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
Deacon chapters resulted from parallel buildups in Klan strength and activity in those areas~° The organization mobilized later that month in Mississippi locales : Natchez, Grcenville, Columbia, and Jackson, where Charles Sims led a ten-man delegation invited to discuss the possibility of organizing there . Sims told a crowd of throe hundred black men at the Negro Masonic Hall on Lynch Street : "It is time for you men in Jackson to wake up and be men ." Sims claimed he had been "shot five times and shot at about ten," and he was not afraid to come to Jackson 4~ Sexist language often shaped the burgeoning debate over the place of guns in the movement, as well as the ongoing argument concerning self-defense, and Sims' rhetoric reflected this trend. The original chapter in Jonesboro included women in its ranks,2 ; however, subsequent chapters of Deacons excluded women from their male-only clubs . The Deacons became, in many ways, an expression of manhood .4 ~ "Everything we l4, 1965) : 13 . Auxiliary groups, such as the Austin group and, later, the "Friends of the Deacons" in New York City, cropped up outside the South . See "Deacons Organiu Chicago Chapter," New York Times (April 6, 1966) : 29 . 4°Limmerman, "Race and Violence," The Wall Street Journal (July 12, 1965): 1 . 4~Sims, quoted in Roy Reed, "Deacons, in Mississippi Visits, implore Negroes 'to Wake Up,"' New York Times (August 30, 1965) : ? . 42Akinyele Umoja has rcseaahed the role of women in the Deacons. See Umoja, "Eye for an Eye : The Role of Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement" (Plt. D . diss ., Emory University, 1996), 188 . `3Some form of chauvinism often characterized discussion of self-defense within the movement . Self-defense became a function of manhood. For example, Bishop Charles Eubank Tucker blessed marchers in 1966 and re-assured, "Any Negro or white has the right to defend himself with arms . Any man who didn't ought to take off his pants and wear skirts." See "Marchers Upset by Apathy," New York Times (June 14, 1966) : 19 . The Deacons, too, used similar language . "It's time for black men," Ernest Thomas 12 8
done:' Sims said, "we walked like men."~ Royan Harris, after repelling Klan invaders in Bogalusa, explained: "'They finally found out that we really are men, and that we would do what we said, and that we meant what we said ." u Dr. Stephen E. Salenger of Los Angeles, a psychiatry resident who spent time in Jonesboro as a member of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, offered his own perspective on the Deacons' gendered expression . He said that he believed a white segregationist called a black man "boy" to disrcspat and "de-sex" him, or at least to deny that the black man was a physical or sexual threat to his own supremacy . To combat this slander, Salenger claimed, the Deacon flaunted the gun--a phallic symbol--to assert his own sexual competence and his contempt for the white man's power. Such psychological evaluations of the Deacons' were highly questionable ; however, the Deacons' assertion of themselves in terms of masculinity was not. implored, "to start taking care of their black women and children ." Thomas, quoted in "Marchers' Ranks Expand to 1,200," New York Times (June 20, 1966) : 20 . Charles Sims expressed himself in much cruder terms : See, the southern white man is almost like Hitler in the South . He been dictating to the Negro people, "Boy, this," and "Uncle, that," and "Granma, go here," and people's been jumpin' . So he gets up one morning and discovers that "boy" was a man, and that he can walk up and say something to "boy" and "boy" don't like what he say, he tell him to eat himself--you know? Sims, quoted in Grant, Black Protest , 362. Sims, quoted in Raines, lay Soul Is Rested , 421 . ~sBurris, quoted in Roy Reed, "The Deacons, Too, Ride by Night;' New York Times ~~gi~(August 15, 1965) : 1 l . Salenger, quoted in Roy Reed, "The Deacons, Too, Ride by Night;' New York Times Magma (August 15, 1965) : 22. 12 9
- Page 99 and 100: candidate for county representative
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- Page 103 and 104: the sheriff again and told him that
- Page 105 and 106: characterized by hatred or meanness
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- 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 and 148: One thing is apparent in this year
- Page 149: mistake" ; the presence of the Deac
- 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
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- Page 171 and 172: self-defense denotation from the of
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- Page 175 and 176: "take over the courthouse" with sub
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- 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
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- 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
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done:' Sims said, "we walked like men."~ Royan Harris, after repelling Klan invaders in<br />
Bogalusa, explained: "'They finally found out that we really are men, <strong>and</strong> that we would<br />
do what we said, <strong>and</strong> that we meant what we said ." u<br />
Dr. Stephen E. Salenger of Los Angeles, a psychiatry resident who spent time in<br />
Jonesboro as a member of the Medical Committee for Human <strong>Rights</strong>, offered his own<br />
perspective on the Deacons' gendered expression . He said that he believed a white<br />
segregationist called a black man "boy" to disrcspat <strong>and</strong> "de-sex" him, or at least to deny<br />
that the black man was a physical or sexual threat to his own supremacy . To combat this<br />
sl<strong>and</strong>er, Salenger claimed, the Deacon flaunted the gun--a phallic symbol--to assert his<br />
own sexual competence <strong>and</strong> his contempt for the white man's power. Such psychological<br />
evaluations of the Deacons' were highly questionable ; however, the Deacons' assertion of<br />
themselves in terms of masculinity was not.<br />
implored, "to start taking care of their black women <strong>and</strong> children ." Thomas, quoted in<br />
"Marchers' Ranks Exp<strong>and</strong> to 1,200," New York Times (June 20, 1966) : 20 . Charles<br />
Sims expressed himself in much cruder terms :<br />
See, the southern white man is almost like Hitler in the South . He been<br />
dictating to the Negro people, "Boy, this," <strong>and</strong> "Uncle, that," <strong>and</strong> "Granma, go<br />
here," <strong>and</strong> people's been jumpin' . So he gets up one morning <strong>and</strong> discovers<br />
that "boy" was a man, <strong>and</strong> that he can walk up <strong>and</strong> say something to "boy" <strong>and</strong><br />
"boy" don't like what he say, he tell him to eat himself--you know?<br />
Sims, quoted in Grant, Black Protest , 362.<br />
Sims, quoted in Raines, lay Soul Is Rested , 421 .<br />
~sBurris, quoted in Roy Reed, "The Deacons, Too, Ride by Night;' New York Times<br />
~~gi~(August 15, 1965) : 1 l .<br />
Salenger, quoted in Roy Reed, "The Deacons, Too, Ride by Night;' New York<br />
Times Magma (August 15, 1965) : 22.<br />
12 9
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