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

entailed. It became less a defensive measure than an offensive precaution, justified in
light of the unrelenting aggression of white bigotry .
Consistently, male activists expressed this self-defensive impulse in terms of
gender roles and sexual divisions of labor. Self-defense represented a man's prerogative
and man's duty. It was a manly response to white transgressions . Most black men felt it
was their responsibility to protect the women in their lives; in fact, they guardedly viewed
self-defense as their domain, and theirs alone . Out of necessity, and to their credit,
women often subverted these expectations and implemented defensive measures
themselves to protect their homes, bodies, and families .
Nonviolence ultimately brought about what successes the civil rights movement
xhieved, but it did so in large part due to the contrapuntal influence of self-defense .
Before the camera, in the public forum, and on the town square, nonviolence could and
did work . In the alleyways, along the backroads, and behind closed doors, nonviolence,
which depended in part on public display, could prove ineffective . Furthermore, in places
where nonviolent direct action was not an option, the practice of self-defense actually
worked better than any other strategies; however, it would be a mistake to regard places
like Bogalusa or Monroe as unique or anomalous . The prevalence of demonstrators and
ordinary citiuns who advocated and practiced self-defense during the period 1957-1962
effectively destroys the notion of a pre-1965 "nonviolent" movement and post-1965
"violent" movement: self-defense existed and thrived throughout the period in question,
in conjunction with nonviolent direct action .
Activists who were able to believe in both self-defense and nonviolent direct