The Black Panther Party: Counter Hegemonic Ideas

Deprived of social equality and economic prosperity, The Black Panther Party emerged as the leading group seeking public reform. The group’s most prominent and revolutionary leaders, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, proposed a set of demands called “The Black Panther Platform: What We Want, What We Believe”. Structured similarly to the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, this list addressed and proposed solutions to structural obstacles such as education and employment that were built upon hegemonic ideas. These solutions became known as counter hegemonic ideologies,- ideologies that challenged the existing hegemony and evoked resistance.
During the 1800’s, Jim Crow laws were implemented to enforce racial segregation between African

and whites. These laws created numerous social and economic disadvantages for African Americans by segregating public facilities and inhibiting them from expressing their rights. To whites, African Americans were viewed as inferiors who were predisposed for slavery. They were considered immature and indolent threats to the racial purity of whites. These views on African Americans formulated hegemonic ideologies that blacks were intellectually and socially inferior and submissive. Empowered by white supremacy, whites used these ideologies to exploit workers in the workforce and prohibit African Americans from expressing their freedoms. This inequality constructed barriers that prevented society from becoming equitable and fair.
During the 19th century, education became a battleground for institutional racism. African Americans were denied fair employment opportunities and a decent education. Many elementary schools lacked sufficient funds and infrastructure compared to white schools, which caused black students to lag one to three years behind whites. Additionally, in the workforce, African Americans were exploited and forced to take menial jobs compared to their white counterparts. They worked in factories, agricultural fields, homes and service industries and were generally overworked and underpaid. These jobs provided workers with low incomes which led to an insufficient standard of living. This created an unbalanced society in which hegemonic ideologies of black inferiority played a dominant role in the daily lives of African Americans. While whites had stable jobs and decent standards of living, African Americans lacked access to a decent education and faced exploitation in the workforce. These acts of discrimination in schools and workforce became the structural obstacles that prevented America from becoming an impartial and just society.
In addition to low income jobs and lack of school infrastructure, African Americans faced legal and civil discrimination. In black communities, African Americans faced white opposition and police brutality. Countless of African American lives were taken by racist policemen, and despite the second amendment which grants the right to bear arms, they were prohibited from possessing weapons. Additionally, during trials for African Americans, defendants were tried by all-white juries. Contrary to the 14th amendment written in the Constitution, which grants a man the right to be tried by peers from the same religious, social or economic background, African Americans were tried by whites who lacked the knowledge and understanding of the Black community. Therefore, many African Americans were unfairly sent to jail due to unjust trials. Targets of discrimination in the legal system, African Americans were not treated as equals before the law. They were denied the fundamental right to exercise their freedoms and basic entitlements listed in the Constitution, while whites were allowed to freely express their rights. The laws and government governing the society had failed to protect African Americans from prejudice and racial violence. These acts of discrimination and inequality in civil cases and community inhibited society from becoming fair and fueled the counter hegemonic movement. Due to these structural problems of economic discrimination and poverty, the Black Panthers proposed a solution to challenge the existing hegemony.
Dissatisfied and unwilling to accommodate to the traditional roles that society placed on them, African Americans attempted to achieve social mobility and redefine their racial category by enacting racial projects.

Racial projects defined by Omi and Winant were representations or explanations to relocate resources in their favor. These projects linked representation and social structure to form racial categories. African Americans exemplified this concept by creating a sense of unity in their community and a feeling of cultural pride and dignity. They promoted black solidarity and nationalism in order to gain benefits in the social structure. This racial project attempted to provide African Americans with secure jobs, employment benefits and education, but also enable them to express their rights written in the Constitution. Black nationalism ignited a counter hegemonic movement to challenge legal and economic systems and to critique hegemonic ideologies of white

supremacy.
In “The Black Panther Platform: What We Want, What We Believe”, the Black Panther party quotes a passage from the Declaration of Independence.

This passage states that “all men are created equal; that they are endowed … with certain unalienable rights”, and the role of the government is to protect these rights of men. However, if the government fails to do so, the people have the right and duty to overthrow the government. This passage is important because it is used to justify their opposition against passive resistance. To dismantle and challenge the hegemonic ideologies of black inferiority, idleness and submissiveness that prohibited the formation of an equitable society, the text suggested that African Americans bear arms for self defense against brutality, force and violence by racist police. In order to obtain equal access to educational and employment benefits, the text written by Black Panthers recommended taking affirmative actions and advocated to overthrow the U.S. government using violence and guerilla tactics. This solution to challenge hegemonic ideologies contrasted with Martin Luther King’s solution of

nonviolence.
Although Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panther Party both fought for civil rights, economic equality and an end to civil discrimination, their counter hegemonic movements caused divisions. Martin Luther King Jr. believed in peaceful protest in order to achieve integration and equality. The Black Panthers, however, promoted black independence and believed that violence was necessary to achieve economic and social justice. In attempt to challenge widely accepted ideologies of African Americans that prevented society from becoming equitable, Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Panthers promoted different strategies.