50 years later, it's easier to see how the Black Panther raid changed racial politics

A lot has changed in the 50 years since the predawn Chicago police raid that left two Illinois Black Panther Party leaders dead and four other members wounded.

For one, I'm a lot older now. Illinois chairman Fred Hampton, who was 21, and member Mark Clark, 22, were about the same age as I was then and were robbed of that opportunity.

I used to think that the Panthers leaders had been too paranoid when they complained that "the government" was not only tapping their phones but