Eye for an Eye: The Role of Armed Resistance ... - Freedom Archives

house, under pillows, under chairs . It was just marvelous." Away from home,
Steptoe was also generally home . SNCC workers would generally joke about him
carrying a small Derringer handgun in his sock and how Steptoe's wife would
search him before he went downtown to attempt to register to vote . When Steptoe
went to Washington, D.C ., to testify at Congressional hearings, McDew and other
SNCC workers had to convince him to leave his weapon in his hotel room . When
Moses and other Blacks had been assaulted in the Amite county seat, ironically
named Liberty, E.W. had to be restrained from "shooting up the town ." Steptoe's
son E.W, Jr., reflecting on his father belief in retaliatory violence, stated "[H]e
didn't believe in nonviolence . He didn't believe in seeing people get beat up and
not doing anything about it . He didn't let anybody push him around. 1121
While many SNCC workers depended upon the protection of and were
inspired by black farmers like Steptoe, Moses was uncomfortable about Steptoe's
guns and his willingness to use weapons . At a meeting years later, Moses admitted
". ..I asked Mr. E.W. Steptoe not to carry guns when we got together at night. So,
instead, he just hid his gun, and then I find out later." Moses did not struggle
further with his elder and comrade about the virtues of nonviolence. Neither did
the perceptive Mississippian debate the necessity of armed resistance with the
young activist . Each seemed to silently acknowledge each other's space. While
Moses would insist SNCC workers maintain a nonviolent and unarmed posture,
for the most part, Moses would not attempt to commit local Blacks to nonvio-
lence .22
Steptoe's precautions were not imaginary. In Liberty it was popularly
known that Blacks could be beat at random. While Amite had a majority Black
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