Question

How did the SNCC and the Black Panthers differ from Martin Luther King?

Answer 1

The organization led by Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The fundamental difference between the SCLC and the two other prominent organizations, the Black Panthers and the SNCC, was a difference of social class. Remember that King and Abernathy were established preachers in Montgomery churches, and they had the luxury of being middle class members. Their protests were non-violent, and they were successful because they had the relative power and money to pull it off, not to mention the public exposure. When the police threw tear gas into those peaceful demonstrations and turned dogs, clubs and fire hoses against preachers and their congregations, Americans reacted. That was the goal of the SCLC: to expose the injustice of racism and bring about a change by striking the moral conscience of the nation.

The Black Panthers had a much different experience of racism, mainly because they didn't have the benefit of middle class status. Isolated in the black ghettos, they interacted very little with whites and were constantly subjected to gratuitous police brutality. Their people were impoverished, uneducated and largely unemployed, and they did not have the means to match the SCLC. The original Panthers, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, organized in the ghettos of Oakland, California. Newton and Seale were tired of the police protecting the white man's interests by oppressing the black man, and so they got together with some of their young friends and assembled a small fleet of armed cars that would tail the police. If the cops stopped to harrass people in their neighborhood, there would be three of four Panthers watching from a distance, openly holding rifles, shotguns and law books. They also established numerous socialist programs to help their people. They provided free breakfasts to school children and offered adult education classes at night. While Martin Luther King sought legal reformation, the Panthers sought a revolution. King wanted integration and equality, while the revolutionaries leaned toward separatism.

Clearly, the Panthers were not committed to non-violence, and honestly, I think non-violence would have been an insufficient and inappropriate committment for them to make. Their envirnoment was far too violent for peaceful protest to be effective, and the brutality that occurred there in the ghetto was never publicized. The Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was basically ineffective, I think. They were mostly college students, and despite their name, they were not committed to non-violence. They suffered many internal conflicts, especially concerning the permissibility of having white members. Their head honcho, Stokely Carmichael, ultimately left the movement, and I think ended up owning a BBQ sauce company.

I suggest reading the following books:
Stride Toward Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why We Can't Wait, Martin Luther King, Jr.
And The Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ralph Abernathy
The Black Panthers Speak, Philip S. Foner
Soul On Ice, Eldridge Cleaver

Hope that helps. Good luck.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090325094841AA3jVca

Answer 2

...perhaps something that wasn't copied and pasted from Yahoo, please?

Answer 3

Well it answered the question didn't it? O.o

Answer 4

True, but something original is always appreciated.

Answer 5

Well I didn't know how else to answer this question

Answer 6

You answered and contributed to my question, though. So thank you! c:

Answer 7

If I helped you can close this question now

Answer 8

I'll take that as "you're welcome".

Answer 9

OH You're Welcome :D

Answer 10

:D