Reply #14: The movie sucks.

[GreenStormCloud]

Hollywood ruins any historic story that they touch. Hollywood changes the story to make it "better". The real story is much more powerful, but more subtle. The movie needs a big climax so Hicks and his friends all have M-16s and are lined up ready to shoot it out with local police, when the governor caves to the Feds and the battle is prevented. In real life, there were only a few shootings. Mostly they just showed up and escorted civil rights workers. In a couple of years the Deacons had many chapters in most cities, but as civil rights were improved and the violence lowered, the Deacons decided it was time to fade away.

In the first days of the real Deacons there was an defining incident. The Klan has been in the habit of driving through the black part of town and shooting up their homes. The Deacons organized and were ready for them the next time. The Deacons returned fire, and the Klan rapidly turned their pickups and cars around and left. No one was injured on either side, but the Klan didn't come back.