Robert F. Williams was a prominent and influential civil rights figure throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s who advocated armed self-defence for African Americans in the face of increasing white violence. Williams was an ex US Marine and served as the President of the Monroe, North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was Williams’ experiences of discrimination and injustices in the city of Monroe that helped shape his philosophy of meeting violence with violence – a marked departure from the pacifist values of the traditional Civil Rights Movement. Williams perceived Monroe and the American South as a ‘lawless’ [1] land that turned a blind eye towards white-on-black crime and stressed the inefficacy of pacifist methods against Southerners whom he believed only understood violence.
Such experiences that perhaps led Williams to become
disillusioned with more conventional pacifist methods included an instance in
1959 where a black maid was kicked down the staircase of a Monroe hotel by a
white man for ‘making too much noise’[2]
while working in the corridor. The case went to court, where the defendant was
subsequently exonerated despite the fact that he failed to turn up to trial.
That very same day, Mary Ruth Reed appeared in court as the victim of an
assault and attempted rape at the hands of a white man. Mrs Reed fled to the
home of a white neighbour who witnessed the attacker chasing her and testified in
court as an eyewitness. However, the defence attorney brought the attacker’s
wife before the court and spoke of her beauty and purity – essentially asking
the court why he would choose the black woman over his wife. Mrs Reed’s
attacker was also acquitted despite Williams’ best efforts, leaving him feeling
responsible for this injustice as he was adamant that the matter could be
settled legally. It is little surprise that such appalling injustices and clear
deep-rooted racial prejudice influenced Robert F. Williams to lose faith in the
pursuit of legal justice and favour a philosophy centred around self-defence.
Williams’ rising prominence within the Civil Rights Movement
as well as his non-conventional views inevitably led to debate with figures
such as Martin Luther King Jr. Both men’s philosophies can essentially be
boiled down to long-term and short-term strategies. King believed in a
long-term strategy centred around educating the opposition to achieve real and
meaningful change rather than token integration. For King, violence was never
the answer – instead, activists were urged to apply ‘moral pressure’[3]
and impose ‘creative tension’.[4]
The concept of meeting violence with violence, on the other hand, offered a
short-term solution to urgent issues that Williams saw in Monroe. The law was
failing to act as a deterrent to crime in the American south; from Williams’
point of view, self-defence was the only solution to protect the black
community from imminent violence.
Williams’ philosophy and ideals undoubtedly share themes
with the Black Power Movement. Williams believed in the strength and unity of
the black community to fight back wherever the American legal system failed
them, thus demonstrating power over their own destinies. Williams’ perception
of some peaceful activists as ‘cringing’[5]
and ‘begging’[6]
also indicates a high level of pride that is consistent with the ideals of
Black Power. Robert F. Williams is remembered as a highly influential – albeit
radical – Civil Rights figure, particularly amongst those sympathetic to the
Black Power movement.
by Connor Epps
[1] Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Williams, “The Great
Debate: Is Violence Necessary to Combat Injustice?” in The Southern
Patriot, Vol. 18, No. 1, January 1960.
[2] Robert
F. Williams, Negroes With Guns, (New York: Martino Fine Books, 2013) p.
60.
[3] Six
Steps of Nonviolent Social Change, in Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can't
Wait, Penguin Books, 1963.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Martin
Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Williams, “The Great Debate”.
[6] Ibid.
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