Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
Both the Civil Rights Movement and ‘Black Power,’ a slogan identified with and characterized by the Black Panther Party (BPP) were both motivated by a quest for equality. However, the Civil Rights Movement headed by Martin Luther King Jr. was non-violent by design as opposed to the BPP which used intimidation and violence to get its point across.
Begun in the1960’s the BPP remained active through the early 1970’s. The Party’s genuine and creditable political ambitions are eclipsed in the historical perspective because of its anti-social means of furthering its agenda. Their well-founded suspicion of and lack of regard for those charged with enforcing the law along with their belief that these various law enforcement agencies were the incarnation of white oppression caused the BPP to believe that civil justice for the black community could be accomplished only through militant actions. Martin Luther King’s inspiring leadership elevated him to becoming the most recognized and beloved leader of the civil rights movement in America. His continued message of non-violent protest was of major significance in the social equality gains for blacks during these years. The U.S. Constitution provided the lawful assurance that non-violent strategies were defensible in court. This allowed for the protests which inevitably led to the awakening to the black plight of many unwary whites who then joined the cause leading to the eradication of racist Jim Crow type laws forever. People, both black and white, were now willing to violate absurd, archaic local segregationist laws because they believed they were abiding and defending a ‘higher law,’ the Constitution.
When Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing the driver’s request to give up her seat to the white man, a group of area ministers formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) which coordinated what would become a 382-day boycott of the bus company by the entire black community. The ministers took this non-violent action to avoid the possible rioting that was widely rumored to soon ensue and to organize their collective congregations into one, larger and stronger common voice. In addition, had they not elected to organize, they likely would have lost many members due to the growing sentiment that all talk and no action would gain nothing. Preachers had spoken tough words from the pulpit and now they were being expected to back it up with tough actions. (Garrow, 1987, pp. 45-6).
The original objective if the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), later headed by King, was to build upon the success of the Montgomery bus demonstration by launching similar boycotts in other cities, but this effort had few successes. At this time in Montgomery, the MIA was fundamentally unproductive in rebelling against other manners of discrimination. The movement seemed stalled until 1960 when a ‘sit-in’ movement initiated a novel and more aggressive yet still non-violent chapter of the civil rights battle. “The now famous first sit-in occurred at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina when four black students sat down at a ‘whites only’ establishment and requested service.” (Sowell, 2005). The strategy quickly spread to ‘wade-ins’ at segregated city swimming pools and beaches, ‘pray-ins’ at segregated churches and ‘stand-ins’ at all-white theatres. These activists that braved the threat of being beaten and jailed in order advance their cause of racial justice were inspired by the illustration of courage by those who participated in the Montgomery bus boycott. The SCLC had no part in organizing the sit-in protests but theses actions had an influence King and others. (Sowell, 2005).
The movement had found that varying forms of public protest could be utilized to overcome segregation in the South. A youth activist group was founded by student leaders after consultation with King and SCLC leaders in April 1960. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee added another dimension to the movement embracing King’s pacifist methodology for social change.
Actions taken by the SCLC, an ever-growing political power, as well as other demonstrative events throughout the South convinced the Kennedy administration of the need for civil rights legislation. Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson, used much clout and persuasion in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law gave the executive powers to extract federal funding from state and local governments that enforced Jim Crow laws or otherwise practiced discrimination. The movement’s struggle for civil rights and liberties was based on lawful civil rights and had its roots in moral motivations.
Malcolm X (Little) became a powerful speaker in the movement and became more important to the cause by his death than he was in life. As King had secured the character of the Southern black, Malcolm had become the messiah of city slums in the North, Midwest and West. The semi-militant organization he headed, the Nation, grew quickly under his leadership. Malcolm was most remembered for his passionate anti-white speeches. This was an idea that was emulated by other pro-autonomy organizations. He was the target of many death threats, one of which, in 1965, was successful. Soon after Malcolm’s death, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale began forming the Black Panthers (Hollaway).
The South was the epicenter for the civil rights movement but racial problems had no regional boundaries. As blacks in the south were working to eradicate segregation, blacks in places such as Chicago, Detroit and Oakland were engaged in their own fight for equal treatment. By the mid-1960’s hostility between Oakland’s black community and the police, a long and ever escalating problem, had reached its apex. Because blacks, being seemingly constantly under an increasing intimidation by the police, Newton and Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in October 1966. The pair had been intensely influenced by the teachings of Malcolm X and structured the organization similar to the Black Muslim program except with no pretenses of religious practice. The Panthers also volunteered their time and efforts performing various activities that helped people in the community. The group made the rounds throughout neighborhoods in Oakland carrying arms, recorders, and various books so as to teach black history, counsel welfare recipients, and effectively protest rent evictions through the court system. The Panthers could be easily distinguished by their uniform dress of black jackets, pants and berets with blue shirts (Jones, 2000).
The BPP utilized propaganda and artwork to attract new disciples from California and later the nation. “Members of the Black Panthers would appear on recruitment posters wearing their leather jackets and painted warrior-like faces.” (Hamilton, 1997).On the posters were messages of a strong tone meant to incite the feelings of oppression in young black men. Slogans such as ‘Die for Your People’ and ‘Power to the People’ were used as a ‘call to arms’ for the organization. The easily identifiable closed fist (The Fist of Glory) was the BPP’s most powerful symbol because it represented the pride, oppressed history and the coming equalization of the black community as a whole. This symbol was announced to the entire world during the 1968 Olympic Games by two black sprinters who raised their closed fist high as they stood on the winner’s podium while the National Anthem was being played in their honor (Hamilton, 1997).
The BPP used art in a number of ways to become more broadly recognized. This and other forms of mass communication led to massive amounts of young black men willing and eager to join. The inflammatory rhetoric of the BPP, however, served to make the group appealing to angry, disenfranchised youths and also made the BPP an easy target for police persecutions and scrutinized by FBI surveillance. “Across the nation, police raids on Black Panther headquarters were frequent and bloody, and the ranks of the party were decimated by police bullets or imprisonment” (Hamilton, 1997). According to BPP leader Huey Newton, “We stand for the transformation of the decadent, reactionary, racist system that exists at these times. We don’t like the system.”1 The BPP insisted that they militarize and experienced numerous conflicts with law enforcement agencies. Newton justified the BPP’s defensive posture as “violence to ultimately resolve and beget violence” (Hamilton, 1997). Newton also vocally expressed that the BPP did not consider that the political process was a viable way to obtain equality because the “electoral politics is bankrupt and cannot solve the problems of poverty, racism, and oppression.” (Hamilton, 1997)
The militant face of the BPP appeared early on in its formation. The organization began selling “Mao’s Red Book” to college students in 1968 so as to fund the purchase of guns (Quentin, Basgen, 1966). The Red Book became required reading of Party members. The government decided that because of its quick, vast growth, its radical orientation and in the interest of protecting the public, it had to organize a large-scale military and political campaign against the BPP. Several police agencies including the FBI were determined to annihilate the leadership of the BPP. “In a now well-documented campaign called COINTELPRO, or Counter Intelligence Program, the FBI orchestrated covert operations, personally overseen by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, to provoke conflicts between the Black Panthers and other organizations” (Rovira, 2006). The FBI engaged a system of provocateurs to infiltrate and disrupt the structure of the BPP’s leadership. Attacks at the homes of BPP leaders and party offices by law enforcement were commonplace. Scores of BPP leaders and members were summarily executed without benefit of due process.
The leadership of the BPP had been shattered by the 1970’s. Huey Newton was sentenced to prison in Oakland, Fred Hampton was killed by the police and Eldridge Cleaver sought exile in Algeria. By this time, the BPP had dropped in numbers and had lost the support of mainstream black leaders who opposed the Party’s anti-social methods. The Panthers transformed from a violent organization to one that concentrated more on conventional political methods which included volunteering for community service in black neighborhoods. By the early part of the 1980’s, the BPP had, in effect, disbanded. (Hamilton, 1997).
In contrast to Martin Luther King’s methods and teachings of nonviolent protest, the BPP claimed that they needed to equip themselves with weapons for use as self-defense against police brutality. Arming the group did provide the intended protection but, predictably, led to confrontations with the police that often times concluded with a bloody altercation.
References
Garrow, David J. (1987). The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, pp.45-6.
Hamilton, Charles V. (1997). “Black Panther Party.” The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 2, p. 390.
Hollaway, Kevin. “The Legacy of Malcolm.” Documents for the Study of American History. Web.
Jones, Patrick D. (2000). “Black Panthers.” St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Sara Pendergast & Tom Pendergast (Eds.). Gale Group: St. James Press, Vol. 1,
Sowell, Thomas. (2005). “Rosa Parks and History.” The Washington Times.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.