Outside Agitators
Outside Agitators  
Podcast: Weird Little Guys
Published On: Thu Jun 04 2026
Description: 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/ https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/wife-former-mnpd-assistant-police-chief-found-shot-to-death-rutherford-county/ https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-07-12/race-troubles-109-us-cities-faced-violence-in-1967 https://www.nybooks.com/online/2020/07/27/a-brief-history-of-dangerous-others/ https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/11/12/audio/defining-safe-defining-the-outside-agitator/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.