The Rise and Decline of the Black Panther Party

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that the degeneration of a noble cause into a terroristic organization is one of the most compelling and depressing events of the 1960s and 1970s in the United States. The writer discusses that in the beginning, the Black Panther Party started out as a group dedicated to achieving the same goals that most other black rights groups had. They wanted what every person deserves to have; a chance to live their life in comfort and freedom. The writer maintains that it was with these noble goals that the party was designed, and unfortunately it was the seeming impossibility of these goals that lead to the issues of violence and crime within the party that led to its decline. The writer concludes that the Black Panther Party started out with aspirations, but in the end, the infighting and violence of the group led to them being more remembered for their terroristic actions more than their dreams of equality and comfort for the black people.

From the Paper:

"These goals may seem laughable to us today, for those that are comfortable and have food and shelter as well as the right to freedom, liberty, due process, and a basic feeling of safety and justice, but at the time, these things were by no means guaranteed to the African American people. Therefore, with this list of basic necessities of life and comfort in mind, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale created the Black Panther Party in 1966. This group, made out of a need to finally accomplish these necessary and noble goals through any means necessary, went on to be involved in a political war with the federal and state governments. In its heyday, the Black Panther Party would spark riots, civil protests; involve threats of chemical warfare, alleged assassinations and assassination plots, executions, and convictions for drugs, illegal weapons and murder. The degeneration of a noble cause into a terroristic organization is one of the most compelling and depressing events of the 1960's and 1970's in the United States."

Sample of Sources Used:

• The Black Panther Party.1963. Black panther party platform and program: "What we want, what we believe". Black Panther Party. http://www.stanford.edu/group/blackpanthers/history.shtml (accessed November 15, 2009).
• Hampton, Fred.1968. Speech. Spartacus. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApantherB.htm (accessed November 18, 2009)
• Joseph, Peniel E. 2006 Waiting until the midnight hour. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
• McKinney, Cynthia. (2002). Speech in the senate. Spartacus. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApantherB.htm (accessed November 18, 2009)
• Papadop, Michael. (1997). Black panthers: Old vs. young. Hartford. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/274.html (accessed November 15, 2009).

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