Statement by the minister of defense of the Black
Panthers, May 2, 1967
The
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense calls upon the American people in general
and the black people in particular to take careful note of the racist
California Legislature which is now considering legislation aimed at keeping
the black people disarmed and powerless at the very same time that racist
police agencies throughout the country are intensifying the terror, brutality,
murder, and repression of black people.
Black
people have begged, prayed, petitioned, demonstrated, and everything else to
get the racist power structure of America to right the wrongs which have
historically been perpetrated against black people. All of these efforts have
been answered by more repression, deceit, and hypocrisy. As the aggression of
the racist American government escalates in Vietnam, the police agencies of
America escalate the repression of black people throughout the ghettoes of
America. Vicious police dogs, cattle prods, and increased patrols have become
familiar sights in black communities. City Hall turns a deaf ear to the pleas
of black people for relief from this increasing terror.
The
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense believes that the time has come for black
people to arm themselves against this terror before it is too late.