@ jae ill
i agree with alot of what you are saying. the BPP definately wasnt similiar to the kkk in belief. my point was that all kkk members were white, just like all BPP members were african american. i should have been a little more clear. i'm aware of the BPP beliefs and cause.they were organized around african american interests. they were racially profiling "white officers" and making sure african americans werent being unjustly detained and or arrested.
at that time the united states was adjusting to equal rights, regardless of the color of your skin. it was a tough time. i'm not against what the BPP stood for. i'm a firm believer however that fighting fire with fire isnt the answer, atleast now i do. i'm not saying they didnt affiliate with other non-african american organizations.but if they werent a racially motivated organization, they would have allowed members of all races and had a name without a racial reference. leaders lead by example. shooting it out with the police is radical behavior.
I can kind of understand what you're saying about "racially profiling" white officers, but to me that's not what it was. They were following the police just like the police follow members of the community, if most of the police happened to be white, that's not profiling that's just a reality. What law says you can't follow the police around and make sure they're not oppressing the community, as long as they're following the traffic laws and such.
When you say fight fire with fire, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. There's a lot of self declared liberal folk that agreed with the Panther's viewpoints, or at least said they did, but what did they actually do for the community? The police were truly an occupying force within the community, and the Panthers were there to show the people that it was okay to defend yourself and your family. They told the people to get guns in their homes, but they never said "break the law".
Huey Newton was against riots, when he was shot they told the people not to get crazy and fuck shit up. They weren't about random acts of violence, they were about showing the power structure that they had the means to defend themselves, and would use this means if they had to. To me, that's not fighting fire with fire, that's fighting fire with water. They didn't go to police stations and shoot them up, even though the police shot their offices up. They didn't find police on the street and beat them, invade their homes, shoot up their families. They didn't do any of that, they just carried guns and defended themselves if attacked.
So basically, the point you're trying to make is that the Panthers was an organization that wanted to provoke violence with the police? You believe the panthers went out there and just started busting on the police? I'm asking in all seriousness cuz I'm trying to understand where you coming from.