October 15, 1999

Verbatim

By JEFF SHARLET

Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power by Timothy B. Tyson (University of North Carolina Press)

When Robert F. Williams was a 10-year-old boy in Monroe, N.C., he watched a policeman named Jesse Helms, Sr., beat a black woman and drag her with her dress over her head to the town jail. The lesson he learned was: Never be without a means to defend yourself from white men. Later, as president of the Monroe chapter of the National Association for the Advancement

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Already have an account? Log In Now.