charles jones - the political repression of the black panther party

7/30/2019 Charles Jones - The Political Repression of the Black Panther Party

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The Political Repression of the Black Panther Party 1966-1971: The Case of the Oakland BayAreaAuthor(s): Charles E. JonesSource: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Jun., 1988), pp. 415-434Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2784371 .

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THE POLITICAL REPRESSION OFTHE BLACK PANTHER PARTY1966-1971TheCase oftheOaklandBayAreaCHARLES E. JONESOld DominionUniversity

Throughoutmericanistory,ertainrganizationsavebeenpullednto hemaelstromfpolitical epression.epressions"governmentctionwhich rossly iscriminatesgainst ersonsororganizationsiewed s presentingfundamentalhallengeoexistingower elationshipsrkey overnmentalolicies,ecauseoftheir erceivedolitical eliefs"Goldstein,978: vi).Theseeventsregenerallyerceiveds aberrationsn America espitetheireoccurrenceLevin, 971;Wolfe, 973;Goldstein,978).In the ate1960s,heBlack antherarty asoneof everalr-ganizationslaimingepressiontthehands fgovernmentffi-cials.Recent eleases f theFederalBureauofInvestigation's(FBI) Memoranda, escribinghe ctivitiesf COINTELPRO(Counterintelligencerogram),end redenceotheBlackPan-ther arty'sccusations.nesuchmemorandumndicatedhattheRacial ntelligenceectionfCOINTELPRO was stablishedto expose, isrupt, isdirect,iscreditrotherwiseeutralizeheactivitiesfblacknationalists"Blackstone, 975:30). Publicstatementsadebykeygovernmentalfficialsnthe ate1960salsosupporthese laims f heBlackPantherarty. henViceJOURNAL F BLACKSTUDIES, Vol.18No.4,June 988 15-434o 1988 agePublications,nc. 415

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416 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 988President piro Agnew iewed he BlackPanther arty s a"completelyrresponsiblenarchisticroup f riminals"Amer-icanCivil Liberties nion,1969). n a similar ein,J. EdgarHoover, irectorf heFBI,consideredheBlackPanther artythe "number ne threato thesecurityf the United tates"(American ivil iberties nion, 969).Reflectinghis ame tti-tude, erriseonard, ssistantttorneyeneral uringheNixonadministration,haracterizedheBlackPantherss"nothinguthoodlums"nd nsistedhat we've ot o get hem"AmericanCivil ibertiesnion, 969).Attitudesuch s thesendicatehattheNixon dministrationas tronglyisposedousinghe ed-eralgovernmentorepressheBlackPanther arty. tthe ocallevelofgovernment,hepresidentf theCleveland raternalOrder f Policetypifiedhe ttitude fmanyaw enforcementauthoritieshen estated,Thecountryoesn't eed heBlackPantherarty,omyway f hinkinghey hould ewiped ut"(American ivil iberties nion, 969).Inshort,heBlackPantherarty aschargedhat twasvic-timofa governmentalampaigno destroyheorganization.However,heAmericanthosuggestshat olitical epressionsnot permanentixtureftheAmericanolitical rocess. hisstudywill ttemptodemonstratehat overnmentctors ndagenciest the ighestnd owestevelsfgovernmentngagedna systematicattern fpolitical epressiono render heBlackPantherartyneffective.

THEBLACKPANTHERPARTYTheBlack antherarty asfounded yHuey . Newtonnd

Bobby eale inOakland,California,nOctober 966Marine,1969; eale, 1970).Newton'sndSeale'sfrustrationnd disillu-sionmentithocalblack rganizationsuch s the oulStudentsAdvisoryouncil ndtheAfro-Americanssociation rovidedthe atalystor ormingheBlackPantherartyMarine, 969:24-34). pecifically,ewtonnd Sealearguedhat hese roups



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Jones/THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 417

were ominated y a "middle-class"rientationhat reventedthem romddressingheneeds f hemasses fblack eople.Thebasic deology f heBlackPanther artywas a blend fMarxism-Leninismndblack ationalismhatNewtondentifiedas revolutionarylacknationalismPinkney,978: 8).Newton,theorganization's ajor heoretician,dopted heprinciplesfscientificocialisms well s elementsromhewritingsfFanon,Mao, and Debray, ndapplied hem o thespecific roblemsplaguinghe lack ommunityn heUnited tates. ewtonotesthat the lack antherarty rew ut f heBlack owermove-ment, ut he artyransformedhe deologyfBlack owerntoa socialistdeology,Marxistdeology"BlackPanther,eptem-ber1,1971: 0).Twomajor ncidentsn1967 ropelledheBlack antherartyintonational rominence.he firstwas the disruptionf theCaliforniatate egislaturey n rmedelegationf 9PanthersonMay2. ThePanthers ere rotestinghe onsiderationf billthatwould avemade arryingloadedweaponwithinityimitsa crime.Accordingo the Panthers,hisproposedegislationwould dverselyffecthe antherolicePatrol.Membersf hePanther olicePatrol arriedape ecordersnd ameras odeterthe olice rombridginghe ightsf ny lack toppedor ues-tioning.naddition,heylso carriedoadedweaponsoprotectthemselvesrom ossible olice etaliatoryction.The econdmajorncidentccurrednOctober 8of hat ear,when Panther olice hoot-outrupted,eavingnepolice ffi-cer ead ndHueyNewton ounded. ewton'subsequentrrestonmurderhargesecame rallyingoint or heBlackPantherParty, hich esultednnational isibilitynd tatus.In a spanoftwoyears,heBlackPantherarty rew romlocaltoa nationalrganization.heParty ada membershipfover ,000 nd32chaptersn 15 tatesBlack anther,ovember1,1969: 0).Wherehe rganizationasfinanciallyble t mple-mentedommunityevelopmentrojectsuch sthe reeBreak-fast rogram,iberationchools,ndMedical linics.uchpro-gramsncreasedartymembershipndsupportromheblackcommunitycross he ountry.t splausiblehat his rowthn



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418 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE1988size and visibilityed governmentfficialso conclude hat heBlackPantherarty onstitutedpotentialhreato theAmeri-can ystemfgovernmentnd husmeritedothmonitoringndadoptingoncreteteps ounderminehe rganization.

POLITICAL REPRESSION:AMERICAN STYLELiteraturen politicalrepressionn theUnitedStates sextremelyparse.Whetherhis sa deliberateversightr stheresultf genuine eliefhat olitical epressions not perma-nent ndrecurringixturef heAmericanoliticalystemsun-clear.Nonetheless,reviewf his iteratureeveals hreemajorcharacteristicsfpoliticalepressionn heUnited tates: epres-sion ends o belegalisticndsubtleLevin, 971;Wolfe, 973;

Grossman,976);t s constrainedynormsndproceduresBal-bus, 973); nd t s administeredymultipleevels fgovernment(KopkindndLang,1970;Wolfe, 973).The egalisticnd subtle ature fpolitical epressionn theUnited tates s reflectedn he endencyor overnmentfficialsto usethe aws ndcourtsorepressrganizationshat hey er-ceive sthreateninghe tatusuo Levin, 971: 07;Wolfe,973:95-102). evin 1971:8) contendshat his egalisticpproach orepressionequires nly minimalevel fviolence, clear d-vantagen he overnment'sffortsorepress targetroupwith-outdrawingnordinateublic ttention.his s nottosaythatviolence ever redominates;ather,t is seldom heprimarymethodhosennthe iberal emocratictate.Thesecond haracteristicfpolitical epressionntheUnitedStatess the learlyefinedormsndproceduresithin hichgovernmentfficials ust perate,heneglectfwhich eces-sitatesheforfeituref egitimacyBalbus,1973).Thissecondcharacteristics relatedotheegalisticualityfpolitical epres-sion nAmerica-but major istinctionxists etweenhedeaofusing he egal systems a primarynstrumentfpoliticalrepression,nd mployinglegalisticorm-boundethodfm-



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Jones THE BLACK PANTHERPARTY 419plementation.albus 1973: 7) contendshat epressionntheUnited tates scircumscribedynorms ndprocedureshat reindeed inding n political lites. hesebinding estraintsom-posewhat albusdentifiessa formalegal ationality,hichn-cludes he ule f aw,dueprocess f aw, ndcivil ibertiesp. 6).Henoteshat formalationalityictateshat nly ertain eanscanbe employedo achieve olitical nds ndthereforeperatesas a continualonstraintn politicalfficiencynd expediency"(p. 6). Thuswhen oliticallites verstepheboundariesstab-lished y ormalationality,heyre onfrontedith he nabateddifficultyfmaintainingheiregitimacy.Theparticipationf everal ifferentevels fgovernmenton-stituteshethirdmajor haracteristicf political epressionnAmerica,factor irectlyelatedo he ederaltructuref he o-litical ystem.n theUnited tates he ower o governs dividedamong ational,tate,nd ocalgovernments.ach of hese asits wn ulingody apable fmakingome ndependentecisionsin thepreservationf tspower.Consequently,he eparate e-sponsibilitiesf he espectiveevels fgovernmentanproducemultipleevels f epression.opkindndLang 1970)definehehigherevel f epressions those cts manatingromhenation-algovernment,hile he owerevels frepressionre hose ctsthat recommittedy tate nd ocalgovernmentctors. nex-ample fhigher-levelepressionould ea raiddirectedy heFBI; alternatively,heharassmentfan individualrorganiza-tionbythe ocal police uthorities ould onstituten actoflower-levelepression.

PROCEDURE OF THE STUDYTheres ittleystematicnd cholarlynformationvailablenpolitical epressionf heBlackPantherarty. revious tudieshavefocused n particularncidentsfpolitical epressionuchas theDecember, 1969,Chicago aid Chandler, 970;ClarkandWilkens,973), heNewYorkPanther1conspiracyase(Chevingny,972; imroth,974),heNewHaven 4 ase Freed,



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420 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 9881973),nd he BIcampaignomanipulatend abotageelationsbetweenheBlackPantherartynd"US," a California-basedcultural ationalistrganizationKarenga, 976).The exceptiono this as been study onductedyHueyP.Newton,he ormerofounderndministerfdefensef he lackPanther arty.Newton 1980) expanded hefocus f previousstudiesy xaminingrange f ncidentsfpoliticalepression.Inadditiono the BI's attemptodiscreditarty rogramsndleadership,e also examinedherepressiveactics ngineeredagainstheBlack antherarty y heCentralntelligencegen-cy nd henternalevenue ervice. lthoughstep eyondmostother orkvailable, ewtoneglectedo xaminehemore om-mon, outinects fpolitical epressionnvolvinghe ank-and-filemembersftheParty.Although ewton'studyannot econsideredbjective,t s a unique ndvaluable ource.This study epresentsn attempto overcome ome short-comingsf he revioustudiesfpolitical epressionf he lackPanther arty y conductingn in-depthxaminationftherepressiveacticsmployed ygovernmentfficialsgainsthePartyt tshome ase-in theOakland ayArea-between966and 1971.This imewas elected ecause 966markshe irthftheParty.Bytheendof 1971thePartyhadbeeneffectivelyneutralized.heultimatehangentheParty'sole nd deologyas aneffectiveevolutionaryorcewas seen n tsentrancentolocal lectoral oliticsPinkney,978: 12).Theresearch ethodmployednthis tudys that f ontentanalysis. lthoughontentnalysiss methodf nalysisrimar-ily mployedo tudyumanommunication,t sanappropriatemethod ornalyzingther ormsf ocial ehaviorswellBab-bie,1979: 33-264). rimaryatawere btained rom wonews-papers-the an Francisco hroniclendtheBlackPanther-andfrom overnmentocuments.achencounteretweenheBlackPantherartyndgovernmentfficialshatwasreportedintheresourcematerials ascategorizedccordingoWolfe'sClassificationfPolitical epressivectsseeTable1).Thiswasdone odeterminehenature,attern,ndoccurrencefpoliticalrepressioneviedgainstheBlackPantherarty.



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Jones/THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 421

LEGAL REPRESSION OFTHE BLACK PANTHER PARTYAccordingo ome bservers,major haracteristicfpoliticalrepressionntheUnited tates s oftenhe seof he egal ystemto stifle issentLevin, 971;Wolfe, 973;Grossman,976). hiscertainlyppearsobethe ase n he ystematicepressionisitedupon heBlackPantherarty. hecontentnalysisindingse-portedn Table1 ndicatehat heBlackPanther artywas the

victimf92 acts f egal epression.his igureepresentsearlythree-fourthsfthe otal epressivects 128) evied gainst heBlackPanther arty uringhe ime eriod bserved.The awsmost requentlysedto represshePanthersn theOaklandBayAreawere hose fharassmentndpublic rder.Political nd process aws were mployed ut onlyminimally.Therewasno evidencehat he nclusionawwasusedfor epres-sive urposes.hiswasprimarilyue othe acthat llthemem-bers f heParty ereU.S. citizens.Harassmentaws were mployed2 differentimes.Wolfe(1973: 95) defines arassments "when simpleaw thatwasoriginallyassedwith opolitical urposesused orepress."hetypicalarassmentiolations ere ssault, obbery,eaponhar-ges, ndattemptedurderseeTable2). Outofthe 2Panthersarrestednchargeshat allunderhedefinitionfharassmentlaws,15eventuallyadtheirharges ropped. orexample,ntwooccasionsmembersfthePanther artywere rrestedorarmedobberyndboth imeshe harges ere ropped.hefirstoccasion as nApril 3,1968, hen our anthers-Robertay,Terry aridy, ichardinyard,ndGlen tafford-wererrestedfor llegedly obbing shoe store ourier. oon afterward,nApril 18,thechargesweredropped San FranciscoChronicle,April 9,1968: ).Harassmentaws ssistednrenderingheBlackPantherartyineffectiven everal ifferentays. nemajor esultf he buseofharassmentawswastocause hedissipationforganizationfundsnd thedisruptionf tsnormal ctivities. hen anthermembers ere rrested,he rganizationasforcedospendts



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422 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 988TABLE ICoding Scheme: Wolfe's Classification ofPolitical Repression intheUnitedStates

Category Definition Example1) Legal Repression The use of laws and or thelegal system for the purposeof stifling dissent

Harassment Laws Whena law that was Robbery, Assaultoriginally passed with chargesno political purpose isused to repressInclusion Laws Determines who should be Restrictiveincluded in society ImmigrationPoliciesProcess Laws A law that punishes a Conspiracyperson for considering chargesand planning to commita criminal actPublic Order Laws Actions which create disturbing thedisorder peace; illegaluse of soundequipmentPreventive Practices employed to Frequent arrestPractices control the members of and long jailan organization and to sentencesdiscourage others fromjoining that organizationPolitical Laws A law which is enacted Smith Act

for the specific purposeof stifling dissent2) Political The practice of spying on informers andIntelligence- an organization and causing agent provoca-Covert Repression disruption within that teurs, sendingorganization anonymousletters3) Violent Repression To stifle dissent by using Raids, thethe police and or the use of themilitary National GuardSOURCE:Wolfe1973:93-124).fundsomeet he ostofbail and awyersor hosemembersfthe rganizationhowerenjail; heseundsould therwiseavebeenusedfor ommunityrograms,oliticalnformation,am-



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Jones/THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 423TABLE 2Acts ofPoliticalRepression Levied AgainsttheBlack PantherParty n the Oakland Bay Area 1966-1971

Category Arrests/Incidents1) Legal RepressionHarassment Laws 43Inclusion Laws 0Process Laws 4Public Order Laws 44Preventive Laws and Practices 0

Political Laws 1Total 92

2) Political Intelligence-Covert RepressionPolitical Espionage 26Agent-Provocateur 1Total 27

3) Violent RepressionRaids 5National Guard OShoot Outs 4Total 9 (N = 128)

SOURCES: San Francisco hronicleMay3, 967: ;May24, 967:2;October29, 967: ;January7,1968: ; February8,1968: ;April ,1968: ;November0,1968:1;December29, 1968: 1;April 9, 1969),BlackPantherAugust , 1969;13;September , 1969:12;February,1971: ; July,1971:14),U.S.Congress1976:187-223).

paigns,ndorganizationxpansion.npart ecause f his oliceabuseofauthority,hePartywas unable o devote he ime ndresourceseededobuild mass oliticalrganization.Asecondwaynwhich arassmentaws idednrenderingheBlackPantherartyneffectiveasby reatingdverseublicityfor he arty.Whenhe ublic ead boutmembersf he rgan-ization eing rrestedor obbery hilen a Pantheran, heybegan oview hePanthersegativelyndas littlemore han



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424 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 988group f hugs ndcriminals. owever,he ublicwasoften otaware fhow overnmentfficialssed riminalaws s apretextto arrest anthers or hepurpose fdisruptingartyctivities.The onsequencef his ractice as hathe artyost ublic up-port or tspolicies. ecause twasvery ifficulto convincehepublic hat hePartywas a victimf malicious overnmentalrepression,he anthers ere orcedodevotemuch f heirner-gy ofinding ays fgainingympathyn"law ndorder"ssueswherehepublicwaspredisposedosupporthepolice nd awenforcementenerally.Thesecondkind f aw employedxtensivelyorepressheBlackPantherartywasthe ublic isorderaw.This awmakesit llegal ocreate disorder-thats,disturbinghe eace.Forty-four anthers ere rrestedor iolatingublic isorderaws seeTable2). Chargesgainstourteenf he anthers ere ventual-ly dropped.Arrestingembersf theBlackPanther arty npublic isorderharges asrelativelyasy ecause overnmentf-ficials ossess n enormousmountfdiscretion. case npointwasthe rrestf23Panthers howere rotestinghe onsidera-tion f egislationhatwouldhavepreventedhePanthersromcarryingheir eaponsnpublic. hePanthersidnotbreaknyCaliforniaaw,but heAttorneyeneral's fficeharged hemwith isturbinghepeace ndsetbail at$2,200 or achperson.Theoutcomefpublic isorderaws s similaro that fharass-mentaws.Once gain hePartywasforcedodivertts nergiesand resourcesoward ailingtsmembersutof ail.Hence hisdistractionreventedhe anthersromffectivelymplementingthe rganization'srogramsndpolicies,hat s, heFreeBreak-fast rogramndthe ree ealthlinics.There asonly ne ncidentf epressiony politicalaw; hatwas he nactmentf heMulford-sponsoredun ill,whichmadeit llegal ocarryoadedweaponswithinheOakland ityimits.Thefact hat nly nepoliticalawwasusedsnot urprisingince,as Wolfe asnoted, overnmentfficialseldom eed oenactpoliticalawsbecause hey ave omany ther,qually ffective,legalmeans ttheirisposal.



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Jones/ THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 425

Undoubtedly, he 92 arrests f Panthermembers uring hisperiod erved o intimidateotentialBlack PantherPartymem-bersas well as currentmembers. fterwo arrests orgunviola-tions,GeorgeMurray, heParty'sministerfeducation, esignedand eft heorganization.ndeed,frequentrrests ndprison en-tences ormembersfan organization re effective ethods ordiscouragingndividuals romoining hat rganization.

COVERT REPRESSION OFTHE BLACK PANTHER PARTYA totalof27 incidents ereuncovered n which oliticalntel-ligence perationswere mployed o neutralize heBlack PantherParty.These acts wereperpetratedn an attempto disrupt heParty'sFreeBreakfast rogram, heoperation f ts newspaper,

and speaking ngagements,nd to cause dissensionwithin heranks ftheorganization.The Panthers' ree Breakfastrogramwas the arget f everaldifferentovert ctions, neofwhichwastheuseofanonymousletters ent ocontributorso theprogram. heFBI sent nflam-matoryetters o MayfairMarkets, afeway tores, nc., and theJack-in-the-Boxorporationnan effortodissuadethese om-paniesfrom ontributingotheFree Breakfast rogramn an at-tempt o stifle hatprogrammemorandumrom an FranciscoFieldOffice o FBI Headquarters 1/ 0/ 0,cited nU.S. SenateSelectCommittee,976:210).Another actic mployed y heFBI was todiscourage ropertyownersndchurchesromllowinghePanthers ousetheir acili-tiesfor heFree Breakfastrogram. uring1970, heFBI sent nanonymousetter o a property wner n Haight-Ashburyhatread:

Dear Mr. excise):I would allandtalk oyou bout hismatter,ut amnotsurehowyoufeel, nd do notwish obecome ersonallym-broiledwithneighbors.t seems hat hepropertywners n



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426 JOURNAL F BLACKSTUDIES /JUNE 988(excised) treet avehad noughroublen he astwithoutring-ing n heBlack anthers. aybe ou renot ware, ut heBlackPanthers ave aken ver address eleted). erhapsfyoudriveup the treet oucan see what hey re going o do to propertyvalues. hey ave lready lasterednearby arage ith igBlackPantherosters. -A concernedropertywner[memorandumrom an Francisco ield Office o FBI Head-quarters0/21/70,itednSenate elect ommittee,976: 00].These attemptso disrupt hePanthers'Free Breakfast ro-gramwere art f heFBI's strategyo thwart lackPanther artyeffortso build a largerbase within he blackcommunity.heBlack Panther artyhadbeenoperatingts Free Breakfast ro-gramn a number f ities cross henation, everal fwhichwereintheOakland BayArea.A second arget f heFBI's covert ctionwastheParty's ews-paper.Theorganization'sfficial ewspaper,heBlack Panther,which oldfor25 cents copy,had a nationwide irculation. y1970, heParty old over100,000 opiesof thepapereach week(U.S. House of Representatives,971: 86). The FBI initiatedseveral ctions odisruptheoperation fthenewspaper ecauseof its wide circulation.To thisend, FBI headquarters ent a

memorandumoSan Francisco, equesting roposals orways ohinder hepaper's uccess.This memorandumtated:The BlackPantherarty ewspapers oneofthemost ffectivepropagandaperationsf he PP. Distributionf his ewspaperis ncreasingtaregularate herebynfluencinggreaterumberof ndividualsntheUnited tates long he lack xtremistines.Eachrecipientsrequestedo ubmity /5/70 roposedounter-intelligenceeasureshatwill inderhe iciousropagandaeingspread y heBPP.TheBPPnewspaperas circulationn xcessof139,000.t s the oice f heBPP and f tcouldbeeffectivelyhinderedtwould esultnhelpingrippleheBPP.Adeadlinesbeinget nview ftheneed o receive ecommendationsor hepurposef akingppropriatectionxpeditiouslymemorandum



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Jones THE BLACKPANTHERPARTY 427from an Francisco ieldOfficeo FBI Headquarters/15/70,citednU.S. Senate elect ommittee,976: .200].

Soon afterward, he San Francisco Field Office ubmittedschemefordisruptinghe operation f the newspaper. he SanFranciscoOffice ecommendedhefollowing ctions:A vigorousnquiry ythe nternal evenue ervice o have he"Black anther"eportheirncome romhe aleofover 00,000papers achweek. erhaps he ureau hroughiaison tSOG seatofgovernment]ould uggestuch course faction.t snotedthatnternationalevenue ervice t San Franciscosreceivingcopies f BlackPanther arty unds nd etterheademoranda[memorandumrom an Francisco ield Officeo FBI Head-quarters,/22/70,itednU.S. Senate electCommittee,976:214].The nterferenceith he peration f heBlackPanther arty'sweekly ewspaper ytheFBI was indirect iolation f theFirstAmendment ight rotectinghefreedom fthepress.The FBIsystematicallyttemptedohinder anther ffortsoprovide hepublicwith lternativeiews, t a timewhenthe Panthersweregaining ncreasingupport or heir rganization.Effortsursued y heFBI topreventhe rganizationrom ir-

culating tsviewpoints lso includeddisruption f theParty'sspeaking ngagements.n 1969,theSan Franciscooffice f theFBI initiated ctions oprevent obbySealefrom ulfillingched-uledspeaking ngagementsnOregon.Thefollowings theresultofone suchaction mplementedytheFBI, after bombingnci-dent nEugene,Oregon:Asthiswasonthe ve f eale's peech,his eemedobevery ooradvance ublicityor eale.... Itwas .. determinedotelephoneMrs.Seale Bobby eale'smother)laimingo bea friendromOregon, earinghewarninghattmightedangerousor ealeto come p.Thiswasdone.Shortlyhereafter,rs. ealereportedhis o theBPPhead-quarters,laimingn unknown rother ad sent warningo



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428 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 1988

Bobby rom regon.Headquartersook his ery eriouslyndwhen obbyrrivedhortlyhereafter,edecided ot ogoNorthwithallthe ction oing nupthere." e subsequentlyanceleda tripo Seattle.t sbelievedhat he bove-mentionedelephonecallwasa pivotal ointnpersuadingealetostay omememo-randumrom an Francisco ield Office o FBI Headquarters5/15/70,ited nU.S. Senate elect ommittee,976: 14].Fruitfulabotaging f speaking ngagementsuch as this ausedtheBlackPanther arty o lose funds eeded o bolster heover-all effectivenessf theorganization. imilarly,thampered hePanthers' bility orecruit ewmembers.In the amecategory, thirdmajorFBI programwasaimedatcausingdissension othwithin nd without heParty.The FBIsent nonymousetterso members fthe BlackPantherParty,exploitingxisting roblems ndpossiblerifts ithinheorgani-zation.Through heuseofthis actic, heFBI hopedto create is-sension,distrust,nd paranoia amongPartymembers.Alongtheseines,nJuly 969 heFBI initiatedplanto discredit onaldFreed,whoheaded he Friends f hePanthers,"norganizationof white ympathizersfthe Black PantherParty. n a phaseoftheplan mplementednOakland, heFBI had eaflets laced naparknear BlackPanther arty-sponsoredationalConference,alleging hat Freed was a police informantU.S. SenateSelectCommittee,976: 08).TheFBI attemptednceagaintodiscreditthePanthersnd cause a rift etweenheBlack Panther arty ndwhite rganizations ith heuseofa letter oEd Pearl, memberofthePeace and FreedomParty.Thefollowingsan FBI memo-randum escribinghe etter:

Thewritertateshat lthoughe s not memberf heBPP,heisa Mexicanwho s trustedyBPPmembers.hewriterdvisedthat ehas earnedromPPmembershat ertain hitesnPFPwhoget ntheway fthePanthers illbe dealtwithna violentmanner.he bjectoughtn hisettersto ause breach etweenthe FP and heBPP.Theformerrganizationadbeen urnish-ingmoneynd upportothe attermemorandumrom . Moore



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Jones/ THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 429

toW. C. Sullivan, 2/27/68,itednU.S. Senate elect ommit-tee, 976: 081.Another scheme, engineeredby the FBI to discredit he eader-ship of the Party, "leaked" informationto friendlynewspapersreporting hat Huey Newton lived n a luxuryapartment.The FBIgave this nformation o the San Francisco Examiner, whichpub-lished an article bout the apartment n February 1971. The articlestated, Huey P. Newton,BPP Supreme Commander, had moved

into a $650-a-month partmentoverlooking Lake Merritt nOak-land, California, under the assumed name of Donn Penn" (U.S.Senate Select Committee, 1976: 219-220). Soon afterthe articleappeared in print, he FBI sent copies of it to various chaptersoftheBlack Panther Party across the nation. Following this, mem-orandum was sent to FBI Headquarters, explaining the resultofthis particularplan. The memorandum stated:BPPHeadquartersasbesieged ithnquiriesfterhe rintingfthe an Francisco xaminerrticlend he eople theadquartersrefusedoanswerhenewsmedia rother allers nthis uestion.This ource asfurthereportedhat representativef heRich-mond, irginiaPP contactedeadquartersn2/18/71,tatingthey adreceived xeroxed opy f... the rticlendbelievedthadbeen orwardedy hepigsbut tillwantedoknowf twastruememorandumromanFrancisco ieldOfficeo FBI Head-quarters,/15/17,itednU.S. Senate electCommittee,976:220].This typeofcounterintelligence ctivity roved a valuable toolin rendering he Black PantherPartyineffective y creatingmis-trust nd dissensionamong themembersoftheorganization.Oneothercounterintelligence rogram employed by the FBI was theexploitation of the riftbetween Huey Newton and EldridgeCleaver. The two leaders differed vertactics;Cleaver wantedthePartyto engage in urbanguerrillawarfare,while Newton stressedtheneedfor urvivalprogramsand buildinga stronger ommunitybase. The FBI sent various anonymous lettersto Newton andCleaver withtheintentionof increasing suspicion and animosity



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430 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE1988between hem.One letterwritteno EldridgeCleaverbytheFBIand signedConnieMatthews," howas Newton's ersonal ecre-tary, ead as follows:

Things round eadquartersredreadfullyisorganizedithheComrade ommanderotmaking roper ecisions. henews-papers n hambles.ooneknows ho s ncharge.heForeignDepartmentets osupport.... fear heres rebellion orkingjustbeneathhe urface....Wemustitheret id f he upremeCommanderNewton] rgetrid ofdisloyalmembersmemo-randumrom an Francisco ield Office o FBI Headquarters2/15/71,itednU.S. Senate elect ommittee,976: 04].Similar ettersweresent o HueyNewton riticizingldridgeCleaver.Ononeoccasion, heFBI mailed nanonymousetter oNewton laiminghatCleaverwas "playing ootsie"with imothyLeary, who had escaped fromprison n California nd had areputation orbeing druguser U.S. SenateSelect Committee,1976: 202). Learywas askingCleaverforpolitical sylumnAl-geria.TheFBI, awareof hePanthers' olicy gainst rug se, awan opportunityoexploit hedifferencesetweenhe wo eadersfurther.The San FranciscoFieldOffice appilynotedthattheBlackPantherPartywas in a stateofdisarraynFebruary f1971, n

good partdue to theBureau's covertactions againstthetwoleaders ince hepreviousNovember. his officetated:Fortunesf heBPPare t ow bb.... Newtonspositiveheresan informantnHeadquarters.leaver eelssolatednAlgeriaand outofcontact ithNewtonndthe upreme ommander's[Newton's]ecretaryConnieMatthews]asdisappearedndbeendenouncedmemorandumroman Francisco ieldOfficeoFBIHeadquarters,/15/71,itednU.S. Senate electCommittee,1976: 06].Thecovert ctions mployed ytheFBI against heBlackPan-therPartysupportLevin'sthesis hatrepressionn theUnitedStates s subtle. n spiteof tssubtlety,hisform frepressions



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Jones THE BLACKPANTHERPARTY 431very ffective,s evidencedy he xperiencesf heBlackPan-ther arty.

THE VIOLENT REPRESSION OFTHE BLACK PANTHER PARTYA minimal mount f violent epression as levied gainsttheBlackPanther arty etween heyears 966 nd 1971 see

Table 2). Raids,which re theprimary ethod f violent e-pression,ccurrednly ive imes uringhe boveperiod. oneof hese esultedna shoot-out,lthoughour f hem idresultinthe rrest f omePartymembers.n addition,hererefourincidentsnwhich he olice ndthe anthersxchangedunfirethat esultedn he eath f nePanthernd police fficer.lso,the aids hat ookplace ntheOakland ayAreawere elativelypeaceful, ithhe xceptionf ne onductedy he an Francis-co PoliceDepartmentgainstheBlackPantherarty ieldOf-fice, n April 8, 1969.On this ccasion, he olice sed ear astoflushut he anthersnd rrestedtotal f16Partymemberson a chargef llegal seof ound quipment.owever,he har-ges gainst 2of he anthers ere ropped.Two explanationsreofferedor he mallnumberfviolentactsofrepressionmployedgainstheBlackPanther artynOaklandBayArea.One s that epressionntheUnited tatessprimarilyegalistic.heuseofmassivemountsfviolent epres-sionagainstheBlackPanther artywasunnecessaryecauseotheracticsmployedygovernmentfficials ere eryuccess-ful.The otherxplanations Balbus's hesishat,ntheUnitedStates, lites reconstrainedycertain ormsndprocedures.When overnmentfficialseglecto abidebythese orms ndprocedures,nwantedttentions drawnotheirttemptostifledissent-whichnturnncreaseshenumberf ympatheticup-portersor he rganizationeing epressed.onsequently,olit-ical litesmust tilizevertepressionithaution rriskwiden-ing he cope f onflict.ivens nd Cloward1977: 9)describethe isk nvolved:



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432 JOURNAL F BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 988Neitherould he overnmentun he isksntailednusingmas-sive orce o subduehe trikersnthe1930s.tcouldnot,notherwords,implyvail tselff he ptionf epression.orone hing,the trikingad roused trongympathymong roupshatwerecrucial upportersftheregime.oranother,nlessnsurgentgroups re virtuallyf outcast tatus, ermittingeaders ftheregimeomobilize opular atredgainst hem, oliticallyn-stable therroupsannot esafely redicted.Acase npointwastheChicagoraidon December ,1969,when

Fred Hampton nd Mark Clarkwerekilled.A majorsegment fthepublicbecameoutraged tthis vert ct ofpolitical epressionand beganto questiongovernmentctions gainst hePanthers(Chandler, 970;Clark andWilkens, 973).

CONCLUSIONThis tudy nalyzedhe ystematicolitical epressionftheBlackPantherartyntheOakland ayAreabetween966 nd1971.The repressionevied gainst hePanthersoincided iththecharacteristicsf politicalrepressionn a liberal-democraticstate uchas theUnited tates.Overall, 2ofthe otal 128acts ofpoliticalrepression allwithin hecategory flegal repression.

These findings upportthe contention hatrepressionn theUnited tates ends o be legalisticnnatureLevin,1971;Wolfe,1973; albus, 973).Inaddition,he mall umberfviolentcts fpoliticalepres-sion substantiates albus's thesis hat hemethodnwhich oliti-cal elites anrepress political rganizations constrainedyoperative orms ndprocedures. hustheres a tendencyorepress ia politicalntelligence.hestudyound hat heBlackPantherarty asthe ictimf27 acts fpoliticalintelligence."Finally,he tudy's indingsndicatehat fficialsrom hevari-ous evels fgovernmentctivelyarticipatednthe epressionfthe anthers.Theoverallutcome f his epressionas hattpreventedheBlackPanther arty rom ecomingneffectiveevolutionary



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Jones/ THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY 433force ithinhe lack iberation ovement.he epressionam-pered he ommunityutreach ffortsf theParty, nd t alsocreated istrustnddissension ithinhe rganization.his snotto suggesthat tate epressionasthe olereason or he arty'sdemise. o be sure, herewere ther actorstwork, uch s arecruitingmphasis n theblack umpen roletariat,he ack ofideologicallarity,ndorganizationaleaknesses,ll contribut-ing o he arty'secline. onetheless,oliticalepressionidplaya pivotal ole n he ventualollapse f heBlackPanther arty.

Inclosing, major mplicationfthis tudyssomewhates-simistic.tcan beposited hat s long s governmentalfficialsrely n politicalntelligencendthe egal ystemo repress issi-dent rganizationsatherhan vert actics frepression,twillbedifficultoth odetect olitical epressionnd oconvinceheAmericanublic hat he overnments actuallyngagedn llegalactivities.nlesswechoose o earn heessons fferedy he x-periencesf he anthersndotherrganizationsf he 960s,u-ture olitical epression aywell e successful.

REFERENCESAmerican ivilLiberties nion 1969) "Newsrelease,"pp. 63-265nP. S. Foner ed.) The

Black Panthers peak. New York: J. B. Lippincott.BABBIE, E. R. (1979)The Practice fSocial Research.Belmont, A: Wadsworth.BALBUS, I. (1973)TheDialecticsofLegal Repression.New York: RussellSage.BLACKSTONE, N. (1975) Cointelpro: heFBI's SecretWar on PoliticalFreedom.NewYork: Vintage.CHANDLER, C. (1970) "The Black Pantherkillingsn Chicago." New Republic 162(January): 1-49.CHEVINGNY, P. (1972) Cops and Rebels:A Study fProvocation.New York: Pantheon.CLARK, R. and R. WILKENS (1973) Search nd Destroy:A ReportbytheCommissionof Inquiry nto the Black Panthers nd Police. New York: MetropolitanResearchCenter.FREED, D. (1973) Agony n New Haven: The Trial of BobbySeale, ErickaHuggins ndtheBlack Panther arty.New York: Simon & Schuster.GOLDSTEIN, R. (1978) PoliticalRepressionnModern America:1870 to thePresent.NewYork:Schenkman.GROSSMAN, J.B. 1976) "Politicaljusticenthe emocraticstate."Polity Spring): 58-388.KARENGA, M. (1976)The Roots oftheU.S.-PantherConflict: hePerverse nd Dead-lyGames Police Play. San Diego, CA: Kawaida.



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434 JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES /JUNE 1988KOPKIND, A. and F. LANG (1970) "The face of repressions." urrent 15 February):36-38.LEVIN, M. (1971) PoliticalHysteria: he Democratic apacity orRepression. ewYork:Basic Books.MARINE, G. (1969) The BlackPanthers.New York: New American ibrary.NEWTON, H. P. (1980) "War against he Panthers: study f repressionn America."Ph.D. dissertation, niversityf California, anta Cruz.PINKNEY, A. (1970) Red, Blackand Green:Black Nationalism n theUnited tates.NewYork: CambridgeUniv.Press.PIVENS, F. F. and R. CLOWARD (1977) Poor People's Movement:WhenThey ucceed,How TheyFail. NewYork: Pantheon.SEALE, B. (1970) SeizetheTime: The Story f theBlack Panther arty ndHueyNew-

ton. New York: RandomHouse.U.S. HouseofRepresentatives,ommittee n nternal ecurity1971)Gun Barrel olitics:The Black Panther arty.Washington, C: H.R. 92-470, 2nd Congress, st ession.U.S. Senate 1976)FinalReport f he electCommitteeoStudyGovernmentperationswithRespect o ntelligence perations.Washington,C: S.R. No. 94-755, 4thCon-gress, nd Session.WOLFE, A. (1973)TheSeamySide ofDemocracy:Repressionn theUnited tates.NewYork: David McKay.ZIMROTH, P. (1974) PerversionfJustice: he Prosecution ndAcquittal f hePanther21. NewYork:Viking.

CharlesE. Jones s an Assistant rofessor f Political Scienceat Old DominionUniversity.e receivedhisB.A. in 1976from Fayetteville tate University. eearnedhisM.A. in 1979from the Universityf daho and a Ph.D. in 1985fromWashingtontateUniversity.is recentpublicationsnclude SimultaneousMove-ment n Conflictingirections?"coauthorNicholas P. Lovich) in theReviewofPersonnelAdministrationnd "An Overview f the Congressional lack Caucus,1970-1985" ited n TandyTollerson nd FranklinD. Jones eds.) Readings nAmerican olitical ssues Kendall/Hunt, 987). He is currentlyorking n a bookthat xamines herole nd effectivenessf theCongressional lack Caucus.

charles jones - the political repression of the black panther party

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