If you were to separately interview ten people--whether those ten people are all Black, all White or a mix of different racial backgrounds--no one would probably give you the same answer if you asked about the Black Panther Party. In the year of the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party founded in Oakland, California, we all know by now that Beyoncé particularly honored the women of the Party in the Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show...and that absolutely sent so many people in America in a tizzy. Groups have threatened to protest at the NFL Headquarters, boycotts of the 20-time Grammy-award winning artist have materialized in the form of a Facebook page and several public officials have denounced her performance. It comes as no surprise that FOX News would air two of the opposing opinions such as that of Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani:
I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us, and keep us alive. And what we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers. And focus on the fact that when something does go wrong, OK, we'll work on that. But the vast majority of police officers risk their lives to keep us safe.It's interesting that Giuliani did two things with his dense commentary: 1) automatically attribute the imagery of the Black Panther Party to attacking police officers, essentially channeling his White privilege as well as his inner Ronald Reagan; and 2) be so defensive considering that he and the New York Police Department were at the center of the highly-controversial Amadou Diallo shooting in 1999. However, the most disappointing comment came from Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who happens to be Black:
Beyonce in those Black Panther-type uniforms, would that be acceptable if a band, a white band came out in hoods and white sheets in the same sort of fashion? We would be appalled and outraged. The Black Panthers are a subversive hate group in America.Okay, so they carried around guns and weren't afraid of the police. Neither were the militia at the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, but I didn't hear Clarke's opinion on that or the distinction "subversive hate group" being tossed around then. Since it's abundantly clear that these are the only images that so many misinformed people choose to look at when viewing the Black Panther Party through the narrowest scope possible, let's try to set the record straight about the Black Panther Party's importance in Black history as well as American history...
