Not a good look for the New Black Panther Party

The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) has received a lot of backlash lately for their alleged voter intimidation actions in 2008 and highly racist comments made during this year's Odune Day festival in Philadelphia, PA. During a recent radio broadcast, Glenn Beck played a clip of Samir Shabazz of the NBPP yelling at festival attendees about the hypocrisy of a black man being in African garb donning a white woman on his arm as well as the need for black people to "kill cracker babies."

Even though Shabazz's statements were discriminatory and racially ignorant, Beck found them quite funny. In this video clip, Beck is turning what under other circumstances would be serious disrespectful racial commentary, into a series of jokes and laughs.  Despite Becks ability to laugh at Shabazz and his "kill cracker babies" statement, the NBPP, their comments, and their actions are no joking matter.

Sadly, mere racial similarity will connect Shabazz and the other members of the NBPP to African Americans all over the United States. While the NBPP is not a strong and prevalent force across this country, they are gaining in popularity and recognition as a result of their recent appearances in the news.  As an African American woman who has no affiliation with the NBPP, I feel that they are making black people, for a lack of better words--look bad. Screaming about a black man dressed in African attire just because he is attending a public festival with a 'white' woman is extremely disrespectful. What if that woman, who appeared to be 'white', was actually a Latina? Or better yet, what if she actually was black (of a racially mixed background) and just appeared to be white? What if, while trying to enlighten a black man, you destroyed the spirit of a very light-skinned sista or a fair skinned Latina simply because your eyes deceived you?

And furthermore, what if, while screaming about killing 'cracker babies' you influenced a nearby white child who was an otherwise racially neutral and loving person, to hate the entire black race? And what if that child grows up to deliberately cause harm to your children and grandchildren, all because you felt the need to yell racially charged statements at a public street fest?

As many already know, the original Black Panther Party, notwithstanding their political involvement, was comprised of rebellious and militant individuals who were just as outspoken as Shabazz. They would have been the first to start and end a successful racial revolution if given the chance. They were feared, they were targeted, and they worked as fighters for the rights and equal treatment of minority people. They were also the go to group for food and shelter for the homeless, promotion of education and healthcare in minority communities, and advocates for the overall improvement of minority people. What, if anything, are the NBPP members doing to effectively uplift their people and improve their neighborhoods? What is the purpose of their corrosive behavior?

 I understand that the actions displayed at Odune Day 2010 were the actions of one man (and possibly his crew) and not that of the entire NBPP. However, I have yet to see NBPP step up and competently defuse the recent attacks to their organization. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the actions of a few people are becoming a representation of the whole NBPP. Without proper dissemination of the true positive objective of the NBPP (if there is even such an objective) the organization will fail to grow and will become the permanently exiled 'black sheep' of the entire American family. For all that the original Black Panther Party members did and tried to do for their communities, you would think the new generation would at least attempt to do the same. If they have any concern for their people and their forefathers and mothers, the NBPP would step up and resolve their current media driven fiasco.

I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens…