We publish here an analysis of the history and programme of the Black Panther Party – the militant organisation that was at the forefront of the Black Power movement in the USA in the 1960s and 70s – by John Peterson of Socialist Appeal USA. In the wake of the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, now is an important time to ask: which way forward for the fight against racism and oppression?

An overwhelming 95 percent of black voters cast their ballots for
Barack Obama.  The scenes on the streets in Chicago and around the
country were full of jubilation, as many working people, both Black and
white, fervently believe that change is now on the horizon.

Many
commentators from the mainstream media share this exuberance, and have
even compared Obama to Moses. Spike Lee, the famous director of such
films as Do the Right Thing, Bamboozled, Malcolm X, and others, has
gone so far as to say that America has moved beyond race…Has the U.S.
truly moved beyond racism? We don’t think so.

Today marks 40 years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., shot in the face on the 2nd floor balcony of the Lorraine
Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was imprisoned for the
assassination, though never granted a trial for his murder. Given the
US government’s targeting of radicalised black leaders at this time,
whoever pulled the trigger did the state’s dirty work for them. The
King family never accepted Ray was responsible.