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Black Panthers: Everyone's up
tight
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1968
NIGHT EDITOR: STEVE NISSEN
John Lindsay:
Prospect for change
JOHN LINDSAY is in a position to make
greater changes in the American po-
litical scene than any man since Franklin
Roosevelt.
A first glance at Lindsay, his politics
and position, would prompt the thought
that he is a man in the wrong party, as
indeed he is. He is in every respect an
ultra-liberal in a party dominated by pre-
New Deal conservatism. His view of the
role of government in business and civil
affairs is the reverse of his party's views.
Where he places civil liberties first, the
rank-and-file Republican favors govern-
ment authority. Where the party places
business before the civil authority, Lind-
say is for government initiative and con-
trol. Where Lindsay is internationalist
and sympathetic toward genuine foreign
interests, the party is imperialistic. In
every respect Lindsay is out of tune with
his political compatriots.
But it is in this divergence and in
Lindsay's projected increasing role as a
party man that he may affect his party
and change its course in the coming,
years.
Lindsay will not bring about the change
by any evangelical conversion of much
of the party's present constituency, at
least not significantly. He will do it, if at
all, by bringing about that change in the
party structure.
PE IS EMBARKING now upon the path
that brought Richard Nixon the Re-
publican presidential nomination this
year-the campaigning and politicking
with party candidates across the country,
'the collection of political i.o.u.'s among
the politicians in middle party levels, and
the establishment of a nationwide con-
stituency among the party pros.
This method, appropriate for our two-
party system, is non-ideological. In al-
most no respect does it depend on his
political stance, as the winning of nomi-
-nations and elections so little depend.
Nixon's fight over the last three years
has not depended on what ideology he
has, but on his work and dedication to
his party. The possible acceptable range
of political viewpoints within this method
is very large.
His support of Richard Nixon and his
growing dedication to party politics may
at first thought be called a sell-out, as it
might be eventually. He is devoting him-
self to the current political structure and
the established ;party bureaucracy from
which he was once aloof. But that, in the
strange world of American politics, does
not demand a change in his political
.views. He can support Nixon and Agnew
rhetorically without himself being cor-
rupted.
' WHERE ARE -two important aspects to
this approach. Nixon and Agnew must
lose this year, as they seem destined to
do. For if they were to win, Lindsay
would be forced to differ with the pro-
grams Nixon would surely advance. In ac-
tual practice the differences between
Nixon's conservatism and Lindsay's lib-
eralism would be irreconcilable. Lindsay
is free now to fight with the administra-
tion on any grounds because it is Demo-
cratic, but he would be unbearably re-
stricted were a Republican presidents to
take paths that differed from his own.
And in a Nixon loss this year, Lindsay
would be given the chance he needs to
remake his party. His hope is, as an aide
noted, to promote "young progressives"
like himself within the party structure.
With a. Democratic president in the next'
two years Lindsay would be free to argue
and act against that president's adminis-
tration as he will, and in 1970, when Re-
publican gains can be expected, Lindsay
could vigorously advance his cause by
bringing into office-as representatives,
mayors, and state and party officials--
men like, himself, Republican liberals
able to attract both independents through
ideology and appeal and many party
regulars.
DESPITE the nomination of Nixon this
week, there are encouraging signs
within the party that Lindsay's plan may
work. The near draft of Lindsay for the
vice presidential nomination by the con-
vention showed they are not nearly as
indifferent to contemporary needs as
might have been thought. It is difficult
to assess how strong that draft was be-
cause of Lindsay's wise move to reject it,
but with Governor Romney picking up
almost 200 votes and many more in ab-
stentions, it seems reasonable that he
may have garnered enough to stop Ag-
new in a three-way race and possible win.
Success on Lindsay's part will require
major political re-alignments. It will
drive the southern and western strength
-which put Nixon over and supported
Agnew-out of the party and either back
into the conservative wing of the Demo-"
cratic party or into the hands of near-
permanent Wallace-type third party.
BUT THERE IS another less pleasant
prospect to Lindsay's move to win
his party, and that is the prospect of
failure. It seems more likely that Lindsay
will not be able to pull off the coup he is
working for. There are two possible re-
sults-complete alienation from his party
when they repudiate him or a slow but
marked change in his political philosophy
that would move him closer to the party's
center.
JF LINDSAY either wins his fight or is
forced to retire from it in defeat, he
will have favorably affected the political
scene. But if he succumbs, he will leave
in his wake the alienated idealists that
have been hurt by their idols before.
-RON LANDSMAN
By DAVID SALTMAN
Collegiate Press Service
OAKLAND, Calif.-What hap-
pens when the white com-
munity throws knives at a black
hero? Everyone gets up-tight, for
one, and rumors flit around like
hummingbirds.
This week, the white community
of Oakland is after Huey P. New-
ton, 26, the minister of informa-
tion of the revolutionary Black
Panther Party. Newton is on trial
for the murder of Oakland police-
man John Frey last Oct. 28. He
also is accused of assault with a
deadly weapon against officer
Herbert Heanes, and of kidnaping
a passerby by in his car after the
shootout. Newton pleads innocent-
to all charges.
The Newton trial is the cap-
stone of more than a year of
violent wrangling between the
Black Panthers and the Oakland
police department. The Panthers
have fashioned a specific 10-point
program, called "What we Want,"
and the chief of police, Charles
R. Gain, has called the Panthers
and their program "a threat to
the peace of the Oakland com-
munity."
(Gain, incidentially, apparently
feels so threatened that his de-
partment has added CS gas to its
anti-crime arsenal, along with
MACE and tear gas. CS is a 54.5
per cent white arsenic compound,
used for defoliation in Vietnam.)
THE PANTHERS want their
program implemented immediate-
ly. The .feelings of the Oakland
City government were summed up
by Chief Gain, in an interview
with this reporter:
"You don't see the Mexican-
Americans doing this, or the poor
whites, or some other Negroes.
What the Panther should do is
what these other people are doing
-and that is hope their grievances
will be solved!"
From conversations with Pan-
ther leaders, I gather that the
Newton trial will be just about
the last Panther effort to hope
their troubles away. And the
crowds around the courthouse
seem to think that a revolution is
more plausible than a rabbit out
of defense attorney Charles Gar-
ry's hat.
One reason that few expect
Newton to be freed is that the
only black person on the jury i&
David B. Harper, an- Oakland
banker and former Air Force of-
ficer. None of, the jurors come
from the West Oakland ghetto,
where Newton lives, and Garry
claims that "the jury is not rep-
resentative of Newton's peers." In
addition, Superior Court Judge
Monroe Friedman has r'uled that
a 1964 conviction on Newton, for
assault with a deadly weapon,
may be read into the transcript,
even though previous convictions
are normally not part of a trial
record.
WELL. What really happened
on October 28-the day -of the
shooting? Prosecutor Lowell Jen-
sen tells a simple story: Frey
spotted Newton's car, radioed for
a license check, found it, was a
"known Panther car," and stopped
it. Then, he continues, Newton
pulled a gun and they struggled.
Newton got Frey's gun, according
to the prosecutor, and shot him
with it. He then, Jensen goes
on, wounded Heanes and Heanes
wounlded Newton in the stomach.
(No explanation of why Frey felt
compelled to stop "known Panther
cars.")
The Panther version is more
complex; it also provides interest-
ing background to the trial. This
is excerpted from the party news-
paper "The Black Panther" of
June 10, 1968:,
"Huey (Newton) and Bobby
(Seale) organized the Black Pan-
ther Party as a means of armed
self-defense of the Afro-American
community against the white po-
lice force which was conducting
itself like a rapacious occupying
army.
"Focusing a great deal of at-
tenition on the inherently racist
tactics of thehOakland Police De-
partment, the pigs began a grad-
ually intensified program of
harrassment, intimidation, brutal-
ity and murder of the Black Pan-
ther Party as well. as the black-
residents of Oakland.
What We Want
The 10-point platform and program drafted by the Black
Panther Party is called, What We Want. The 10 points are:
-"We want freedom. We want power to determine the des-
tiny of our black community.
-"We want full employment for-our people.
-"We want an end to the robbery by the white man of our
black community.
--"We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
-"We want education for our people that exposes the true
nature of this decadent American society.We want education
that teaches us our true history and our role in the present day
society.
-"We want all black men to be exempt from military serv-,
ice.
-"We want an immediate end to police brutality and mur-
der of black people.
-"We want freedom for all black men in federal, state,
county, and city prisons and jails.
-"We want all black people when brought to trial to. be
tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their
black communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United
States.
---"We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, jus-
tice and peace, and as our major political objective, a United
Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black
colony in which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to
participate, for the purpose of determining the will of black
people as to their national destiny."
"On May 2, 1967, a Panther
delegation went to Sacramento
with loaded shotguns to protest
the exploitation and oppression of
the black community and publicly
announce that henceforth such
acts of oppression would not be
ular officer, John Frey, singled
out Huey as his personal target.
Huey was stopped, for minor traf-
fic violations. numerous times.
Dauntless, he zoomed around
town in the familiar gold Volks-
wagen, and he and the Panthers
racism, erupted like a violent and
long-contained eruption, flowing
over everything, changing the ter-
rain quick as contact. Suddenly,
. black people became aware of 'and
-magnetically attracted to the po-
litics of combating racism. Not
only 'were the Panthers saying
black people had the right to carry
weapons-the Oakland .pigs were,
seemingly, forcing upon them the
right to use them in self-defense.
"The wheels of revolution had
been well-oiled by the blood of
Huey Newton, shed in the streets
of West Oakland, early Saturday
morning."
THE PROSECUTION witnesses
so, far .have included the police
dispatcher, the pathologist who
did the autopsy on Frey, a cor-
oner's investigator and a police
lab technician. Jensen says he will
present a surprise witness, a bus
driver whom he: says "saw New-
ton shoot: Frey in the back."
Defense attorney Garry says he
will prove that Newton "couldn't
have fired a gun that day," and
that the Newton arrest was part
of a conspiracy to get rid of the
Panther leadership.
Conspiracy? The story isn't so
wild, to hear the Panthers tell it.
Party Chairman Bobby Seale can
run down a list of 30 incidents
that he claims show deliberate. in-
tent to wipe out top Panthers The
main incident occurred the night
'of April 6: a shooutout between
two Panthers and about 200, Oak-
land, Berkeley and Emeryville po-
licemen. That,night, the police
killed 17-year-old Bobby Hutton,
the Party treasurer, and seriously
- wounded Eldridge Cleaver, the
na minister of information and au-
thor of the pest-seller "Soul on
x- Ice." Cleaver has been nominated
er as the Peace and Freedom Party
ro candiate for President. He was
)f- just released on bail from Vaca-
he ville State Prison, where he was
t- being held on charges of parole
ets violation and attempted murder.
His trial is set for the fall, and if
,he Oakland lasts that. long it will be
nd fully as explosive at Newton's.
F=, .
i
,°
r ,.
!'
r
4
to
bu
ca
Th
ter
dr
ser
cor
ar
aw
lerated. More arrests followed, continued patrolling the Oa
t the impact of black people ghetto.
rrying guns-loaded-into the "Then, like a well-planne
icramento legislature had hit. plosion, the *~orning of O
he arrests only served to heigh- 28, radio newscasters toldc
n the impact. Soon the Party altercation between 'twoP
afted Stokeley Carmichael into men and two Oakland polic
rvice for liberation. The black ficers. One officer is dead
mmunity throughout the Bay other is seriously wounded in
'ea and the country was made ical condition . ... The sus;
vare of its 10-point program. were driving a gold or light-
colored Volkswagen.,
"THE PATTERN of police har- "This, the turning point i
,assment continued. One particdecline and fall of capitalism
klar
d ei
ctobi
o
Neg
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, ti
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beig
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[i
Bullets to ballots: A way for power?
The following is reprinted from
an article by Monroe W. Karmin
and John T. Lyons in The Wall
Street Journal.
N EWARK -- The frail, middle-
aged black man is both piti-
ful aqd proud.
His faded blue jacket is frayed
at the collar and elbows; the
sleeves extend to the knuckles.
His torn tan pants are rolled sev-
eral times at the cuffs and his
shoes show a couple of toes. He
staggers and coughs as he leans
over the large book in front of
him;, his wife steadies him as he
signs his name.
Yet, infirm though he is, the
man does accomplish what he
came to the community center
for: He has registered to vote,
perhaps for the first time in his
life. As he leaves the building, he
shakes the hand of a younger,
well-dressed black man and smiles,
"I made it for you, Ted."
"Ted" is Theodore Pinckney, a
34-year-old schoolteacher who
wants to be elected to the Newark
City Council in November. He
bears the endorsement of the
United Brothers of Newark, a
"black power" group that views
the council elections as a trial
heat for its ultimate objective:
Election of a black mayor in 1970.
THUS, THE SCENE at the Stel-
la Wright public housing project
in the heart of this city's black
community could hold major sig-
nificance for the agonizing course
of race relations in America. A
year ago, when many of the more
militant Newark Negroes were
preaching "burn, baby, burn," a
riot that broke out here killed 21
blacks and 2 whites and damaged
millions of dollars worth of prop-
erty. This summer, as bullets
shattered Cleveland and violence
erupted elsewhere, Newark so far
has remained calm as the United
Brothers goabout registering
ghetto residents like the man in
the faded blue jacket to vote.
"Last year they talked violence,"
says Paul Yivisaker, New Jer.-
sey's commissioner of community
affairs. "This year it's politics."
,The change of emphasis is not
unique to Newark. Apostles of
"black power" in many major cit-
ies, recognizing the political po-
tential offered by those cities'
swelling black populations, are be-
ginning the effort to translate
their slogan into meaning through
the voting process.
A growing number of black mil-
itants "think this is the way to
go," reports a spokesman for the
Justice Department's community
relations service in Washington.
But, he adds, unity of the black
community is necessary for them
to get anywhere and, so far, "the
militants are finding it very dif-
ficult to form alliances" with more
moderate groups or even among
themselves.
VLTV71K~r"rVVTV11 WOO 4.,,
that the process will take a long
time, and that every major city
remains a racial tinderbox that
could explode at a spark. Cer-
tainly that's true of' Newark, de-
spite the trauma of last summer
and despite this summer's voter
registration drive by the United
Brothers.
Racial tension also can be felt
in the black community. A white
visitor is the object of curious,
fearful and sometimes hostile
stares. Leroi Jones, the poet lau-
reate of black nationalism and a
member of the United Brothers;
demands $100 an hour to talk to
the "white press" and avoids those
who refuse to pay. Mr. Pinckney
hurries to accompany the white
visitor when he wanders from she
registration center. When the mil-
itant Black Panthers arrived in
Newark recently to merge with the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, SNCC Chief Philip
Hutchings was quoted as saying
they were after "black power" by
means of either "the ballot or the
bullet."
RACIAL HATRED also can be
felt in the white community, which
is mostly working-class.
One of the most militant whites
is Anthony Imperiale. He is a
Mr. Pinckney, is running for the
city council because, he says, he
has lost faith in the regime of
Mayor Hugh Addonizio which he
believes has become overly con-
cerned with the black community
to the neglect of the white com-
munity. The black community
here thinks the opposite.
YET, MAYOR ADDONIZIO -
bitterly attacked by members of
both races, sharply criticized by
the New Jersey riot commission
and embarrassed by a grand jury
indictment of his police chief on
charges of failing to crack down
on gambling in the city - still
ranks as the favorite if he chooses
to run again in 1970. The reasons
tell a lot about what is happen-
ing in post-riot Newark.
The racial polarization here
seems greater than ever. Inter-
views with leaders of both races
produce scant mention of inte-
gration, collaboration or together-
ness. Rather, a poster at the Stel-
la Wright registration site pro-
claims "Black Power --- Register
Now and Vote Black in Novem-
ber," and Mr. Pinckney concedes
that racial appeal is the crux of
his campaign-issues are more or
less window-dressing.
Across town, Mr. Imperiale (who
says "I don't hate anybody, I just
dislikecertain people") insists
that what the blacks want is not
equality but superiority. "A lot of
our kids arewalking thebstreets
and are denied jobs just because
they're white," he asserts.
Given this sharpening division,
politcians here agreed the ideal
mayoral candidate would be either
a white liberal on the order of
New York's John Lindsay or a
black moderate on the order of
Cleveland's Carl Stokes. To win,
it's figured, a new white face
would have to attract some black
votes and a new black face would
have to attract some white votes.
BUT SINCE the white middle
and upper classes have almost to-
tally abandoned the city for the
suburbs, "there is no chance that
Newark will produce a Lindsay,"
says Donald Malafronte, Mayor
Addonizio's administrative assist-
ant. Chances also seem slim that
a Carl Stokes will rise from the
black community in time for the
1970 mayoral election-and even
slimmer that he could win if he
did. Reason: Though the Negro
proportion of Newark's population
now is probably higher than the
last official estimate of 52%,
whites retain the voting major-
ity; it's estimated that as many
as 45% of the blacks are under 16
and thus will be too young to
vote even two years from now.
"My guess," says a white busi-
nessman, "would be that 1970 will
not do it as far as a black mayor
is concerned. The white communi-
ty may get together and the black
community will not." He and oth-
ers expect the white community,
nity is finding it necessary to jam
itself into the political system. To
do this, groups are forming like
the United Brothers. But you can't
force your way in by pushing two
or three guys (for an office) at a
time. You must achieve a cohe-
sion, or at least the appearance
of unity."
BUT, MR. HENINGBURG con-
tinues, "it will probably take us
more than one election to learn
the lesson." And indeed disunity
now reigns in the black communi-
ty, as everybody who is anybody
seems to nurse mayoral ambitions.
OF COURSE, if Mayor Addoni-
zio decides not to run, he might
want to chose his own black can-
didate-possibly Calvin West, a
candidates interested in the
council race to appear. The Broth-
ers chose Mr. Pinckney over an
incumbent black councilman ac-
cused of having committed the
unpardonable sin: Selling out to
"the white power structure."
The incumbent councilman, Le-
on Ewing, is running anyway,
which further reduces Mr. Pinck-
ney's chances. But, armed with the
United Brothers endorsement, Mr.
Pinckney is now out in the streets
telling potential voters: "If you
have problems and the problems
are caused by the- political sys-
tem, the way to correct these
problems is-through the political
system. Elect Ted. Pinckney."
THE PLATFORM of Mr. Pinck-
ney and the United Brothers pro-
'1
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"The black community is finding it necessary
to jam itself into the political system ..«.,But
you can't force your way in by pushing two or
three guys (for an office) at a time. You, us
achieve a cohesion, or at least the appearance
of unity."
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Li. ":': 'R:{M1.:ti"Lh":4 . '.{ "O "S.1":XEW!, :ti Mj1i W.:Si .Vi1::"::1:Y : 'i #hv}"3tvi3'a:a">h4,ti:v4°Mt :
Reaction at Columbia:
Administrative revolt
councilman closely identified with
the administration. But Assembly-
man Richardson says, "The Negro
mayor is going to be selected by
the 'out' Negroes, not the ones
who are aligned with the adminis-
tration."
That prospect makes the politi-
cal activity the United Brothers
are beginning among the "out Ne-
groes" particularly important. The
Brothers represent the new breed
of young black who is beginning
to substitute political awareness
for racial hate-mongering. "They
are beginning to deal with the re-
alities of the situation," declares
an observer, "rather than just
rhetoric."
THE RESIGNATION last week of Dean
Edward W. Barrett of the Columbia
University School of Journalism presents
itself as only further evidence of the
widespread dissatisfaction with the uni-
versity's administration in the wake of
last spring's insurrection.
Barrett's resignation follows a similar
move by Associate Dean Alexander Platt
of Columbia College, the undergraduate
men's division last month.
While Platt would not comment di-
rectly on his resignation he was report-
edly dissatisfied with the administra-
tion's unyielding response to student de-
mands and was against the decision to
call police to clear protesters from five
university buildings in the spring.
BARRETT DECLINED to comment ex-
tensively on his resignation but did
express dissatisfaction with the Univer-
sity's decision-making process.
"I simply find myself in disagreement
with the basic outlook of a majority of
those who make university policy," he
said. "I should add that, while I have
ly to indict members of the Students for
a Democratic Society, many of whose
members have demonstrated equal, if
somewhat differently oriented dedica-
tion.
For example, the bulk of these students
(including the leaders of SDS) who were
suspended during demonstrations last
spring have remained at the school to
press their efforts to achieve change.
The major difference between Barrett
and SDS is, in essence, a question of
tactics. The dean will continue to use
generally accepted means of obtaining
reform while SDS, which has tried and
failed to alter existing institutions, will
continue to assume a more militant
posture.
BUT BOTH moderates like Barrett and
radicals like SDS continue to work
for the improvement of Columbia. And
the existence of both groups may well
be necessary to achieve that end.
With moderates applying pressure from
within and radicals applying pressure
from without Columbia University may
poses sweeping changes in the
way Newark is run--everything
from a commuter payroll tax and
a lottery to black control of
neighborhood schools and the
model cities program, and the
teaching of black history in the
public schools. Research groups
are preparing position papers on
such local issues as housing and
land policy, education, health
and welfare and law enforcement.
Fund-raising plans seek to
glean whatever contributions may
be available in the hetto by en-
listing the aid of suchout-of-town
"black power" apostles as Stokely
Carmichael and Ron Karenga, the
Los Angeles leader.
Most important, the United
Brothers, who claim a mailing list
of 1,800, are offering what Mr.
Pinckney terms the "bodies to do
the work." This means agents to
find all the members of the black
community who are eligible to
vote, registering them now, and
making sure they vote-correctly
--in November., Votes must be
gathered one-by-one among peo-
ple who are not used to voting;
"it's like voting for myself thou-
sands of times," Mr. Pinckney
says.
IF THE UNITED BROTHERS
can show strength this time, their
chances of uniting the black com-
munity behind a mayoral candi-
date in 1970 will be enhanced.
"Pinckney isn't running this time,
the United Brothers are," says
Eulis Ward, a local political or-
ganizer.
Despite the discouragement of
the official voting 'statistics and
What they need ..,
beefy man who heads the north
ward Citizen's Committee (which
he describes as ; a social club),
protects women with a fleet of
radio-dispatched cars (his code
name is' "Moto"), teaches children
karate ("slow and easy like the
Orientals") and collects guns (in
his opinion the World War I bolt-
action Springfield 30-06 rifle "is
the best sniper rifle there is").
A black mayor by 1970? "They'll
be lucky if they can get in by
1974," Mr. Imperiale proclaims.
Meanwhile, he declares, if the po-
lice don't protect his neighbor-
A