One of the most well-known Civil Rights organizations of the late 1960s was the Black Panther Party.
Who started the Black Panther Party?
What did the group advocate?
In many Northern and Western cities in the US, African Americans were living in urban
ghettos with high unemployment rates and substandard housing.
Many also believed that they were treated unfairly and in some cases even brutalized
by police forces which did not represent them.
For example, Oakland, California had 661 police officers, yet only 16 of those were African
American.
Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale had been involved in many different civil rights organizations
in their young lives, including those who promoted the “black power” ideology.
However, they were frustrated with the failure of these organizations to combat police brutality
and other injustices they saw in their communities.
In October of 1966, the two men formed the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (later
simply known as the Black Panther Party).
They organized armed patrols that would follow police officers, monitoring them for incidents
of abuse.
If the police attempted to confront them, Black Panther members would recite the state
and federal laws which permitted them to carry their loaded weapons.
The Black Panther Party first gained national attention after an incident in 1967.
The group carried loaded firearms into the California State Assembly in protest of a
piece of legislation which would make carrying loaded firearms illegal.
Six of the members were arrested for this incident.
In May of 1967, the Black Panther Party issued a list of ten points which stated their beliefs
and values.
This list included things such as full employment, decent housing, and an end to police brutality.
They also sought education for African Americans and justice within the court system.
The group’s ideals resonated within the black community, and their numbers expanded
rapidly.
By 1968, the Black Panther Party had a presence in more than twenty major American cities,
including New York City, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.
Some estimates claim that their membership numbers were as high as 10,000 at its peak
in 1969.
The party also boasted an influential newspaper which was read by more than 250,000 people.
Its editor was Eldridge Cleaver, and he became a persuasive voice within the black power
movement.
Cleaver would eventually become the third most prominent member of the Black Panthers,
behind Newton and Seale.
The Black Panther Party also started community-friendly programs, such as the Free Breakfast for Children
Program.
They believed that they could provide for the needs of those in poverty better than
the government could.
It has been estimated that the Black Panther Party fed more than 20,000 children through
this program during the 1968-69 school year.
The organization offered other services as well, including clothes distribution, classes
on politics and economics, free medical care, and lessons on self-defense and first aid.
They also set up an ambulance program and drug rehabilitation services.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not agree with many of the organization’s
para-military activities (carrying loaded guns, etc.).
The FBI regarded them as a “black nationalist hate group”, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
even referred to them as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.”
The group was targeted for investigation with the intent of weakening the group’s power
and damaging their credibility.
The Black Panther Party continued to exist as an organization throughout the 1970s, but
never regained the prestige that they had once enjoyed.
Over the course of that decade, their numbers dwindled away until, by 1980, only 27 people
were still official members of the Black Panther Party.