Argumentative Assignment of Composing Civic Life, Essay Example

The writer’s main points in argument with the association of the Black Panthers and discrimination of coloured people’s inalienable rights and the direct infringement of women’s rights or the positive move towards women’s suffrage since the 1800’s with the movements by Susan B. Anthony.  “People will not be free until they can vehemently determine their own spot in the world and with that determine their niche in the community”. [1](Berndt & Muse, 2003, preface).  “Susan B. Anthony decided to test the power of the Fifteenth Amendment when she and three of her sisters attempted to cast their vote and were arrested as a result.” It was further pronounced that it is the inalienable right of all men and women to vote and express that such vote under the US Constitution. Further it was pronounced through vehement suggestion that if women were not afforded the same rights as men and whites then perhaps they should be exempt from taxation. [2](Berndt & Muse, 2003, p. 127). How can a State deny a right that they have no such power to deny?

Further into the passages of the book describes when blacks had been working adamantly for years to end discrimination in the south, blacks in Oakland, California were engaged in their own struggles for personal freedoms. Police officers were rampidly shooting children and other citizens in California without justification. Incidents as such are what sparked the major controversy in the California areas such as Oakland and San Francisco. “It was under these circumstances that twenty-four year old Huey P. Newton and twenty-nine year old Bobby Seale began to take leadership roles in their community to create the Black Panthers Party.”[3](McElrath, 2009).

Prior to the engagement of the Panthers, the community made effort to have the police reviewed by obtaining over 5,000 community member signatures. The purpose of these efforts was to stop unnecessary police brutality, but the efforts were ignored by the board. “When long ignored efforts have taken place it is a person’s right to throw out government and bring in new government”. [4](Berndt & Muse, 2006, p. 132). Because of the blinding no win stance the board took with relation to the police brutality, the Black Panthers evolved and violence continued in the California regions. Newton and Seale founded the Black Panther Party in an effort to provide citizens with self-defence. “Their efforts were aimed at freedom for the citizens, equal employment for all people of the community, an effort to end robbery by the white man to the black man of the community and other significant issues as freeing the black men from prison and brining all black men and women to trial immediately.” [5](Berndt & Muse, 2006, p. 130).Particularly this seems what is now equal to our current civil liberties and human rights protection as afforded under the US Constitution laws (Bill of Rights) and under s. 6(1) of the British Human Rights legislation.  Back in the 1960’s,  legislation made it quite legal to carry a gun in California as long as it was not concealed,  hence the Panthers took to the streets as advocates and vigilantes in black leather jackets to patrol the streets. The primary mentality of the group was “if the police will not protect the black people then the panthers will do the job for them.”

“In 1967, ex-convict Eldridge Cleaver joined the party. At the time, Cleaver was on parole, was working as a writer at Ramparts magazine, and was the founder of the political organization in San Francisco called Black House.” [6](McElrath, 2009). Once Cleaver joined the organization the group began to grow with tremendous strength and attracted media attention throughout the United States. Cleaver was opposed to Seale’s direction to shift the focus of the group to helping the needy with free medical and clothing thus he retired from the program. Seale resigned from the party shortly after, also.

“Elaine Brown became the Panther’s new leader. She continued to focus on community services. By the mid-1970s, the majority of party members were women. The party was known for asserting women’s rights. “Angela Davis is a well known Black Panther Leader who taught at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1969 she joined the Communist Party and the following year joined the Black Panther Party. Davis and other Black Panther Party leaders took a stand for human rights and fought for rights for all people of colour.” [7](“The Black Panther Party”). In the early 1980s the party disbanded.” [8](McElrath, 2009).

References

[1] Berndt M. & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[1] Berndt M & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action (p. 127.)Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[1] McElrath J. (2009) The Black Panthers Retrieved September 18, 2009 from, http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackpanthers/a/blackpanthers.htm

[1] Berndt M. & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action (p. 132) Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[1] Berndt M. & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action (p. 130) Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[1] Berndt M. & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  A Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action, preface Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[2] Berndt M & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  A Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action (p. 127.)Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[3] McElrath J. (2009) The Black Panthers Retrieved September 18, 2009 from, http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackpanthers/a/blackpanthers.htm

[4] Berndt M. & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  A Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action (p. 132)Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[5] Berndt M. & Muse A. (2006) Composing a Civic Life:  A Rhetoric and Readings for Inquiry and Action (p. 130)Retrieved September 17, 2009 from, http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Civic-Life-Rhetoric-Readings/dp/0321413598/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

[6] McElrath J. (2009) The Black Panthers Retrieved September 18, 2009 from, http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackpanthers/a/blackpanthers.htm

[7] The Black Panther Party (2009) Retrieved September 18, 2009 from, http://www.franciscodacosta.com/articles/BPP.html

[8] McElrath J. (2009) The Black Panthers Retrieved September 18, 2009 from, http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackpanthers/a/blackpanthers.htm