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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

enevolence of whites ."~ 2 It was a time when even blacks, who so ~+ecently had been "coloreds" or "Negroes," were themselves barely getting used to being called black. W . E . B . Du Bois once illustrated this component of the black from struggle when he explained what made slavery so onerous. "It was in part psychological," he wrote, the enforced personal feeling of inferiority, the calling of another Master; the standing with the hat in hand . It was the helplessness . It was the defenselessness of family life . It was the submergence below the arbitrary will of any sort of individual .~~ Du Bois aptly captured the pain of deference to the white man's (and woman's) will, and his words spoke to the subservience that outlasted slavery and lived into the modem era . If the need for self-defense grew out of the reality of being attacked-a danger that increased as the civil rights movement intensified-then the mentality of self-defense infused more than the immediate ability to defend oneself. As one observer described the fceling in Robert Williams' hometown in 1961, after Williams had promised to "mat violence with violence": The morale of the Negroes in Union County is high . They carry themselves with a dignity I have seen in no other southern community . Largely vanished arc the slouching posture, the scratching head, and the indirect, mumbled speah that used to characteriu the Negro male in the presence of whites. It is as if, in facing up to their enemies, they have finally confronted a terrible reality and found it not so teRible after all . ~4 Self-defense influenced multiple aspects of Afro-American culture. It affected how ~ 2Frank Millspaugh, "Black Power," Commonwea1 84 n 18 (August S, 1966), 502. W . E . 8 . Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (New York: Russell & Russell, 1962), 8-9. ~4Julian Mayfield, "Challenge to Negro Leadership: The Case of Robert Williams," Commentary 31 (April 1961) : 297-305.
people carried themselves in public, talked to white employers, confronted authority ; in short, it affected how they interacted with the majority culture. Self-defense engendered confidence and self-esteem as it negated fear. It gave people "the courage to talk back." For example, Williams recalled a college football playa from Nashville named Leroy Wright who had come to Monroe to participate in demonstrations there. In an altercation outside a local drugstore, some "crackers," according to Williams, mistook Wright for a "pacifist nigger;' and slapped him . Wright struck back . He was arrested and fined for assault . When he got out of jail, Wright came to Williams with his hand bandaged and sore and said: Man, let me tell you something . . . they put me in jail and it cost fifty dollars for hitting that cracker . . . but I never felt so good in all my life . I've been all over the South with these fellows [SNCC activistsJ, and they've been beating my ass and putting cigarettes on me, and chains, and I have seen them hit girls, and this the first place fve been where you can hit a cracker . . . [M]an, I hit that cracker with all my might, and when I hit that cracker . . . I damn near broke my hand . . . but it felt so good to see that cracker fall on his knees and his teeth fall out . . . [M]an, you know what . . . I think you are right. I sure like Monroe .~s There had always been stereotypical "bad niggers" : self-assured black men of folklore (such as Stagolee) and history (such as Nat Turner) who "brooked no shit" from anyone, including whites . But during this period this same sort of mentality-that no white man could lay a finger on you-began to infuse the racial consciousnesses of everyday men and women who were far from bad . Representing a sea change in black-white relations, ~SWilliams, interviewed by James Mosby, July 22, 1970, transcript, Ralph J. Hunche Oral History Collection (Civil Rights Documentation Project), Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University . James Forman has also described this incident. See Fonman, The Making of Black Revolutionaries (Seattle : Open Hand Publishing, 1985), 190 . 207
Page 1 and 2:
CCVII. RIGHTS & SELF-DEFENSE : THE
Page 3 and 4:
Civil Rights and Self-Defense : The
Page 5 and 6:
It was not until the 1950's and 196
Page 7 and 8:
ights movement, including : redempt
Page 9 and 10:
unnoticed, unbeknownst, or simply i
Page 11 and 12:
nonviolence . It is not a complete
Page 13 and 14:
happen, and the time for defense is
Page 15 and 16:
during this period currently lie do
Page 17 and 18:
what is right, but Iam not sure how
Page 19 and 20:
could be argued that King's middle-
Page 21 and 22:
people customarily initiated it . F
Page 23 and 24:
"The Other Cheek" : ReUn9ubhing Sel
Page 25 and 26:
expressed an urge to "give as good
Page 27 and 28:
professionals and faculty members f
Page 29 and 30:
But while King defused the volatile
Page 31 and 32:
(FOR), and William Worthy, a black
Page 33 and 34:
practicability of his position: '~4
Page 35 and 36:
Additionally, Bayard Rustin reporte
Page 37 and 38:
the power structure."~ In other wor
Page 39 and 40:
available to the Negro in his strug
Page 41 and 42:
(toughmindedness) and love (tenderh
Page 43 and 44:
compelling arguments for the moral
Page 45 and 46:
and faggot. For example, in 1889, J
Page 47 and 48:
His first impulse when threatened w
Page 49 and 50:
aggravate ; that is, his politics o
Page 51 and 52:
quantitative change in our lives."
Page 53 and 54:
'~P~opk With StrenSth": Questioning
Page 55 and 56:
united behind him:'s Comparing his
Page 57 and 58:
paratroopers from the 101" Airborne
Page 59 and 60:
Williams respected what he called "
Page 61 and 62:
NAACP had always appealed, he scour
Page 63 and 64:
Montgomery was buried without incid
Page 65 and 66:
motorcade with gunfiro when the car
Page 67 and 68:
slavery and oppression . Tire Negro
Page 69 and 70:
S-6 . at the heart of his nonviolen
Page 71 and 72:
act : anyone who would utilize nonv
Page 73 and 74:
folkways . Because they believed th
Page 75 and 76:
the South, found themselves spearhe
Page 77 and 78:
Brown ." sa That same month, Willia
Page 79 and 80:
pumping hundrr~ds of thousands of d
Page 81 and 82:
making better men either of themsel
Page 83 and 84:
He likened racism to a disease, a m
Page 85 and 86:
escalated . Rioting broke out. Then
Page 87 and 88:
Williams' ideas came to fruition in
Page 89 and 90:
When juxtaposed with the ideas of M
Page 91 and 92:
But if Willisms "made just as much
Page 93 and 94:
Whatever his place in prevailing hi
Page 95 and 96:
thinking merit special attention by
Page 97 and 98:
The women propared food, and served
Page 99 and 100:
candidate for county representative
Page 101 and 102:
tide of nonviolent diroct action ;
Page 103 and 104:
the sheriff again and told him that
Page 105 and 106:
characterized by hatred or meanness
Page 107 and 108:
terms of "`violence' versus `nonvio
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 and 150:
mistake" ; the presence of the Deac
Page 151 and 152:
done:' Sims said, "we walked like m
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
Page 165 and 166:
the group . For example, an intervi
Page 167 and 168:
"Understand, the Deacons don't repl
Page 169 and 170:
quest for black equality, and chang
Page 171 and 172:
self-defense denotation from the of
Page 173 and 174:
Lowndes County lies in the heart of
Page 175 and 176:
"take over the courthouse" with sub
Page 177 and 178: On Monday, November 7,1966, the nig
Page 179 and 180: do anything violent ."~s But as the
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
Page 191 and 192: They also displayed a propensity to
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
Page 199 and 200: Simultaneously, they shouldered the
Page 201 and 202: The Deacons for Defense and Justice
Page 203 and 204: "The army turned on itself . . . Th
Page 205 and 206: defense. He believed that no ruling
Page 207 and 208: formulating their own . Coincidenta
Page 209 and 210: exposed the actions of some policem
Page 211 and 212: think in terms of armed conflict."~
Page 213 and 214: and his band waylaid the Cleveland
Page 215 and 216: Epilog : TIK Only Tis+sd T1Ky Was "
Page 217 and 218: action did so through a redefinitio
Page 219 and 220: with police personnel who were ofte
Page 221 and 222: lacks in West Feliciana Parish, Lou
Page 223 and 224: evolutionary war in tenors of self-
Page 225 and 226: everywhere a person goes, even insi
Page 227: epresented a quantum leap in the ab
Page 231 and 232: There can be an exaggerated distast
Page 233 and 234: demand. It never did and it never w
Page 235 and 236: "anti-American diatribes of the ran
Page 237 and 238: allowed both RAM and the RNA to use
Page 239 and 240: United States was having." s~ Exasp
Page 241 and 242: hammering home the notions of self-
Page 243 and 244: to you, that did more good than non
Page 245 and 246: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ~~un~~r~ws a~
Page 247 and 248: W"C~"Y//iO~ ~JYL7///~O{i California
Page 249 and 250: Knight, Jack C. "Reckoning with Vio
Page 251 and 252: Belknap, Michael R. Feral Law and S
Page 253 and 254: Crcnshaw, Kimberlie. Critical Race
Page 255 and 256: Grant, Joanne . Hlack Pnxsst : Iist
Page 257 and 258: McCord, William, John Howard, Berna
Page 259 and 260: Reddick, Lawt+ence D. Crusader With
Page 261 and 262: Wilkins, Roy and Ramsey Clark . Sea
Page 263: The Road from Mont~p~. WCBS-TV. New
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?