Park 1 Joshua Park Professor Osborne Writing 140 12 November 2013 Assignment 4 Resistance of the Black Panther Party

The failings of a governing society can ultimately lead to revolt and corruption within a nation. In order to overcome the weaknesses of the government, different groups and organizations are created to write the wrongs and to address democratic flaws. The Black Panther Party, established in 1966, is a black socialist group that gained popularity in its involvement in the Black Power movement. The organization is primarily recognized for self-defense, but supported many different programs to help the community alleviate poverty and health problems. Although it is portrayed only as a violent group, the Black Panther Party demonstrates legitimate responses to the deficiencies of a democratic society. The groups self-defense and oppression tactics are legitimate if they pertain to the lack of equality, justice, and freedom. Legitimate responses are defined as actions that are justified and reasonable. Although the law was created for citizens to follow, if the policies are inhumane and detrimental towards the people, breaking these certain laws could be a legitimate response. The failings of a democracy influence and lead people to respond against governing societies. If the democracy loses the ability to bring flourishing growth towards for people, then the governing society has failed its basic and most crucial function. As stated by Zena Hitz on the failings of democracies, the standards of majority rule and standard by lot are not the right standards for political decisions; democracies pursue the

Park 2 dominant end of liberty at the expense of the true end of politics, human flourishing (Hitz). The government was unable to meet the needs of the people. Because of flawed democracies, groups and organizations were brought up to create resistance. Different groups of people fought for different reasons, but the true purpose was to fight against the corrupted democracy. Even in groups, legitimacy within actions was determined if the responses were concerned with the lack of equality, justice, and freedom. Eventually, the rise of the Black Panther Party was in existence. Parties and organizations were established with the aspiration to fight against wrongful democratic rulings. After a ruthless and wrongful police beating in Oakland, California, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panther Party, originally named the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Black Panther Partys main objectives are to fight oppression and inequality presented in the countryprimarily pursued to neglect the use of violence unless deemed absolutely necessary. According to Khalid Raheem, the Black Panther Party initiated and maintained a number of programs aimed at serving the people (Raheem). As an act of service, these actions were in response to the failings of the government. Because the government was unable to provide fundamental rights for the people, the Black Panther Party formed many contrasting methods and servicesall with the same vision to fight the governing society. The Black Panther Party formed numerous amounts of community programs that were produced and acted upon for legitimate reasons. Established in January 1969, the Free Breakfast for School Children Program initiative was in place for poor communities. The programs purpose was to provide and serve free breakfast for children in need. As Andrew Witt asserted in his dissertation, the Panthers knew they had to provide this

Park 3 service [free breakfast to children] to their communities, because the government was not adequately addressing the problem (Witt 63). This act of service was justified and labeled as legitimate; the democracy in the United States was unable to provide a basic necessity for communities. Starving children in the country were not given the ability to eat food and sustain their bodies. The lack of concern, drawn in by the leaders of the government, garners injustice towards students that are not economically blessed. In response to the lacking government, the Black Panther Party acted legitimately in aiding the people through the construction of the Free Breakfast for School Children Program. In addition to the Free Breakfast for School Children Program, the Black Panther Party created free health clinics in response to the governments shortcomings. Before 1965 in Watts, California, not a single hospital was available for the black community (Witt 66). Black communities were isolated and not given opportunities towards basic medical needs. Many crowded black communities solely served for the white communities, leaving others isolated and abandoned. Reported by Ronald Satchel, analyst from the Chicago Chapter, the medical profession is not responsive to the medical needs of the people and the medical profession within this capitalist society is composed generally of people working for their own benefit and advancement rather than the humane aspects of medical care (Witt 66). Citizens serving their time as medical professionals are responding to the capitalist society, causing them to work for themselves. The democratic society in the United States led to the creation of a capitalist economy. The establishment of free health clinics within black communities is reasonable because of the governing society; their absence in medical needs for all members of society lead to inhumane outcomes for citizens.

Park 4 Additionally and most emphasized, the unlawful brutality from policemen triggered the Black Panther Party to implement self-defense as one of their core values; although violence against others were deemed to be unjust, the legitimacy of attacks were qualified if based on the equality, justice, and freedom. In account of Malcolm X he stated, the time has come to fight back in self-defense whenever and wherever the black man is being unjustly and unlawfully attacked (Steven). Although the Black Panther Party did not want to bring violence upon the police department and government, the rise and increase of unjust beatings from the police, against black citizens, forced the party to use self-defense to create a safe environment for the community. Racial segregation was present as cops would base and assume crimes upon someone because of their skin color. Because the Black Panther Party and the black community were being abused and ridiculed for so long, the words of Malcolm X brought fourth confidence and strength to unlawfully fight the governing society with violence. These actions were legitimate, as the party sought for equality with the whites within the democracy. To be aware of the responses and treatment from the police, the Black Panther Party placed patrol officers on the streets to monitor cop activity. According to Steven from Libcom, whenever black people were stripped by the police, armed Panthers would be on the scene, making sure their constitutional rights were not violated (Steven). The continual outburst of unfair treatment from the police caused the party to enforce their communities, making sure that safe and fair discipline would be distributed to the people. The legitimacy of members patrolling the streets can be found in the pursuit of equality, similar to basic self-defense. Despite the fact that violence against the government is illegal,

Park 5 committing acts of attacks can be made reasonable if the democracy fails to give civil rights to all people. The armed violence of the Black Panther Party is justified to a certain extent; conflicts and outbursts that occurred because of the failings of the government, which led to a lack of civil rights, are considered legitimate actions. On December 4, 1969, the Black Panther Party, apartment of the Illinois party, was unjustly raided by a large group of police officers in Chicago. As asserted by Ted Gregory of the Chicago Tribune, Sgt. Daniel Groth knocked on the front door. When there was no answer, he knocked with his gun. The next seven minutes of gunfire became one of the most hotly disputed incidents of the turbulent 1960s (Gregory). After the shooting, Fred Hampton, the leader of the Illinois party, and Mark Clark, the leader of the Peoria party, were shot dead. The violent response from the Black Panther Party, although lawfully unjust, was backed up because of the wrongful attack and raid by the police department. The governing society failed to provide justice and freedom for both of the party leaders. An illegitimate response from the government allowed for a legitimate violent response from the Black Panther Party. Although the Black Panther Party performed actions against unjust crimes and errors from the failing democracy of the United States, frequent illegitimate responses were displayed by the party. On the night of November 14, 1969, members of the Black Panther Party incorrectly attacked two police officers on duty. Recorded on a officer memorial page, it states as the officers entered a gangwaythe man [a member from the party] opened fire with a shotgun from a porch below, striking Officer Rappaport in the chest and Officer Gilhooly in the face and neck. The suspect then shot Officer Rappaport again as he lay on the ground, killing him (Patrolman). The members of the party unjustly

Park 6 fired at the officers, causing one to die. If violence is abused wrongfully because of bad intentions, the legitimacy of that action fails to hold righteousness. The Black Panther Party responded illegitimately in situations that did not involve the governments failings to uphold civil rights for the people. Albeit the portrayal of the group as violent, the Black Panther Party exhibits legitimate responses to the shortcomings of a democratic society. The groups programs and methods of approach are legitimate if they are in response to the lack of equality, justice, and freedom from the government. The Free Breakfast for School Children Program delivered a response to the lack of concern from the democratic society; this program allowed students of all racial backgrounds to eat breakfast if they were unable to elsewhere. Also while implementing free clinics, the inadequacy of the government to reach the equality in hospitals forced the party to establish basic health needs for the communities. The Black Panther Partys approach to self-defense and governmental attacks were acceptable; the intentions pertained to the absence of humane rights from the democracy. The failings of a democracy can influence illegal actions to be perceived as a just act towards society.

Park 7 Works Cited Gregory, Ted. "The Black Panther Raid and the death of Fred Hampton." Chicago Tribune. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-chicagodays-pantherraidstory,0,3414208.story>. Hitz, Zena. "Plato and Aristotle on the Failings of Democracy." Order No. 3154539 Princeton University, 2005. Ann Arbor:ProQuest. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. "Patrolman John J. Gilhooly." Officer Down Memorial Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.odmp.org/officer/5443-patrolman-john-j-gilhooly#ixzz1tjq5wllu>. Raheem, Khalid. "Remembering the Black Panther Party." New Pittsburgh Courier: 1. Oct 2011. ProQuest. Web. 18 Nov. 2013 . Steven. "The Black Panther Party for Self Defense." Libcom. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://libcom.org/library/the-black-panther-party-for-self-defense>. Witt, Andrew. "'Picking Up the Hammer': The Community Programs and Services of the Black Panther Party with Emphasis on the Milwaukee Branch, 1966--1977." Order No. 3180965 Loyola University Chicago, 2005. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.