Black Panther Party (Wallace 1968) | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Huey P. Newton |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Dissolved | 1990 |
| Colours | Black, Blue, Green |
The Black Panther Party is a political party, socialist movement, and secession group in the United States. The group was first formed in 1966, one year after the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited discrimination in voting. In 1990, after dramatically losing power, the remaining members of the Black Panther Party disbanded from the group.
History
Reaction in the 1968 Presidential Election
When President Wallace won the 1968 Presidential Election, many members were outraged at the outcome. The Black Panther Party constantly created petitions to impeach President Wallace and get him out of office but the petitions did not have a lot of votes. Members of the Black Panther Party even had talks of seceding from the United States and creating the Republic of New Afrika, an idea that was associated with the Black Panther Party until its demise in 1990.
1970 Assassination Attempt
On February 21, 1970, President George Wallace was on a trip to Atlanta, GA to observe the damage done after strong storms hit the North Georgia area. Wallace was walking down the stairs and was escorted to Roswell, GA, one of the hardest hit areas of the storm. When Wallace exited the motorcade, 7 shots were fired by three members of the Black Panther Party. Three of the bullets hit President Wallace, one to the arm, leg and just to the left of his heart. President Wallace was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta and was immediately up for surgery. He was then placed on ICU for 2 weeks. The three Black Pather Party members were convicted and are now spending life in prison.
Demise
During the late 1980s, the Black Panther Party was losing a lot of popularity. Many members left the party to join other Socialist and Black separatist parties. In 1990, The remaining members of the Black Panther Party left and joined the Socialist Party USA.