David Hilliard- “The Ideology Of The Black Panther Party”
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David Hilliard- “The Ideology of the Black Panther Party”
David Hilliard wrote this speech in response to the trial of Bobby Seale, the president of the Black Panther Party. Hilliard was the Chief Editor of the Black Panther newspaper. His use of language throughout the speech is very powerful and thought provoking, even the two counts of explicative words are used well to enhance his points. Hilliard is constantly pointing out the evils of the American system, and shown through examples within our nations history. At the same time, he is trying to get his audience to see that Bobby Seale is just an ordinary man trying to use his constitutional right, the right to bear arms. He turns this around on the U.S government, stating that because he is a man of African decent, the constitution is not meant to ensure his race their rights. Most of the time, he seems offending, but you must try and understand the examples that he gives and see the points through them.
He begins his introduction with a direct statement: “The ideology of the Black Panther Party is the historical experiences of Black people in America translated through Marxism-Leninism.” So far, nothing that makes this statement unique however, later in the paragraph he states, ” . . . after 400 years we are victims of the oppressive machinery that gags, binds and chains Black men who speak out in defense of their alleged constitutional rights.” This line is a very powerful statement, especially the use of the word alleged in the sentence; it gives the paragraph a more secretive feel.
Next, in the body of his speech Hilliard says: “These people that tortured and gagged and chained Bobby are the descendants of pirates. Genocidal murderers of the Red Man; users of the atomic bomb upon the Japanese people. The enslavers and exploiters of Blacks in this country right up until this very day.” Although tortured and gagged may seem a bit extreme to a member of the audience, the words have served their purpose to express