Black Panther Party Dbq

During the 1960s and 70s, America became a nation of issues and controversy. In fact, various groups of people attempted to identify the root problems within American society and the role of citizens in resolving them. During this time, the most prominent groups, still in existence today, were the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Black Panther Party, and the United Farm Workers. In the following documents, there were numerous issues within American society that were discussed, however, one of the most common problems were centered around freedom. In addition, another reason for change comprised of self-reliance. In the Port Huron Statement, it is clearly seen that the SDS perceived human degradation and racial bigotry as major problems with American society (Document 7). They believed that a nation consisting of racism did not rightly have a government that represented the people. Furthermore, they believed that a society embodies freedom and liberty. A man who truly acknowledged this fact was Caesar Chavez, a primo labor leader and civil rights activists for Mexican-Americans. He explained

The SDS’s main issue revolved around the Vietnam War and particularly about matters relating to war, for instance, the drafting of students. The organization essentially wanted to create a “New Left” (Document 7). The Black Panther Party originally wanted to protect African Americans from acts of police brutality. However, along with putting an end to police brutality, they soon developed into a group who also wanted the release of all African Americans from jail and compensation for exploitation by white Americans (Document 8). The United Farm Workers ultimately wanted to improve migrant farmworkers wages and working conditions (Document 9). When reviewing the documents, the goals of each group may be similar, however, the goals were specifically targeting the group’s fundamental