The 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia represents one of the most violent acts of state repression against Black people in modern U.S. history. MOVE was a Black liberation group advocating for self-sufficiency, freedom from systemic oppression, and, notably, a movement to organize a “go back to Africa” initiative. This exodus threatened the socio-economic framework that America relies upon: maintaining a permanent underclass, primarily Black people, to sustain the racial and economic hierarchy.
By targeting MOVE with military-grade explosives—killing men, women, and children alike—the government demonstrated a ruthless commitment to suppressing Black autonomy and resistance. America’s system depended on Black subjugation, not only as a psychological benchmark for white Americans (“at least I’m not that”) but also as a literal engine of labor through the prison-industrial complex. The 13th Amendment, while abolishing slavery, leaves a loophole for involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. This has allowed Black bodies to be funneled into prisons for profit, perpetuating the exploitative labor system slavery once upheld.
MOVE’s organizing posed a direct challenge to this system. If Black people left en masse for Africa, it would disrupt the social order, dismantle the economic mechanisms of oppression, and undermine the false racial hierarchy that keeps the majority of white Americans complicit in their own economic subjugation. To protect these interests, the state was willing to annihilate MOVE and destroy an entire community, underscoring the lengths to which oppressive systems will go to preserve their dominance.
