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
After the pool showdown, Williams received national and international support . Unlike earlier incidents, Williams' actions now began to receive coverage in the mainstream press. This fact, combined with the dissemination of his newsletter, made him a national celebrity, of sorts. Supporters wrote from California and Qlinois ; letters also poured in from faraway locales such as Scandinavia and the Netherlands . Other supporters sent clothing for needy blacks in and around Monroe . As the result of a front- page story in the Baltimore Afro-American , which deported a meeting in Harlem that had raised $260.00 to purchase titles for the embattled black populace of Monroe, Williams began to receive invitations from all over the United States to come help other Afro- American communities set up title clubs. s ~ Circumstances in Monroe spiraled toward chaos, devolving when Freedom Riders came to town on August 21, 1961 . Among them was James Forman, who would soon become president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) . He and the other Freedom Riders sought to make a nonviolent stand on Williams' home turf. Williams claimed that the Freedom Riders weakened his own position in Monroe because of their "pacifist philosophy ." He wrote : "Their turn-the-other-cheekism inspired the KKK to resort to the use of violence again ." sa Williams resented the racially one-sided nature of nonviolent philosophy . "White liberals who claim to abhor violence arc S~See William Worthy, "Black Muslims NAACP Target: Raise Funds for Arms for Carolinian,"~ [Baltimorcj Afro-American (July 22, 1961) : 1 . The Williams article overshadowed an article on Martin Luther King, Jr. in the headlines . SgWilliams, "Freedom Struggle in the `Free World', Pact II," unpublished manuscript, Box 2, Undated Folder 1, Robert F. Williams Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan . 56
pumping hundrr~ds of thousands of dollars into Afro-American communities in a frantic effort to convert the restless black masses to pacifists;' he wrote . "Nonviolent workshops arc springing up throughout black communities . Not a single one has been established in racist white communities to curb the violence of the Ku Klux Klan ." s9 He explained his position further, writing : There is an air that approximates latent racism and white chauvinism about these nonviolent moralists who cannot stand the thought of oppressed Afro-Americans violently defending themselves against white racist brutality, and yet being able to stand motionless and mute while black Americans arc being raped, maimed, legally framed, murdered, starved, and driven into exile . What is more bnrtal? What is more violent'° Unlike many other activists, Williams did not engender a natural abhorrence of violence . He saw it as an analog of progress ; indeed, of life itself. Social change is violence itself. You cannot have progress without friction and upheaval . For social change [to occur], two systems must clash . This must be a violent clash, because it's a struggle for survival for one and a struggle for liberation for the other . And always the powers in command arc ruthless and unmerciful in defending their position and privileges ei One telling incident, which occurned at the height of tensions in Monroe, dramatized the rift betwcen proponents of self-defense and proponents of nonviolence . Mistaking an S9Williams, "Neo-Barbarism : Inside the U.S.A .," unpublished manuscript, Box 2, Undated Folder l, Robert F. Williams Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 6°Williams, "Reflections of an Exiled Fradom Fighter," unpublished manuscript, Box 2, Undated Folder 2, Robert_F. Williams Collection, Bentely Historical Library, University of Michigan . 6~Williams, "An Interview with Robert F. Williams," Studies on the Left (1962) 2 : 3, 57, Box 2, "Published Articles" Folder, Robert F. Williams Collation, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan . 57
- 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: Brown ." sa That same month, Willia
- 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
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- Page 125 and 126: Malcolm "proved" his detractors to
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pumping hundrr~ds of thous<strong>and</strong>s of dollars into Afro-American communities in a frantic<br />
effort to convert the restless black masses to pacifists;' he wrote . "Nonviolent workshops<br />
arc springing up throughout black communities . Not a single one has been established in<br />
racist white communities to curb the violence of the Ku Klux Klan ." s9 He explained his<br />
position further, writing :<br />
There is an air that approximates latent racism <strong>and</strong> white chauvinism about these<br />
nonviolent moralists who cannot st<strong>and</strong> the thought of oppressed Afro-Americans<br />
violently defending themselves against white racist brutality, <strong>and</strong> yet being able to<br />
st<strong>and</strong> motionless <strong>and</strong> mute while black Americans arc being raped, maimed,<br />
legally framed, murdered, starved, <strong>and</strong> driven into exile . What is more bnrtal?<br />
What is more violent'°<br />
Unlike many other activists, Williams did not engender a natural abhorrence of violence .<br />
He saw it as an analog of progress ; indeed, of life itself.<br />
Social change is violence itself. You cannot have progress without friction <strong>and</strong><br />
upheaval . For social change [to occur], two systems must clash . This must be a<br />
violent clash, because it's a struggle for survival for one <strong>and</strong> a struggle for<br />
liberation for the other . And always the powers in comm<strong>and</strong> arc ruthless <strong>and</strong><br />
unmerciful in defending their position <strong>and</strong> privileges ei<br />
One telling incident, which occurned at the height of tensions in Monroe, dramatized the<br />
rift betwcen proponents of self-defense <strong>and</strong> proponents of nonviolence . Mistaking an<br />
S9Williams, "Neo-Barbarism : Inside the U.S.A .," unpublished manuscript, Box 2,<br />
Undated Folder l, Robert F. Williams Collection, Bentley Historical Library, University<br />
of Michigan.<br />
6°Williams, "Reflections of an Exiled Fradom Fighter," unpublished manuscript, Box<br />
2, Undated Folder 2, Robert_F. Williams Collection, Bentely Historical Library,<br />
University of Michigan .<br />
6~Williams, "An Interview with Robert F. Williams," Studies on the Left (1962) 2 : 3,<br />
57, Box 2, "Published Articles" Folder, Robert F. Williams Collation, Bentley Historical<br />
Library, University of Michigan .<br />
57
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