Marches and Protests: Success in
Birmingham & Selma
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In April 1963, African American
leaders in Birmingham, Alabama
encouraged MLK to visit and
help desegregate the most
segregated city in the U.S..
The city of Birmingham refused
to issue a permit (to march) to
the civil rights leaders.
MLK and others did so anyway,
were arrested and thrown in jail.
From his cell, MLK will write one
of his most famous letters…
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
For years now I have heard
the word "wait!" It rings
in the ear of every Negro
with piercing familiarity.
This "Wait" has almost
always meant "Never."
We must come to see,
with one of our
distinguished jurists, that
"justice too long delayed
is justice denied."
SECTION 359. SEPARATION OF RACES
All public facilities must have separate entrances, exits, seating and
standing areas for white persons and negroes.
It shall be unlawful for any person in charge or control of any room, hall,
theater, picture house, auditorium, yard, court, ballpark, public park, or
other indoor or outdoor place, to which both white persons and Negroes
are admitted, to cause, permit or allow herein or thereon any theatrical
performance, picture exhibition, speech or educational or entertainment
program of any kind whatsoever, unless such room, hall, theater, picture
house, auditorium, yard, court, ball park, or other place, has entrances,
exits, and seating or standing sections set aside for and assigned to the use
of Negroes, unless the entrances, exits and seating or standing sections set
aside for and assigned to the use of white persons are distinctly separated
from those set aside for and assigned to the use of Negroes, by well defined
physical barriers, and unless the members of each race are affectively
restricted and confined to the sections set aside for and assigned to the use
of such race.
SECTION 369. SEPARATION OF RACES
It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place of the serving of
food in the city at which white and colored people are served in the same
room, unless such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a
solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet
or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for
each compartment.
SECTION 597. NEGROES AND WHITE PERSONS NOT TO PLAY
TOGETHER.
It shall be unlawful for a Negro and a white person to play together or in
company with each other in any game of cards, dice, dominoes or
checkers. Any person, who being the owner, proprietor or keeper or
superintendent, of any tavern, inn, restaurant, or other public house or
public place, or the clerk, servant or employee or such owner, proprietor,
keeper or superintendent, knowingly permits a Negro and a white person
to play together or in company with each other at any game with cards,
dice, dominoes or checkers in his house or on his premises shall, on
conviction, be punished as provided in Section 4.
Jail As a Method Of Protest
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The resulting images were
an embarrassment to the
nation.
After 11 days, MLK was
released from jail due to
pressure from the Kennedy
Administration.
He immediately began to
organize another march.
When Dr. King said part of his strategy was to fill the jails,
Sheriff Bull Connor said, “That’s okay, we got the room.”
Southern Justice 1963:
Dogs and Fire Hoses
Student Protesters in Birmingham
Results of
Birmingham
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Desegregation of
city facilities and
fairer hiring
practices.
President Kennedy
introduced a
stronger Civil
Rights bill.
• After the Birmingham marches, the 16th St. Church was
bombed. 4 girls were killed in the blast.
• Birmingham, becomes known as “Bombingham”
• Over 63 bombings with no convictions.
• This incident increased support for Civil Rights
March on Washington
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To encourage the passage of the bill MLK and others
organized the March on Washington.
200,000 people from all over the country and from all different
races came to hear prominent speakers, especially MLK.
The bill passed after President Kennedy was assassinated.
“I Have a Dream” Speech
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
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In his first public address to the nation,
President Johnson said nothing “could more
eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory
than the earliest possible passage of the Civil
Rights bill”
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited
segregation in public accommodations and
discrimination in education and employment.
It also gave the President the power to enforce
the act’s laws.
Methods of Protest:
Education-Freedom Summer
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James Farmer-SNCC
Northern whites and blacks were
trained and then sent to
Mississippi to help educate and
register AA’s to vote.
White Southerners were very
disturbed by this attempt.
AA’s were a big majority of the
population in many counties, but
made up less than 1% of registered
voters.
SNCC was at the forefront of this
voter registration movement.
Freedom Summer - 1964
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SNCC volunteers were
first informed that the
work was dangerous, even
deadly.
There would be many
incidents of intimidation,
violence, and murder.
Violence could come from
either the police or the citizens
of the town.
Three Civil Rights Workers Murdered!
"Your work is
just beginning. If
you go back home
and sit down and
take what these
white men in
Mississippi are
doing to us. ...if
you take it and
don't do something
about it. ...then
God damn your
souls."
Mississippi CORE leader Dave
Dennis delivering the eulogy for
James Chaney, murdered by cops
and the Klan in Philadelphia MS,
1964.
Freedom Summer is
not very successful.
However, the incredible
amount of violence and
hatred towards the
volunteers and potential
voters, cause more
attention to be directed to
the issue of voting rights.
Bob Dylan lends support
Voting Registration Difficulties
March From Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
to support voting rights – March 7, 1965
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Voting was still a problem in
the South.
Police would arrest people
just for attempting to vote.
The March route crosses
Lowndes County, stronghold
of the Ku Klux Klan.
Population:
73% Black, 27% white.
Voter registration:
0 % Black, 117% white!!
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A city with overt
institutional racism, Selma,
Alabama was a stronghold
of segregation.
In 1961 only 156 out of
15,000 African Americans
were registered to vote.
Late in 1964, the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) decided
to make Selma its focus.
Many protests were staged,
several of which ended in
violence and arrest.
Another, on February 16,
ended in the death of
marcher Jimmie Lee
Jackson
The Route to Montgomery
The Posse
Storm Troopers?
The One-Sided Battle
President Johnson: “What happened in Selma was an American tragedy. The
blows that were received, the blood that was shed, the life of the good man
that was lost, must strengthen the determination of each of us to bring full
and equal and exact justice, to all of our people.”
• Once again the
nation was shocked!
• President Johnson
ordered the National
Guard to protect the
marchers.
• He also went on
television promising
a new Voting Rights
Act… “And we shall
overcome!!!”
On to Montgomery!!!
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Bloody Sunday by U2
I can’t believe the news today Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away
How long...How long must we sing this song?
How long? how long...
’cause tonight...we can be as one Tonight...
Broken bottles under children’s feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won’t heed the battle call It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, bloody Sunday
And the battle’s just begun There’s many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart
Sunday, bloody Sunday
How long...How long must we sing this song?
How long? how long...
’cause tonight...we can be as one
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Sunday, bloody Sunday
And it’s true we are immune When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
The real battle yet begun (Sunday, bloody Sunday)
To claim the victory Jesus won Sunday bloody Sunday
The Voting Rights
Act of 1965:
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Federal officials
could register voters
if city officials
refused.
Eliminated literacy
tests.
That year 400,000
African Americans
registered to vote in
the Deep South
Voter Registration
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Over the next three years, almost one million
more African Americans in the South registered
to vote.
By 1968, African American voters had a
significant impact on Southern politics.
During the 1970s, African Americans were
seeking and winning public offices in majority
African American electoral districts.
The End of the Movement
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For many people the civil rights movement
ended with the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
in 1968.
Others believe it was over after the Selma March,
because there have not been any significant
changes since then.
Still others argue the movement continues today
because the goal of full equality has not yet been
achieved.