Outside Agitators

June 4, 2026 · 52 min

Show notes

In 1967, segregationist lawyer Jack Kershaw swore out a warrant against George Ware, an organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. By the end of the week, a congressman was denouncing Ware on the house floor as an outside agitator. But what is an outside agitator? What do we mean when we blame unrest on these untrustworthy outsiders? Where does that idea come from? And is it even true?

Sources & Further Reading:

https://belonging.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/ARCHIVE/kerner_commission_full_report.pdf

https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

https://www.crmvet.org/docs/sv/670400_sncc_nyc-newsletter.pdf

https://www.christcathedral.org/phase-to-history/st-anselms-liberation-school-and-the-long-hot-summer-of-1967/

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/274/538/1574803/

https://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/george-w-ware-jr-72-educator/article_0e1a1218-3c2b-51fa-b960-61094a1f6d98.html

https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/digital/collection/GSB/id/10262/

https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal67-1311343

https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/05/archives/us-aides-in-visit-to-negro-school-view-a-drama-at-institution-cited.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/12/archives/nashville-panel-suspends-school-liberation-classroom-also-ousted.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/09/archives/official-changes-testimony-on-antiwhite-school.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/30/archives/sedition-charges-dropped.html

https://www.wsmv.com/2025/02/25/former-nashville-assistant-police-chief-dies-while-custody-wifes-death/