by Howard Zinn
SNCC’s new radicalism comes from nowhere in the world but cotton fields, prison cells, and the minds of young people reflecting on what they see and feel. So it is expressed in no ancient books, but in odd bits of conversation, which reflect not a precise doctrine but an emotion. There is Charles Sherrod: “Our country is sitting on a powder keg…. It makes me mad, that some of us have to sweep and wait tables and work all night and go to school and they got thousands, yea, millions, yea, billions, of dollars.… We got to find ways, leverages, of moving the government. We may have to demonstrate for jobs. You know we may have to bring some bones up from the South and say: Johnson, feel my bones. You know—I’m hungry, Johnson, feel my bones!”
And Stokely Carmichael: “Yes, I would like to see the government take over U.S. Steel, General Motors, all the big corporations. I’d like to see more than one hundred people control over 60 per cent of the industry. I’d like to see all these plantations divided up until everybody who was on the plantation had his plot of land, because like Mrs. Hamer said: “Who the hell’s land is it anyway?”
These snatches of talk pulled out of context and out of whole lives give only a hint of what it is about SNCC that worries traditional liberalism. They suggest a kind of socialism, but to put it this way freezes what is really a fluid attitude, directed at ending deprivation and equalizing wealth, but completely open about ways to do this.
What really makes SNCC a threat to American liberal society is that quality which makes it a threat to all Establishments, whether capitalist, socialist, communist, or whatever: its rejection of authority; its fearlessness in the face of overwhelming power; its indifference to respectability. It constantly aims to create and recreate, out of the bodies of poor and powerless people, a new force, nonviolent but aggressive, honest and therefore unmanageable. It wants to demonstrate to the nation not what kind of “system” people should believe in, but how people should live their lives. So its radicalism is not an ideology but a mood. Moods are harder to define. They are also harder to imprison.
This makes SNCC unpredictable for the future, for it sets difficult goals for itself: to defy authority within as well as without, to resist temptations offered by friends as well as by enemies, to constantly refreshen its radicalism from springs of both anger and love. In any event, if it continues as before, it will crush accusations under the weight of its sacrifices.
Index
Abernathy, Ralph, 50, 53, 129, 134, 169
Adams, Patrolman John Quincy, 119
Aelony, Zev, 175, 183
African nations, emergence of, 18
Alabama
registration laws in, 153
Albany, Georgia, 2, 11, 146
and U.S. government, 123, 136
voter registration in, 123, 136
described, 124
test of ICC ruling in, 126–128
truce of Dec., 1961, 131, 133
desegregation in, 135
federal indictments of civil rights workers in, 211–212
Albany Movement
formation of, 128
boycott of buses, 133
and Judge Elliott, 204
Albany State College for Negroes, 125–126, 129
Albert, Carl, 259
Alcorn, James L., 64
Allen, Louis, 74
Allen, Mrs. Louis, 242
Allen, Ralph, 138, 139, 140, 182–183
on race, 184
Allgood, Clarence W., 204
American Civil Liberties Union, 197
American Friends Service Committee, 34
American Jewish Conference, 212
Americans For Democratic Action, 251, 272
Americus, Ga., 11, 182–183
Anderson, Candie
on sit-ins, 16
and Nashville sit-ins, 20, 21
on bombing of Looby home, 22–23
Anderson, William G., 29, 128, 131
found guilty of disorderly conduct, 134
and federal indictments, 211–212
Anniston, Ala., 42–44
Ashley, Stephen, 76
Athens, Ga., 42
Atlanta, Ga., 2, 11, 42, 213, 238
student movement, 17
sit-ins, 25
arrests in, 39
Atlanta Conference, 37
Atlanta Constitution, 25, 53
Atlanta University, 34
Attorney General. See Kennedy, Robert F.; U.S. Department of Justice
Augusta, Ga., 42
Baker, Ella
background of, 32–33
in Raleigh, 33
in Atlanta, 34, 35
at Highlander meeting, 59
in Hattiesburg, 104, 106
on role of Negroes in SNCC, 186
at FDP state convention, 252
Baldwin, David, 152, 155, 159
Selma speech, 165–166
Baldwin, James, 167
in Selma, 152, 155, 159, 164
Selma speech, 166
on role of whites in civil rights movement, 186
Barbee, William, 49
Barnett, Ross, 196
on Negro difference, 51
Supreme Court ruling, 201
Barry, Marion, 38
and Nashville sit-ins, 19
elected Chairman, 34
on sit-ins, 35
appearance before Democratic Platform Committee, 1960, 36–37
favors direct action, 59
holds workshops on nonviolence in McComb, 68
Baton Rouge, La., 172–173
Beech, Robert, 245
Belafonte, Harry, 60, 66
Bennett, Myrtis, 76
Bergman, Walter, 43
Bevel, Diane Nash, 20, 38, 44, 45, 79, 80
favors direct action, 59
works full time for SNCC, 60
Bevel, James
on direct action and violence, 14
on Looby home bombing, 23
works full time for SNCC, 60
speaks in McComb, 68
in Jackson, 79, 80
speaks in Ruleville, 93
injured in Selma, 263
Bickel, Alexander, 208
Bigelow, Albert, 42
Biloxi, Miss., 25, 245
Birmingham, Ala., 42, 43
Freedom Riders arrested in, 45
school board, 204
bombing in, 213
Black, Charles, 209
Blackwell, Randolph, 89
Block, Sam, 5
in Greenwood, 83, 84–86, 87–88, 91
Blues for Mister Charlie, 164
Bond, Julian, 18, 38, 142
and Atlanta sit-in, 17
poem by, 35
Boynton, Amelia, 12, 148, 161, 163, 263
Boynton, Bruce, 148–149
Boynton Case, 41
Braden, Anne, 169
Braden, Carl, 271
Branton, Wiley, 90
Brazier, James, 138
Britt, Travis, 69–70
Brooks, Paul, 47, 60, 79
Brown, Luvaghn, 80–81, 84
Browning, Joan, 129, 132
Bryant, C. C., 66
Burney, Robert, 143
Bus boycott, 1, 18
Cambridge, Md., 8, 11
Cameron, John, 121
Camilla, Ga., 11
Campbell, Cull, 135
Campbell, Janie, 76
Campbell Junior College, 76
Capell, Arthur, 153
Carey, Gordon, 41
Carmichael, Stokely, 40, 98, 274
background of, 55–56
on Parchman penitentiary, 57
Caston, Billy Jack
attacks Moses, 68
trial of, 69
owned truck Hurst drove, 73
Chaney, James, 243, 265
beating of, 244
Charlotte, N.C., 213, 238
Charlotte Observer, 52
Chase, Oscar, 108, 114, 115–117
Chatfield, Jack, 143, 144, 145
shooting of, in Da
wson, 141
arrest in Albany, 141–142
Chatmon, Thomas, 136
Chattanooga, Tenn., 23
Chestnut, J. L., 159
Civil disobedience, 13, 28–29
Civil Rights Act of 1866, 194
Civil Rights Act of 1957, 206, 207
Civil Rights Act of 1960, 206, 207
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 206, 207–208, 230
Civil Rights Commission, 205–206
Clark, Jim, 12, 149, 226, 263–265
described, 153–154
on Freedom Day, 157–158, 161–162
possibility of arrest of, 195–196
Clarksdale, Miss., 11, 245
Cleveland, Miss., 82
Cobb, Charles, 99, 247
Coffin, William, 53
Colleges
and SNCC workers, 9
need for reform in, 231–235
Colleges, Negro
and sit-ins, 30
and civil rights movement, 235–236
Collins, Norma, 129
Columbia, S.C., 25
Communism
and SNCC, 226–228, 271
Compromise of 1877, 65, 198–199, 214
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), 37, 77, 81, 91, 186, 215, 239, 244, 263
and sit-ins, 23, 29
and Freedom Rides, 41–42, 55
and forming of COFO, 79
in Hattiesburg, 104–105
and Freedom Walk, 175
Connor, “Bull”, 44, 45
Conway, Jack, 229
Conwell, Kathleen, 138
Cotton, MacArthur, 5, 70, 97, 104
Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), 79–80, 215, 244
Cox, Courtland, 56
Cox, William, 204
Crawford, James, 142–143
Crow, Carl E., 134
Dammond, Peggy, 138
on gathering in Lee County, 144
on courage in the South, 145
Daniels, Carolyn, 12, 139
home shot into, 141
Danville, Va., 11, 12, 180–181
Dawson, Ga., 11
Day, Peggy, 13
Debs Case, 202–203
deLissovoy, Peter, 181–182
Democratic National Convention, 1964, 257
Dennis, David, 102, 105
asks for federal protection, 90
car shot at, 91
Devine, Annie, 258, 260–261
Diamond, Dion, 56, 76, 171
bedroom fired into, 77
arrest in Baton Rouge, 172, 174
Diggs, Ivory, 76
Direct action, 14, 59, 219–220
Dissent, 235–236
Dix, Dorothea, 225
Dollie, Mama, 145, 146
Donaldson, Ivanhoe
transports food to Mississippi, 87
in Henry-King campaign, 99, 100
injured in Selma, 263
Douglass, Frederick, 3, 248
Dugger, Ronnie, 150
Dunbar, Leslie, 207, 213
Durden, Judge, 134
Durr, Clifford, 169
Durr, Virginia, 169
Eastland, James, 93, 204
Economic pressure
on Negroes, 86
Economic reform, 228–231
Eisenhower, D. D., 199
Elliott, J. Robert, 204
Ellis, Frank, 204
Ellison, Ralph, 235
Enforcement Act of 1870, 194
Enterprise Journal (McComb), 73
Erikson, Erik
on identity crisis, 5, 6, 7
on young rebels, 14
Eubanks, Leotus, 76
Evans, Rowland, 269
Evers, Medgar, 93, 213
Ex parte Siebold, 243
The Faith of a Heretic, 2
Farmer, James, 1
and Freedom Rides, 42, 51
on Freedom Riders and jails, 57
testifies before Credentials Committee, 253
urges FDP to accept administration compromise, 255
Federal Bureau of Investigation, 210, 211, 242–243
failure of agents to act, 193, 195, 206
and civil rights crises, 196
Fellowship of Reconciliation, 41
Ferry, W. H., 230
Field Foundation, 58, 81
Fleming, Carl, 148, 179
Food Drive, Mississippi, 86–88
Forman, James, 11, 18–19, 81, 83, 142, 216, 231
background of, 5, 60
deliberate harshness of, 8
chosen Executive Secretary, 60, 268
asks President Kennedy for protection in Mississippi, 90
in Greenwood, 91, 92
in Ruleville, 93
in Hattiesburg, 111, 112–113, 117
in Albany, 127, 129
in Selma, 149, 151, 152, 155, 158, 160, 161–162, 165
Frankfort, Ky., 25
Free expression, 224–225
Freedom Ballot Campaign
directed by Moses, 99–101
Freedom Chorus, 4
Freedom Democratic Party
formation of, 251
state convention, 251
in Atlantic City, 253
votes to reconsider administration compromise, 255–257
philosophy behind, 256–257
and seating of Mississippi Congressmen, 257, 260–261
its protest politics, 261–262
Freedom Ride, 42
Freedom Singers, 132
Freedom schools, 247, 249
Freedom Walk, 175–180, 193
Gaines, Shirley, 135
Gaither, Tom, 23, 24, 39, 79
and Freedom Rides, 41
Garrison, William Lloyd, 3, 8, 9, 237
Gay, Ben, 126
Geiger, Jack, 246
Georgia
as area of activity, 11
Glover, Jesse James, 97
Gluckstadt, Miss., 250
Gober, Bertha, 132, 136
jailed and expelled, 128–129
arrest at railway terminal, 130
Golden Rule (ship), 42
Goldwater, Barry, 256
Goodman, Andrew, 243, 265
Gordon, Bruce, 156
Gore, Bob, 175, 177
Gray, Fred, 179
Gray, Victoria, 121, 258, 260–261
Green, Edith, 253–254, 257, 259
Greenberg, Jack, 202
Greene, George, 91
Greensboro, N.C., 2
first sit-in, 16
effect of sit-in, 17–18
Greenville, Miss., 2, 11, 82
Greenwood, Miss., 11, 12, 13, 82–83, 245. See also Leflore County
Gregory, Dick, 213
aids in food drive, 88
in Greenwood, 92
in Selma, 150–151
Gregory, Lillian, 150
Guyot, Lawrence, 5, 84, 95, 102, 104, 106
background of, 107
on whites in civil rights movement, 187
and Freedom Democratic Party, 252, 261
Haley, Richard, 175
Hall, Blanton, 128–129
Hall, Prathia, 12
in Selma, 154, 157
Hamer, Fannie Lou, 13, 188, 196, 253, 260–261, 268, 274
joins Movement, 93–94
arrest in Winona, 94
becomes field secretary, 95–96
in Hattiesburg, 103, 104, 113
runs for Congress, 121
in Washington, 242
in Atlantic City, 253
contests election of Jamie L. Whitten, 257
Hancock, Milton, 92, 115
Hansen, Bill, 135, 182, 193
on march to Jackson, 175
excerpts from diary, 177–178
arrest in Alabama, 180
marriage to Negro, 185–186
Hardy, John, 58, 66
and McComb school, 58
beaten by registrar of Walthall County, 70–71
shotgun fired into bedroom of, 77
Harrington,
Michael, 228
Harris, Don, 182
Harris, Elijah, 134
Harris, Fred, 98
Harris, Jesse, 104, 268
at trial of Diane Bevel, 80–81
on march to Jackson, 175
Harris, Robert J., 243
Harris, Rutha, 132
Harris, Walter, 134
Hattiesburg, Miss., 2, 11, 101
Hayden, Casey, 177, 182
Hayden, Sandra, 10, 239
background of, 12–13
in Albany, 129, 133–134
Hayden, Tom, 77, 129, 133–134
Hayes, Curtis, 68, 76, 82, 102
Heilbroner, Robert, 230
Henry, Aaron, 105, 263
protests shooting of Travis, 90
damage to home and drugstore, 91, 92
runs for Governor, 99, 250
and Freedom Democratic Party, 252–255, 261
Higgs, William, 203, 243
Highlander Folk School, 58–59
Holloway, Frank, 50, 51–52
Hollowell, Donald, 134
Holly Springs, Miss., 81–82, 245
Holman, Carl, 29
Holsaert, Faith, 144
Holt, Len, 34, 180
Houston, Texas, 25
Howe, Mark, 244
Hugh, Matthew, 92
Humphrey, Hubert, 253–254
Hurst, E. H., 68, 72, 73, 74
Identity crisis, 5–7
Indianola, Miss., 245
Industrial Workers of the World, 262
Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, 206
Interstate Commerce Commission ruling on terminals tested, 126–128
Itta Bena, Miss., 96
Jackson, Eliza, 211
Jackson, Emanuel, 134
Jackson, Jimmy Lee, 264
Jackson, Miss., 11, 79, 213, 245
violence in, 25
and freedom rides, 40
arrests in, 51
jail conditions in, 52
freedom school in, 248–249
Jacksonville, Fla., 25
Jail conditions, 96–97
in Jackson, 52
in Georgia, 132
Javits, Jacob, 209
Jenkins, Tim, 81
and voter registration, 58, 59
Jet, 66
Johnson, Bernice, 132, 136
Johnson, Lyndon, 36, 215, 243, 253, 256, 259
and Selma violence, 265
Johnson, Paul, 98, 103
Johnson, Warren, 211
