Happy #BlackHistoryMonth !
I still haven't made it to Black history yet. I'm still on white US history.
Q: Why is it OK for Black folk to like the Black Panthers, but white folk can't like the klan? Black supremacy is just as bad as white supremacy! Why the double standard?
A: Black folk know white US history, so they know that the Black Panthers were not Black supremacists.
(At this point, half of the Black folk reading this just involuntarily said "COINTELPRO!" out loud).
1/N
Most of what you know about the Black Panthers, is a lie. It is intentional disinformation, created and circulated by the FBI, with the assistance and complicity of newspapers and local police. This disinfo was spread as part of the FBI's counter intelligence program (COINTELPRO).
This is not some unfounded conspiracy, this is documented and now admitted by the FBI.
The Black Panthers were the good guys, and the FBI were the cartoonishly evil Bond villain bad guys. Seriously.
If you've been reading along this Black history month, you might agree that these things are good:
* Reduce racism
* Systemically prevent another Tyre Nichols
* End false convictions
* Feed all school kids nutritious breakfast and lunch
* Affordable health care for all
* Access to better education for all
* Lower unemployment
* Get poor Black, white, Latinx, indigenous, and Asian workers to work together to assert their rights
* Safer infra and public transportation for all
* Stop wage theft
Regardless of your race or political philosophy, think about which of these above points you would disagree with. No, seriously. Read it again, and find one that doesn't make sense to you. It's okay if you don't agree with them all. 👍🏿
Now look at the Black Panthers' 10 point plan from 1966:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-Point_Program_(Black_Panther_Party)
Seriously, see how many of these points you disagree with. And it's honestly OK if you don't agree with them all!
Notice the lack of Black supremacy or calls for pogroms.
The Black Panthers provided free breakfast for poor school kids. ♥️👍🏿 Today, the US has a Federal free breakfast program. Black people that know white US history, know where that program started.
The FBI felt so threatened by the Black Panthers' school breakfast program, that they dedicated police resources to violently destroying it.
Imagine. Trained FBI agents, instructing grown men to urinate on Black children's food.
https://www.history.com/news/free-school-breakfast-black-panther-party
The Black Panthers also provided free clinics and vaccination for kids. ♥️👍🏿
“First you have free breakfasts, then you have free medical care, then you have free bus rides, and soon you have FREEDOM!” Fred Hampton.
https://time.com/5937647/black-panther-medical-clinics-history-school-covid-19/
How did the Black Panthers, with relatively zero funding, set up free health clinics for Black people, where the government of the richest nation on earth could not?
These are uncomfortable questions, most easily answered by destroying those clinics.
To this day, if you find a white trades person over the age of 50, and ask them what "It's not race, it's class" means, many can tell you. If you ask them "Who is Fred Hampton" many can tell you. If you ask them what a "rainbow coalition" was, many can tell you.
Why does an old, white, union steel worker in Detroit know who Fred Hampton is?
I've pointed out many times, in many threads, that the trope that "poor white people support Trump more" is not supported by data. It's more disinformation
83% of the US population lives in cities. Don't drive to some tiny town in Idaho and point to a poor racist white person. Most poor white people in this country live in places like Los Angeles, or Detroit or Houston, or Chicago or New York.
Jan 6 was the perfect example of the rich, white, racist phenomenon. Stop blaming Trump on poor white people.
Since the '60s, it has been true that rich white people are *more* racist than poor white people.
What happened in the 60s and 70s? What conversations intersected Black liberation with labor rights? What's the intersection between Detroit auto workers, Pittsburgh steelers workers, and Cali farm workers?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QqBr-A58YGo
The Black Panthers didn't start the labor movement, and they weren't the only anti-racists pushing for solidarity. But they left an indelible mark on working together.
That scene is from a great movie titled "Judas and the Black Messiah." This Black history month, don't watch Black trauma movies designed for the white eye. They all have a beautiful redemption arc for the white racist at the end. They reduce racism to individual barbaric racists while downplaying systemic racism.
Don't Watch garbage like "Green Book." Watch this instead:
https://youtu.be/sSjtGqRXQ9Y
Why is the movie titled "Judas and the Black Messiah?" You need to know white US history to get it.
The Black Panthers were not Black supremacists, although there were Black supremacists in the 60s. There are still Black supremacists today! No one cares much, because they have no power, and Black people don't listen to them. They mostly just spout nonsense at you while you're waiting for the bus. 🤷🏿♂️
The FBI did not care much about Black supremacists in the 60s either.
What they feared most, was the rise of any "Black Messiah," who could lead Black people.
To prevent this "Black Messiah" from rising, the FBI established a whole division to spread lies to tarnish the reputation *any* charismatic Black civil rights leader. This is why what most Americans know about the Black Panthers is so wildly different from the truth.
If the attempts to discredit the Black leader did not work, the FBI would create false arrests and false imprisonment. If that still did not work, assassination plans were drawn up.
Being a good leader could be a capital offense.
The reason so many Black people believe that the FBI assassinated MLK, is because they know white US history.
They know that COINTELPRO assassinated smaller Black Messiahs for doing things like providing free lunch and clinics, and getting white steel workers to take down confederate flags. And they know that the FBI considered MLK to be the biggest Black Messiah.
US high schools teach MLK's "I have a dream" speech, but not what the deputy director of the FBI said after seeing that speech...
"Personally, I believe in the light of King's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders over all other Negroid leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro, and national security."
FBI Deputy Director William Sullivan, after watching the "I have a Dream" speech.
The Black Panthers were revolutionary, but not because they had Black leather jackets and berets and shotguns. They were revolutionary because they were armed with breakfast, and vaccines, and the truth.
They weren't revolutionary because they wanted to "kill white people." They didn't want to kill white people, not even the racist ones. They wanted white people, even the racist ones, to see that racism is a tool used to oppress all people.
Be deeply suspicious of anyone that doesn't want you to know the truth about Black civil rights leaders.
Hiding the truth from you is an attempt to control not just Black people, but to control you as well.
If the Black Panthers were truly so terrible, we should be able to see the truth of their actions and their impacts, and judge for ourselves.
After reading this thread, you should understand why there seemed to be so few "Barack Obamas" in the 60s.
🤔I realize I'm still being too subtle.
If Obama had given this same speech in 1964, about the same number of poor white people would have been inspired (or infuriated), as happened when he gave the speech in 2004, or if he gave it in 2024. That hasn't changed.
But the *system* of US policing in 1964, through the FBI and local police forces, would have set in motion a concerted and intentional plan to destroy his life. If that failed, they would have tried to falsely imprison him, or worse.
The *people* aren't significantly less racist than they were in the 60s. What's changed is that a few of the *systemic leverage points* have shifted in favor of justice and equity.
It's not all good news. Other important systemic leverage points have shifted away from justice and equity, and towards cruelty and fascism.
We can improve the US and the world more for all of us, by focusing on these leverage points and making sure that all the important ones land on the side of justice and equity.
@mekkaokereke thank you for these threads.
I'm just a clueless Irish guy who spent the first 20 years of his life on an island that was approximately 100% white.
But I've learned a little about the shameful history of racism of my country folk over the years, and I've grown out of believing I get a pass when people talk about racist white behaviour just because I'm Irish.
But it's not just books and movies, it's threads like this that I'm learning from, all the time.
EnlargeDownload Link Citation: An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to the Chinese, May 6, 1882; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1996; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives View All Pages in the National Archives Catalog View Transcript The Chinese Exclusion Act was approved on May 6, 1882. It was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. In the spring of 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Chester A. Arthur.
@greenhombre @mekkaokereke Hey coincidence, funny enough I'm watching Warrior at the moment and it talks specifically about Irish in America supporting the Exclusion Act.
Irish people tend to believe we are somehow predisposed against racism but the truth hurts.
@mekkaokereke
Nailed it once again.
Phones and cameras in everyone’s hands tips towards justice.
No moderation in social media allows mob rule and pushes out the non-violent (metaphorical), tips towards injustice.
@mekkaokereke Truth... and amazing thread... I am a youngish person and I had no idea about most of this...
The history was just gone.
@Aviva_Gary @mekkaokereke We U.S. students in white schools were fed a carefully pruned set of half-truths by white teachers from white books. Some measure of white supremacy, some measure of willful ignorance.
I remember being taught about Black Panthers feeding kids lunches. I remember that being closely followed by strong implications around FBI investigations and at least as many carefully selected pictures of Black Panthers carrying weapons or marching stoically (framed against the police as 'law and order is good'). You can almost see it in Getty Images if you imagine these pictures next to text that almost bleeds "be afraid of these people targeted by the FBI" rather than "these people want an end to police brutality, wage theft, redlining, [etc]". They all but said "Black supremacy" while in reality planting the seeds of white supremacy.
I'm embarrassed that I fell for that and didn't think critically until years later about the selective half-truths of white supremacy. I knew I was surrounded by racism, but I didn't question the textbooks themselves, even as they peddled scientific racism. "It's rational, here's the superficial, poorly controlled evidence that we cherry picked."
I read precious few books written by people of color until my college education opened me up to amazing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by people of color both in and outside of coursework.
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/black-panther-party
@Aviva_Gary @saraislet @mekkaokereke I mean, that picture is still honestly pretty badass and worth emulating in these sketchy times, but they also, at least to some degree, paint the false picture of “kill the honkies,” activism that the J. Edgars wanted.
The more I learn about the Black Panthers, of which this thread constitutes probably 20 or 30%, the more I think we need just that. And not just African-Americans.
@mcgowankat @mekkaokereke is it this one? i think that’s incredibly inspiring.
@mekkaokereke I think racists aren’t significantly less racist than they were in the 60s and 70s, but the big chunk of people in the middle who were indifferent to racism because it didn’t directly affect them have become substantially less indifferent, which is where the leverage comes from.
Racism used to be normalized, now it’s a vocation.
(I just reread this thread. It's really good.)
@mekkaokereke thank-you for these reminders and lessons.
I don't know what to do with my life as my work is destroyed by fascists, but this gives me some ideas.
I already knew a lot about the reality of the Black Panthers thanks to Auntie Denise over at DailyKos (https://www.dailykos.com/users/denise%20oliver%20velez) as she's written quite a bit about her role during the period over the years.
I stopped frequenting DKos after their labor dispute and the departure of all of their long time high quality senior writers, a number of whom now write at Uncharted Blue.
I do miss Denise though...
@mekkaokereke The reason that Obama was encouraged was that he was controlled opposition. His stirring speeches were an alternative to actual change.
In particular, Obama's love of fossil fuels, warfare, and capitalism meant that he was America's last chance, squandered.
I wept with relief when Obama was elected. Now I don't even want to see his face. (Yes, yes, much better than Bush or Trump...)
Also if I remember correctly, black Panthers played a huge role in helping disabled protesters gain accessibility rights.
Disobedient Objects is an exhibition about the art and design produced by grassroots social movements. It will show exhibits loaned from activist groups from all over the world, bringing together for the first time many objects rarely before seen in a museum. Here we chart the process of mounting the exhibition with contributions from curators, conservators, technicians and some of the people who are lending their objects. We’ll be telling the in-depth stories behind some of the exhibits and exploring the issues and challenges raised by the exhibition with guest bloggers. We’ll also be introducing a few new disobedient objects beyond the exhibition itself.
@mekkaokereke My parents grew up in Richmond, in the 60s and 70s, and they taught me California's anti-gun laws weren't made to protect people - they were made to stop the Panthers protecting themselves. Those shotguns were legal, open-carry was legal - until Governor Ronald Reagan put a stop to it, of course, because what the Panthers were doing was walking around holding cops accountable and preventing police brutality.
And no shit this is white history, what color was Reagan??? My parents are white, they know cause it happened in their backyard. Everything I ever learned as "Black history" is stuff white people like me did _to_ Black people and refused to tell their children.
@xelle @mekkaokereke Yeah, Open Carry in California...unwise and unsafe.
And yes, it was because some white people said: Wait, They're *Exercising* their Second Amendment Rights?!?"
And here we are down the road and I hear from my MidWest relatives and aquaintences, "You California Liberals and your Gun Control."
That's not how it went down, Larry Billy-Joe-Ray. Go have a chat with your favorite Republican president.
Big facts!
And the abuse that some Black women leaders in the movement endured at the hands of Black men they trusted and worked with, can't be ignored either.
We can't fully address sexism without talking about racism, and we can't fully address racism without talking about sexism.
Many before us have observed: the root problem -is- oppression itself.
But this is not the most common way we think about the various "isms"-- to our huge disadvantage.
It appears that all kinds of implicit biases (with authoritarian roots) are baked directly into the *privileged* parts of our identities. These biases help keep us blind.
Examples still abound, there is racism in LGBT communities, sexism in the labor movement, homophobic anti racists, etc.
It's the authoritarian assumptions residing at our mindset (and not fully conscious) levels that really screw us all up.
Why would we -all- tend to hold some authoritarian assumptions in these privileged parts of our identities? Because "might makes right" (aka authoritarian thinking) -is- what Western Civ has been built upon.
@mekkaokereke I was glad to see strong (though limited) depictions of Fred Hampton and Bobby Seale in "The Trial of the Chicago 7"; it would've been criminal to leave Seale's shockingly brutal, court-ordered abuse out of the story, but Hollywood studios aren't exactly afraid of cutting black stories out of the narrative.
For years, I was astounded by how hard the "violent revolutionaries" narrative was pushed by my history classes, because I kept learning it wasn't the case. Eventually it all snapped into place for me.
@mekkaokereke Plus, the Black Panther Party provided massive support for other movements at the time! It's because of their support, especially in providing food, that disabled activists were able to sustain the 504 Sit-In, which itself was a pivotal moment for disability identity and which paved the road for future disability rights legislation like the ADA. Any American who enjoys disability rights can, in part, thank the Black Panther Party.
https://disabilityhistory.org/2021/12/19/the-504-protests-and-the-black-panther-party/
@ben @mekkaokereke I've written some of our 504 regulatory guidance for providers, and I didn't know the role the Panthers played until seeing this.
Thank you!
@ben @mekkaokereke and the gay and women's liberation movements too! The history that's been passed down* is so skewed.
*deliberately fractured by those in power so as to obscure the power of solidarity
@internetnerdgrl @ben @mekkaokereke
Over and over, and over, and over again.
@[email protected] Big facts! And the abuse that some Black women leaders in the movement endured at the hands of Black men they trusted and worked with, can't be ignored either. We can't fully address sexism without talking about racism, and we can't fully address racism without talking about sexism.
@mekkaokereke Recently, there was a documentary (<1hr) on TCM about the Panthers. It did feature the breakfast, and also gave time to the women. (PBS on hip hop so far no female perspective 1st 2 episodes.) Looking forward to Prof. Gates episode on Angela Davis this coming Tuesday. (Apparently, she's got Mayflower ancestry.)
Update: The TCM Panthers documentary is about 1/2 long and consists mostly of footage shot in 1968.
You mean poor white people don't have private jets?
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/03/a-private-jet-of-rich-trumpers-wanted-to-stop-the-steal
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