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

during this period currently lie dormant .
"Violence" is much more difficult to pin down ; in fact, much of this study aims to
arrive at a suitable explanation of what this term means. Generally speaking, by violence
I mean bringing force, or the threat of force, against a person to initiate something against
his or her will . The significance of this definition should become apparent in assessing
how some activists justified their actions . During the sixties, violence meant a multitude
of things . For example, a staff report to the National Commission on the Causes and
Prevention of Violence noted in 1969 that the term "violence" had been used "to discredit
forms of behavior considered improper, reprehensible, or threatening by specific groups
which, in turn, may mask their own violent response with the rhetoric of order or
progress ." i3
In other words, it was a term laden with political considerations,
presumptive of a pre-existing state of order, therefore, its meaning shifted shape and
changed over time. Those in positions of power tended to det'ine what constituted violent
behavior.
"Nonviolence" is a bit easier, meaning the abstention from violence as a matter of
principle . "Nonviolent direct action" refers to the practice of nonviolence in
demonstrations to secure political ends . Finally, I have chosen the terms "black" and
"Afro-American" to refer to those people of African descent living in the United States
because these terms reflect the spirit of protest that carried the movement during this
~3Jerome H . Skolnick, The Politics of Protest : Violent Astxcts of Protest &
Confrontation lA Staff Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention
of Violence) (Washington, D.C . : Superintendent of Documents, U.S . Government
Printing Office, 1969), 4.
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