its values. Also they had to read upon the changing political situations within the nation so they weren’t some uninformed gathering trying to disrupt the nation. The reasons for why the party was created were never forgotten. They made sure that the goals of the BPP were attained every day. Disobeying these rules resulted in a suspension from the party upon the discretion of your local committee. How many police divisions during that time can say they suspended an officer who wasn’t upholding the laws?  The chances were slim to none. The BPP wasn’t this radical group often portrayed through media. They took great responsibility in every action they pursued.

The head of the FBI, Edgar J Hoover, called the BPP "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." What is threatening about an organization who wants to take of its people and upon taking care its people they aren’t vicious in anyway or manner? The answer is simply nothing. What is vicious and can be described as militant is the Counter Intelligence Program also known as COINTELPRO which was created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to discredit domestic organizations like the Black Panther Party. COINTELPRO was a secretive government group that often took illegal actions against the Black Panther Party and other black liberation groups. They were working with the police departments and the Klu Klux Klan to destroy the party. COINTELPRO did a number of assassinations on the party’s leading members and made a series of arrests. For example in the Chicago branch of the BPP, leading member Fred Hampton and other Black Panthers were murdered in his apartment by police officers who told by an FBI informant where they lived. After a grand jury reviewed the case there were ninety shots total in which eighty-nine of those were from police officers and only one was from a black panther. Afterwards the Black Panthers who weren’t killed were arrested for “attempted murder of the police and aggravated assault”.  The one shot that was fired by a Black Panther came from Mark Clark who was killed in the crossfire. Not one police officer was jailed. The FBI didn’t have to kill all the leaders they just had to kill the ones who were most influential and made a difference like Fred Hampton. They wanted to ruin the Panther’s reputation and destroy them publicly. Because after all no one is going to support a group that is violent. They would do anything to accomplish this. Later on they waged psychological warfare on the party by sending forged letters to some of its leading members claiming that they were going to be removed from power. They would also create rivalries between domestic organizations hoping that they would make an attack on the Black Panther Party. Particular letters that were sent to leading member Eldridge Cleaver were complaints about Huey P. Newton’s leadership from his secretary Connie Matthews and claims of how they wanted Cleaver to take over. And when they confronted another no one believed Connie. It was the actions like this that drove the party apart. No one trusted each other anymore and the members who started off as a strong camaraderie started to drift away.

There are people to this day who still believe that the Black Panther Party were hostile and militarily combative when in reality they weren’t. They were perceived as militant because the media interpreted them that way. And because the media interpreted them that way the government saw them that way. This is why there were harsh and sometimes illegal actions taken on the Black Panthers. Towards the end of the Black Panthers existence they were split and had trust issues. The group that first started out as the community’s saviors was destroyed because when people saw them they saw criminals and murderers. Despite the world’s view of the party they influenced the black community positively and gave them the strength and the pride they needed to endure the discrimination, hatred, and violence against them during that era.

Works Cited

All Power to the People. Dir. Lee Lew-Lee. Perf. Mumia Abu-Jamal, Ramsey Clark, Ward                          Churchill, Bobby Seale. Electronic News Group in Association with ZDF, 1996. YouTube. YouTube, 25 June 2012. Web. 26 June 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po8eetZxqB0>.

Baggins, Brian. "History of the Black Panther Party." Black Panther Party. Marxists Internet Archive, 2002. Web. 26 June 2014. <http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/>.

"Black Power." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 25 June 2014. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/54i.asp>.

COINTELPRO: The FBI's War on Black America. Dir. Denis Mueller. Prod. Deb Ellis. Perf. Stokely Carmichael,Geronimo Pratt, Kathleen Cleaver. Maljack Productions, 1990. YouTube. YouTube, 19 Feb. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDbVIDJnPzA>.

The image is a news service poster that mentions the death of someone and the date of perhaps   the next Black Panther Party meeting. Digital image.www.bobbyseale.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.bobbyseale.com/posters/v6n10-4-3-71.jpg>.

Wassserman, Steve. "Rage and Ruin: On the Black Panthers." The Nation. N.p., 4 June 2013. Web. 26 June 2014. <http://www.thenation.com/article/174648/rage-and-ruin-black-panthers>.