INTRODUCTION
In the late 60’s, Detroit was a hotbed in the militant and logistical struggle of the Civil Rights Movement. In the summer of 1967, race riots erupted and destroyed much of the already declining downtown area; with an increase in white flight and a focus on property taxes, the city continued in a trend of segregation that would persist to the present day, leaving poor blacks in the half-destroyed urban areas while white people moved to the prospering suburbs; in the 70’s, defacto regulations would keep ethnic minorities from access to public schools and suburban homes helping to cement rigid lines between white and black communities.
Through all this, The White Panther Party formed in the burgeoning local music and art scene of Cass Corridor. Headed by John Sinclair, it was an effort to create an alliance with The Black Panther Party, formed in response to Huey P. Newton’s call for white allies to form a White Panther Party. But unlike the BPP, the WPP focus was on revolution through cultural uprise, spearheaded by the legendary punk rock band, the MC5; like the Black Panthers, they also heavily endorsed violence as a method of destroying existing structures, but sought an anarchist—rather than communist—society at their formation. Despite the MC5’s anti-consumerist influence on rock music, their association with the WPP is little recognized, with good reason—the MC5’s relationship with the White Panthers was more akin to The Velvet Underground’s relationship with Andy Warhol and The Factory, and later band member Wayne Kramer would admit, “Literally the plan was to win over Sinclair then we’ll win over the hippies and then we will be big stars! It was all about stardom as the motivating force” (Bartkowiak, 379). Since The White Panther’s focus was on changing cultural views through music and publication, they had no effect on the legally institutionalized racism and defacto segregation taking place in Detroit and Metro-Detroit; instead of petitioning alongside Black Panthers for fair access to public education and housing, they called for a rock n’ roll revolution. Although they achieved some minor and unintentional victories, The White Panthers would fail as an ally group, not for lack of trying, but for lack of concrete political ideology in application.
THE RACIAL & CULTURAL CLIMATE OF DETROIT, ’67-75
In the 1970’s, the Michigan officials appealed to the Supreme Court in a case involving the desegregation of Detroit Public Schools, “so long as Detroit schools are desegregated fully within their boundaries the city [public school] system can lawfully remain predominantly black (currently about 65 percent) while surrounded by largely white (approximately 80 percent) school districts” (Recent Court Decisions 103). Detroit had become stuck in the middle of national controversy as the city battled desegregation laws in favor of creating safe bussing, fearing racially fueled attacks between students. Due to an increase in white flight to the suburbs in the 1950’s, when the white population of Detroit dropped by 23% (The Detroit Riots of 1967), only further agitated by the Twelfth Street Riots in ’67, a defacto segregated Detroit emerged, creating a decaying urban area of poor blacks surrounded by mostly affluent white suburbs. Because of public education funding being based on local property taxes, conditions of schools in white and black neighborhoods reflected conditions similar to segregated schools in Jim Crow south. The riots only heightened a fear and hatred between whites and blacks; a stark physical and socioeconomic separation would cement their perceived differences and keep ethnic groups mostly separated to the present day.
The riots on Twelfth Street in ’67 were the result of an accumulation of many social and economic factors, and also marked a turning point in Detroit’s already declining position of national influence as the self-proclaimed Arsenal of Democracy. Conditions for black residents of Detroit were charged with racism; the number one issue concerning residents was police brutality (The Detroit Riots of 1967). Black residents in the Twelfth Street neighborhood would be subject to random ID checks resulting in unlawful arrests and beatings. Treatment like this across America would be the reason for the rise of black militancy and nationalism in the 1960’s; however, The WPP would form a year after the race riots broke out after the police attacks against white protesters in the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Detroit would be left in shambles, with forty-three dead, five hundred injured, thousands of arrests, and two thousand buildings burned down (Kerner Commission). John Sinclair, already active in the underground community through publishing Fifth Estate and creating the National Underground Syndicate, would try to reconcile the demise of a once much more vibrant city with a strong empathy for black citizens by forming a political organization that promoted violence through culture, not practice. Despite The White Panthers’ success in creating an artistic community where “music is the revolution and the guitar is the gun” (The White Panther Party Archives), they did little to impact the developing apartheid in Detroit.
Perhaps within the context of the political climate of The Black Panther Party of the 1960’& 70’s, The White Panthers are far more relevant and important to the causes of the BPP than at first glance. Although the BPP placed much emphasis on grassroots efforts in black communities, they also recognized the value of the now-burgeoning news media, and sought not only to utilize music reaching the public, but to recreate the image of a black man outside of the racist Jim Crow images that had persisted for so long. But instead of creating an image of a black human equal to all, a new type of caricature arose—one that both “inspired and mimicked popular blaxploitation films of the time” (Myrick 71). In addition, due to their emphasis on violence as a means of revolution (unlike many other non-violent activists of the time who were allowed much more unbiased air time), The Black Panthers came to be associated as the driving force behind many of the race riots that erupted during this time period; the public image of the BPP was less like a legitimate political organization and more similar to the street gangs that would eventually evolve out of hip-hop culture in the 1970’s. The White Panther Party recognized this unfair representation and the growing relationship between capitalist consumerism and control of mass media and sought to assault this emerging culture through creating their own subculture, as can be seen through a comparison of the party’s 10 point program:
1. Full endorsement and support of Black Panther Party’s 10-Point Program.
2. Total assault on the culture by any means necessary, including rock ’n’ roll, dope and fucking in the streets.
3. Free exchange of energy and materials — we demand the end of money!
4. Free food, clothes, housing, dope, music, bodies, medical care — everything free for everybody!
5. Free access to information media — free the technology from the greed creeps!
6. Free time and space for all humans — dissolve all unnatural boundaries.
7. Free all schools and all structures from corporate rule — turn the buildings over to the people at once!
8. Free all prisoners everywhere — they are our brothers.
9. Free all soldiers at once — no more conscripted armies.
10. Free the people from their “leaders” — leaders suck — all power to all the people! Freedom means free everyone! (Sinclair)
Unlike The Black Panthers, who laid out their ten points with detailed reasoning and explanation and made an explicit focus on efforts within black communities, The White Panthers ten points are openly arrogant and degenerate, appealing to punk and rock n’ roll sensibilities of anarchy when not vaguely echoing the points of the BPP. Along with the 10 points, John Sinclair wrote a disclaiming introduction—an open letter to the people—which, in its very first sentence, notes “Our program is Cultural Revolution through a total assault on culture … Our culture, our art, the music, newspapers, books, posters, our clothing, our homes, the way we walk and talk, the way our hair grows, the way we smoke dope and fuck and eat and sleep — it is all one message, and the message is FREEDOM!” (Sinclair). The failure of The White Panthers at their on-set can be attributed to their success in creating a strong alternative scene in Detroit that was heavily influenced by anarchist politics, rather than grassroots socialism as The Black Panthers exemplified. The result was instead two very different organizations with different views that complimented more often than contradicted each other, but failed to create the revolution they both deeply desired and saw as necessary to creating true equality.
Although the WPP attempt and success at creating a vibrant underground counterculture may seem trivial, they recognized that trying to work with mass media could not be successful in getting their true political message out. Some white activists, such as Abbie Hoffman of the Yippies, were able to successfully use media for their cause, but their sympathy with The Black Panthers would be completely loss during broadcast in favor of the spectacle of their organization (Chicago 10). In Detroit, those who participated in the ’67 riots would be referred to as “black nationalists” in all the newspapers, despite the violence being an entirely disorganized response to police aggression. John Sinclair, forming The White Panthers directly in response to the infamy of The Black Panthers and the Yippies, had already been nurturing sources for alternative opinions for nearly a decade, and would try to penetrate audiences in a different way while continuing to portray the youth struggle honestly and fully.
Although they attempted to use mass media to their advantage, The Black Panthers were not able to create and sustain a cooperative relationship with white-dominated media. While simultaneously trying to reclaim the black image, The Black Panthers had to function within the media who had for decades shaped images of minorities in stereotypes and myths (Crips and Bloods: Made In America). The Black Panthers both inspired and mimicked the lifestyles put forth in blaxplotation films as a means of presenting themselves in an immediately recognizable form while attempting to create connotations of empowerment to these images. While this functioned as an advantage to the BPP is some respects—for instance, their ability to represent themselves through a physically powerful connotation rather than be undermined through less empowering stereotypical black images—they emphasized the wrong aspects of the organization for TV news and its audiences, but the right aspects for John Sinclair’s vision of a truly free America that transcended race and class.
THE CHANGED MORALE OF THE WHITE PANTHER PARTY
In the early 70’s, Sinclair himself would come to retract the culturally-motivated methodology of change in favor of Black Panther ideology and “living more like a communist” (The White Panther Party Archives). Jon Sinclair had personally met Bobby Seale and was influenced to make The White Panther Party more militantly revolutionary and radically Marxist, and, overall, more relatable to The Black Panthers. He would retract the policy statement, saying “You ain’t going to be able to tell no black panther … that music is the revolution and the guitar is the gun.” By this time, their primary course of action would be producing & distributing radical magazines locally and nationally. When one newspaper, The Sun, was banned from Oakland County Community College, The White Panthers began action with local jurisdiction fighting for their first amendment rights, which would lead to more involvement in the courts and contribute to lasting changes for Civil Rights (The White Panther Party Archives). They would be successful in winning a case in the U.S. Supreme Court that would deem wiretapping an unconstitutional violation of Fourth Amendment Rights and overturn Title III of Nixon’s Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Acts of 1968, which claimed he had executive authority to secretly survey civilians without a warrant (Cornell).
The White Panthers would also be involved in many court cases involving the use and distribution of marijuana, which, after some success, would lead to the organization’s demise. In 1972, John Sinclair successfully appealed his fourth and final arrest for marijuana possession to the Michigan Supreme Court, which deemed his arrests unconstitutional. “On April 17, 1968, the panel upheld the statutes against the contentions that they violated the equal protection of the laws; denied defendant due process of law; violated rights of privacy retained by the people; and that the penalty provisions imposed cruel and unusual punishment” (Michigan Supreme Court Reports). While this victory was merely temporary until reversed by Federal law, in combination with their other court actions, The White Panthers were able to accomplish minor victories for those “hipsters” targeted by police, as well as blacks (including Black Panthers) involved in drug distribution and consumption. However, The White Panther Party would crumble shortly after this court decision because of the conflict between John Sinclair’s new understanding of what a White Panther should stand for in contrast to the artist/activists who had been working with him for a cultural revolution for years previous.
CONCLUSION
The White Panther Party’s biggest impact was on the cultural atmosphere of Detroit. With the launch of the MC5, a new wave of anti-capitalist underground rock music would arise; a grunge scene would emerge and prosper into present day Detroit, producing such bands at The White Stripes and The Detroit Cobras, but the political message would be virtually lost in the midst of a unique and influential sound. Although John Sinclair and his associates were highly successful at creating a national network of radical alternative news, their ideas rarely transferred from philosophy to practice. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the WPP was their inability to foster good race relations between whites and blacks in Detroit; although they claimed not to be a white supremacist group and were clearly sympathizers with the BPP, their membership was exclusively white. With all the fuss over black citizens’ access to public education and fair housing in the 1970’s, the WPP could have made an effort to petition for Civil Rights, but as their focus was on the purely cultural, grassroots efforts were left to the wayside.
Today there is little association between The Black Panthers and The White Panthers, with good reason—the WPP failed to truly answer Huey P. Newton’s call for a white ally organization. Other than agreeing with Black Panther ideology, the WPP did nothing more than help to promote and publish radical ideas. They succeeded in creating a cultural revolution—an alternative outlet for art and opinions other than mainstream, consumerist mass media—but this revolution did nothing to help the black citizens who were their neighbors. If nothing else, The White Panthers proved that relying on culture and ideology to create revolutionary change will have no impact on the reality of struggle among ethnic minorities and those of a lower-class. Although The Black Panthers also failed to create the revolution they desired, they at least had an impact on black communities and inspired resistance against police oppression. The White Panthers had an impact on music communities and drug possession.
Perhaps, in order to truly create a revolution, it is necessary to change both culture and politics, shared ideology and notions of true equality, modes of expression and living conditions. The White Panther Party is not without its successes and failures, but in place of a legacy they’ve left a lesson: one cannot be an ally in sympathies alone; it must translate to practice in order to have a true impact.
Works Cited
Bartkowiak, Matthew J. “Sonic Anarchy: The Making of the MC5.” Journal of Popular Culture 41.3 (2008): 371-92.
Bodroghkozy, Aniko “Television in Black-and-White America: Race and National Identity” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 38.1 (2007).
Chicago 10. Dir. Brett Morgen. Perf. Mark Ruffalo, Hank Azaria, Nick Notle. Consolidated Documentaries, 2007. DVD.
Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Dir. Stacy Peralta. 2009. DVD.
Cornell. “United States v. United States District Court.” Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, 24 Feb. 1972. Web. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0407_0297_ZO.html>.
“The Detroit Riots of 1967: Events.” The Detroit and Newark Riots of 1967. Web. <http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_index.htm>.
Hale, Jeff A. “WHITE PANTHERS: Total Assault on the Culture.” Make My Day. 2005. Web. <http://makemyday.free.fr/whitepanthers.htm>.
Kerner Comission. “”The Communications Media, Ironically, Have Failed to Communicate”: The Kerner Report Assesses Media Coverage of Riots and Race Relations.” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. Web. <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6553/>.
Michigan Supreme Court Reports. “PEOPLE v. SINCLAIR, 387 Mich. 91 (1972).” Lois Law. Web. <http://www.loislaw.com/livepublish8923/doclink.htp?alias=MICASE&cite=387 Mich. 91>.
Myrick, Howard A. “Framing The Black Panthers.” Television Quarterly 38.2 (2008): 70-72. Web.
“Recent Court Decisions Involved In The Controversy.” Congressional Digest 53.4 (1974). Web.
Sinclair, John. “White Panther Party Program.” Luminist Archives. Web. <http://www.luminist.org/archives/wpp.htm>.
The White Panther Party Archives. “Music Is the Revolution.” John & Leni Sinclair, 2001. CD.
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