La. cops supported the Klan’s intimidation tactics. So the Deacons for Defense rose to protect black neighborhoods.

On a July night in Jonesboro, Louisiana, in 1964, the rumble of engines encroached on a quiet, black neighborhood then known as “The Quarters.” As residents stepped out onto their porches, they observed a line of cars—maybe 50 in all—with two to four men in each vehicle, their faces covered by white hoods.