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

lence . In Mississippi and other southern states, white supremacist violence was an
essential arm of the system of segregation . Local Blacks in all of the
abovementioned communities, not to mention many other communities that fall
outside the scope of my study, had to organize collective systems of armed self-
defense . 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 for 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 "Eyefor An Eye" will demonstrate that even after the
tactic, strategy, and rhetoric of non-violence was introduced in the state in 1961, it
was generally complimented, directly or indirectly, by armed self-defense . Finally,
"Eye for An Eye" will examine the intemal debates over armed resistance and the
shift from non-violent direct action and the rhetoric of non-violence in the Missis-
sippi freedom movement after 1964 to a greater reliance on armed resistance .
Finally, "Eyefor an Eye" will argue that, in several Mississippi communi-
ties, armed resistance played a significant role in winning concessions and re-
forms for Black civil and human rights . The evidence will again show that aimed
resistance was an effective method, in compliment with others, for challenging
white supremacist and increasing the bargaining power of Black leaders in nego-
tiations with local white power structures. The evidence also demonstrates that
armed resistance reduced acts of racist violence on southern Black communities
and Movement activists .