Date of Award
Fall 2018
Document Type
Thesis
Terms of Use
© 2018 Martin Palomo. All rights reserved. This work is freely available courtesy of the author. It may only be used for non-commercial, educational, and research purposes. For all other uses, including reproduction and distribution, please contact the copyright holder.
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History Department
First Advisor
Robert Weinberg
Abstract
This paper looks over the Civil Rights Movement between 1954 and 1967 and analyzes the role that armed self-defense played during this period. By looking at the violence that erupted following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case, it becomes evident that African Americans, both men and women, used arms to protect their communities while simultaneously challenging Jim Crow through nonviolent civil disobedience. By the mid-1960s, armed self-defense groups, which had typically been small and informal, began to evolve into more organized paramilitary groups that defended nonviolent protesters and openly challenged white violence.
Recommended Citation
Palomo, Martin , '19, "If We Must Die: Armed Self-Defense during the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1967" (2018). Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards. 491.
https://works.swarthmore.edu/theses/491