In
Bogalusa, Louisiana, blacks were intimidated daily by the local Ku
Klux Klan. Law enforcement officials never provided help either in
terms of protection or in prosecuting wrongdoers. In fact, the law
enforcement officials themselves were increasingly suspected of
belonging to the Klan. Bogalusa blacks came to feel that arming
themselves for self-defense was their only solution. In 1966 a number
of them armed themselves, and founded the Deacons for Defense and
Justice. Also in 1966, young blacks in Oakland, California, became
extremely angry at what they believed to be police harassment. This
resulted in their forming the Black Panther Party.
Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, both of whom had been raised under
ghetto conditions, felt that there was a need for an organization
which could communicate with poor blacks instead of merely appealing
to the black bourgeoisie. The symbol of the black panther had been
used by an independent, black political party which S.N.C.C. had
helped to found in Lowndes County, Alabama.
The black panther had special appeal as a symbol because, though it
rarely or never attacked another animal, it would defend itself
ferociously whenever it was challenged.
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