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

eral . Given the lack of protection provided by the FBI and the Justice Department
and the inaction and complicity of state and local police with white terrorists, for
many Mississippi Black activists and supporters, the paramilitary organization of
the Deacons seemed to be the natural progression . Armed resistance had always
complimented the activism of the Mississippi Freedom Movement . With the
model of the Louisiana Deacons, armed resistance would now become more overt
and organized.
It was in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1965, that the bold rhetoric and leader-
ship of Charles Evers, the organized vigilance and terrorism of Rudy Shields and
his enforcers, and the paramilitary presence of the Deacons were combined as part
of acomprehensive boycott strategy to achieve basic civil and human rights . The
strategy developed in Natchez would serve as a model for other Mississippi
communities .
Natchez is an important center in the history of Mississippi. Located in the
southwest comer of the state of Mississippi, on the banks of the Mississippi River
Natchez, is the county seat ofAdams County. What is today Adams County was
the home of the indigenous Natchez nation. This area was the first section of what
is presently known as Mississippi to be settled by Europeans, French colonists,
utilizing captive African labor. The Natchez nation formed an alliance with
African maroons to fight the French in the Eighteenth Century. After their defeat
in 1730, the Natchez lost their sovereignty over this territory. As result of the
Treaty of 1763, this area became British territory and was occupied by Anglo