that they call survival programs which included things like food giveaways, free health clinics and free breakfast programs for children (Burroughs). The Black Panthers believed that violence had to be fought with violence and that belief became their biggest problem and their eventual downfall. At one point the Black Panthers were labeled the greatest threat to the internal security of the country. This meant that he government saw them as a threat and would treat them as such. The U.S. government formed a special unit against the Panthers in 1967 called the Cointelpro, short for counterintelligence program. In a memorandum written by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover he says: The purpose of this new counterintelligence endeavor is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist hate-type organizations (The FBIs War). The police were also out to ruin the Black Panther Party. In 1968 in California, four Panther leaders were shot and killed by police for no apparent reason. And in 1969 the LAPDs metro squad, the Panther unit, killed the captain of the local Black Panther organization. No matter how much good they did, the violence that always seemed to Page 5follow the Panthers would overshadow it. The group embodied their belief that black people had the right to defend themselves against racism in any way and it proved to be very detrimental to them (The FBIs War). Today the accomplishments of the Black Panther Party are scarcely discussed or even known. When people think about the Black Panthers they usually picture the all black clothing and violence of some type. I asked a few people what first comes to mind when they here the name Black Panthers and many of them said, They will kick your ass over any thing. Most others just said that they were a dangerous group. No one seems to know what the Black Panthers stood for and why they were formed. But if one were to ask ...
