Chicago Tribune Editorial Board member Clarence Page stated that Beyonce’s halftime show at the Super Bowl was “entertaining” and that the Black Panthers “did a big favor” by raising the issue of police brutality on Friday’s “McLaughlin Group.”
Page said, “I thought it was pretty entertaining, and then afterwards, I thought that it was controversial.”
He later added, “It was a very unpolitical performance there. I didn’t even realize it was controversial until after it was over and Rudy Giuliani was complaining. I mean, they formed an X on the field, and they had afros and berets. Well, you know, I’ve had — I have a beret, and I used to have an afro. So, I don’t think I’m a criminal, you know.”
Page also argued, “[T]he Panthers, like Black Lives Matter, is a very locally oriented group. There were some thugs in the Panthers, especially the Oakland chapter, during a horrible period there. But there were a lot of other Panthers who registered people to vote, who engaged in active social action, as well as political action, quite legitimately. And there were so many abuses against them by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI and COINTELPRO, that a number of the survivors of Panther leaders in Chicago received a big legal settlement.”
Page further stated, “[J]ust like with Black Lives Matter, until somebody raised a fuss, police brutality was not an issue. The Panthers raised it, and they did a big favor –.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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