The Incongruous Intersection of the Black Panther Party and the Ku Klux Klan

• Publication year: 2016

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW Volume 39, No. 4, SUMMER 2016

The Incongruous Intersection of the Black Panther Party and the Ku Klux Klan

Angela A. Allen-Bell(fn*)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1157

I. JUXTAPOSITION OF THE KKK and THE BPP ......................................1160

A. Formation & Geographical Presence........................................1160

B. Mission & Objectives.................................................................1169

C. Group Identity............................................................................1172

D. Fulfillment of Organizational Goals..........................................1174

E. Law, the Legal Process & Law Enforcement.............................1179

F. Public Appeal ............................................................................1188

II. ASSESSMENT...................................................................................1192

CONCLUSION.......................................................................................1195

INTRODUCTION

When, in 2015, a Louisiana prison warden publically likened the Black Panther Party to the Ku Klux Klan, i was stunned.(fn1) The differences between the two groups seemed so extreme and so obvious I could not imagine ineptness of this magnitude. Not long after this, a Georgia legislator unashamedly express that the Ku Klux Klan was not a racist, terrorist group, but merely a vigilante group trying to keep law and order.(fn2) After initial dismay, each of these instances evoked thoughts of the far-reaching implications of officials making operational and policy decisions around such a flawed appreciation of history. These lapses prompted me to consider what this type of oblivion might mean when unleashed elsewhere in society, such as in the employment realm, schools, law enforcement encounters with citizens, the judicial system,(fn3) or within the regulation of professions. At best, continued lapses of this nature have the potential to cause an abysmal pattern of individual injustices. At worst, they could contribute to outright racial unrest in society. Tragically, this is all preventable. All that is needed is unsanitized and factually accurate historical information upon which to rely, an awareness of how important it is to think outside one's own cultural identity, and a willingness to do so.

This Article critically examines two of the most infamous, racially-associated groups in the history of this country: the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)(fn4) and the Black Panther Party (BPP).(fn5) "The Ku Klux Klan, a secret association formed by white vigilantes during Reconstruction, carried out violent attacks primarily against African Americans."(fn6) The KKK was a "violent and explosive"(fn7) "organized terror group[]."(fn8) In contrast, "[t]he BPP was a multifaceted association of American citizens who . . . did not believe in pleading, begging, praying, or patiently waiting for equal rights to be conferred."(fn9) "They felt equality was a birthright, demanding it was a duty, having it delayed was an insult, and compromise was tantamount to social and political suicide."(fn10) The BPP "provided a model for people moving from protest to radical ideas to revolutionary action."(fn11)

The BPP and the KKK are immiscible, heterogeneous, and incongruous groups-they simply cannot be analogized or compared. This Article aims to equip administrators, official actors, policy makers, and the public with accurate information about the various divergences among these two groups so future policies, laws, and regulations can be fashioned upon legitimate considerations and not speculation, conditioning or benightedness.(fn12)

This Article proceeds in two parts. In Part I, the KKK will be juxtaposed against the BPP. Specifically, Part I will (1) explain why each group was formed and highlight the geographical presence of each group; (2) probe the mission and objectives of each organization; (3) reveal the respective identities of each group; (4) closely analyze how, by the work and practices of each group, they fulfilled their respective organizational goals; (5) consider ways law and the legal system impacted each group; and (6) evaluate the public's reaction to each group. Part II will evaluate the larger meaning of the various group nuances discussed in Part I.

I. JUXTAPOSITION BETWEEN THE KKK and THE BPP

A. Formation & Geographical Presence

In 1866, Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former Confederate general, formed the first KKK along with five other former rebel officers.(fn13) "The original Klan emerged in the war-torn South at the end of the Civil War"(fn14) "during the Reconstruction period when the federal government sent troops into the South to enforce the acts of Congress giving blacks equal political and civil rights . . . ."(fn15) The original KKK was a fraternal organization.(fn16) It had written precepts and officers.(fn17) During this period of its existence, "the KKK was a potent factor in intimidating blacks and overthrowing black rule."(fn18)

Faced with growing evidence of KKK violence, President Ulysses S. Grant was instrumental in bringing an end to the original Klan.(fn19) About this same time, segregation was being institutionalized in most of the South.(fn20) One might reasonably conclude that this contributed to the KKK no longer seeing the need to pursue its endeavors. "By the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the first Klan no longer existed."(fn21) After this initial formation, the KKK experienced periods of extinction and revitalization.

"Although the Ku Klux Klan started as a social club, it soon changed into something far different."(fn22) In 1905 the Ku Klux Klan was popularized anew by a book and a subsequent movie.(fn23) By 1920, the "invisible" Klan had reemerged, claiming membership in the millions.(fn24) "It was still mostly in the South and Southwest . . . ."(fn25) During this phase of its existence, the KKK developed into a secret society.(fn26) It "targeted Roman Catholics, Jews, and aliens" and engaged in a "terror campaign conducted against blacks, probably unparalleled in American History."(fn27) "At its peak, the new Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s-a reincarnation of the original white supremacist group in the Reconstruction South-had an estimated 5 million members nationwide."(fn28) At this juncture, the KKK also "controlled hundreds of elected officials and several state legislatures."(fn29) "In 1944 the Ku Klux Klan was in effect temporarily shut down. Its charter was revoked, the Internal Revenue Service placed a $685,000 tax lien on its assets, and the organization disbanded."(fn30)

The KKK was resurrected yet again following World War II when various local KKK groups began to form.(fn31) "As early as 1953, a new, small Klan group called, redundantly, the U.S. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan . . . formed in Atlanta by an auto plant worker named Eldon Edwards."(fn32) "These 'new' KKK organizations were, for all intents and purposes, identical to the previous one."(fn33) "Various other small Klans formed in the 1950s but no mass movement developed."(fn34) What spawned the renewed interest in the 1950s was likely the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and the integration of Little Rock High School in 1957.(fn35) By 1956, Edwards attracted 3,000 to a Klan rally on Stone Mountain near Atlanta.(fn36) By 1958, an estimated fifteen thousand had joined.(fn37) Membership fluctuated during the 1970s and 1980s and dropped to about 5,000 by 1988.(fn38) "The 1960s Klan had a share of businessmen, homeowners, minor professionals, politicians, policemen, and individuals with roots in the community."(fn39) Chapters of the KKK are still active in the United States.(fn40) "Today, researchers estimate that there are as many as 150 Klan chapters active in the U.S. with between 5,000 and 8,000 members nationwide."(fn41)

Throughout its evolution, the KKK grew to oppose affirmative action, immigration, and abortion, often referring to the Bible when doing so.(fn42) It also opposed school desegregation and court-ordered school busing.(fn43) The KKK felt that the Bible supported its views and much of what it did was done in the name of Christianity.(fn44) The KKK often showcased its religious affiliation. For example, a 1964 Louisiana KKK rally is described as follows:[A]n estimated 400 hooded persons attended a gathering of the KKK . . . to hear talks against integration . . . . The main speaker, who was introduced as a minister, spoke against Protestant ministers who, he said, are influenced by philosophy, psychology and sociology, not by the Bible. He said, 'the only kind of brotherhood there is is the kind of brotherhood of the klan, which is composed of good, white Christians.'(fn45)

The KKK was not entirely prone to violence. The KKK "had its violent fringes . . . [b]ut the masses flocking to its flaming crosses . . . were not out to lynch blacks or to flog adulterers. They were, for the most part, ordinary work-a-day Americans caught up in a rush of flag-waving, nativist nationalism . . . ."(fn46) "Wherever the K.K.K. flourished, it cut across class barriers. Far from appealing as is popularly believed to 'white trash' alone, it attracted the moderately prosperous almost as readily as the illiterate poor."(fn47) Many members were ordinary citizens who lived what appeared to be ordinary...