A personal experience with respect to the Panthers:
"Early in December, [1969], Chicago police conducted a
pre-dawn raid, murdering Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in his
bed. This was part of a nationwide pattern in which that
organization's leadership was physically decimated. Later that
month word came down that a similar raid would occur upon the
founding Black Panther organization, that of Oakland, although
its headquarters was actually a couple of blocks over the line in
Berkeley. Whites were needed to stand guard around the building,
in the hope that police would not shoot randomly into them. Tanya
[my wife] and I went down, and found about fifty other whites
there. Most were 1960s youth, but there were others in their 50s,
chiefly old-time radicals like ourselves. By the close of the
'60s, would-be world-changers were divided into at least
half-a-dozen warring sects: Maoist, Trotskyist of several
varieties, pro-Soviet Communists. After the fashion of religious
sectarians from time immemorial, they would not even speak to
each other, and there had been a couple of violent incidents. In
the aftermath of the People's Park military occupation and mass
shooting, willingness to be at Panther headquarters that night
was a litmus test of sincerity. I felt a surge of warmth to all
present. They were the core who meant what they said." Saying No
to Power, p. 418.
Later in that autobiography, I write (p. 500): "...Larry
Pinckney, a former Black Panther. His militancy started with his
experiences as the only AFrican-American student in a Maryland
High School of three thousand, which had Ku Klux Klan agitators.
Years later, Pinkney had been appointed by San Francisco Mayor
Alioto, under pressure from segments of the Black, white, and
Chicano communities, to the Civil Service Commission oral board
interviewing candidates for the Fire Department. He had been the
only Black member, the only civilian, the youngest. Having lost
the key to an apartment available to him, he tried to get in
through a window. Police, tailing him, said as they seized him:
'We have you now, nigger!' and beat him badly. He was convicted
of burglary under the illegal-entry clause of the penal code.
"Pinkney wrote me early in 1983, when completing in Vacaville
a nine-year term that began in Canada. He is best described in a
'To Whom It May Concern' letter about him from a member of the
Canadian Parliament from the Conservative Party. Canada had
cooperated with the U.S. desire to imprison Larry after he fled
this country subsequent to that frame-up in 1973. It was only
after the UN Human Rights Committee officially condemned the
actions of the Canadian government in his case that he was
transferred to imprisonment in the U.S. in his seventh year of
incarceration, instead of being released. The Canadian M.P.
wrote:
"'I am our Party's spokesman on issues relation to Correction
and Parole...I became acquainted with Mr. Larry Pinkney....I was
quickly impressed with the high level of personal integrity which
he displayed. He was not looking for any favours, he was not
enumerating an inventory of complaints or alibis. In short, there
was no evidence that he had ever become part of the criminal
sub-culture which makes up so much a part of our prison
population....I have...found...him...meticulously honorable. My
experience with him is that his word is his bond.'"
"A year after we became acquainted, he was framed for
allegedly tryin g to start a riot in prison. None had occurred.
In fact -- I had been kept informed of the situation as it
developed in the previous week -- he was trying to stop one from
developing."
"For anyone with any doubt why militant activists like
Pinkney wound up in prison, the following excerpt from his FBI
file, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, speaks for
itself: 'Pinkney is potentially dangerous due to his demonstrated
ability to unify black and white. His associates are Negro,
White, and Chinese. Special attention is being given to
neutralizing him. The areas of sex and drugs appear to be the
most effective ones to utilize. His habits in these areas are
unknown, but are being monitored with this objective. The FVI is
working in conjunction with [blacked out, but a covering note to
the U.S. Secret Service, San Francisco, accompanies this]."
I have seen the originals, and possess copies of the letter
and document cited.
This presents a somewhat different picture of Panther people
and of government policy toward them than that which David
Horowitz would have us accept.
William Mandel
monkerud wrote:
>
> I don't mind crawling out on this limb .... despite Horowitz's condemnation
> of the Panthers as street punks, they were the first people in my
> generation to stand up to government repression, the police who ran
> unmolested through black communities and others who robbed the community.
> And they did it with guns. Scared the hell out of white Republicans and
> racist. It was about time.
>
> How we have a Reagan supporter who talks about other "law abiding" blacks
> and how they went right up by following the system. Unbelievable! Certainly
> when the police were murdering black people and dropping tons of bombs in
> Southeast Asia, you could cut them some slack. But no, a squeamish, "they
> weren't playing by OUR rules."
>
> No absolutes from me. Wouldn't accept any critique from those like DH here,
> not when the US government and police departments across the country were
> getting off scott free. (They are still trying to bring those who killed
> half a dozen little girls in Atlanta to justice!) I found the Panthers in
> Oakland a mixture, approved of some people's actions and not others. But
> yes, I sympathized with them. Justice only for whites and only those blacks
> who played by the rules while the white power structure NEVER played by the
> rules. I think not David. Privilege begets such views....
>
> best, Don
>
> >Ah, the illogic of the left. The Panthers began as a street gang and
> >ended up as a street gang but somehow in between they transformed
> >themselves into an uplifting vanguard of the revolution -- until of
> >course the evil empire's dirty tricks.... Get a life.
> >
> >Forget the ideological claptrap in your next comment (lumpen and all
> >that) and explain how white leftists like you, who presumably did not
> >have these inner city handicaps supported them so fervently. Also
> >explain how Huey Newton's brother Melvin (to take one lumpen example
> >among many I could cite) became a professor, a law abiding professor who
> >at least in his personal life seems not to have raped, beaten, or
> >otherwise abused anyone. I could name you a dozen Panthers I knew, who
> >worked in the Panther school and who also were not given to lumpen
> >excess. I thought Stalinism was passe, but you seem to regard people --
> >or at least dark-skinned people, as sociological stick figures who have
> >no control over their
> >own actions.
> >
> >Also, while we are on the subject of "deep thought," kindly explain to
> >me what a non "Machiavellian" interepetation of "by any means necessary
> >would be."
> >
> >Mr. Henderson's purpose is to obuscate to save leftists like you from
> >having to confront the crimes of your movement and really think.
> >
> >Art McGee wrote:
> >
> >> Fascinating. I knew from his writings that Mr. Horowitz
> >> wasn't that deep, but I had yet to experience it firsthand.
> >>
> >> >Actually, what Pearson's book shows is that the Panthers
> >> >were an urban street gang,
> >>
> >> The members of the Panthers started out in street gangs
> >> and yes, the Panthers were an outgrowth of that activity.
> >> Everyone knows this, especially those of us still on the
> >> Left. This says absolutely nothing about the nature of what
> >> they were ultimately trying to accomplish, just as the fact
> >> that Malcolm X was once a "hoodlum" and spouted "racist"
> >> ideology says nothing about what he eventually became or
> >> what he was trying to accomplish.
> >>
> >> >which engaged in serious criminal violence against its own
> >> >members, against black inner city communities
> >>
> >> Once again, because of your lack of intellectual depth, you
> >> seem to have missed this:
> >>
> >> "The BPP did not fully appreciate the necessity for cultural
> >> transformation in the movement. Instead, they promoted a
> >> "revolutionary culture" that was amorphous and self-serving.
> >> It was rooted in a Machiavellian rationalization of
> >> Malcolm's "by any means necessary" dicta whereby members
> >> simply legitimized their lumpen activities by asserting that
> >> these were somehow "revolutionary." This approach was used
> >> especially to sexually exploit women, to character
> >> assassinate rivals, to rationalize the misuse of BPP funds
> >> by the national leadership, to justify internecine violence,
> >> or to excoriate rival organizations (such as with the NOI,
> >> SNCC, RNA [Republic of New Afrika], and Us organization)
> >> within the Black Power movement. This glorified lumpenism
> >> was so expansive that Hilliard (1993, pp. 339-339) reports
> >> that Huey even came to require that BPP members watch The
> >> Godfather, as he began to argue for a "progressive
> >> capitalism" (Newton, 1971). Allegedly, the Panther
> >> nightclub, The Lamp Post, even became, among other things, a
> >> front for prostitution and funding source for Huey's and the
> >> Central Committee's personal indulgences."
> >>
> >> You see, the difference between a Black Nationalist like Mr.
> >> Henderson, who wrote the review, and a bitter old-man like
> >> Mr. Horowitz, is that while they both have a sharp critique
> >> of the Panthers, Mr. Henderson's purpose is to teach so as
> >> to advance a continuing struggle, while Mr. Horowitz's
> >> purpose is to take us back to the days of Jack Benny and
> >> Rochester. This accounts for the more complex and fleshed
> >> out critiques coming from Mr. Henderson, as opposed to the
> >> all too familiar simplistic ranting eminating from Mr.
> >> Horowitz.
> >>
> >> >and against law enforcement officers
> >>
> >> I won't even go there, cause if they didn't, I might be
> >> disappointed. ;->
> >>
> >> >while using a political rhetoric that snookered the left
> >> >then (and obviously some leftists today who have learned
> >> >very little in the intervening years) into thinking the
> >> >Panthers were "revolutonaries" who would make things better
> >> >rather than worse, as they did.
> >>
> >> And that political rhetoric was? Just a small example would
> >> be sufficient.
> >>
> >> >The reviewer claims that Cointelpro was the principal agent
> >> >of the Panthers destruction.
> >>
> >> No, what he said was (in context):
> >>
> >> "Pearson is correct that the BPP's downfall cannot simply be
> >> attributed to COINTELPRO, though it was a principal agent of
> >> its destruction. For the most part, however, COINTELPRO was
> >> an external manipulation that capitalized on internal
> >> weaknesses and contradictions. We are reminded of one of the
> >> major lessons of Cabral: "That in the general framework of
> >> the daily struggle this battle against ourselves--no matter
> >> what difficulties the enemy may create--remains the most
> >> difficult of all."
> >>
> >> In other words, he's actually placing the RESPONSIBILITY for
> >> the behavior on the Panthers, something that hacks like you
> >> like to throw around rhetorically as being what's missing
> >> from society. The diference is, he understands the concepts
> >> of complexity and contradiction, something you apparently
> >> missed while still in school.
> >>
> >> Take Ghandi for example. A lot of people think Ghandi was
> >> one of the greatest people that ever lived. However, Ghandi
> >> was also a supporter, or rather, he never fought against,
> >> the internal caste system WITHIN Indian society, that
> >> relegated people such as the Dalits to "bottom-class"
> >> citizenship in India. Are we supposed to hate Ghandi now?
> >> Do we ignore all his teachings? No, we acknowledge and
> >> recognize his contributions AND his flaws.
> >>
> >> >Since Cointelpro was folded in 1970 and all the Panther
> >> >leaders -- Newton, Seale, Hilliard, Brown etc -- were
> >> >involved in its self-destruction, I would like to hear
> >> >how the government is to be blamed for this mess.
> >>
> >> First, the idea that an operation like COINTELPRO had some
> >> specific end date is like saying that your fall ends after
> >> you go splat on the ground. Sure, you're not falling
> >> anymore, but now you've got this dead thing to deal with. In
> >> addition, I reject the idea that it ever ended, or rather, I
> >> believe it may have mutated into something else, but it
> >> never ended. Of course I don't trust an agency or records
> >> that come from an agency bent on the destruction of American
> >> citizens like myself, so that's probably where you and I
> >> differ.
> >>
> >> Second, there were several different incarnations of the
> >> Panthers, so someone would have to remind us of who was
> >> running what, when.
> >>
> >> Third, as is the case with obsfucating conservatives, you
> >> once again chose to completely ignore all the comments the
> >> reviewer made about the internal problems and the personal
> >> responsibility (I know you love when I say that) the
> >> Panthers themselves had for what happened. So, for those who
> >> might still be under your magic spell, let me break it right
> >> quick (again):
> >>
> >> "Pearson is correct that the BPP's downfall cannot simply be
> >> attributed to COINTELPRO, though it was a principal agent of
> >> its destruction. For the most part, however, COINTELPRO was
> >> an external manipulation that capitalized on internal
> >> weaknesses and contradictions. We are reminded of one of the
> >> major lessons of Cabral: "That in the general framework of
> >> the daily struggle this battle against ourselves--no matter
> >> what difficulties the enemy may create--remains the most
> >> difficult of all."
> >>
> >> and
> >>
> >> "The BPP did not fully appreciate the necessity for cultural
> >> transformation in the movement. Instead, they promoted a
> >> "revolutionary culture" that was amorphous and self-serving.
> >> It was rooted in a Machiavellian rationalization of
> >> Malcolm's "by any means necessary" dicta whereby members
> >> simply legitimized their lumpen activities by asserting that
> >> these were somehow "revolutionary." This approach was used
> >> especially to sexually exploit women, to character
> >> assassinate rivals, to rationalize the misuse of BPP funds
> >> by the national leadership, to justify internecine violence,
> >> or to excoriate rival organizations (such as with the NOI,
> >> SNCC, RNA [Republic of New Afrika], and Us organization)
> >> within the Black Power movement. This glorified lumpenism
> >> was so expansive that Hilliard (1993, pp. 339-339) reports
> >> that Huey even came to require that BPP members watch The
> >> Godfather, as he began to argue for a "progressive
> >> capitalism" (Newton, 1971). Allegedly, the Panther
> >> nightclub, The Lamp Post, even became, among other things, a
> >> front for prostitution and funding source for Huey's and the
> >> Central Committee's personal indulgences."
> >>
> >> Art
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