Author Topic: An essay relating the ideals of the Black Panthers to the Declaration 1st draft (Read 4550 times)

Otis Da HousKat · September 25, 2008, 11:34:55 PM

Not done yet but I feel like posting it. You should know I loving hate the Black Panthers.

Quote

   The Declaration of Independence is the founding basis of our nation. Jefferson and the other drafters created it as a list of grievances, with those grievances being their justification for demanding freedom from England. They were rebels of their time, defying an authority that could, and would, execute them for treason. Since then, other groups have fought for the rights and fair treatment of others in what they feel is a corrupt and oppressive government. One of these groups had a very radical ideology. Unlike groups founded by peaceful activists, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony, the Black Panthers adopted a more violent approach in an attempt to achieve their goals. This group founded in 1965 by Huey P. Newton and Robert George "Bobby" Seale demanded the freedom of all blacks in America, who they felt were being unjustly oppressed. The premise of the Black Panther Party sounds very similar to that of the Declaration of Independence, but it is severely flawed in several ways. These flaws are very severe and serve to disassociate the ideals of the Black Panthers from those of our Founding Fathers.
   The Black Panthers proposed a Ten Point Plan that was meant to have a similar ideology to that of the Declaration. Unfortunately it achieves just the opposite. The Declaration was created as a way to tell England of their misdoings against the colonists, and why they should be able to lead themselves. The Ten Point Plan though, it is not concerned with granting freedom to the oppressed people of the world. It�s a set of demands to give the blacks in America special rights above and beyond those of other citizens. With that in mind, how can you perceive the goals of the Black Panther Party to be in line with those of the Found Fathers?
   The definition of injustice the Black Panthers was founded on is an extremely skewed one. In Seize the Time, author Bobby Seale recalls his earliest experience with what he claims to be injustice. �The farthest back I can remember is when I was unjustly whopped by my father. My father and mother were having an argument. I was supposed to be washing some shirt in the back yard of the house we had in San Antonio�I tried wash his shirt, but then I guess I started playing�My father came outside and was mad at me because I hadn�t washed his shirt; he took his belt off and really beat me�I never forgot that beating, I never have, because it was an unjust beating.� This is Bobby Seale�s definition of unjust? He was told to wash a shirt by his father, a fair request, and he didn�t do it. He deserved his punishment. He was not told to do something unreasonable and it was a valid command for an authority figure to make of someone who they provide for. Seale didn�t have a severe hatred for his father, he got along with him most of the time; this wasn�t punishment from an abusive authority figure. From this evidence you can see how the Black Panther Party was founded on a misconstrued sense of what injustice means. Injustice, in this case, would have been Seale�s father beating him for no reason. At the time the Black Panther Party was formed, people like Martin Luther King Jr. were already achieving equal treatment for blacks in America. Change takes time, but at this time it was unlikely the government had policies in place to purposely oppress blacks. So what unjust authority was the Black Panther Party rebelling against? It certainly wasn�t the same kind our Founding Fathers went up against.
   Going back to the topic of special rights instead of equal rights and freedom, several points of the Ten Point Plan clearly express that ideal; notably points two and nine. Point two demands that the government provide employment or an income to those who cannot provide for themselves. This doesn�t seem to be a misguided request at first, but you have to realize the government does have programs like those. It seems like the Black Panthers ignored that though in an attempt to discredit the government they find oppressive. Social Security, welfare, and employment services have all been around since the Great Depression decades before the Party�s formation. During this time period approximately 34% of those on welfare were black, they were clearly not being denied these services. So why did the Panthers create point two? As was said before, it was most likely an attempt to make it seem as if the government had no concern for the livelihood of its citizens.
   Several reasons have been presented as to why the Black Panther�s ideals should not be compared to those of the Declaration of Independence, even though they quote it in their manifesto. Point nine of that manifesto is yet another reason. In this point, the Black Panthers demand that they be allowed to select their jury during criminal trials and be freed while awaiting trial. Our Constitution is an extension of the ideals stated in the Declaration; it set those principles as actual law. The Black Panthers clearly want to break that law. The Sixth Amendment of our Constitution grants us, the citizens, the right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury. Once again, these rules already exist yet the Black Panthers chose to ignore them. Picking who is on your jury would obviously create bias in the jury, violating the Sixth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment is there to establish equality for all citizens during trial, and the Black Panthers want to change that to give special preference to blacks.
   With the points presented so far, you should be doubtful that the Black Panthers actually appreciate the Declaration of Independence. They say they are just trying to overthrow an oppressive government, but their reasoning for doing so ha serious flaws. The injustices they claim to be prevalent in government, such as police brutality against blacks, are exaggerated and not even caused by the ruling powers. Police brutality is carried out by individual people, there are no rules saying they must harass and beat blacks. The Black Panthers were founded on a skewed sense of injustice, what they see isn�t really what�s happening. The struggles presented in the Declaration were real valid struggles experienced by the colonists. The struggles the Black Panthers say they face are mostly distorted reality. With all this in mind, how can the Black Panther Party legitimately use the Declaration of Independence as a basis for their movement?

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Otis Da HousKat · September 26, 2008, 08:06:51 AM

Anyone have suggestions or criticisms? A major part of the class this is for involves peer work shopping. I've posted the entirety of my first draft. For the next revision I plan to include as part of my conclusion the fact that the Black Panther Party's movement fell flat on its ass. It did so because it was in conflict with the ideals of the original Declaration of Independence.

I'll also change the large quote into a separate block quote, mainly to make it easier to read. I have to quote my source for some of the info provided. I also should reword or cut some of the sentences that make strong assumptions or have moral tones.

Ethos · September 26, 2008, 08:34:34 AM

Wow, it was actually very good.

Your logic was sound, the grammar was flawless, and you got your point across by proving it.

However, I did find this:

Quote from: Otis Da HousKat on September 25, 2008, 11:34:55 PM

the Found Fathers?

the Founding Fathers.

I believe that the accepted terminology is "The Founding Fathers," however, you can do it either way.
You must have consistency, though, so pick one or the other.
EDIT:

Quote from: Otis Da HousKat on September 25, 2008, 11:34:55 PM

ha serious flaws.

Otis Da HousKat · September 26, 2008, 08:40:27 AM

Ya, I already noticed most of the typos. But thanks for pointing them out at least. I did mean Founding Fathers, but look at when this was posted; that is when I typed it.

I had a lot of fun creating this essay. That's the main reason I posted it here.

Bisjac · September 26, 2008, 03:38:50 PM

i hate equal rights groups.

they all pretend to be righteous, yet ALWAYS push even farther for privileges.
that's not equality

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Author Topic: An essay relating the ideals of the Black Panthers to the Declaration 1st draft (Read 4550 times)

Otis Da HousKat

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Ethos

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