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

One thing is apparent in this year of our Lord 1965 "-Negroes in this nation are
down to about their last ounce of patience . For sll the hoopla and the
speechmaking and legislation, very little has changed in the reality of Negro life in
this country . . . rats still bite kids and citiuns of Bogalusa still don't have the
vote .
Now if you accept that as fact--then it's clear that violence may be on the
horizon. And if violence is on the horizon, I would certainly prefer to see it
channeled into a defense discipline than the random homicide and suicide of
rioting.°
A. Z. Young and the BCVL welcomed protection from the Deacons . "I know the Klan
would have already come in here and killed or whipped the leaders of the movement if it
weren't for the Deacons," Young noted . "The Deacons give them something to think
about." s ~ Even some staff members of SCLC, known for its conservatism and strict
adherence to nonviolence, carefully acknowledged what the Deacons were doing . "'There
is such a thing as the cup of endurance running over," said one of King's aides, who
wished to be anonymous . "Dr King's position makes a distinction between defensive
violence and aggressive violence . I think the Deacons come in the category of defensive
violence : ' But he quickly added : "The goal of a nonviolent movement is to create a
community where people can live in harmony and I don't think guns help that ." 32
Other organizations, desirous of peaceful integration, condemned the Deacons
outright. "If the Deacons really catch hold;' warned Paul Anthony, field director of the
3°James Farmer, "Deacons for Defense," New York Amsterdam News (July 10,
1965) : 1 S .
3~A . Z. Young, quoted in Lipsitz, A Life in the StruaQte, 9S .
32Fr+ed L. Zimmerman, "Race &Violence : More Dixie Negroes Buy Arms to Retaliate
' Against White Attacks," The Wall Street Journal 73 no . 7 (July 12, 1965) : 1,15 .
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