Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms

by Nicholas Johnson

Chronicling the underappreciated black tradition of bearing arms for self-defense, this book presents an array of examples reaching back to the pre-Civil War era that demonstrate a willingness of African American men and women to use firearms when necessary to defend their families and communities. From Frederick Douglass's advice to keep "a good revolver" handy as defense against slave catchers to the armed self-protection of Monroe, North Carolina, blacks against the KKK chronicled in Robert Williams's Negroes with Guns, it is clear that owning firearms was commonplace in the black community.NicholasJohnson points out that this story has been submerged because it is hard to reconcile with the dominant narrative of nonviolence during the civil rights era. His book, however, resolves that tension by showing how the black tradition of arms maintained and demanded a critical distinction between private self-defense and political violence.Johnson also addresses the unavoidable issue of young black men with guns and the toll that gun violence takes on many in the inner city. He shows how complicated this issue is by highlighting the surprising diversity of views on gun ownership in the black community. In fact, recent Supreme Court affirmations of the right to bear arms resulted from cases led by black plaintiffs.Surprising and informative, this well-researched book strips away many stock assumptions of conventional wisdom on the issue of guns and the black freedom struggle.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, Politics, African American, American History, Military Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great written history of african americans from slavery through the 1970s whose only form of a self defense was a firearm. This is a painful account of state and local law enforcement duplicity in the terrorizing and lynching of (mostly) southern blacks. The book does a great job identifying people history has overlooked who made significant contributions to protecting their communities and eventually protecting those who were marching for equality and civil rights. The book did not propose that everyone who took up arms had a satisfying outcome. In some cases, self-defense led to larger, angrier mobs of Klan and their supporters. Gun control and self defense is a difficult topic. The author did a great job of presenting both sides of the argument and why the choice of firearms should be an individual choice and not a government mandate.

[Dillon Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The central argument of this book is that the Black community in America has always been armed and supported the right to armed self-defense. Johnson covers a broad history from Fredrick Douglass, who said “the true remedy for a fugitive slave is a good revolver,” to the modern day gun control debate. The book outlines a very compelling case for the idea that Black Americans have always looked to firearms for self defense—in a country that has never done a great job of protecting the rights of Black people. The author goes on to explain that Black politicians largely shifted their stance on armed self defense in the 1970s, after the height of the Civil Rights era and the political violence that characterized the Black Power movement, i.e., the Black Panther Party in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. He concludes with an interesting exploration of current gun control debates and social science on gun violence in the U.S.

My biggest qualm with the book is that most of it is essentially a chronological assemblage of historical anecdotes that support the idea of a “Black tradition of arms.” While that’s not awful, at times it felt like the book lacked a central story. Since the author is a law professor, I also hoped the book would go into a lot more detail about the development of gun laws in the U.S. especially as they pertain to race. The book glosses over that history but doesn’t provide much detail.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title and cover caught my eye when browsing Amazon. The book progresses chronologically with many anecdotal stories. While there were times when I got bogged down in keeping focused due to the sheer number of individual stories, it was definitely worth the read.
The content does seem to get a bit light when it gets up to the post 9/11 period and the Heller and McDonald decisions. Almost as if the black tradition of arms no longer exists or there is no one working to continue the tradition.

[Jonathan Blanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating run through American history. It as much a history of white American terrorism against black folks as it is its stated purpose of a history of blacks and guns. I plan to write a more detailed review for publishing soon.

[Jarrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Johnson's tracking of the people's interpretation of the right to bear arms over the past 200 or so years successfully challenges modern orthodoxy on the role of arms in the civil rights struggle.

[Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched academic examination of guns in the Black community, their history in the support of self-determination.

The book does a wonderful job illustrating the difference between self-defense and political violence and the narrow line that the Black community has had to walk in proselytizing the former while protecting against immediate rhetorical urges toward the latter. There is a long storied history of ownership and use of guns to salvage personal safety and act as an immediate surrogate to often non-existent (reconstruction) to non-compliant (civil rights era) government institutions who long turned a blind eye to the security needs of the Black community.

My favorite part was the last third discussing the professionalized post-civil rights Black political era in which the rhetoric reacts to a period of high political violence by pivoting to a position of gun control and restrictions to ownership in impacted black communities. Which as you may intuit is not an empirically effective solution. The author points out a much more effective tactical solution would be to address the small but wanton subset of criminals which are actually violent offenders. This solution is generally ignored by liberal politicians afraid to court criticism or reign in the multivariate problem. As such, politicians rally around the politically expedient and financially rewarding cause of reducing the number of guns on the street in the hands of law-abiding citizens who are most readily effected by legislative solutions, instead of addressing the real toxic agents in the communities.

I'm sure I will reflect on the historical lessons of this book for a long time to come, very enjoyable.

[Jay Coyden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well put together book showing the history of African American gun ownership in the U.S. even when the law prevented Black citizens for legally owning guns. The amount of examples researched in this book was phenomenal. I commend the author for his research and writing in clear language that everyone can understand.

[Beardo Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book.

[Lester O'garro · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNREPORTED HISTORY OF GUN OWNERSHIP DURING CIVIL WAR AND JIM CROW AMERICA AND BEYOND..

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about the history of African Americans and gun ownership. I left feeling encouraged and learning a lot about African Americans and their determination and grit. I am so glad I read it!

[Jeremy Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my perspective, it seems that the African-American community has, in general, developed an aversion to gun ownership. Given the state of things in the inner cities, it's easy to understand why some would develop that mentality.

But, it hasn't always been so, and Johnson explores the history of American blacks and gun ownership, from slavery on through the Civil Rights Era, in this book.

There, I learned how, thanks to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, freedmen eagerly took up gun ownership to defend themselves against those who were less than ready to accept them as free men and fellow Americans, all the way from Ida B. Wells to the Deacons of Defense and Justice a few generations later.

Even if you aren't that interested in guns, the book will be of interest to those who love African-American history, especially in the aftermath of Emancipation.

[Zilan Tarif · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book that discusses contemporary gun control policy, this isn't that book. Instead, it chooses to focus on historical perspectives i.e what nonviolent civil rights organizers thought of black gun ownership, both defensive and militant. More than anything this is a historical account.

[LecturerRich · Rating 2 out of 5]

very dry academic style writing but informative

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnson has compiled an impressive amount of historical research elucidating what he terms the "black tradition of arms." I valued Johnson's exploration of a neglected area of inquiry, even if I found myself craving a stronger organizational scheme for what amounts to a numbing avalanche of anecdotes. The section addressing the use of arms by radical groups (e.g., the Panthers) was inexplicably cursory compared to earlier chapters. The few passages of deeper analysis always came as a welcome relief, even if I often found myself in disagreement with Johnson's conclusions (e.g., "today, the malevolent state is thankfully an anachronism").

[Bob Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview, from the Civil War on. Much detail. Particularly good final chapter on the current gun-rights debate, including conceal carry results, stats on accidents, child deaths (both few), armed robbery results (among young blacks, almost half of homicides during armed robberies result in the robber being the corpse).

[Adrienna]

Even though this book seemed to focus on Black historical accounts during the 1960s who may have used force or a gun, I was unable to read it at this time.

Leisure read 2015