Deacons for Defense
By Dustin Langley
"My name is Charles Sims. I'm 43 years old and
I fear no man. Some of you may leave disappointed. I'm a
fighter, not a speechmaker."
These are the real words that the founder of Deacons of
Defense used to introduce himself in 1964 as he spoke about the
struggle in Bogalusa, La. These words, backed by weapons and
the determination of the African American community to defend
themselves against racist attacks, won a powerful victory over
the status quo of the Jim Crow South in the mid-1960s.
As part of a series of film showings honoring Black History
Month, the People's Video Network sponsored a Feb. 14 screening
of the made-for-TV movie "Deacons for Defense" in New York
City. This film, starring Forest Whitaker and Ossie Davis,
chronicles the rise of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, who
stood up against the violence of the Klan.
The movie is set in Bogalusa in 1964. Relative to the
population, the KKK chapter in segregated Bogalusa was the
biggest in the country.
Forest Whitaker stars as Marcus--a mill worker, World War II
veteran and church leader who is compelled by escalating Klan
and police attacks to organize his community to defend itself.
Marcus is a composite character, based on Charles Sims and
other leaders of the Deacons.
The film clearly contrasts the futility of dogmatic
non-violence, as opposed to the effectiveness of armed
self-defense, as a response to Klan terror.
The two northern white organizers in the film are pacifists.
"This movement is nonviolent--that is the essence of the
movement," says one of them, played by Jonathan Silverman.
"Don't tell me about the essence of your summer vacation,"
responds Marcus. "Alive is better."
'You have to meet force with force'
In describing the actual struggle of his organization,
Ernest Thomas, the vice president and national organizer for
the Deacons for Defense, has stressed: "We teach that you have
to meet force with force. The only thing the Klan respects is
force. It is also the only thing understood by the others who
battle Negroes, such as the John Birch Society, the Minutemen,
and the American Nazi Party."
Many of the Black men who took up arms with the Deacons were
military veterans who had fought overseas in the name of
"democracy," but then returned home to continued denial of
basic civil rights and economic opportunity.
Their determination to defend themselves put an end to night
riding in Boga lusa and inspired others to take up arms to
defend themselves. By 1965, there were 62 chapters of the
Deacons throughout the South, and they helped to inspire the
Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
In the discussion after the Feb. 14 film showing, one of the
viewers, Kedar Phillips, said, "What struck me was the fact
that the Deacons of Defense have been widely forgotten and
don't get the recognition they deserve."
Other viewers agreed, noting the need to learn the lessons
from the Deacons' struggle in these days of increasing violence
against immigrants and people of color, such as the recent
killing of a young Black man, Timothy Stansbury, by Brooklyn
police.
Other upcoming PVN presentations for Black History month
will include "Lu mum ba" on Feb. 21, and "Another Brother" on
Feb 28.
Reprinted from the Feb. 26, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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