3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

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spirit ."~ ~ It was here that Charles Sima and the Deacons for Defense and Justice made their indelible mark on the struggle for black equality in America . ~2 The civil rights movement came to 8ogalusa, as it came to other small towns around the South, which is to say it arrived rather quietly in the form of local, grassroots activism, without the fanfare and bluster of nationally recognized organizations and the media attention they brought with them . Local blacks protested segregation and sought to integrate local facilities . They also criticized the lack of economic opportunities, police brutality, "separate-but-equal" public services and accommodations, and poor educational opportunities . White Bogalusa resisted stubbornly and the black activists met little success, but their efforts attracted the attention of outside parties . The mettle of local activists lured the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to Bogalusa in January 1965, though other factors enticed CORE as well . Bogalusa held a reputation as a bastion of white supremacy . The Ku Klux Klan tyrannized the area and CORE, like other national civil rights organizations, relied on massive white resistance to advance its cause . White opposition galvanized protest, focused media attention, generated sympathy, and inadvertently propelled the movement toward success--but at a ~~Howell Raines, My Soul Is Rested (New York : Penguin, 1977), 416. ~2According to George Lipsitz, the Deacons "made Hogalusa one of the places in the South where armed self-defense supplemented tactical nonviolent direct action in the civil rights movement . . . Their discipline and dedication inspired the community, their very existence made black people in Bogalusa think more of themselves as people who could not be pushed around ." George Lipsitz, A Life in the Stnraale : Ivorv Perrv, Culture of OpQosition (Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1988), 96 .
cost. The struggle for black equality in Bogalusa uprooted what little racial harmony existed there . Tension mounted as CORE stepped up its demonstration marches in early 1963 . Several hundred protectors, mostly local high school students, marchod on April 9 to advocate equal educational opportunities in local integrated schools, among other issues . When marchers reached the downtown arcs, police orderrd them to return to the local union hall after white spectators manhandled a white journalist and several marchers as well . Blacks sporadically picketed downtown businesses as negotiators mediated the conflict. The United States Community Relations Service along with businessmen listened to black protectors as negotiations lurched forward unpromisingly . The United Conservatives of Louisiana, akin to the White Citiuns'Council, staged a rally in early May which attracted thousands and featured Sheriff Jim Clark of Selma, Alabama (though Clark withdrew at the request of the governor). City officials augmented the city's police force of thirty-four men with twelve deputized firemen and an equal number of county sheriff's deputies . The governor sent some three hundred highway patrolmen to the area, and the Federal Bur+esu of Investigation also sent approximately thirty agents to the scene . Bogalusa geared up for a large-scale, violent confrontation.~ 3 On May 23 Mayor Jesse H. Cutrcr, Jr. announced the repeal of all city segregation ordinances. He also promised that blacks would be hired by the police force, and possibly other government agencies. "Everyone must recogniu the fact that federal laws ~3Southern School News 11 n 11 (May 1965) : S ; "Hogalusa Mayor Announces End of City Segregation Or+dinances," Southern School News (June 1965) 11 n 12 : 14 .
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CCVII. RIGHTS & SELF-DEFENSE : THE
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Civil Rights and Self-Defense : The
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It was not until the 1950's and 196
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ights movement, including : redempt
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unnoticed, unbeknownst, or simply i
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nonviolence . It is not a complete
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happen, and the time for defense is
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during this period currently lie do
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what is right, but Iam not sure how
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could be argued that King's middle-
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people customarily initiated it . F
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"The Other Cheek" : ReUn9ubhing Sel
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expressed an urge to "give as good
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professionals and faculty members f
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But while King defused the volatile
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(FOR), and William Worthy, a black
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practicability of his position: '~4
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Additionally, Bayard Rustin reporte
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the power structure."~ In other wor
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available to the Negro in his strug
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(toughmindedness) and love (tenderh
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compelling arguments for the moral
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and faggot. For example, in 1889, J
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His first impulse when threatened w
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aggravate ; that is, his politics o
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quantitative change in our lives."
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'~P~opk With StrenSth": Questioning
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united behind him:'s Comparing his
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paratroopers from the 101" Airborne
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Williams respected what he called "
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NAACP had always appealed, he scour
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Montgomery was buried without incid
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motorcade with gunfiro when the car
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slavery and oppression . Tire Negro
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S-6 . at the heart of his nonviolen
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act : anyone who would utilize nonv
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folkways . Because they believed th
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the South, found themselves spearhe
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Brown ." sa That same month, Willia
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pumping hundrr~ds of thousands of d
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making better men either of themsel
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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
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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 and 134: journalist, labeled them "the South
Page 135: shifted from Jonesbom to 8ogalusa,
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
Page 185 and 186: considered the Panthers "a living t
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legislator from Piedmont, specifica
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Seale, the police were the enforcem
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They also displayed a propensity to
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Newton viewed violence as not simpl
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Williams, a Panther. "We'd read Nat
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Newton, Seale, and Cleaver had all
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Simultaneously, they shouldered the
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The Deacons for Defense and Justice
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"The army turned on itself . . . Th
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defense. He believed that no ruling
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formulating their own . Coincidenta
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exposed the actions of some policem
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think in terms of armed conflict."~
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and his band waylaid the Cleveland
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Epilog : TIK Only Tis+sd T1Ky Was "
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action did so through a redefinitio
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with police personnel who were ofte
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lacks in West Feliciana Parish, Lou
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evolutionary war in tenors of self-
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everywhere a person goes, even insi
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epresented a quantum leap in the ab
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people carried themselves in public
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There can be an exaggerated distast
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demand. It never did and it never w
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"anti-American diatribes of the ran
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allowed both RAM and the RNA to use
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United States was having." s~ Exasp
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hammering home the notions of self-
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to you, that did more good than non
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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ~~un~~r~ws a~
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W"C~"Y//iO~ ~JYL7///~O{i California
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Knight, Jack C. "Reckoning with Vio
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Belknap, Michael R. Feral Law and S
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Crcnshaw, Kimberlie. Critical Race
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Grant, Joanne . Hlack Pnxsst : Iist
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McCord, William, John Howard, Berna
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Reddick, Lawt+ence D. Crusader With
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Wilkins, Roy and Ramsey Clark . Sea
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The Road from Mont~p~. WCBS-TV. New
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3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

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