The Black Panthers.

Essay by Mafiaboy89Junior High, 8th grade May 2003

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Extremism

What is extremism? You could open a dictionary and you would probably not be satisfied with the definition. This is because what was extreme in the 60s and 70s may not be extreme now. Mainstream America has changed and its view of extremist groups has changed with it making the definition for extremism subjective.

The most important ingredient of the definition of extremism is that you're not mainstream. People look at extremist groups and can immediately tell them apart from mainstream groups because they are different in their beliefs and in their actions. The radical means they employ, to accomplish their goals, is what makes them extreme. Extremists have a lot of confidence in their beliefs and their ways of doing things: their styles. As a matter of fact, they have so much conviction in their unique styles, that they will go out of their way to tell the world and be recognized.

They have radically conservative views. To expand, they are intolerant of everyone else's mainstream ideals. They think that they have to inform and change the world for fear that it would be a horrible and doomed place without them around.

Next, is the significance of extremist beliefs. Their beliefs are the base of their styles. Again, their beliefs are radical or out of the ordinary, and make people question the groups and their ways of doing things. Their beliefs are essential in making them extreme in the eyes of the public. All extremist groups have a trait in common: they always challenge people's ways of looking at things. They attempt to alter people's political, economic, and social ideals. Extremist groups' beliefs are always contested and never fully agreed upon by the public.

Extremist groups do not just say something but they go out and do it;...