The Black Panther Party and The Question of Reparation
- Alba Q.
- Jan 9, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 11, 2021
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (Ten Points)
“Daily, it affects who I am, how I live my life, my fears, my hopes, and my dreams. Being black in this country shapes my life in ways that, if one is not black, cannot always be understood.” Denise Oliver Velez
I am a woman from the Middle East, the racism that I experienced is far from what African-Americans went through and still going through. However, when I read what Denise Oliver Velez wrote, I said to myself: I could change the “Black” to “woman” to “poor” to “minority” as I am. It does not mean all human-race suffers from the same inequality but hierarchy makes power relations that are not based on justice and freedom. This entry is investigating the answer to the question of reparation. It is not easy to answer the question of reparation from one side, we have demands on the one hand and possibilities on the other hand. The answers need to be practical, holistic at least in their specific case, and have an eye to the future. Since sometimes when we talk about reparation and restitution we talk about values and materials which are not replaceable, sometimes lost their historical role, like giving back any possible historical progress? any possible social movement? any lost souls and life experiences? So we talk about capitals that are not refundable, but in many cases of reparation and restitution, we witness materializing the different capitals without even fulfilling people's demands. These debates need to be discussed publicly and any response or possible solution needs to meet people's wishes.
While I was searching for reparation related to grass-root movements, I found Black Panther Party’s ten-point plan and I understood it as a practical answer which can cover a bigger range of demands. My argument in this text is based on Fanon’s theory on racism, the connections that he illustrates between racism and classism, (Fanon: 2008), and also Federici’s theory and the connections she draws between sexism and classism. (Federici: 2004) As I mentioned earlier, these different faces of suppression cannot be discussed without an intersectional approach. The result of racism cannot be removed by just simply changes in racial laws, but also the collective and historical experiences have effects on people’s identity. Also, these experiences change the social and political capital that they imagine and recognize as possible for themselves. (Fanon: 2007) I am using the example of BPP as a symbolic case since their ten-point program is a possible handbook to learn from. How we can demand justice, equality, and freedom through a grass-roots movement. How it works and how reparation is based on the awareness about the status quo.
The manifesto covers different aspects of life such as freedom, capitalism and class struggles, housing, education, justice, the history and truth, police brutality and racial laws, etc.
The first clause of the manifesto is the demand for freedom, and the BPP suggests freedom is depends on the ability to determine destiny. This is a fair point, freedom cannot be possible for all just based on written laws and macro policies, but as BPP declared it needs the hegemonic beliefs of the future to be changed. Each individual needs to have the power to determine her/his destiny, so breaking the power relations and hegemony is the very first step. I found it a key point to clarify the other nine points of the manifesto. Class struggles, lack of justice practices, police brutality, and racial laws, are part of the systematic force that always considers part of the society as “others”. However, this clause can be the very first of a manifesto on women’s liberty and reparation demands as well. Sexism is also a systematic suppression built on stereotypes.
Here I share some pictures that I took from Twitter.
Since I was not able to do any fieldwork, I was searching on Twitter to see people’s responses to events. The fact that for some people future is not unpredictable and based on their actions but because of having a certain colour, gender, and so forth, their destiny has been determined in the past. It is the lack of freedom that BPP demands as restitution.
The fifth clause says “We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else.” The right to know the history and lived experience and on the other hand acceptance and change the hegemonic understanding of the past in the society and the law is essential in the reparation process. In this case, with the help of knowledge, the power relation could break, and the opportunity to repeat the damage will vanish.
The important point in BPP ten-point plan is the identification of the responsible for the damage and, based on the existing living conditions and status quo, request compensation for that damage. In addition to the fact that these options are based on the voices of oppressed people, they also change the position of these people in the long run in such a way that it is possible to raise their voices again. It means at the same time restoration for the past and confidence for the future. Which I believe can be the just and fair start for the process of reparation and restitution.
And the end, “Racism is an ideology with conditions of existence that are, at least in part, independent of the interests of the ruling class and the bourgeoisie within capitalist societies.” (Miles, Robert, and Malcolm Brown: 2003) It is not a fight for one colour or gender but needs bigger solidarity and listening to more diverse voices.
References:
Fanon, Frantz. Black skin, white masks. Grove Press, 2008.
Fanon, Frantz. The wretched of the earth. Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 2007.
Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch. Autonomedia, 2004.
Miles, Robert, and Malcolm Brown. Racism. Psychology Press, 2003.
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