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

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for suing the Forrest county sheriff for preventing Blacks from voting . Dahmer was born in 1908, in a Forrest county Black community, just north of Hattiesburg, called Kelly's Settlement. While Dahmer never completed high school, by the standards of his time and his community, he was considered a wealthy man. He owned a two hundred acre commercial farm, which produced cotton and raised cattle, a sawmill, and a small grocery store . Dahmer's enterprises provided a vehicle for the employment of many of Forrest county's Black populations At the protest of other NAACP leaders, particularly, Medgar Evers and C.C . Bryant, Dahmer requested SNCC send personnel to invigorate Forrest county's Black community's voter registration campaign. Since most of his time was occupied running his enterprises, Dahmer needed assistance to get the voter drive moving . Similar to E.W. Steptoe, Dahmer was revered by young SNCC activists . Since SNCC had only provided the two young activists with fifty dollars to run a three month campaign, Watkins and Hayes relied on Dahmer for economic support . Watkins and Hayes lived with the Dahmer family, were employed at Dahmer's sawmill, and had the use of one of Dahmer's vehicles . Watkins considered Dahmer "a real down to earth father."2' Dahmer not only provided the two activists with economic subsistence but with protection . According to Watkins, "[T]here is no doubt about it, Vernon Dahmer believed in self-defense ." Like the home of Steptoe and Medgar Evers, the Dahmer household was well armed with "guns, pistols and rifles ." Due to his vocal leadership of the Forrest County NAACP he was targeted by state and local segregationist forces . Like Steptoe, Dahmer "strategically had guns placed throughout his house." While living with Dahmer, Watkins noticed an interesting 103
practice of self-defense . To warn potential nightriders of his preparedness for attackers " . ..every so often, as he would go about his property," Dahmer would "just take one of his guns and shoot in the air, just to let folks know he was alive, well, and intended to protect his property." After an increase in anonymous threats by racists in 1961, Dahmer and his wife Ellie would take turns sleeping at night to watch for intruders. They would maintain this practice until 1965 . Dahmer also had a network of supporters who helped protect him and his family. This support network included otherNAACP members and local business people ." The emphasis in SNCC and Mississippi Freedom Movement activity soon shifted to the Delta. In July 1962, a decision was made by elected officials in the Delta county of Leflore to suspend a federal surplus commodities program to non welfare recipients for the following winter . Locally this program had been used to provide plantation workers and their families, who were overwhelmingly Black, with basic foods during downtime between cotton harvesting and planting. The decision to suspend this program was considered by local Blacks as a punitive action by the white power structure in reaction to voter registration activity by SNCC . Considering this a major challenge, SNCC and the other Movement forces responded to this local crisis . Through the vehicle of the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), SNCC, CORE, NAACP, and SCLC all sent personnel to Leflore, and its county seat, Greenwood. In name, COFO was formed by Clarksdale, Mississippi NAACP leader Aaron Henry as an ad hoc organization to meet with Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett . In February of 1962, COFO was adopted as the name of a Mississippi coalition of Movement organizations, including SNCC, CORE, and NAACP The formation of COFO as a coalition
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Eye for an Eye: The Role ofArmed Re
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This is an authorized facsimile, ma
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ABSTRACT Although, the Civil Rights
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Light and Power on their spirits Mo
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Eye for an Eye: The Role ofArmed Re
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Ch
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armed resistance in Black struggle
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Review of the Literature The Litera
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from advocates of armed self-defens
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the Movement. Each of these authors
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whom were committed to and practice
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and enforced against Black humanity
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transcript" of insurgency that has
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Chapter One: Historic Armed Black R
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to Kongolese armies. The use of arm
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people who were antagonistic to the
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nation, and to promise Africans fre
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coons to chattel status. Rather tha
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South legal . The Seminoles prepare
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more than slaves or mercenaries . A
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maroons, calling themselves the "Ki
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Adams county, Mississippi, in 1861
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The same year abolitionist and fugi
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separate Black army with its own "c
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soldiers defended their sisters and
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Southern whites were not willing to
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die where they stood before they wo
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teers throughout Hinds county. Real
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supremacy was not secure without th
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hours . While in each case there we
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of Alabama, to be armed at their me
Page 63 and 64: initiated gunfire after hearing rum
Page 65 and 66: apists . In February of 1948, Mrs.
Page 67 and 68: U .S . Army, was known as a sharpsh
Page 69 and 70: 11 . Kenneth Wiggins Porter, The Ne
Page 71 and 72: 31 . Edwin S. Redkey, AGrand Army o
Page 73 and 74: North Carolina Press, 19903, 44-45
Page 75 and 76: in the Age of Jim C,Eow, states tha
Page 77 and 78: S 1,614 for whites . Close to two-t
Page 79 and 80: ers his father would not allow him
Page 81 and 82: ist mob continued their intimidatio
Page 83 and 84: unit designed after the Mau Mau of
Page 85 and 86: the 1954 U .S . Supreme Court decis
Page 87 and 88: he refused to persuade the thirty r
Page 89 and 90: Meredith to "Ole Miss." Because of
Page 91 and 92: eturned home around midnight . Myrl
Page 93 and 94: 11 . C.O . Chinn, interview by the
Page 95 and 96: crime . He was abducted by a mob of
Page 97 and 98: Chapter Three: The Non-Violent Move
Page 99 and 100: as the popular leader of this new o
Page 101 and 102: ments for protest based on moral an
Page 103 and 104: ticed some form of self-defense cov
Page 105 and 106: and NAACP organizer. Moore had assi
Page 107 and 108: On Moore's recommendation, Moses fi
Page 109 and 110: house, under pillows, under chairs
Page 111 and 112: lacks to challenge Amite's white po
Page 113: including Medgar Evers and Roy Wilk
Page 117 and 118: Mississippi officials, charging the
Page 119 and 120: Anyone participating in the march h
Page 121 and 122: and harassed, local police did not
Page 123 and 124: Blacks alike were amazed that the g
Page 125 and 126: ase for SNCCICOFO and the Mississip
Page 127 and 128: with its own identity in the state
Page 129 and 130: military soured after Chinn openly
Page 131 and 132: Besides this group of protective gu
Page 133 and 134: for younger activists to challenge
Page 135 and 136: 9, 1984, 1-B- 10B ; Chuck McDew int
Page 137 and 138: 47 . Ibid, 178-179 ; Dennis, interv
Page 139 and 140: demonstrate that disenfranchised Mi
Page 141 and 142: franchised Black voters, the organi
Page 143 and 144: themselves and advising SNCC activi
Page 145 and 146: massacre as implied by Hall . Other
Page 147 and 148: to be a force in the Southern movem
Page 149 and 150: CORE also was engaged in debate con
Page 151 and 152: Schwerner, and one Freedom Summer v
Page 153 and 154: Goodman . Another element of this c
Page 155 and 156: Black history, Movement politics, a
Page 157 and 158: Harmony school and bused Harmony's
Page 159 and 160: economic arena was also displayed i
Page 161 and 162: on, in Brown's words, the "organiza
Page 163 and 164: There was a fine line . There was a
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(formerly known as Stokley Carmicha
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Union Baptist Church, led by its pa
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terrorist violence was initiated by
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Reeves family had a history of bein
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and Movement activists of McComb .
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friend by pretending he was only pa
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and cohesiveness of each community.
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lenge the credentials of the segreg
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5 . Hollis Watkins, interviewed in
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28 . Dovie Hudson, interviewed in B
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56 . Bob Moses, interview by the au
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turn followed a different posture t
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cials were uneasy about Charles bec
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Cooper stated " We had 30.06. We ha
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Charles Evers's stated: He encourag
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the boycott. Arange of coercive tac
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thereby silenced and neutralized by
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crushed when a police car led a Kla
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Robert Williams . Thomas had read a
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of the Deacons in Bogulusa. The lea
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McKeithen also called for negotiati
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settlers . Natchez was the hub for
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would spark an acceleration of acti
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Even though the police officers wer
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U.S . Constitution [including the S
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e known, you better figure on dying
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situation that day: These pecker wo
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of the Deacons capabilities, provid
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unless City government acted favora
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Black community to enforce its deci
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claiming victory , announcing the m
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teams to enforce the boyott1 In Cla
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argument between Shields, and a whi
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Jackson also led to near uprising b
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implementing the Natchez model, Rud
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Okolona, Tupelo, and Byhalia. The U
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18 . Porter, Interview with Deacon
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44 . Ibid ; Young, interview by aut
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73 . Ibid. 74 . James Scott, interv
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CONCLUSION ". . ..the armed liberat
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existence of armed resistance in th
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Some may argue that the evidence pr
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ofthe Movement and doesn't apprecia
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it was necessary for the Black comm
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the white power structure but also
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Significance of "Eye forAn Eye" It
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4 . Comel West, Progb= Deliverance
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Herman Leach, July 30,1994, Yazoo C
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Correspondence Letter from Sundiata
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Carson, Clayborne, et al. The Eyes
Page 265 and 266:
Jordan, Winthrop, Tumult and Silenc
Page 267 and 268:
Payne, Charles, 1've Got the Light
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DissertationslTheses Barksdale, Mar
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