Who and What is The New Black Panther Party?
http://atlantapost.com/2010/10/28/who-and-what-is-the-new-black-panther-party/
October 28, 2010
by Anthony Jerrod
It is safe to state that America has become an empire that is
crumbling day by day and is becoming inundated with widespread hate
and fear and maladjustment to suffering and injustices. Right and
left-wing cable chatter has galvanized a multitude of individuals to
act in a way that is contrary to the ideal of loving thy
neighbor. Congruent with this notion is the fact that the United
States Department of Justice (USDOJ) has recently reported a rise in
criminal and extremist groups and associated hate crimes.
In a majority of the cases, most of these clandestine organizations
have been associated with right-wing extremism. There have been some
leftist groups over the years that have caused minor alarm, but one
left-wing organization that is currently capturing the attention of
conservatives with a certain sense of urgency is the New Black
Panther Party (NBPP). Talk show hosts such as Bill O'Reilly, Megyn
Kelly and Sean Hannity continue to ask, "Who and what is the NBPP?"
To understand the "who" of the "new" party, it is logical for one to
become acquainted with the "who" of the "old." As commonly
understood, the original Black Panther Party (BPP), was an
organization of young African-Americans, mostly under the age of 25,
that operated within the context of neo-Marxist principles to
primarily "protect" African-American neighborhoods from rampant
racist practices.
These young "militants" were secular, persuasive and articulate
communicators and were comprised almost entirely of citizens from the
poor and working classes. Although the United States government had
promulgated public policies (i.e., Civil Rights Act of 64' and Voting
Rights Act of 65') that would yield voting, education and civil
liberties for minorities, many of these young "revolutionaries" did
not believe that the government had done anything to help transform
the age-old racist and xenophobic mindsets among
Caucasians. Relative to the "what" of the BPP, they believed through
their Ten-Point program that a self-determinative and revolutionary
approach was needed to replace the fundamentally corrupt American
institutional, corporate, financial and military systems, which would
ultimately result in breaking the chains of oppression from the poor
and working classes.
Many commentators, then and now, would stereotypically state that the
BPP was strictly a hateful, violent and racist group that was out to
kill white people. There were likely some members who held these
sentiments. But based on robust analysis of factual, unbiased and
documented evidence, I do not believe that this was the underlying
platform of the organization, at least as the BPP matured. To be
sure, their initial black nationalistic thought processes were racist
in context, but the BPP later denounced this racism and became more
socialistic while excluding race. This was evidenced as they
ultimately enjoined hands with Native Americans, Asians, women and
individuals of other ethnicities from around the world.
Now, we have the NBPP. Who are they exactly? Based on their
interviews with mainstream media and current non-partisan
information, it appears that the NBPP is mostly comprised of men from
the Nation of Islam who hold anti-white and anti-Semitic views. Most
of the members appear to be fairly educated and religious compared to
their less educated and secular "predecessors." Many commentators
on the left and right have posed the same question, "Are they really
a continuation of the BPP?" Are these individuals the younger
generation of those who operated within the context of neo-Marxist
principles to replace the corrupt capitalism society with one where
people had the power and human rights were placed at the forefront?
Or, are they a faux pas organization of racists and anti-Semites who
have stolen certain components of the BPP, who wear the regalia and
who have developed a similar Ten-Point platform without understanding
the original intent of the BPP? From an unbiased perspective, it
appears that there are a group of pretenders who have stolen the
legacy of the BPP.
As expressed by former members of the BPP, the original party did not
operate on hatred of white people but rather on love for black
people. According to the former members, the NBPP is simply a group
of imposters with a racist, religious and nationalistic
agenda. Based on a review of the NBPP's Karenga-based Ten Point
Program, it is not difficult to discern the differences that have
been voiced by the former members of the BPP.
Although I think that the Fox News hysteria of voter intimidation in
Philadelphia by the NBPP was an overblown narrative to incite fear,
the NBPP has explicitly expressed its hatred for Caucasians and Jews
which I find reprehensible and repugnant. There is no difference
between the Klan, neo-Nazis and the NBPP hate is simply hate.
Taking into consideration that President Obama will likely win again
in 2012 due to the fact that there is no strong Republican contender,
hate crimes and racial disharmony will likely increase
exponentially. Organizations such as the NBPP will simply exacerbate
this impending problem. Though I do disagree with the principles of
the BPP and the "fake" NBPP, I do think that it is imperative for
"the talented tenth" and fortunate African-Americans to help lift the
poor and the downtrodden and to fight against injustices and
malevolent behavior and institutionalized practices that continually
seek to oppress others.
.
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