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

he waa killedj, but I believe he was on the right road. The road fm on is the one I think
he was on."~
"Wherever they have organized," Austan boasted, "the Deacons have acted as a
deterrent to Klan aggression and white hoodlum activity ." He cited one incident in
particular as an example . When an eighteen-year-old girl from St. Louis was arrested
along with other civil rights activists in Bogalusa, a crowd of white men assembled
outside the jail yelling that they wanted to "rape the nigger bitch ." Perhaps the sheriff
could find no legal reason to detain her, or perhaps he was scared of the angry assemblage
outside ; perhaps even his sympathies lay with the lynchers . Regardless, he decided to
release her while the crowd was there, in effect turning her over to the howling mob . She
went straight to the nearest pay phone and called the Deacons, who were monitoring a
nearby demonstration . Five of them rushed to her aid. When they arrived to confront the
mob, according to Austan, "you could have heard a pin drop ." She got in the car with the
Deacons and drove away, unimpeded.°
Austan emphasized the dignity and respect to be gained in fighting back. "The
Deacons have given the Negro throughout the nation an organization they can point to
with dignity," he said . He saw little dignity in nonviolent direct action, and even less
Herman Porter, "An Interview With Deacon for Defense," The Militant 29 no. 42
(November 22, 1965): 1-2 .