[History] What was the Black Panther party all about?

[Independent voter]

The bolded is either a lie or a hell of a euphemism. Here's read about these characters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_P...ns_of_violence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_...and_Mark_Clark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_...f_Alex_Rackley

The BPP was and is a violent, racial supremacy organization. Their core message is anti-white and anti-American.

Well, at the time 60-70's there was a lot of racism in the US, mostly directed at blacks. I don't know if Jim Crow was still in effect in a large part of the nation but it was around that time, blacks had to ride in the back of the bus, couldn't drink from the same water fountains as whites, etc. I wouldn't put up with that crap if it was directed at me.

[Spectral]

Well, at the time 60-70's there was a lot of racism in the US, mostly directed at blacks. I don't know if Jim Crow was still in effect in a large part of the nation but it was around that time, blacks had to ride in the back of the bus, couldn't drink from the same water fountains as whites, etc. I wouldn't put up with that crap if it was directed at me.

OK. Anyway, this happened in the above link:

In May 1969, three members of the New Haven chapter tortured and murdered Alex Rackley, a 19-year-old member of the New York chapter, because they suspected him of being a police informant. Three party officers — Warren Kimbro, George Sams, Jr., and Lonnie McLucas — later admitted taking part. Sams, who gave the order to shoot Rackley at the murder scene, turned state's evidence and testified that he had received orders personally from Bobby Seale to carry out the execution. Party supporters responded that Sams was himself the informant and an agent provocateur employed by the FBI.[104] The case resulted in the New Haven Black Panther trials of 1970.

To be a bit more specific about Rackley's death:

In the spring of 1969, Rackley came under suspicion. His loyalty was questioned, and rumors circulated that he was passing information about the Panthers to the FBI. The situation was exacerbated by the presence of two national Panther figures from the California headquarters: Field Marshal George Sams, Jr., and Landon Williams. The two men had arrived on the east coast in May with the intention of instilling "discipline" into the party.
On May 18, Rackley was forcibly brought to the headquarters of the New Haven chapter of the Black Panthers at 365 Orchard Street, which was also the residence of Warren Kimbro, a New Haven Panther. In the bedroom normally occupied by Kimbro's seven-year-old daughter,[3] Rackley was tied to the bed and questioned under torture. The principal method of torture was the pouring of boiling water over his torso, shoulders, and thighs.
Finally, after two days of this treatment, according to witnesses, Rackley confessed to the accusations. The veracity of his confession has never been confirmed. Late on the night of the 20th, Rackley was removed, still alive, from the apartment by Sams, Kimbro, and a third Panther, Lonnie McLucas, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The men borrowed a car from one of their supporters and drove Rackley to the marshy wetlands of nearby Middlefield. On Sams's orders, Kimbro shot Rackley in the head, and McLucas shot him again, in the chest. They dumped the body in the Coginchaug River and left.[4]

Well then. Fuckin' white people, making them pour boiling water on someone for two days before killing him and dumping him in a swamp. If only those white people weren't so mean, Seale wouldn't have ever ordered anything like that.

I'm also going to quote Theodarna's dishonest reframing again:

Notable for a lot of community activism ... and for several notable deaths of panthers in odd confrontations...

Would you describe Rackley's death as an "odd confrontation"?

[Tijuana]

In October of 1966, in Oakland California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. One core function of the party was early on that it would go around and follow Oakland police and whenever they stopped a black person they would stand at the then legal distance with loaded weapons and inform the arrested black person of their legal rights. However soon the Police Union managed to get a Republican state legislature to pass the first California Gun Control act to prevent the Panthers actions.

Notable for a lot of community activism and the FBI's fanatical dedication to trying to undermine them without any legal powers to do so via the illegal COINTELPRO initiatives, and for several notable deaths of panthers in odd confrontations, the party proves to continue to have a lasting legacy in American minds.

Here is the black Panther Parties 10 point platform, covering such ideas from better housing, local autonomy, retrial and fair trials for black people, ends to police brutality, ect.

Interview with some former members.


So, what do you all think of this notable piece of recent history? What were they really? What lasting impact have they had?

I think they were one of the first racist groups for blacks to join. They are/were basically the KKK without an elected power system to back them up.

[Independent voter]

OK. Anyway, this happened in the above link:

To be a bit more specific about Rackley's death:


Well then. Fuckin' white people, making them pour boiling water on someone for two days before killing him and dumping him in a swamp. If only those white people weren't so mean, Seale wouldn't have ever ordered anything like that.

I'm also going to quote Theodarna's dishonest reframing again:


Would you describe Rackley's death as an "odd confrontation"?

FBI did infiltrate the KKK, I wouldn't doubt they either infiltrated the Black Panthers or were trying to. At the time it wasn't all that rare for whites in the South to lynch black people for winking at a white girl. If you believe that's it's your people who are being treated badly, history shows us that you're going to fight back.

[Spectral]

FBI did infiltrate the KKK, I wouldn't doubt they either infiltrated the Black Panthers or were trying to. At the time it wasn't all that rare for whites in the South to lynch black people for winking at a white girl. If you believe that's it's your people who are being treated badly, history shows us that you're going to fight back.

I'm not really sure what that has to do with what I wrote. I guess I'm not a huge fan of equivocating about brutal torture and murder.

[Independent voter]

I'm not really sure what that has to do with what I wrote. I guess I'm not a huge fan of equivocating about brutal torture and murder.

The whole organization didn't commit the crime, a small group did. The place where a lot of the Black Panthers grew up was Oakland CA, a pretty tough neighborhood, it's not surprising that people from there would turn to violence as they had all their lives.

Just like not all of the KKK lynched black people, just a small part of the KKK did.

[Spectral]

The whole organization didn't commit the crime, a small group did. The place where a lot of the Black Panthers grew up was Oakland CA, a pretty tough neighborhood, it's not surprising that people from there would turn to violence as they had all their lives.

Just like not all of the KKK lynched black people, just a small part of the KKK did.

I don't get it. Is that supposed to be a "hey, you can't judge the KKK by a few extremists" sentiment? I feel like I pretty much can. When a group's leaders are racial supremacists that order brutal murders, I'm not going to shrug and say, "well, they did have some points though".

If your point is that the BPP's leaders were violent scum just like the KKK, I guess we agree.

[Tijuana]

The whole organization didn't commit the crime, a small group did. The place where a lot of the Black Panthers grew up was Oakland CA, a pretty tough neighborhood, it's not surprising that people from there would turn to violence as they had all their lives.

Just like not all of the KKK lynched black people, just a small part of the KKK did.

Right so, most of your rank and file KKK guys are model citizens who we should give voice to...

[Xargoth6634]

The only Huey I care about is the one in "The Boondocks."

[Independent voter]

If your point is that the BPP's leaders were violent scum just like the KKK, I guess we agree.

Yeah, but not all of BPP were just like not all the KKK were. People have their reasons for behaving like they do. Don't paint any group with a broad brush.

[Tijuana]

Yeah, but not all of BPP were just like not all the KKK were. People have their reasons for behaving like they do. Don't paint any group with a broad brush.

Why not? It's a racist group.

[Independent voter]

Why not? It's a racist group.

Okay, read this. Congress brought members of the BPP before it to testify.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6460/

Things are always more complex than they seem.

[Tijuana]

Okay, read this. Congress brought members of the BPP before it to testify.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6460/

Things are always more complex than they seem.

The only complexity, is do they deserve to be racist based on their personal experience. My answer is the same for all races: no.

[Steve French]

Oh is this another thread where black people are innocent subjugated angels constantly under attack from the white devil? Black panthers are black supremacists, even things like their free breakfast for kids program was nothing more than a way to influence young kids with black panther teachings and get support from their community. Not to mention things they got involved in like murder, cop-killing, terrorism, anti-Semitism, anti-White racism, pan-Islamism , attacks on innocent whites just because they were white. I even remember hearing that soldiers in Oakland were warned about leaving base at night because they were being attacked and even killed for being white. That's okay though they're black so lets whitewash all the bad shit black panthers did because whites are evil racists and probably deserved it, right?

[Cthulhu 2020]

I always enjoy informative threads. Makes it easy enough to ignore the uninformed "HERP DERP THEY'RE A HATE GROUP" responses.

[Kraenen]

At the time it wasn't all that rare for whites in the South to lynch black people for winking at a white girl.

This seems like a joke or very exaggerated. The numbers are apparently ~4700 in total, ~3400 of those being black victims. Your claim is that "at the time" of the Black Panthers, meaning 1960s onward, it wasn't rare for whites to lynch a black person for winking at a white female (specifically a minor, apparently). Yet the numbers are few and far between during the era (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynchi...ights_Movement), with lynchings actually peaked in the 1890s. I don't think your claim stands up to a reasonable examination.

[Deathcries]

America is and was a democratic nation, shouldn't people have the right to reject the idea of capitalism and vote for a socialistic economic system?

America is a Constitutional Republic. A democratic nation is a nation ruled by Mob rule or a majority, and thank god it's not. That's not how America works. Pay attention in class.

As always I'm glad my rights do not end where your feelings begin.

[Independent voter]

This seems like a joke or very exaggerated. The numbers are apparently ~4700 in total, ~3400 of those being black victims. Your claim is that "at the time" of the Black Panthers, meaning 1960s onward, it wasn't rare for whites to lynch a black person for winking at a white female (specifically a minor, apparently). Yet the numbers are few and far between during the era (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynchi...ights_Movement), with lynchings actually peaked in the 1890s. I don't think your claim stands up to a reasonable examination.

Emmett Till was lynched at the age of 14 for saying "hello" to a white girl. This was in 1955 in Mississippi. Emmett was born and raise in Chicago, when he went down South to visit relatives he didn't know all the rules. The court found his murderer's not guilty.

[Kraenen]

Emmett Till was lynched at the age of 14 for saying "hello" to a white girl. This was in 1955 in Mississippi. Emmett was born and raise in Chicago, when he went down South to visit relatives he didn't know all the rules. The court found his murderer's not guilty.

That one case is proof of your earlier claim?? I mean you set it up to be something of a commonplace practice. Gotta follow that up with more evidence than one story.

At the time [of the BPP] it wasn't all that rare for whites in the South to lynch black people for winking at a white girl.

Not to mention this predates the BPP.

This was in 1955

[Independent voter]

That one case is proof of your earlier claim?? I mean you set it up to be something of a commonplace practice. Gotta follow that up with more evidence than one story.

It's more than a story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till



His mom insisted on an open casket funeral so the world could see what they did to her child.