The 1950s and 60s were marked by racial hatred and segregation in the southern U.S. Blacks had been free since the 13th Amendment passed in 1865, but their treatment was far from equal to whites. Segregation forced blacks to use different bathrooms, waiting rooms, and even separate schools. Worse, many were terrorized by racist white neighbors and police. Although the North was generally more accepting and fair to black people, African-Americans in the South lacked many rights, including the right to vote.
A voteless people is a hopeless people." - Amelia Boynton, Civil Rights worker in Alabama (Partridge)
The right to vote became central to the Civil Rights movement. Although black people could legally vote, white registrars did everything they could to prevent blacks from registering, using discriminatory tactics such as:
|
The Negro citizen may go to register only to be told that the day is wrong, or the hour is late, or the official in charge is absent. And if he persists and, if he manages to present himself to the registrar, he may be disqualified because he did not spell out his middle name, or because he abbreviated a word on the application. And if he manages to fill out an application, he is given a test.... The fact is that the only way to pass these barriers is to show a white skin." -Lyndon B. Johnson, We Shall Overcome Speech
In one county in Alabama, not one black person registered to vote in 65 years. In 1963, over half of Selma’s citizens were black, but 99% of voters were white.
Fight for Voting Rights:
The 1964 Civil Rights Act gave black people the same legal rights as whites. However, they were still unprotected from discrimination at the voting registers. Blacks in the South started organizing to demand their right to vote, and leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged, motivating people to join the cause. |
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave Negroes some part of their rightful dignity, but without the vote - it was dignity without strength." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (March Book Two) |
Movement Sets Sights on Selma:
As groups like the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) activated, they focused in certain cities like Selma, Alabama, where racist whites and police officers were ruthless towards black citizens. Selma Police Officer Jim Clark and Alabama State Troopers, under command of Governor George Wallace, a long-standing segregationist, stood against them. |
Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." - Gov. George Wallace (March Book One) |
As 450 voting rights activists filed out of the Zion Methodist Church one night to march in Marion, a Selma suburb, cameras surrounded them. Police and their racist posse spray-painted cameras and shattered equipment. They knew that if the press televised the protest, Northerners might support the movement. Without protection, protesters were beaten by law enforcement. Jimmie Lee Jackson, protecting his 82-year-old grandfather, was shot by police and died days later. The SNCC, outraged, demanded justice. In response, at Jackson’s funeral, King announced a historic march from Selma to Montgomery for March 7, 1965.
|