By: Kamal Apatira
Who is the Black Panther Party? The way I learned it growing up they were a group of radical Black people with extremist ideas. Never was I taught about how active they were in their communities and how they outlined their demands in what was called the Ten-Point Program, drafted by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966. They were genuinely about the liberation of their people, this portrayed in the first point of their program, “We Want Freedom. We Want Power to Determine the Destiny of Our Black Community” (Vernon, 2017). If the party was in the business of protecting and preserving its people, how is it that their name and objectives got so misconstrued? As the party gained more popularity in black communities across the country, the media began to intervene changing the way their message was received.
During the early years of the party’s existence between 1966-1972, the party received a lot of media coverage. While police and political officials felt that the party was receiving too much attention, the party itself felt as if their message was being altered and enough attention wasn’t being given to the positive areas of it. In Baltimore, during 1970 it was found that “Over the course of four years only twenty-three articles were devoted to the Baltimore chapter” (Jeffries, 2004). Of those twenty-three articles, only one talked about their social programs. Thirty-nine percent of articles focused on their ambushing of officers. By focusing on the murder of the officers, the media is able to control the narrative to portray the Panthers as a group that only causes harm to the community.
Media coverage not only gave more negative attention to the Panthers, but it also degraded and dehumanized them.
August 31, 1970, the Philadelphia Daily News ran a photograph taken by Elwood Smith. This photo displayed numerous Black Panthers stripping naked in public while white officers held guns pointed at their backs. This photo was taken in connection to a raid on the Panther’s headquarters after being suspected of murdering a police officer. After being cleared of the murder no apology was issued to the Panthers. This photograph had a powerful effect on the receivers of this content as it “created a fixed image of a united and orderly white citizenry in full mastery over supposedly savage and inhuman black men” (Maurantonio, 2014). Having already been viewed as savages this photo furthered that narrative. For some it caused them to draw comparisons to the way the KKK treated black people. The dehumanization leads to the idea that the Panthers were “victims of racial injustice” (Maurantonio, 2014). But to others, the comparisons to the KKK led to them being seen as “the Black counterparts” (Maurantonio, 2014). Due to the circumstances of why the photo was taken, the narrative continues to be shifted towards a negative light for the Panthers.
The media remains to this day one of the worlds greatest influences. Without media acting as the middle man passing information between the sender and the receiver, stories would never get out. In that regard, the media is praised for breaking stories to the world. However, in the case of the Black Panthers, the media chose to take a biased stance when producing their stories. Their partialness took away from the message of the movement, shedding light on the negative, while barely giving attention to the hard work they did in their communities. The Black Panthers became an activist group for the people, stripped of its respect due to the lopsided coverage in its story. Similar to the Black Panther Movement, Black Lives Matter is demonized yet they are only looking for equality and to protect their people, just like the Panthers.
References
Jeffries, J.L. (March 2004). Local News Coverage of the Black Panther Party: An Analysis of the Baltimore, Cleveland, and New Orleans Press. Journal of African American Studies, 7. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41819034.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Ac11b7eb749a21c8d226191fbbe9959ecMaurantonio, N. (2014). “That Photo”: Journalism and Bearing Witness to History. Western Journal Of Communication, 78(4),500-521. doi:10.1080/10570314.2013.845687 J. Vernon (2017, April 17). The Black Panthers’ 10-Point Program. Retrieved from http://blackpower.web.unc.edu/2017/04/the-black-panthers-10-point-program/
Word Count: 621
Kamal,
ReplyDeleteApart from formatting problems with your references, this is a first-rate effort.
Your post takes up issues of race and representation in historical context. Specifically, you take up two instances of media bias in covering the Black Panther party. While there are any number of instances to discuss, you've selected two vivid cases to illustrate the larger point.
That's making the most of the rather short essays required for this assignment. Equally important, your written expression is clear and concise. I urge you to continue to refine and develop your "voice" – perhaps through one of the many student media outlets/publications here on campus.
In sum, aside from the formatting issues mentioned above, this is a fine bit of student writing. I look forward to hearing more from you in the coming weeks.
28/30 pts.
I really enjoyed the specific events you focused on. The photograph by Elwood Smith is not only powerful, but the way in which you analyze the audience reception alongside the intent of the photograph drives your point.
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