What is the black tradition of arms as noted in the nonfiction book, Locking Up Our Own?

The black tradition of arms is a facet of the argument over gun control with particular relevance to black individuals and black communities. The tradition, as outlined and discussed by the author, refers to the decades-old belief system that blacks, facing ongoing, racism-defined threats of violence to themselves and their property claimed the right of guns and other arms as self-protection.