Black Panthers Significance

The significance of the Black Panthers was in many ways different from other events or people that have contributed to the movement. The Black Panthers was and is a group that worked towards the Civil Rights Movement. But there was more to the Panthers than just the Civil Rights Movement. The Black Panthers, (not to be a confused with the comic book character), was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale (Black Panther Party). Both were African American men that felt the need to make the group to fight the social injustice and inequality that the whites were pushing upon the Blacks. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale were very big influences on the community of African Americans, hence causing a big “Revolution”, as some would say, in the community as a whole. When the Black Panthers were first formed, their main focus was to stop police brutality against the Blacks. They made patrols around African American neighborhoods to make sure that there is peace, and to stop potential problems with the police. After doing that for a while, the Black Panthers eventually developed into a militia of sorts.
They were calling for arms of all African Americans (Black Panther Party). They wanted the African Americans who were wrongly put in jail to be released immediately. They also said they wanted an exemption from “White-America” and the exemption of the draft (Black Panther Party). The Black Panthers were kind of a Militia in certain ways.
They had certain uniforms they wore. The uniform consisted of a Black Beret and Leather Jackets (Black Panther Party). They had become more violent against the police because the brutality isn't getting any better, despite the passage of the 1960’s civil rights legislation. The legislation followed the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Brown v. The Board of Education(Black Panther Party). There have been many controversies with the Black Panthers and the violence against police. For example, the founder, Huey Newton, had allegedly killed an Oakland Police Officer. He was convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter, and got sentenced to two to fifteen years in prison (Black Panther Party). The charges, however, had been reversed later on. That was just one of many controversies that the Black Panthers had gone
through. After Huey Newton was murdered, it was only a certain time before the Black Panthers were going to seperate. The Black Panthers had investigations done by the FBI, which caused even more stress on the backs of the members. So, in 1982, the Black Panther Party officially dissolved (Black Panthers). Even though the Black Panther Party was dissolved, there were still loyal followers that felt that they needed them back. In 1989, the New Black Panthers were formed in Dallas, Texas (Black Panthers). The Original Black Panthers state that there are no relations between the two groups (Black Panthers). The United States Commision on Civil Rights and the Southern Poverty Law
Center has classified the New Black Panthers as a hate group rather than a Civil Rights movement, showing the difference between the two even more (Black Panthers).