Sammy L. Younge, Jr. and the Deacons for defense and Justice
During the summer of 1965, Sammy L. Younge, Jr. worked with members of T.I.A.L. and SNCC to integrate the churches in Tuskegee, Alabama. On their third attempt to integrate the First Tuskegee United Methodist Church, on South Main Street, a group of white men gathered across the street from the church. Here is the account of what happened from the book, "Sammy L. Younge, Jr." by James Forman:
Bill Hall - "The police had been driving up and down the street and were stationed strategically at the corners, observing the students. Then the police left. There was no traffic. Everything seemed to quiet down. The whites, mainly men, began to gather. We noticed that they had brought bats and placed them at the corner, in the gutter, along with coke bottles. Sammy, Wendy, and Schutz walked across the street to where the whites had gathered. They stood roughly ten feet from them and observed what they were doing and then they turned away and walked back across the street to the church.
The ex-mayor’s brother, Ocie Rutherford, then drove up in his car and stopped. That must have been the signal. He left on his engine, opened the car door, ran across the street, and began to beat Simuel Schutz. The mob of whites who had gathered on the corner spilled into the street and headed toward the students. It looked like two or three of them had pistols. Wendell was popped in the head with a coke bottle and had to have six stitches. I had a camera and was photographing; one of the Clyatt brothers chased me with a knife and beat me. Several of the white students were beaten. All of this action took place within a matter of five minutes. After they finished beating the students, they jumped into their cars and drove off. And within a matter of seconds, the police reappeared."
The students regrouped and tried again the next Sunday, but with some added support:
"Nothing happened to the students that day. State and local agencies were on hand to make sure Tuskegee’s image wouldn’t be spoiled again; also, word was out that the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an armed self-defense group, were there. And not only the Deacons.
BILL HALL: The church crisis was the first and only time we got real community support, at least that day. The streets were blocked with cars, and there was so much lead in them that they could hardly move! These were both middle-class and poorer black people, although the real upper class didn’t come. They just went to their own churches, “peaceably.” But we had real protection and support that day. It was a much different atmosphere from the previous Sunday."
The Deacons for Defense and Justice were called in Tuskegee's time of need and they responded, by showing up in Alabama.
Bill Hall - "The police had been driving up and down the street and were stationed strategically at the corners, observing the students. Then the police left. There was no traffic. Everything seemed to quiet down. The whites, mainly men, began to gather. We noticed that they had brought bats and placed them at the corner, in the gutter, along with coke bottles. Sammy, Wendy, and Schutz walked across the street to where the whites had gathered. They stood roughly ten feet from them and observed what they were doing and then they turned away and walked back across the street to the church.
The ex-mayor’s brother, Ocie Rutherford, then drove up in his car and stopped. That must have been the signal. He left on his engine, opened the car door, ran across the street, and began to beat Simuel Schutz. The mob of whites who had gathered on the corner spilled into the street and headed toward the students. It looked like two or three of them had pistols. Wendell was popped in the head with a coke bottle and had to have six stitches. I had a camera and was photographing; one of the Clyatt brothers chased me with a knife and beat me. Several of the white students were beaten. All of this action took place within a matter of five minutes. After they finished beating the students, they jumped into their cars and drove off. And within a matter of seconds, the police reappeared."
The students regrouped and tried again the next Sunday, but with some added support:
"Nothing happened to the students that day. State and local agencies were on hand to make sure Tuskegee’s image wouldn’t be spoiled again; also, word was out that the Deacons for Defense and Justice, an armed self-defense group, were there. And not only the Deacons.
BILL HALL: The church crisis was the first and only time we got real community support, at least that day. The streets were blocked with cars, and there was so much lead in them that they could hardly move! These were both middle-class and poorer black people, although the real upper class didn’t come. They just went to their own churches, “peaceably.” But we had real protection and support that day. It was a much different atmosphere from the previous Sunday."
The Deacons for Defense and Justice were called in Tuskegee's time of need and they responded, by showing up in Alabama.