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

epresented a quantum leap in the ability to define one's own space and identity and,
when more than one black person decided on a course of self-defense, it represented a
watershed in race relations . Deciding that one would fight back against racist
intimidation meant an empowerment heretofore unknown among a people pestered by the
lingering notions of self-doubt, reinforced by centuries of involuntary servitude .
At the heart of the issue of black self-defense was the issue of respect, or more
accurately, respect . It addressed the refusal of whites to see Afro-Americans as
individuals . Self-defense essentially represents an affirmation of self. As part of the civil
rights struggle, it allowed black Southerners to reaffirm their own humanity in a social
order that repeatedly effaced the self-worth and individuality of black people . Black
Southerners were concerned not only with their status as American citiuns with civil
rights but also with their treatment as human beings with human rights . For example,
blacks in the South had to struggle for the use of "courtesy titles" such as "sir," "ma'am,"
"mister," and "missus" in lieu of the more common (and often falsely familiar) "uncle" or
"auntie ." The disrespect implied in these latter terms represented one of many practices
intended to reinforce the inferior status of Afro-Americans . In this sense, the quest for
civil rights was part of a larger struggle for black equality, black freedom, and human
dignity .
Accordingly, the greatest challenge facing black people in the civil rights
movement might not have been white racism or indifferent politicians or violence, but
what one observer called "the gnawing inbred suspicion that they really arc unqualified to
make important decisions for themselves and must depend, in the end, on the
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