Forwarded from Anthony (Black Panthers)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Lou:

Reply to Macdonald re "pretty weak evidence".

I have no idea what you are referring to: do you doubt that their were
ghetto rebellions in the United States during the 1960?s? Please refer to
the pages of any major bourgeois newspaper of the time, or any left wing
newspaper from the United States or for that matter, of any country.

Or do you doubt my account of the Black Panther Party in Oakland?

I suggest you read Bobby Seale?s book on the Panthers, or again refer to
the press of the time. Not, however the left press of the United States -
the Militant was sectarian - and as much as possible tried to ignore the
Panthers existence. The People?s World - West coast newspaper of the
Communist Party was less sectarian, but also tried to diminish the BPPs
importance - as the Panthers had recruited many former CP sympathizers in
the ghettos - and were a real threat to the CP?s waning influence in the
black community.

Lou?s friend Nelson is possible another source, as I believe he was SWP
organizer in Berkeley (next door to Oakland) for some of the time we are
talking about. The SWP had zero influence in the black community there. Its
black militants were mostly imported from elsewhere to give it the
appearance of support - and maybe the possibility of organizing in - the
black community. (However, I think the SWP?s lack of influence in the black
community in Oakland was caused not only by the loyalty of the black
community there to the BPP - which was strong, but tot he SWP?s national
strategy which after Malcom X was assassinated had no real focus in the
black community.)

Thank you for the quotes from Fred Hampton. He was a courageous, and
intelligent man. But he was not in California - nor was he really in the
central leadership of the Panthers which was more than 1,000 miles away.

When the BPP grew - almost overnight - into a national organization, its
leaders didn?t know how to handle the situation. In Oakland they were the
leadership of 10s of thousands of young, mostly unemployed black workers -
but in other cities there branches ranged from small isolated groups to
groups with some influence in their communities. BPP branches sometimes
came straight from street gangs, or from the people once influenced by the
CP, or from former Black Muslims, or from SNCC.

Real programmatic and strategic agreement among them was not as strong as
you might think looking at them a distance of several decades and several
thousand miles. The inexperience, and lack of national strategy, were
exploited byt he police who infilitrated the BPP, tried (successfully) to
exacerbate real differences or create differences where they did not really
exist - fan the flames of faction - and provoke armed confrontations witht
he police.

Mostly the Panthers didn?t fall into the traps. So the police assasinated
them anyway.

Fred Hampton was one of their victims. And so was the whole BPP, and the
whole left.

Anthony


Louis Proyect
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