Black Panther Party Platform - Essay Example

The blacks wanted the power and freedom to determine their own destiny. They believed that the black community was not free until they had the power to determine their own destiny. The party leaders also pushed for full employment of the black people. They believed that it was the duty and responsibility of the federal government to ensure that each man gets employment and is guaranteed a reasonable income. They did not believe in working for the white American businessmen since they believed that doing so would lead to oppression and discrimination.

The Black Panther advocates also pushed for restitution for slave labor. They believed that the government has been robbing the blacks by exercising unfair treatment and as a result, they were demanding an overdue debt as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of the black community. They also pushed for proper and adequate housing. They believed that the white landlords would not give proper housing and so there was a need for the government to build decent housing for its people. Education was also key in this party. The blacks believed that a man without real knowledge of society has little chance of survival. They, therefore, advocated for education that teaches black history.

Blacks also demanded that they should be excluded from military service. They believed that they should not be forced to fight for a racist government that is not protective. Besides, they demanded an instantaneous end of police brutality and murder of the black fraternity. They believed that they could organize and form self-defense troops that would enable them to protect the blacks against violent racist police. Consequently, they also demanded that when brought to trial, blacks should be tried by a jury of their own race as defined by the constitution.

Finally, they demanded freedom for all black prisoners held in American prisons and jails. This is because they had not received a fair and impartial trial. They also pushed for land, housing, bread, justice, peace, and United Nations supervised elections to determine the black national destiny. The Black Panther party was, therefore, determined to make sure that blacks were treated with fairness and that they would be able to make decisions and choices without being oppressed by the whites.

Main Themes of Tom Haydens Article Two, Three, Many Columbias (1968)

In 1968, students worked in harmony to bring about momentous change in society. American student movements, therefore, culminated at the Columbia University. As a result, students in this university gathered to oppose an institution viewed as racists, imperialistic and authoritarian. Democracy, brutality, and resistance are also other themes that emerge in this article.

There was great racial discrimination in Colombia University during this period. The demands for attention by the students were being disregarded by administrators and this resulted in the rebellion of the fundamental institutions of society. Besides, democracy was also a major theme in this article. The student's protest escalated by building a political platform that would enable them to protest against the excessive use of police force by the university officials. Consequently, there was imperialism in the sense that students were fed up with how university administrators were treating them, and therefore, they used imperialism to force and extend their power and dominion in the university.

Resistance and brutality were other major themes in Hayden’s article. The striking scholars did not hold onto “a narrow conception” of students as an advantaged class requesting to be included in the university’s existence (Hayden 8). They instead opted to revolutionize and resist any decision that would exclude them from transforming the university. This would eventually enable them to get their rights as the student’s movement, thereby giving them the power to directly transform the university.

Reasons Why College Students Protested In 1960

Students' protests can also be termed “student activism.” It refers to work by students to cause changes such as economic, social, political, or environmental. In 1960 student protests increased at a very high rate all over the world. These strikes were a result of different reasons such as the quest for freedom, neglect, and racism among others.

In 1968, students in Columbia University protested due to the planned construction of a gymnasium after decades of neighborhood neglect in that part of the university. This implies that the higher authority wanted to buy off the neighbors without their consent and this resulted in the protest by students of the university. Consequently, the quest for freedom was also a major cause of protest during this era. In 1964, students at the University of California protested with two main objectives at hand. First, they “demanded advocacy of any political viewpoint or action” to be able to distribute literature (Global Non-Violent Action Database [GNVAD] para. 2). Second, “they insisted on permission to distribute literature from tables,” that they could use to attract people. (GNVAD para.2). These two objectives were the basis of the student's protest and students were determined not to step down until their issues were addressed. Moreover, during this time there were different simultaneous protests by college students in Poland, France, and Czech. These protests were mostly fuelled by excessive racism.