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Negroes with Guns
(African American Life)
by
First published in 1962, Negroes with Guns is the story of a southern black community's struggle to arm itself in self-defense against the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. Frustrated and angered by violence condoned or abetted by the local authorities against blacks, the small community of Monroe, North Carolina, brought the issue of armed self-defense to the forefron
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Paperback, 128 pages
Published
June 1st 1998
by Wayne State University Press
(first published 1962)
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I believe this quote best summarizes why this book is the bomb...and why Robert Williams was ahead of his time in identifying flexible armed defensive AND non-violent demonstration as case-specific and dynamic based on the circumstances you find yourself dissenting.
"The existence of violence is at the very heart of a racist system. The Afro-American militant is a 'militant' because he defends himself, his family, his home and his dignity. He does not introduce violence into a racist soc ...more
"The existence of violence is at the very heart of a racist system. The Afro-American militant is a 'militant' because he defends himself, his family, his home and his dignity. He does not introduce violence into a racist soc ...more
Robert Williams was the head of the Monroe, North Carolina NAACP, and an important voice in the early Civil Rights movement. This book in particular served as an inspiration to a generation of influential groups, including Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party.
What makes this book interesting is that it is not a handbook for action but rather a chronicle of some of the horrific violence and abuse the Black community of Monroe suffered at the hands of Whites. It’s a chronicle of a compl ...more
What makes this book interesting is that it is not a handbook for action but rather a chronicle of some of the horrific violence and abuse the Black community of Monroe suffered at the hands of Whites. It’s a chronicle of a compl ...more
Jul 28, 2013
Andrew Hains
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
People interested in History and Civil Rights
“God damn, God damn, what is this God damn country coming to that the niggers have got guns, the niggers are armed and the police can’t even arrest them!” This was spoken by an old white man upset that Rob Williams was defending himself against a mob. It is also the quote used by Rob Williams for the title of his book, “Negroes with Guns” (1962).
Rob Williams is one of the many unsung heros of the Civil Rights Movement. If it was not for his short manifesto, “Negroes with Guns,” Williams would h ...more
Rob Williams is one of the many unsung heros of the Civil Rights Movement. If it was not for his short manifesto, “Negroes with Guns,” Williams would h ...more
Profoundly necessary, especially as a corrective to dogmatic pacifism - a pacifism that does not only disallow but passionately berates and ridicules any other strategies to liberation that do not centre "nonviolence".
Also important with regards to challenging the deeply held idea (*cough* myth) that the civil rights movement was entirely based on/fuelled by a 'let's-hold-hands-and-sing-as-our-bodies-are-torn-to-shreds' motto.
Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism as pathology' also does a phenomenal job ...more
Also important with regards to challenging the deeply held idea (*cough* myth) that the civil rights movement was entirely based on/fuelled by a 'let's-hold-hands-and-sing-as-our-bodies-are-torn-to-shreds' motto.
Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism as pathology' also does a phenomenal job ...more
Negroes with Guns is an account of how Robert F. Williams arrived at this belief in armed self-defense. To be clear, Robert never called for violent provocation by black individuals, “I do not mean that Negroes should go out and attempt to get revenge for mistreatments or injustices,” he advocated for black individuals to defend themselves and the lives of their loved ones.
This account of life in Monroe reveals a time that is not to foreign to today. Williams recalls the atrocities he and black ...more
This account of life in Monroe reveals a time that is not to foreign to today. Williams recalls the atrocities he and black ...more
A lucidly and passionately reasoned call to conscience and call to arms in this classic text of the Civil Rights era. With novelistic flair Williams describes how the Union County, NC NAACP fought off attacks by the local KKK and corrupt police by employing an organized system neighborhood self-defense. Williams writes as a forsaken prophet, villainized by the media and political officials, but nevertheless resolute in the conviction that the principled embrace of self-defense is central to the
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I can see how this book inspired the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Quick and easy read. It gets heavy quite a bit so although I thought I was going to finish it in one day, I ended up stretching it out over 4 days. I couldn't take in all those accounts of racial hatred and injustice at once. It was too much.
Well-written, frequent breaks in the writing (which is kind of my thing), blunt, straightforward, and a very quick read. Loved it. Another favorite. All of these social me ...more
Well-written, frequent breaks in the writing (which is kind of my thing), blunt, straightforward, and a very quick read. Loved it. Another favorite. All of these social me ...more
If interested in tracing the genealogy of the Black Radical Tradition, one cannot overlook this book. Williams has influenced generations of Black freedom fighters by laying it plain and speaking from a position consistent with the realities of American terror.
The book is short and more documentary than theoretical; it does not seek to elucidate a moral argument for self-defense. It tells the story of a small North Carolina town under siege by white racists and their legal, instituti ...more
The book is short and more documentary than theoretical; it does not seek to elucidate a moral argument for self-defense. It tells the story of a small North Carolina town under siege by white racists and their legal, instituti ...more
hm.. a different kind of American revolution. incredibly nuanced arguments. could it be that fighting back might be a kind of civic duty? curious about definitions of "civilization" and legitimate forms of "civil" disobedience. wondering how we can begin to redefine fear. wondering about the spectacle of lynchings and the murder of all black heroes. thinking about erasure and liberating knowledge and militant youth. thinking about how to make youth know their humanity, instead of knowing their o
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"The stranglehold of oppression cannot be loosened by a plea to the oppressor's conscience." Martin Luther King is remembered fondly because of his nonviolent tactics, but Robert F. Williams emphasizes that there could not have been progress through these means without the threat of force. I support the 2nd Amendment because I feel that all oppressed Americans should have the right to defend themselves, especially transwomen. This book strengthens my commitment to that belief.
Absolutely amazing, disturbing, and thought-provoking! I came across this book after Eldridge Cleaver referenced it in SOUL ON ICE. One read and the connection between this book and the Black Panthers becomes apparent. Published in 1966 - the same year as the formation of the Panthers - the book introduces the reader to Robert F. Williams, an important but unknown figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Williams was a marine who returned to Monroe, North Carolina to find rampant violence against bl ...more
I read this for an African American history class and absolutely loved it. Although it’s a very short book, I feel as if Robert F. Williams managed to put forth a lot of good content that other books triple the length couldn’t do.
“Negroes with Guns” illustrates a very grim yet detailed image of the Southern US in the 1960s that wasn’t apparent to most people. The first third of the book is more of Williams telling the story of what led him to write the book, and it’s honestly jaw-dropping. His ...more
“Negroes with Guns” illustrates a very grim yet detailed image of the Southern US in the 1960s that wasn’t apparent to most people. The first third of the book is more of Williams telling the story of what led him to write the book, and it’s honestly jaw-dropping. His ...more
Classic book on why 'gun control' is a historically dangerous and shortsighted mistake. Following the pogroms in the Jim Crow South, this is a firsthand account of the most important catalysts in 20th century black America: Robert Franklin Williams. Recounting a spontaneous armed resistance against the KKK/Monroe NC Police Department, the books details events of a community under siege, exercising their natural right to self-defense that shook the establishment and racists to their core. Forget
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prescient and relevant. a quick, easy, and important read. my one real gripe was with the characterization of racism as psychosis (since obviously mentally ill and disabled people, particularly those who are poor and/or of color, are among the most marginalized, maligned, and threatened), but speaking in the colloquial rather than the medical-social sense, i suppose it is. non-violence is a tactic, but organized armed self-defense gets the goods. read this book!!!!!
a must read. at least once
Very brief book from Williams which quickly explains not only his philosophy regarding how blacks should respond with violent self-defense during the Jim Crow-era, and also details exactly what happened that led to the false claims levied against Williams and that led to his exile to Cuba.
I read about Williams while in college and was studying the arch of African-American philosophies in relation to the race problem throughout the 20th century. Williams was always somebody that nobod ...more
I read about Williams while in college and was studying the arch of African-American philosophies in relation to the race problem throughout the 20th century. Williams was always somebody that nobod ...more
When one opens this book, they delve into the hotbed of Jim Crow oppression , and explore the heart and mind of a revolutionary who will get rid of it, through any means necessary. A returning war veteran of the WW2 , Robert Franklin Williams joins the NAACP to contribute to the fight for civil rights of African-Americans. Seeking to integrate spaces such as public libraries , restaurants and pools, Williams is faced with not only repression from state forces such as police , local politicians a
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This is a pretty direct book. Succinctly written with a clear message and a clear structure, Williams conveys the direct truth of what it means to be a citizen among others... and the hypocrisy of a nation that embeds structural inequality into its general processes... The violence of racists create the very conditions that they cannot live with because the only response to violence is violence. If someone refuses to recognize one's subjectivity, forcing them with violence to recognize your own
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"Social change in something as fundamental as racist oppression involves violence. You cannot have progress here without violence and upheaval because it is a struggle for survival for one and a struggle for liberation for the other. Always the powers in command are ruthless and unmerciful in defending their position and their privileges. This is not an abstract rule to be meditated upon by Americans. This is a truth that was revealed at the birth of America and has continued to be revealed many
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"The stranglehold of oppression cannot be loosened by a plea to the oppressor’s conscience. Social change in something as fundamental as racist oppression involves violence." ... "When Afro-American liberation is finally achieved in the U.S.A., one of the many new developments in such a society will be some sort of institution that will correct those Americans whose minds are thoroughly warped by racism. Somehow a way will be found so that these insane people will be made whole, will be made wel
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This is the story of one of the earliest figures who promoted basically what became popularly known as the Black Power movement. I had never heard of Williams or his story - until being told about him by a professor, I’d been under the impression that the game was all non-violence until Stokeley Carmichael decided he wanted Black Power. Not so! Williams wrote this book while he was in exile in Cuba. His story shows the truth we still see today - “conservatives” are all for gun rights unless the
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wow. what a dense read for such a small book. I found the parts re: the pool and the last chapter the most compelling. I think what this book accomplished the most for me what to expose me to how little I know of NAACP and the time period. have lots of reading to do on my end and knowledge to acquire.
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Robert Franklin Williams was a civil rights leader, author, and key figure in promoting both integration and armed Black self-defense in the United States.
After a stint in the army during WWII, Williams returned to his hometown in Monroe, North Carolina where he built a uniquely militant NAACP chapter and attracted international attention to racist hypocrisy. When eventually forced by ...more
After a stint in the army during WWII, Williams returned to his hometown in Monroe, North Carolina where he built a uniquely militant NAACP chapter and attracted international attention to racist hypocrisy. When eventually forced by ...more
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“The Afro-American militant is a 'militant' because he defends himself, his family, his home, and his dignity. He does not introduce violence into a racist social system - the violence is already there, and has always been there. It is precisely this unchallenged violence that allows a racist social system to perpetuate itself. When people say that they are opposed to Negroes 'resorting to violence' what they really mean is that they are opposed to Negroes defending themselves and challenging the exclusive monopoly of violence practiced by white racists.”
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“It’s going to be a long row to hoe to bring the white South to any sense of shame, or to make them wake up to the brute fact that the golden age they hark back to and are fighting tooth and nail to perpetuate was a slave-holding, slave-breeding, slave-driving, slave-hunting hell on earth. The crime of the white South is centered in their racist unity of loyalty which blinds them to the real state of their society and its discontents”
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