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 separate
society. They claimed that blacks should not be ashamed of either
their color or their heritage.
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