Monroe when we integrated the
library. I just called the chairman of the board in my county. I told him
that I represented the NAACP, that we wanted to integrate the library,
and that our own library had burned down. And he said, 'Well, I don't see
any reason why you can't use the same library that our people use. It
won't make any difference. And after all, I don't read anyway.'"

Williams claimed that a racist social system existed because the violence
at the heart of that system went unchallenged. Violence was an integral
part of the racial system, and it had not been introduced into the system
by Afro-Americans.

"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. We have shown in Monroe
that with violence working both ways constituted law will be more
inclined to keep the peace."

Williams urged Monroe Negroes to carry guns and other weapons and to
defend themselves when attacked. He defended his position by invoking the
teachings of Henry Thoreau who had also been used as an authority by the
pacifists. Although Thoreau usually supported pacifism, according to
Williams, Thoreau also believed that there were occasions which justified
violence. Thoreau, who had defended John Brown's attack on Harpers Ferry,
had made the statement that guns, for once, had been used for a righteous
cause and were being held in righteous hands. In integrating his theory
in regard to self-defense with the teachings of Thoreau, Williams was
obviously attacking the philosophy of nonviolent resistance taught by
Martin Luther King who also drew on Thoreau.

Even during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, in the background
there was a constant, irritating opposition. While the movement grew, the
Black Muslims also grew. Not only did they challenge the tactics of
nonviolent resistance, they disagreed totally with its goals. While
Elijah Muhammed constantly opposed aggression, he did preach the need for
self-defense. To him it was not necessary for a man to turn the other
cheek when he was hit. He also ridiculed the Civil Rights goal of
integration. Instead of losing themselves in white America, Muslims
believed in finding their own identity and in maintaining a s