The Black Panther party was founded in 1966 by two college students, Bobby Seale, and Huey Newton, for self-defense in California. It first started as a small organization across Oakland and was inspired by the frustration of the blacks, increased crimes, and Oakland’s police brutality. Despite Oakland having around 44% of blacks, the African Americans were rarely represented in politics. It was about Black Nationalism and a need for violence by any means necessary to garner freedom from oppression by the whites. The Party was against racism and capitalism with a motto citing that power belongs to the People. The first act of the panthers was to come up with a Ten Point Program about the wants of the Black Community, which were principles that informed the movement’s ideology.
The black panthers invaded the state Capitol carrying guns and matched to oppose the anti-gun bill by Don Mulford, an Oakland Republican. When the Panthers arrived at the Capitol, Ronald Reagan the governor was hustled away from the Panthers who were denied entrance to the Assembly chamber and had to read their statement out on the front lawn. The action of the Black Panthers led to approval of Mulford bill with an added clause forbidding carrying a loaded firearm to the capitol unless one was law enforcement officer. The bill was signed into law by the governor Reagan, and the FBI decided to scrutinize hate groups of black nationals.
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The Mulford Act is still in the penal code of California. The act was a response to the open carry patrols by black panthers in Oakland. Therefore, the carrying of loaded weapons was banned. The Mulford law was seeking to do away with police patrols by Black Panthers. The Black Panther’s community policies involved listening to police calls on the radio and going to the scene and inform the person to be arrested of their rights per the constitution. The Black Panther would carry loaded weapons in public, but would not interfere with arrests. The Panthers patrols were ended when the Mulford Bill was passed into law. Therefore, the legislature’s response was through the Mulford Act passed into law by then-governor Reagan.
Summary of Three of the Ten Points Program and their connection to legislation in California
The Ten Points Program can be summarized into seeking for goals of housing, clothing, land, justice, bread, education and Peace (Heynen, 2009). One of the most outstanding demands was to end police brutality and murder of blacks immediately. The demand saw the Black Panthers believe they can bring an end to police brutality on black persons. An end to police brutality would be achieved through coming up with self-defense groups composed of black people. The defense groups would then defend the blacks from racism, oppression and brutality by the police. The Black Panthers party relied on the second Amendment to signify that the law allowed ownership of arms. As such, the Panthers sought to arm black people in readiness of self-defense. The Mulford Act thus came in to bar the carrying of a loaded firearm in public. While signing the bill into law Governor Reagan stated that there is no reason for citizens to walk around carrying loaded weapons. The Mulford Act was, therefore, a response to the Black Panther’s patrols in Oakland while carrying loaded weapons.
Another demand was freedom and Power to determine the black People’s destiny. The Panthers believed that blacks were not free until when they would be able to decide on their destiny. That is why the Panthers decided to take action in doing away with racial injustice. The founders, Seale and Newton, would collect armaments when they formulated the party and this included revolvers. Since there was racism on owning of guns and training, recruits would be showed how to use guns and be trained of their right to carry weapons. They were educated on their constitutional privileges and at one point in 1967, Newton tested his acquaintance with the law when he and Seale were pulled over by the Oakland Police while driving a van filled with firearms. Newton was interrogated as to why they had weapons, and he cited that the law needs he only give his name, credentials, and place of residence. He declined to expound as to why they were carrying weapons, and this is because no violations of the law had being occasioned to charge the Black Panthers, the police release them.
The Mulford Act thus took away the power of black people to determine their destiny. The Act saw to California coming up with more strict laws on guns in America. Black people could not shape their destiny as police brutality and the taking away their weapons of self-defense was taken away from them. The Mulford law has led to coming up on restrictions on gun control at a national level. Adam Winkler, an author of Gunfight, noted that the Mulford Act was part of laws passed in the late 1960s to regulate guns with African Americans as a target group (Anthony, 1971). The other law formulated was the Gun Control Act in 1968 which barred some people from owning guns and licensing and inspection of dealers. These laws were part of the government’s effort to keep guns away from African Americans as the nation was in a state of racial tension. The National Rifle Association in the 1960s liaised with the government to put strict gun regulations in America.
The Panthers other demand was an end to black people being robbed by the capitalists. To the Panthers, the government was racist and had robbed black people (Bae, 2017). As such, they were demanding for the debt of two mules and forty acres to be repaid. These had been promised to cover the mass murder and forced labor of the blacks a hundred years ago from 1966. The Black Panthers would then accept Payment in currency given to the community. The root of this demand was because the Germans had massacred millions of Jews and were now aiding the Jews for revenge. To the Black Panthers, racism in America had led to mass slaughter of millions of the blacks, and they were now making a modest demand.
In response to this demand, the Mulford Act was enacted which barred the Black Panthers from carrying loaded weapons in public. The Panthers mode of defense was to use the Second Amendment of the Constitution to justify their carrying of guns in public. They were using guns to raise their demands for justice and protect the blacks from more murders at the hands of the whites. As a result, the Californian law banned the carrying of loaded weapons in public. The Panthers had been using guns to have the upper hand and demand for justice and retribution. Their fight for land thus backfired when the law on open carry was repealed.
However, these points in the Plan were not met. Legislation in California negates the Plan. The conclusion of the panthers when coming up with the Plan was that all violence in the black community was occasioned by oppression. Racism sought to keep all power in the hands of whites who would send police to intimidate the blacks. Police brutality was thus a key focus for the panthers, and that is why the panthers would patrol neighborhoods to monitor the police.
California Penal code 25850
Governor Reagan signed the Mulford Bill, which became the California Penal code 25850 which classifies carrying of a loaded firearm in public a crime. The penal code provides that a person who is guilty of carrying a loaded firearm is one carrying it on the person or in a vehicle when in public (California Law, 2018). Determining if a firearm is loaded is left to the peace officers who have the authority to examine the firearm. Failure to allow the inspection can lead to arrest for violating this section of the law. A person caught carrying a loaded firearm in public and one who has previously been charged guilty of a felony or any crime, or one who caries stolen firearm and knew that it was stolen, or is a member of a criminal gang, is not in possession of the firearm lawfully is charged with a felony.
Therefore, it is illegal to carry a loaded firearm in public or a vehicle according to the California Penal Code 25850 PC which amounts to a felony. The PC states that a person is found guilty of carrying a loaded firearm on a vehicle or the person while in a public street, incorporated street or public place or in a prohibited area. However, one cannot argue the defense of citing that the gun was not loaded. This is because the law on “Open carry” in California is barred by 2012 by Penal Code 26350. Carrying either unloaded or loaded guns in public is illegal. Carrying an unloaded gun is now a misdemeanor punishable by one year in county jail or a fine of up to 1,000$.
Conclusion
I do not agree with the Mulford law as it was enacted in a time when black people needed protection from police cruelty. The Mulford Act marks a point in history where legislation was enacted at the expense of vulnerable persons in the society. The black community was experiencing a state of fear and insecurity due to police brutality in Oakland. Disarming such a population meant living the blacks unarmed and making it easier for the police to victimize them.
The Black Panther Party showed many African Americans that they could fight against racism even though racism continued for the next decades and confrontations on racial basis did not decrease. The Black Panther has revolutionized both social and political spheres in California. Most of the human rights being enjoyed today are fruits of what the Black Panthers fought for. Freedom, housing, employment and fair treatment which includes war against police brutality on black people is being reflected in today’s society. Politicians now advocate for equality of all persons, in California and the entire world. There are many black groups on empowerment today, and one of them is the Black Lives Matter (Weise, 2016).
Current young activists fight for economic equality and social justice. Black students can now stand up and seek accountability where needed, and they fight for their rights. The Black Panthers were using guns to protect themselves from violence, particularly police brutality. Today, young people are empowered by the Black Panthers to stand up against any form of violence which is contrary to the Bill of Rights. The panther’s impact has seen equal rights enjoyed today. Black people can now get an education, good health, and employment.
References
Anthony, E. (1971). Picking up the gun: A report on the Black Panthers . New York: Pyramid Books.
Bae, A. (2017). 'The Struggle for Freedom, Justice, and Equality Transcends Racial and National Boundaries? Retrieved from http://phr.ucpress.edu/content/86/4/691
California Law. (2018). Law section. Retrieved from https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=25850.&lawCode=PEN
Heynen, N. (2009). Bending the Bars of Empire from Every Ghetto for Survival: The Black Panther Party's Radical Antihunger Politics of Social Reproduction and Scale. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00045600802683767
Weise, E. (2016). Black Panther Party's legacy of Black Power endures. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/02/01/black-panther-party-legacy-black-power/79041002/
