The Black Panthers Party

The Black Panthers Party

Introduction

The Black Panthers Party is an American Revolutionary Party that was founded in the year 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The group introduced many programs for the Blacks, published a newspaper and with their actions earned a wide following and members. The founders also presented a 10 point agenda that aimed to improve the social and economic conditions for African Americans as soon as possible. The movement spread to other cities due to the attempts they were making for bringing improvements in the lives of the Blacks. The party played an important role in bringing a change in the treatment of Blacks in the American scenario.

Discussion

Pre Black Panthers Party scenario

Black slavery and other injustices and discriminatory behavior had continued for decades which had resulted in the non-assimilation of the Blacks in the American society. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation and many other guaranteeing the rights of the Blacks there was no end to the violence towards the Blacks. Frequent lynching of the Blacks was the norm in the American society and many Black were subjected to many other such violent practices. This was apart from the denial of right to vote and to use public facilities (Wei, 2004).

In the 1960s, too the situation was no different for the African Americans and they were treated very badly across the country. There was no governmental action to improve their conditions and they had to go through a lot of economic distress. Tensions were growing and Blacks were becoming frustrated with the high level of poverty in their communities. Therefore, as an end result, Blacks took to streets to let their voice be heard and to draw attention towards their problems. Apart from the race riots were also witnessed which were some of the most serious and severe in the history of the United States. The anger that fueled the riots brought the attention of the nation towards the racial and economic inequalities that existed in the country. President Johnson therefore, established a Commission in 1967 but there is little evidence to suggest that they did any substantial work in this direction (63596485.nhd.weebly.com).

A new movement was also started namely Black Power movement that sought be free from the influence or interference of the whites which was the source of suffering of the Blacks throughout their lives. This movement was a movement that no one had seen before and therefore, its growing popularity was felt to be a threat. There were different means employed to destabilize this organization and raids, arrest, killings and harassment of many of the members of the movement led to the decline of the movement.

The emergence of the Black Panthers Party

Owing to the government repression and the excessive police interference, people got tired of the life they had to lead. Assassination of the Black leader Malcolm X at the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. was another of the contributing factors of ...