3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives
3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives 3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives
poorly paved streets ." Dozens of black men carrying guns spontaneously assembled on the street and averted trouble The Jonesboro group incorporated, in Match 1%S, as a nonprofit corporation after increased Klan activity . After a KKK parade in which Klansmen drove through town with an escort of local police cars, a handful of local black men, all U.S . Army veterans, decided that if the white power structure would condone and abet such activity, they must do something to help themselves . The next day, the men met to discuss how to protect their community . They purchased citizens-band radios and ammunition, and began to patrol the black community at night . The men elected Percy Lee Bradford, a stockroom worker, to serve as president of their new organization s "We pray a lot," he explained in February 1%S, "but we stay alert, too ." 9 The men, many of whom were religious, agreed on the name "Deacons" as a rcflcction of their background in the church . The name also represented their self-perception as servants of the community and defenders of the faith . The Deacons grew and expanded simultaneously in both Jonesboro and Bogalusa, Louisiana. Though Jonesboro remained the official headquarters of the Deacons, the locus of power quickly 'Fred Powledge, "Armed Negroes Make Jonesboro an Unusual Town," New York Times (February 21, 1%S) : 52 . gReed, "Armed Negro Unit Spreads in South," New York Times (June 6, 1965): 25 ; Reed, "The Deacons, Too, Ride by Night," New York Times Mag~;tu (August 15, 1%s): loll .
shifted from Jonesbom to 8ogalusa, where the Deacons garnered media attention and minor fame. To understand such activists, seemingly anomalous in a nonviolent movement, students of history must turn to the environment and circumstances that created them. The Deacons reacted reflexively to the open hostility they encountered from violent whites in Louisiana . Their formation paralleled the buildup in Klan strength and activity in their area. The local press largely ignored the Deacons ; but, when they did pay attention, journalists often portrayed them as gun-slinging vigilantes : an image both misrcprcsentative and inaccurate . Taking a closer look at the climate of violence which surrounded the movement in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in the mid-1960's and how the Deacons developed within this milieu allows better understanding of their symbolism within the national civil rights movement. Bogalusa, a small, inland town approximately two hours by car from Biloxi, Mississippi, boasted 22,000 people in 1965 . It was originally a sawmill town, which accounted for its location on the edge of the Pearl River swamps, though in 1%S, a paper mill operated by the Crown-Zellerbach Corporation dominated the town's economy and landscape, giving it an unmistakable appearance and odor. Otherwise, the town was unremarkable and indistinguishable from other Louisiana towns its size.° One visitor unflatteringly characterized Bogalusa as "a rarity among the small towns of the South in that it has no redeeming touch of grace, beauty, or elegance to surprise the eye or rest the °"Negroes Demonstrate in Bogalusa," Southern School News 11 n 11 (May 1%5): 5 .
- Page 83 and 84: He likened racism to a disease, a m
- Page 85 and 86: escalated . Rioting broke out. Then
- Page 87 and 88: Williams' ideas came to fruition in
- Page 89 and 90: When juxtaposed with the ideas of M
- Page 91 and 92: But if Willisms "made just as much
- Page 93 and 94: Whatever his place in prevailing hi
- Page 95 and 96: thinking merit special attention by
- Page 97 and 98: The women propared food, and served
- Page 99 and 100: candidate for county representative
- Page 101 and 102: tide of nonviolent diroct action ;
- Page 103 and 104: the sheriff again and told him that
- Page 105 and 106: characterized by hatred or meanness
- Page 107 and 108: terms of "`violence' versus `nonvio
- Page 109 and 110: than as separate entities, seenKd q
- Page 111 and 112: The best descriptor of Malcolm X wa
- Page 113 and 114: qualities in themselves. Finally, a
- Page 115 and 116: someone is treating you in a crimin
- Page 117 and 118: "You can't take a black man who is
- Page 119 and 120: attacked . Now, fve never been the
- Page 121 and 122: have, he wondered, to stop the loca
- Page 123 and 124: precluded him from being involved.
- Page 125 and 126: Malcolm "proved" his detractors to
- Page 127 and 128: Malcolm reveled in ambivalence, and
- Page 129 and 130: While his views on integration, whi
- Page 131 and 132: He summed up his speoch by doclarin
- Page 133: journalist, labeled them "the South
- Page 137 and 138: cost. The struggle for black equali
- Page 139 and 140: point, the Deacons had ban quietly
- Page 141 and 142: Under the aegis of their charter an
- Page 143 and 144: them ; they were attuned to the law
- Page 145 and 146: the head, causing a gash . Leneva T
- Page 147 and 148: One thing is apparent in this year
- Page 149 and 150: mistake" ; the presence of the Deac
- Page 151 and 152: done:' Sims said, "we walked like m
- Page 153 and 154: he waa killedj, but I believe he wa
- Page 155 and 156: Events picked up across the border
- Page 157 and 158: they were bound to precipitate a ca
- Page 159 and 160: goals of the movement. A year later
- Page 161 and 162: Sellers noted that while King was f
- Page 163 and 164: things," he said. "Everybody want t
- Page 165 and 166: the group . For example, an intervi
- Page 167 and 168: "Understand, the Deacons don't repl
- Page 169 and 170: quest for black equality, and chang
- Page 171 and 172: self-defense denotation from the of
- Page 173 and 174: Lowndes County lies in the heart of
- Page 175 and 176: "take over the courthouse" with sub
- Page 177 and 178: On Monday, November 7,1966, the nig
- Page 179 and 180: do anything violent ."~s But as the
- Page 181 and 182: To Carmichael, the Deacons for Defe
- Page 183 and 184: their perception in the media, and
shifted from Jonesbom to 8ogalusa, where the Deacons garnered media attention <strong>and</strong><br />
minor fame.<br />
To underst<strong>and</strong> such activists, seemingly anomalous in a nonviolent movement,<br />
students of history must turn to the environment <strong>and</strong> circumstances that created them.<br />
The Deacons reacted reflexively to the open hostility they encountered from violent<br />
whites in Louisiana . Their formation paralleled the buildup in Klan strength <strong>and</strong> activity<br />
in their area. The local press largely ignored the Deacons ; but, when they did pay<br />
attention, journalists often portrayed them as gun-slinging vigilantes : an image both<br />
misrcprcsentative <strong>and</strong> inaccurate . Taking a closer look at the climate of violence which<br />
surrounded the movement in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in the mid-1960's <strong>and</strong> how the<br />
Deacons developed within this milieu allows better underst<strong>and</strong>ing of their symbolism<br />
within the national civil rights movement.<br />
Bogalusa, a small, inl<strong>and</strong> town approximately two hours by car from Biloxi,<br />
Mississippi, boasted 22,000 people in 1965 . It was originally a sawmill town, which<br />
accounted for its location on the edge of the Pearl River swamps, though in 1%S, a paper<br />
mill operated by the Crown-Zellerbach Corporation dominated the town's economy <strong>and</strong><br />
l<strong>and</strong>scape, giving it an unmistakable appearance <strong>and</strong> odor. Otherwise, the town was<br />
unremarkable <strong>and</strong> indistinguishable from other Louisiana towns its size.° One visitor<br />
unflatteringly characterized Bogalusa as "a rarity among the small towns of the South in<br />
that it has no redeeming touch of grace, beauty, or elegance to surprise the eye or rest the<br />
°"Negroes Demonstrate in Bogalusa," Southern School News 11 n 11 (May 1%5): 5 .
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