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RE: MLK Day: How you're being lied to about King's stance on guns and the history of gun control
Nicely written; followed
I have heard the claim that the Black Panthers evolved from the armed self-defense groups of Black Americans in the South. I've never studied this for myself, but it sounds like something you may know; it doesn't sound right to me, in part for the following.
In the followup investigations to the mid-60's riots, it became clear that SDS/SNCC were assuming leadership roles in the civil rights movement with the goal of stopping peaceful assimilation in favor of creating revolution.
For urban street gangs to suddenly become political revolutionaries seems off the path of local communities defending themselves.
I don't think they evolved in any direct way, but that's probably somewhat true. The Black Panthers started in Oakland, and the South was where most blacks in Southern California moved from in the 50s and 60s. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale both moved there from the South. The full name they gave the party was the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, so it's pretty likely they may have been influenced by similar groups like that in the South. As far as the other two groups, I'm not sure but some of those may have been infiltrators with the FBI. I know that was what J. Edgar Hoover tried to do. Other than surveillance and the rest of what they did to work against the Black Panthers, they infiltrated their ranks and would incite them to violence to damage their reputation. Thanks for checking out the article and for the follow!