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4. “Local People Carry the Day”: Freedom Summer and Challenges to Nonviolence in Mississippi
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83 4 “Local People Carry the Day” Freedom Summer and Challenges to Nonviolence in Mississippi SNCC activist Margaret Block was assigned to organize in Tallahatchie County for Freedom Summer. In Tallahatchie, Block resided with 86-year-old Janie Brewer. Mrs. Brewer asked me what did SNCC mean and I told her the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. And she stopped me. [She said,] “You said nonviolent. If somebody come at you, you ain’t gonna do nothing.” . . . She pulled up a big ole rifle. . . . She kept a big rifle behind the chair. . . . [Brewer said,] “Shit, we ain’t nonviolent.” . . . Since I was living with them [the Brewers ], I had to be what the family was.1 The Origins of Mississippi Freedom Summer By 1964, CORE and SNCC organizers in Mississippi were confronted with the dilemma of continuing their voter registration efforts in the face of increasing violence from White supremacists against the activists and communities they organized. SNCC’s and CORE’s initial years in Mississippi had demonstrated that White supremacists would respond violently to protect the system of segregation. The Kennedy administration, particularly the Department of Justice, proved an inconsistent partner with respect to its ability or willingness to protect COFO activists from the violence of Mississippi racists. COFO activists, some of whom had come to Mississippi with the expectation of federal protection, were dismayed by their inability to guarantee security for local Blacks in Mississippi. Since the arrival of Moses, Black Mississippi and its Freedom Struggle experienced a reign of terror, which included the assassination of Medgar Evers in 1963. In spite of the willingness of local Blacks to protect themselves and 84 “Local People Carry the Day” their communities, nightriders continued their bombings, drive-by shootings , as well as other acts of harassment and intimidation. COFO activists were concerned that the growing level of White supremacist violence would paralyze Movement activity in Mississippi.2 By the fall of 1963, in response to the reign of terror, a debate developed within COFO and SNCC concerning how to proceed with the Movement in Mississippi. Concerned about the organization’s inability to protect Black Mississippians, Bob Moses proposed that COFO bring a massive number of White volunteers from northern colleges and universities.3 Moses was impressed by the involvement of nearly one hundred White volunteers from Yale and Stanford during the successful “Freedom Vote” campaign in the fall of 1963. During the Freedom Vote campaign, a decrease of violence occurred in the areas where the White volunteers were present. The decrease in violence led to the perception that bringing in White volunteers from privileged backgrounds would motivate White supremacists to suppress terrorist violence.4 SNCC had not encouraged massive numbers of White volunteers in Mississippi. Moses had felt that the involvement of large numbers of Whites in rural Mississippi might violate the security of the local projects and their organizers. In the spring of 1964, a SNCC field report from Mississippi stated that it was “too dangerous for whites to participate in the project in Mississippi—too dangerous for them and too dangerous for the Negroes who would be working with them.”5 Prior to the involvement of Whites in the Freedom Vote, Moses had also been an advocate for local Blacks to be the primary recruits and workers in the local projects to ensure the development of indigenous leadership.6 Despite the good impressions left with Moses from the White participation in the Freedom Vote, he was primarily concerned about the security of local people and the Movement. Moses was convinced federal intervention was necessary to prevent racist violence by nightriders as well as state and local law enforcement. In spite of appeals by Moses and other SNCC leaders, most COFO workers active in Mississippi believed the Kennedy administration provided an inadequate response to the assassination of activists like Medgar Evers, as well as to other shootings, bombings, and attacks on other activists and local Mississippians. Since the federal government did not seem to place priority on Black lives, Moses proposed that bringing large numbers of Whites from privileged northern families would force the Department of Justice and the FBI to play an assertive role in protecting voter registration personnel.7 [3.133.121.160] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:53 GMT) “Local People Carry the Day” 85 On the other hand, the majority of the SNCC Mississippi field staff, particularly local recruits, opposed the inclusion of Whites in projects in Black Mississippi communities. Mississippi field organizers—including Hollis...