By Noah Brasseur
Too often, Americans are presented with only half of a story. This is no less true when it comes to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Many know only a sanitized version of what occurred: Martin Luther King Jr. made it to the national stage and won over the world with his messages of peace and equality, and the nation desegregated after.
That is, in broad strokes, what happened, but it leaves out the very important other half of the story.
Much of the problems that faced America then did not dissipate after desegregation was won. The systems that had enabled and supported segregation was still standing, and in many respects, still enforced a discrimination against the Black community.
Yes, they had finally received legal protections that were long overdue. However, they were still lacking in any sort of political or economic power, allowing for unfair and unjust practices to remain.
This dynamic was clearly demonstrated in Oakland, where the vast majority of law enforcement was white- under 3% of the force was Black.
The anger at the continual mistreatment despite what should have been a new beginning did not take long before it formed into a powerful force.
In October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther Party. The pair had met only a few years prior, and studied people like Malcom X.
Other existing organizations promoted to furthering Black rights peacefully had failed to stop police brutality, and Newton had decided it had become enough. After witnessing the outrage that followed the death of Matthew Johnson, a victim of police brutality, Newton concluded that he could organize and use that anger as a force to move society as a whole.
The Black Panthers took to using firearms as a deterrent against the police. Known as “copwatching”, patrols of party members would follow around the police with loaded guns to protect any would-be victim.
The police were, of course, unhappy about this arrangement. However, nothing the Black Panthers were doing was illegal, and they threatened to prove it in court should an officer attempt to disarm them.
It did not take long for the state to work against them. With a budding reputation as a violent group (despite rarely violating the law), California quickly worked to pass the Mulford Act, which banned the open carry that the Panthers had been reliant on.
It was not just California, either. In 1967, the same year as the passing of the Mulford Act, the FBI began to actively work against them. The director would call them the “greatest threat to the internal security of the country.”
The federal government would work to sow internal division, as well as shut down certain community service projects the party had established. One such initiative was the “Free Breakfast for Children” program, as the FBI felt it shone a light on how the government had failed to address child poverty.
It was only a matter of time before there was conflict,
Throughout 1968, several Panthers would be killed in shootouts with the police, and police died in turn. Newton himself was convicted on a murder charge, though it would be later overturned in the court of appeals. The Black Panthers would set up ambushes to strike at police officers.
A similar pattern played out in 1969, though this time with more heavy federal involvement. As the FBI continued their campaign, more party members were being killed in shootouts with local gangs, and others died in clashes with law enforcement.
Two of these deaths were orchestrated by the FBI. Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were both killed Dec. 4, 1969, as part of a raid. Clark likely died at the start of the event. Hampton was shot twice in the head while unconscious and unarmed.
The action was beginning to wear the party down. By 1974, an ideological split had fractured them. Leaders like Hampton wanted to continue to promote community service programs, while others promoted constant confrontation with the law. Eventually, it would become deadly, as the factions started to assassinate members on the other side.
This was the beginning of the end for the Black Panthers.
In August of the same year, Newton had to flee to Cuba to escape a murder charge. He would return in 1977. The party would attempt to assassinate a witness against him in his murder case, which further damaged the party’s standing. They would formally disband in 1982.
The Black Panthers’ story is a testament to the oft-forgotten other half. We want to remember the nice version of history, where MLK’s peaceful ways convinced the world to give up discrimination. But we do not want to remember everything else- the dirty, gritty, bloody fights that took place in American cities and streets.
Too often, Americans are only presented with half of a story. We have to take great pains to ensure the full truth – both the good and bad – get told.
