From the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, when lynching was a common tool for oppressing and terrorizing black communities throughout the American south, did black people form any organized resistance to this violence?

by trotptkabasnbi

Did black people in the south arm themselves and organize to protect their communities? I feel like if they did to any significant extent then state troopers would probably be brought in immediately. I still think it seems that there should be at least some cases of people trying to get together to keep their communities safe from white violence, right?

TRB1783

During Reconstruction, the Union Leagues served this purpose (among other functions). Under the protection of the Federal army and the Republican Party, African Americans could meet at League halls to maintain patriotic traditions and to plan both their political participation and to protect themselves from the Klan and other racist violence. Still, with the Army present, offensives against the Klan was more happily and legally left to the professionals rather than anti-lynching posses. After Hayes pulled the army out in 1877, Southern whites targeted Union Leagues with particular violence in a campaign to kill or subdue politically active black men.

If you're interested in this race, Reconstruction, and its aftermath, I would recommend David Blight, Race and Reunion and Steven Hahn, A Nation Under Our Feet.