Groups like The Black Panthers and Nation of Islam are often perceived as violent or militant. How often, if ever, did they actually kill white people in the pursuit of Black freedom?

by Charlzalan

This is an entirely "good faith" question. Groups like The Black Panthers and Nation of Islam are often contrasted with NAACP and SNCC based on their position on nonviolence, and Malcolm X is still a controversial figure because of a perceived advocacy for violence. But how often did members of these groups actually commit violence against whites to achieve their goals? I'm especially interested in murder statistics because I figured there would be some record, but it's surprisingly difficult to find.

BobMarleyDaGhod

So, as far as I'm aware, this was a VERY rare event. I'm a lot less familiar with the NOI than I am with the BPP, but I can try my best to speak on the general movements here.

So, the first thing to recognise is that the movements and organisations that today are often classed under "Black Power" were hugely varied and often clashing. Black Power first became popularised by Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) but from there was interpreted in a massive variety of ways.

For some, such as Stokely, Black Power came to mean what the BPP termed "Black Nationalism," or "Cultural Nationalism." These are, again, complex terms that were interpreted in differing ways. For Stokely, it meant embracing African culture amongst Afro-Americans and rejecting White norms and society. Some argued this must culminate in a "return" to Africa, others to a separation withi the US, and to others remaining within the US but distinctly embracing this alternative culture and carrying it high. For Malcolm X, who left the NOI and proclaimed Black Nationalism, it meant simply Black people having control over Black communities. This is the interpretation that the BPP then built upon.

The BPP were complicated in their ideology and it adapted over time. When they formed in 1966 they were Black Nationalist following Malcolm X's vision - they rejected White control over their communities. This interpretation was increasingly nuanced with anti-colonial thought such as that of Frantz Fanon and international Socialists including Lenin, Mao, Stalin, Castro, Kim Il Sung, Ho Chi Minh. Ultimately, the BPP came to view itself by 1969-72 (their peak) as a Party for international socialist revolution. They rejected racism alongside capitalism, and thus believed in uniting with poor people in all places. Consequently, they had no agenda to go out and spontaneously kill White people. They believed in organisation at community levels leading to popular revolution and mass guerrilla warfare, not random assassination.

This being said, there were, especially in the Party's early days, cases of violence against the police. This was, more often than not, in Self-Defence, which was the founding principal of the Party in-line with Malcolm's visions of Black Nationalism - the Black Community had to control, and defend, itself, not be under the subjugation and colonisation of the White Power structure. Therefore, it could be argued that there was SOME targeted violence against White people - however, this was actually a case of Police who happened to be White (what else would they be at this point in time?) rather than White people who happened to be Police.

This is a very brief summary and doesn't do the development of the Party justice - its legacy in media has been of violence, and internal fighting did plague the Party, but so much of it's life and business was actually in community engagement and programmes, from electoral drives to free breakfasts for children to free healthcare.

Killing White people wasn't the goal of these groups. Freedom was.

I would strongly recommend looking at some of the following: The Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X speech 'The Ballot or the Bullet' Revolutionary Suicide by Huey Newton To Die For the People by Huey Newton Seize the Time by Bobby Seale Power To the People by Bobby Seale Any speech by Angela Davis