How Guns Advanced the Civil Rights Movement
From "The Liberator Online"
Volume 18, No. 2 January 24, 2013
Just in time for Black History Month (February) comes an excellent article by Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, mentioning some little-known but important history. Milloy writes about Charles Hicks, son of civil rights activist Robert Hicks of the Deacons for Defense and Justice.
The Deacons, Milloy notes, were "an organization of black men in Louisiana who used shotguns and rifles to repel attacks by white vigilantes during the 1960s."
Writes Milloy:
"'The Klan would drive through our neighborhood shooting at us, shooting into our homes,' recalled Hicks, 66, who grew up in Bogalusa, La., and has been a civil rights activist in the District for more than 35 years. 'The black men in the community wouldn't stand for it. You shoot at us, we shoot back at you. I'm convinced that without our guns, my family and many other black people would not be alive today.'
"As one of the organizers for the weekend's Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities, Hicks's pro-gun stance may seem like something of an anomaly. But even though King may best be remembered for his philosophy of nonviolent protest, the fact is that black civil rights activists in many small towns throughout the South carried guns or received protection from groups like the Deacons for Defense and Justice."
For more on the little-known history of how gun rights helped protect civil rights activists and advance the civil rights movement, check out "Yes, Guns Are Dangerous. But They Also Save Lives and Secure Civil Rights" by Damon W. Root of Reason magazine.
The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement by Lance Hill is a 2004 book that tells the remarkable story of the Deacons, who at their peak had several hundred members and twenty-one chapters in the South. Here is an excellent review of that book in the liberal magazine The Nation.
for everyone who loves LibertyPublished by The Advocates for Self-Government
Volume 18, No. 2
Just in time for Black History Month (February) comes an excellent article by Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, mentioning some little-known but important history. Milloy writes about Charles Hicks, son of civil rights activist Robert Hicks of the Deacons for Defense and Justice.
The Deacons, Milloy notes, were "an organization of black men in Louisiana who used shotguns and rifles to repel attacks by white vigilantes during the 1960s."
Writes Milloy:
"'The Klan would drive through our neighborhood shooting at us, shooting into our homes,' recalled Hicks, 66, who grew up in Bogalusa, La., and has been a civil rights activist in the District for more than 35 years. 'The black men in the community wouldn't stand for it. You shoot at us, we shoot back at you. I'm convinced that without our guns, my family and many other black people would not be alive today.'
"As one of the organizers for the weekend's Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities, Hicks's pro-gun stance may seem like something of an anomaly. But even though King may best be remembered for his philosophy of nonviolent protest, the fact is that black civil rights activists in many small towns throughout the South carried guns or received protection from groups like the Deacons for Defense and Justice."
For more on the little-known history of how gun rights helped protect civil rights activists and advance the civil rights movement, check out "Yes, Guns Are Dangerous. But They Also Save Lives and Secure Civil Rights" by Damon W. Root of Reason magazine.
The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement by Lance Hill is a 2004 book that tells the remarkable story of the Deacons, who at their peak had several hundred members and twenty-one chapters in the South. Here is an excellent review of that book in the liberal magazine The Nation.
for everyone who loves LibertyPublished by The Advocates for Self-Government
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