Don’t tolerate hatred from any group

After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans there was a slow response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some black Americans believed that their race influence the government’s less-than immediate response.

Dr. Kamau Kambon, a former professor at North Carolina State University, expounded this conspiracy theory on C-SPAN in October 2005.

“The problem on the planet is white people . . .” he said. His rant went on for 10 minutes.

“How do I know that white people know that we (blacks) are going to come up with a solution to [this] problem? I know it because they have retina scans, they have what they call ‘racial-profiling,’ DNA banks, and they’re monitoring our people, to try to prevent ‘the one’ person from coming up with ‘the one idea.’ And the one idea is how we are going to exterminate white people because that, in my estimation, is the only conclusion I have come to. We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet, to solve this problem.”

Kambon’s paranoid and racially charged comments were not solely those of a lone extremist, but are now institutionalized by the New Black Panther Party.

“I hate white people. All of them,” said Samir Shabazz, leader of the NBPP in Philadelphia.

“You want freedom? You gonna have to kill some crackers,” he said. “You gonna have to kill some of their babies.”

I can feel the love this guy has for white people.

Most people probably haven’t heard much about the New Black Panther Party. There was a controversial case in Philadelphia in 2008 where two NBPP guards intimidated voters at a city polling office.

Of course, the NBPP does not even remotely represent the views of most African-Americans. But just what does this party think, and what kind of connection does it have with mainstream black organizations?

The original Black Panther Party of the 60s and 70s, not to be confused with the New Black Panther Party, is now known as The Foundation or the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation. It denounces the NBPP’s exploitation of its name and history.

The Foundation publicly stated that first and foremost, the members of NBPP were never part of the Black Panther Party.

It also states, “the Black Panthers were never a group of angry, young militants full of fury towards the ‘white establishment.’ The Party operated on love for black people, not hatred of white people.”

Noting the difference between the original Black Panther Party and the NBPP, the question arises, where did all of this hatred toward white people come from?

I’ve sent e-mails to the NBPP, asking this question, but so far I haven’t received an answer.

Also, whenever I look beyond Wikipedia, there doesn’t seem to be anything straight from the source explaining the reasons they bear this hatred toward white people.

The NBPP is planning a “National Day of Action and Unity” for April 23 in more than 60 cities in the U.S. and abroad. The party states its reason is, “because blacks worldwide are dissatisfied at their current condition.”

The group plans to use rallies, marches, programs, confrontations, and even demonstrations throughout the host sites.

The New Black Panther Party claims to be against everything that the white-supremacist Ku Klux Klan stands for.

This seems a bit ironic considering the groups ideals and methods are similar to the KKK’s.

The KKK seeks to “preserve white culture.” The NBPP seeks to “preserve black culture.” Both groups use hatred and anger to promote their ideals rather than nonviolence, peace, and love.

The NBPP has not existed as long as the KKK, but it still poses an equal threat.

I’m all for cultural independence and freedom of religion, but I can’t help question why their intolerant beliefs persist.

I believe no person, white or black, should feel ashamed or intimidated for his or her culture. These never-ending race wars won’t breed anything more than continuous hatred for each others’ differences.

Call me naive, but I consider myself lucky  not to personally encounter extremism to that level.

Let’s not tolerate groups like the New Black Panther Party, the Ku Klux Klan, or any other organizations that promote hatred in any form.