3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

differentiated African-Americans and Africans . Second, it detracted from the teak at
hand : namely, bringing about revolution . Third, it was theot+etically deficient . As he
explained : "We have to realiu our black heritage in order to give us strength to move on
and progress . But as far as returning to the old African culture, it's unnecessary and it's
not advantageous in many respects . We believe that culture itself will not liberate us.
We're going to need some stronger stuff." °a Finally, Newton believed that it was
impossible to resolve the problems of black people under the structure of American
capitalism . Newton's disenchantment with cultural nationalism led him to rebuke the
group that shared his moniker : the Black Panther Party of Northern California, a group of
cultural nationalists in San Francisco .
The same factors which might have given Newton and Seale a pt+oclivity toward
criminal activity instead made them social activists . As lower-class kids growing up in
Oakland, they were blocked from conventional middle-class opportunities by the burdens
of poverty and urban decay. They lived, poor, in close proximity to the wealthy
neighborhoods of the Berkeley and Oakland hills, as well as Piedmont, an affluent
community . They obeyed the rules of street life, which put them in conflict with the
dominant culture . Finally, they adopted the goals of mainstream society but lacked the
means to attain them .
Newton, quoted in Earl Ofari, Black liberation : Cultural and Revolutionary
Nationalism (Detroit : Radical Education Project, 1970), pamphlet, Bancroft Collection on
Social Protest Movements, Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.
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