Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement By Akinyele K. Umoja B. A., California State University Los Angeles, 1984 Dissertation Director: Robin D.G. Kelley, Ph.D. Adviser: Dana White, Ph.D. An Abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Liberal Arts Eve for an Eve: The Role of Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement by l Akinvele K. Umoja Adviser: Dana White Institute of Liberal Arts Approved for the Department L0 -4q - q~ Date Dean of the Graduate School This is an authorized facsimile, made from the microfilm master copy of the original dissertation or master thesis published by UMI. 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Contact LM directly to order. UM1 A Bell 8t Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 ABSTRACT Although, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's in the Ameri- can South is often characterized as a non-violent revolution, it also embodies this longstanding tradition of armed resistance. Scholarly and popular literature of the Movement rarely speaks about the significance of armed resistance in Black struggle for desegregation, political and economic rights, and basic human dig- nity. In dozens of Southern communities, Black people picked up arms to defend their lives, property and movement for human rights. They often relied on armed self defense, particularly in communities where Federal government officials failed to protect Movement activists and supporters from the violence of racists and segregationists, who were often supported by local law enforcement. Armed resistance played a key role in allowing Black communities to survive and the Movement to continue. The primary purpose of this project is to examine the role and efficacy of armed resistance in the Civil Rights Movement in the American South, particu- larly as a compliment and alternative to non-violent direct action. I will examine the post World War II Civil Rights Movement in the state of Mississippi, particu- larly from 1954 until 1967 to illustrate the role of armed resistance in the human rights struggle of Black people in the American South. Mississippi provided interesting political and cultural terrain for this study because of its reputation as a center of white supremacist terrorism during the period of de jute segregation. Those who resisted faced some of the most brutal violence in the country's his- tory. This study examines the role of armed self-defense and other forms of armed resistance in the survival and success of the struggle for human and civil rights fm people of African descent in the state post-World War II Mississippi. I argue that the tradition of Black armed resistance existed in the state of Mississippi as a significant aspect of the culture prior to non-violence being formally introduced into the Black freedom movement as a tactic or strategy. The evidence presented in Eye for An Eye will demonstrate that even after the tactic, strategy, and rhetort. of non-violence was introduced in the state in 1961, it was generally compliment ed, directly or indirectly, by armed self-defense. Finally, Eyefor An Eye will examine the internal debates over armed resistance and the shift from non-violent direct action and the rhetoric of non-violence in the Mississippi freedom move- ment after 1964 to a greater reliance on armed resistance. Finally, "Eye for an Eye" will argue that, in several Mississippi communities, armed resistance played a significant role in winning concessions and reforms for Black civil and human rights. The evidence will again show that armed resistance was an effective method, in compliment with others, for challenging white su premacist and increasing the bargaining power of Black leaders in negotiations with local white power structures. The evidence also demonstrates that armed resistance reduced acts of racist violence on southern Black communities and Movement activists. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Iba Olodumare Iba Mawu/Lisa Iba Ori Iba Ogbe Yonu Iba Orunmila, Ileri Ipin Ibikeji Olodumare Iba Esu/Legba Iba Sango/Xevioso/Nsasi Iba Osun Iba Irunmole Iba Iyarni Iba OrisaNodun/Nkisi Iba Baba Iba YeYe lba Orile Idoromu Awuse ninu Amerika Iba Ijo Orunrnila Adulawo Mimo Iba Oluwo Mi I give honor and praise to the martyred and deceased Freedom Fighters of the Mississippi Freedom Movement Medgar Evers Vernon Dahmer E.W. Steptoe Hartman Turnbow Ora "Dago" Bryant Ernest Nobles Amzie Moore Rudy Shields Ralph Featherstone and all others I have failed to name Light and Power on their spirits Modupe Asante Sana Aminata, Tashiya, Chinua, I love you and appreciate your sacrifice. Upendo na Uhuru! ! ! Asante Sana to my mother and inspiration Dimple Lewis/Umoja. Asante Sana to Bernice Caldwell White. Thanks for your prayers and support Asante Sana to my blood relatives and extended family Asante Sana to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War Asante Sana to Medahochi Kofi Omowale Zannu, my spiritual father and teacher Asante Sana to Mwawaza Odinga for all your support Asante Sana to the House of Umoja Asante Sana to the New Afrikan Peoples Organization and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement By Akinyele K. Umoja B.A., California State University LosAngeles, 1984 Dissertation Director: Robin D. G. Kelley, Ph.D. Adviser: Dana White, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Liberal Arts 1996 UMI Number : 9715104 Copyright 1997 by Umoja, Akinyele Rambon All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9715104 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One: 15 Historic Armed Black Resistance: Establishing a Tradition Chapter Two: 63 The Movement Intensifies: Mississippi and Medgar Chapter Three: 85 The Non-Violent Movement Interacts with the "Eye for an Eye" Tradition in Mississippi Chapter Four: 126 1964: The Beginning of the End of Non-violence Chapter Five: 174 The Boycott Strategy and Paramilitary Organization Conclusion: 231 Bibliography: 246 INTRODUCTION One winter evening in 1978, six Klansmen attacked four members of the United League, a Black human rights organization, on the streets of Holly Springs, Mississippi. As the four men approached the street from their office, the Klansmen started shooting. United League president Alfred "Skip" Robinson jumped to safety behind his brother's car, that was parked on the street. From behind the car Robinson pulled his .357 magnum revolver out of his briefcase and started firing back at his attackers. The Klansmen scattered after Robinson's armed response. One Klansman even dropped his rifle after the counter-attack by the United League leader. After this incident Robinson and the United League were not bothered again by Klansmen in Holly Springs. Active mainly in the 1970's, United League members carried weapons and believed and practiced armed self-defense. In organizing communities in the state, in response to white supremacist violence, Robinson encouraged Black people to arm themselves and take "a life for a life." Robinson's armed response was not an isolated incident. Black people in the South have a long history of using weapons to defend themselves, their fami- lies, institutions and movements for human and civil rights. Robinson and the United League were only an extension of a tradition which had existed in the South centuries before them. Although, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's in the American South is often characterized as a non-violent revolu- tion, it also embodies this longstanding tradition of armed resistance. Scholarly and popular literature of the Movement rarely speaks about the significance of armed resistance in Black struggle for desegregation, political and economic rights, and basic human dignity.