Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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The Annoyed Man
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Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

#1

Post by The Annoyed Man »

I'm reading a new (to me) book titled "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms" right now, and it is a humdinger.

http://www.amazon.com/Negroes-Gun-Black ... nd+the+gun
Editorial Reviews
  • Review
    • “America’s gun culture is often thought to be lily white. In this groundbreaking book, Nicholas Johnson shows how African Americans, from the abolitionists to the Deacons for Defense and Justice, have taken up arms time and again to fight for their rights and their lives. You’ll never look at guns and the Second Amendment in the same way again.”

      —Adam Winkler, professor of law, UCLA School of Law, author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America

      “Race has always been part of the unspoken motive for gun control in the United States. Johnson provides the best, most thorough history of the topic, telling the story mainly from the perspective and voices of blacks themselves. Shattering the myth of black passivity in the face of violent racism, the book is full of inspiring stories of genuine American heroes—some of them famous and many who were not—who used their Second Amendment rights to defend the civil rights of their people. Never shying away from the hardest questions, Johnson addresses the moral and practical complexities of armed self-defense, past and present. A major contribution to cultural studies and to the history of race in America.”

      —David B. Kopel, research director, Independence Institute, Denver, Colorado
    About the Author
    Nicholas Johnson (New York, NY) is professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where he has taught since 1993. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is the lead author of Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights and Policy (Aspen 2012).
Quoting from the book itself as to why the author wrote it:
"In the several years that I have been working on this project, people have asked what motivated it. What did I hope to achieve?

"To the first question, this book, like much of my work, is motivated by a rural sensibility, a familiarity with and affection for people and places that are underacknowledged in both in popular culture and in policy making.

"To the second question, my goal here is to answer a longing that I have observed in a variety of contexts. It is evident when people, especially young people of color, probing the narrative of the civil-rights movement, wonder plaintively whether anyone ever fought back. There is a palpable yearning for something more than the images of Negroes in church clothes flattened by baton charges, attacked by dogs, and sometimes hanged from tree limbs. Many of these people were heroes. But they were also victims, and that leaves us unfulfilled, grateful for their sacrifice but still not fully proud.

"The question lingers, where is our Leonidas? Where is our classic champion who meets force with force even in the face of long odds? Some may find an answer within the black tradition of arms."
Moderators, I put this thread in this forum because it seemed appropriate to me. If it needs to be moved, that's fine.

In any case, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to expand his or her knowledge of the history of firearms ownership, use, and attitudes in an often overlooked demographic. Call it "black studies" for 2nd Amendment supporters.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”

― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"

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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

#2

Post by Abraham »

Thanks TAM, I'll put it on my list of many things to read.

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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by MeMelYup »

Try "this nonviolent stuff'll get you killed" by Charles E. Cobb Jr. It's his rendition on how guns made the civil rights movement possible.
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by The Annoyed Man »

MeMelYup wrote:Try "this nonviolent stuff'll get you killed" by Charles E. Cobb Jr. It's his rendition on how guns made the civil rights movement possible.
The bulk of this book so far is exactly that kind of material, going back to colonial days. It is very well researched with lots of references. It seems that the tension between non-violence and self-defense is more than 230 years old. I'm only 15% into the book so far, and right now it's about the immediate post-civil war reconstruction period.

The interesting thing is that when the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution, black firearms ownership was one of the core issues that drove the addition of that amendment. Even back then, when Senator Howard introduced the amendment, he said that the:
...great object [of the amendment is to] restrain the power of the states and compel them in all times to respect these great fundamental guarantees....Secured by the first eight amendments of the Constitution [including] the right to keep and bear arms.
Congress even passed a law at the time abolishing the southern state militias because they had been used to disarm the freedmen. This carries the unavoidable implication that it was the intention of Congress that The People be armed.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”

― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"

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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

#5

Post by folksinger »

It sounds pretty clear that one of the legislative intents of the amendment was to stop states from infringing the individual right to keep and bear arms.
It's as easy as C-F-G.

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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by MeMelYup »

folksinger wrote:It sounds pretty clear that one of the legislative intents of the amendment was to stop states from infringing the individual right to keep and bear arms.
Says something for states rights as far as the 2nd Amendment, doesn't it?
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by baldeagle »

The Annoyed Man wrote:
MeMelYup wrote:Try "this nonviolent stuff'll get you killed" by Charles E. Cobb Jr. It's his rendition on how guns made the civil rights movement possible.
The bulk of this book so far is exactly that kind of material, going back to colonial days. It is very well researched with lots of references. It seems that the tension between non-violence and self-defense is more than 230 years old. I'm only 15% into the book so far, and right now it's about the immediate post-civil war reconstruction period.

The interesting thing is that when the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution, black firearms ownership was one of the core issues that drove the addition of that amendment. Even back then, when Senator Howard introduced the amendment, he said that the:
...great object [of the amendment is to] restrain the power of the states and compel them in all times to respect these great fundamental guarantees....Secured by the first eight amendments of the Constitution [including] the right to keep and bear arms.
Congress even passed a law at the time abolishing the southern state militias because they had been used to disarm the freedmen. This carries the unavoidable implication that it was the intention of Congress that The People be armed.
Not to mention that it puts the lie to the argument that the 2A was for militias only.
The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. James Madison
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

#8

Post by baldeagle »

If you have an interest in this sort of thing, I recommend you read Justice Clarence Thomas' opinion in Heller. He reviews the history of confiscation of arms from blacks and the resulting massacres that occurred when they could no longer defend themselves. Seems it's a reoccurring theme throughout history. Take their arms away and some citizens will be slaughtered.
The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation where the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. James Madison
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

#9

Post by The Annoyed Man »

baldeagle wrote:
The Annoyed Man wrote:
MeMelYup wrote:Try "this nonviolent stuff'll get you killed" by Charles E. Cobb Jr. It's his rendition on how guns made the civil rights movement possible.
The bulk of this book so far is exactly that kind of material, going back to colonial days. It is very well researched with lots of references. It seems that the tension between non-violence and self-defense is more than 230 years old. I'm only 15% into the book so far, and right now it's about the immediate post-civil war reconstruction period.

The interesting thing is that when the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution, black firearms ownership was one of the core issues that drove the addition of that amendment. Even back then, when Senator Howard introduced the amendment, he said that the:
...great object [of the amendment is to] restrain the power of the states and compel them in all times to respect these great fundamental guarantees....Secured by the first eight amendments of the Constitution [including] the right to keep and bear arms.
Congress even passed a law at the time abolishing the southern state militias because they had been used to disarm the freedmen. This carries the unavoidable implication that it was the intention of Congress that The People be armed.
Not to mention that it puts the lie to the argument that the 2A was for militias only.
Exactly. Furthermore, each southern state remained under military rule post war until it went through the process of readmission, which stipulated that the state must ratify the 14th to be readmitted to the union.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”

― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"

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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by tbrown »

Don't let the collectivists see this. They'll claim the 14th Amendment does not protect individual rights. :mrgreen:
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by Deltaboy »

I remember my Grandfather who said a certain all black town was never messed with cause it was filled with a large group of Spanish American and WW 1 vets who had 30-40 Krags, Lee Endfields and some other surplus stuff from their disbanded National Guard unit. In many cases being unarmed = death. :txflag:
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by Jim Beaux »

Deltaboy wrote:I remember my Grandfather who said a certain all black town was never messed with cause it was filled with a large group of Spanish American and WW 1 vets who had 30-40 Krags, Lee Endfields and some other surplus stuff from their disbanded National Guard unit. In many cases being unarmed = death. :txflag:
Would that be Weeping Mary? Enroute to a compressor station I drove through there in the early 70's & the people were very suspicious of me. Total cultural shock. I have heard that the settlement had to fight off many attacks.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/the ... eping-mary" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by spectre »

folksinger wrote: Tue Jun 10, 2014 7:01 pm It sounds pretty clear that one of the legislative intents of the amendment was to stop states from infringing the individual right to keep and bear arms.
"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." - Mao Tse Tung

That's why communists hate the Second Amendment so much.
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by Allons »

Ordered on Amazon, will be here tomorrow.
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Re: Book: "Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms"

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Post by tbrown »

Allons wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:20 pm Ordered on Amazon, will be here tomorrow.
:thumbs2:
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