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

guns . Ms . Reeve's remembers her father would often say, "its better to have
ammunition than to have food ." The Coltons were known for being a defiant
family in their section of Algiers that would stand up to white folks . In the 1930's
Anna Colton once threatened white men attempting to claim her father's land . Ms .
Colton told the men "whenever you get ready to go to hell you come back ." A
response such as this would result in lynching or exile in certain parts of Missis-
sippi for the majority of people of African descent."
Even during the mob violence and white supremacists terror which existed
during the primary of 1946, some Blacks were willing to defy the mob . Outside
the Newton County courthouse in Decatur, Mississippi, a potential armed con
frontation was averted during the primary of 1946. Earlier that day, a group of six
Black World War II veterans attempted to enter the courthouse to vote . Apparently
two of the "vets," who were brothers, organized the group earlier that summer to
obtain their voter registration . According to one of the brothers, " . ..we had been
told that we were fighting for our country, so we wanted to register and vote.""
Despite threats the evening before the election from local whites, the Black
veterans decided to continue their plans to vote in the primary. At the courthouse,
the Black veterans were met by a group of "some 15 or 20 armed white men" who
prevented them from entering . The mob soon escalated in number to two hundred
people . Angered, the six Blacks retreated to their homes to arm themselves and
returned to the courthouse to meet the mob of two hundred . Leaving their guns in
their cars the Blacks again attempted to enter the courthouse, but were prevented
by the white mob . The men thought it better not to further pursue their right to
vote on that day . According to one account, as the men retreated, the segregation-