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

initiated gunfire after hearing rumors that a Black soldier was shot and killed by
local police . The white fear of insurrection by Black military personnel led the
governor of Mississippi to request that the War Department remove Black segre-
gated units from that state . Some southern bases ordered the removal of firing
pins from the rifles of black soldiers . After a series of violent racial conflicts in
1941 and 1942, the War department urged white commanders of Black troops to
treat Black soldiers with the "utmost care and diplomacy." 5°
Armed Resistance in the "Fight for Democracy at Home "
After many Blacks had fought in World War II, they returned finding the
need to fight against white supremacy at home . This reality was apparent in an
armed conflict which developed in the small country town of Columbia, Tennes
see, in the Winter of 1946 . On February 25, a dispute occurred between a white
department store employee and a Black customer, Mrs . Gladys Stephenson and
her son James, a World War II veteran . The Stephensons were immediately ar-
rested for disturbing the peace after a fight between the store employee and James
Stephenson . While the Stephensons were released and rearrested on a more
serious charge of assault with the intent to commit murder, many in the white
community was angered after the mother and son were bailed out by a prominent
Black businessman . Concerned about the possibility of a white mob invasion of
the Black community, many Columbia Blacks mobilized themselves to protect
Mink Slide, the Black business district of Columbia. A sentry was developed,
with large participation from veterans of World War II. To make it more difficult
for any party of invaders, as a defensive tactic, the sentry shot out the street lights