They Huey P. Newton Reader

from "In Defense of Self­
Defense" I: June 20, 1967
en were not created in order to obey laws. Laws are created to obey
Mmen. They arc established by men and should serve men. The laws
and rules which officials inflict upon poor people prevent them
from functioning harmoniously in society. There is no disagreement
about this function oflaw in any circle--the disagreement arises from
the question of which men laws arc to serve. Such lawmakers ignore
the fact that it is the duty of the poor and unrepresented to construct
rules and laws that serve their interests better. Rewriting unjust laws
is a basic human right and fundamental obligation.
Before 1776 America was a British colony. The British government
had certain laws and rules that the colonized Americans rejected as
not being in their best interests. In spite of the British conviction that
Americans had no right to establish their own laws to promote the
general welfare of the people living here in America, the colonized
immigrant felt he had no choice but to raise the gun to defend his welfare.
Simultaneously he made certain laws to ensure his protection from
external and internal aggressions, from other governments, and his own
agencies. One such form of protection was the Declaration of Independence,
which states: ". .. whenever any government becomes destructive
to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish
it, and to instirute a new government, laying its foundations on such
principles and organizing its powers in such forms as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
Now these same colonized White people, these bondsmen, paupers,
and thieves, deny the colonized Black man not only the right to abol-
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