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
Southern Regional Council, a moderate biracial committee on race relations, "it could mean the end of nonviolence in some areas of the South . Potentially, this is an extremely serious development, which could cause a wave of violence with national repercussions." Oull Sutton, associate director of another moderate group, the Arkansas Council on Human Relations, said : "Someday there's going to be a real bloodbath somewhere . I hate to say it, but by nature Negroes aren't any more nonviolent than anybody else ." 33 Segregationists shared the same sentiment. For example, W. J . Simmons, National Coordinator of the Citiuns Councils of America, predicted : "The Deacons will move southern whites toward more violence, besides costing the civil rights movement a lot of liberal sympathy in the North." A local Klansman offered : "If violence has to settle this, then the sooner the better." With regard to the Deacons, he said, "I don't care how many guns that bunch of black Mau Maus has, they don't have the prerequisite--guts ."~ On July l3, Governor John J. McKeithen, concerned with the damaging effect of demonstrations on the state's effort to attract northern industry to Louisiana, flew to Bogalusa to make a personal appeal for the cessation of protest activities for a thirty-day "cooling off period ." Promising that demonstrations would be "stepped up," Bogalusa's black leaders rejected the plea, saying that the governor offered "nothing in return ." 3s McKeithen washed his hands of the matter and lamented, "I think they have made a tragic 22 . 3sRoy Reed, "Negroes Reject 19ogalusa Truce," New York Times (July 14,1%S) : 1, 12 6
mistake" ; the presence of the Deacons, in his mind, would only "increase the possibility of violence."~ United States Vice-President Hubert Humphrey and John Doer, head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, participated in the negotiations--to little avail--via telephone . With stop-gap reform and apparent stalemate, protest efforts in Bogalusa ironically succeeded in that they finally garnered complete attention from state and national ofticials .~~ As the Deacons extended their reach, reaction to them extended too. On August 2, both the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Deacons prepared to move into the Greensboro, Alabama area . Two weeks prior, a small delegation of Deacons from Bogalusa visited Eutaw, twenty miles northwest of Greensboro, to talk with local blacks about establishing a Deacons chapter there . Like SNCC and CORE, the Deacons sought to organize where the Ku Klux Klan was strong . Their move into Greensboro foreshadowed not only future conflict with the Klan, but also with Martin Luther King, Jr. 3s By August 1965, the Deacons had moved into Arkansas and Texas, with plans to organize in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida . A group calling itself "The Committee to Aid the Deacons" formed in Austin, Texas .39 In every instance, the formation of ~Zimmerman, "Race& Violence," The Wall Street Journal (July 12, 1%S): 15 . 3~Roy Reed, "Negroes Reject Bogalusa Truce," New York Times (July 14, 1%S) : 1, 22 . sesa "Deacons Defy Whites, Stay Armed Thruout, [sicJ" New York Amsterdam News (July 24,1%S) : 9 . 39See "Form New Group to Aid `Deacons,"' New York Amsterdam News (August 127
- 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 and 134: journalist, labeled them "the South
- Page 135 and 136: shifted from Jonesbom to 8ogalusa,
- 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: One thing is apparent in this year
- 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
- Page 187 and 188: legislator from Piedmont, specifica
- Page 189 and 190: Seale, the police were the enforcem
- Page 191 and 192: They also displayed a propensity to
- Page 193 and 194: Newton viewed violence as not simpl
- Page 195 and 196: Williams, a Panther. "We'd read Nat
- Page 197 and 198: Newton, Seale, and Cleaver had all
mistake" ; the presence of the Deacons, in his mind, would only "increase the possibility<br />
of violence."~ United States Vice-President Hubert Humphrey <strong>and</strong> John Doer, head of<br />
the Civil <strong>Rights</strong> Division of the Justice Department, participated in the negotiations--to<br />
little avail--via telephone . With stop-gap reform <strong>and</strong> apparent stalemate, protest efforts in<br />
Bogalusa ironically succeeded in that they finally garnered complete attention from state<br />
<strong>and</strong> national ofticials .~~<br />
As the Deacons extended their reach, reaction to them extended too. On August<br />
2, both the Southern Christian Leadership Conference <strong>and</strong> the Deacons prepared to move<br />
into the Greensboro, Alabama area . Two weeks prior, a small delegation of Deacons<br />
from Bogalusa visited Eutaw, twenty miles northwest of Greensboro, to talk with local<br />
blacks about establishing a Deacons chapter there . Like SNCC <strong>and</strong> CORE, the Deacons<br />
sought to organize where the Ku Klux Klan was strong . Their move into Greensboro<br />
foreshadowed not only future conflict with the Klan, but also with Martin Luther King,<br />
Jr. 3s<br />
By August 1965, the Deacons had moved into Arkansas <strong>and</strong> Texas, with plans to<br />
organize in Georgia, North Carolina, <strong>and</strong> Florida . A group calling itself "The Committee<br />
to Aid the Deacons" formed in Austin, Texas .39 In every instance, the formation of<br />
~Zimmerman, "Race& Violence," The Wall Street Journal (July 12, 1%S): 15 .<br />
3~Roy Reed, "Negroes Reject Bogalusa Truce," New York Times (July 14, 1%S) : 1,<br />
22 .<br />
sesa "Deacons Defy Whites, Stay Armed Thruout, [sicJ" New York Amsterdam<br />
News (July 24,1%S) : 9 .<br />
39See "Form New Group to Aid `Deacons,"' New York Amsterdam News (August<br />
127
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