Selma Voting Rights Movement
Escalating Brutality
Arrival of the state
troopers greatly escalates tension. Meeting with his Executive Staff in Atlanta , Dr. King decides that it's time for him to call
attention to the continuing denial of Black voting rights by going to jail in Selma Selma
Jail" that he hopes will have an effect similar to that of his famous
Letter from Birmingham
Up to now, SCLC senior
staff have carefully maneuvered to avoid any risk of King being arrested.
Changing that policy is a complex strategic decision. He is the prime symbol of
Black resistance to white-supremacy and the top target of every racist hate
group and fanatic. Clark's deputies are known for their vicious brutality
toward Blacks, and past history gives them scant reason to fear any
consequences for whatever they might do to a prisoner in their custody. Behind
bars, King will be vulnerable to any "lone-gunman" or "crazed assassin"
who "mysteriously" finds his way into the Dallas County Selma Selma
… Monday, February 1,
is the fifth anniversary of the historic Greensboro Sit-In. Dr. Selma city jail
which is run by Baker's police, rather than the county jail which is staffed by
Clark 's deputies. Most of the marchers are
bailed out by SCLC, but as planned, King and Abernathy refuse to post bond and
they end up sharing a cell …
… Deep in the dingy
cell block, King talks quietly with the regular prisoners who tell him their
stories of southern injustice. One has been waiting two years for trial with no
opportunity for bail. Another was jailed after being beaten by cops on the
street. Now 27 months later he has still not been told the charges against him.
Others have similar tales. King is saddened, but not surprised. Jails all over
the Deep South are the same, and until Blacks
gain the vote and enough political power to challenge reigning sheriffs and
mayors, nothing is going to change.
…
Students march out of Morning Star
Baptist Church
in Marion
… The next day, 520
more are sent to jail in Selma, and on Wednesday, another 300 for defying a new
injunction issued by Judge Hare forbidding demonstrations outside the
courthouse. The total number of arrests in Selma
In Selma Camp Selma
…
From his jail cell,
Dr. King issues "Letter from a Selma Birmingham
President Johnson’s attention is on America ’s involvement in the war in Vietnam Selma
[All Americans] should be indignant when one American is
denied the right to vote. The loss of that right to a single citizen undermines
the freedom of every citizen. This is why all of us should be concerned with
the efforts of our fellow Americans to register to vote in Alabama
Meanwhile, under
pressure from the Department of Justice and white moderates in Selma
who hope that concessions will weaken or divert the movement, Judge Thomas
issues a new order on Thursday morning requiring the Dallas County Dallas County Alabama
Whenever possible,
Freedom Movement arrestees are kept segregated from the regular prisoners so as
not to contaminate the inmates with dangerous ideas such as speedy-trials,
right to an attorney, racially-unbiased justice, and other such
"subversive" notions. The main exception to this rule is that white
civil rights workers are sometimes locked in with white prisoners who are
encouraged by the guards to show these "race traitors" the error of
their ways with a thorough beating. For their part, the deputies — all white, of
course — inflict their own physical abuse on "uppity" Blacks who are
rebelling against the sacred "southern way of life."
Jail food is so foul
it's inedible until hunger forces inmates to swallow it down while trying not
to gag. Though the authorities allocate a daily budget to feed each prisoner,
it's up to the jailers to spend the money as they see fit — and they get to
pocket whatever is left over. The result is a salt-encrusted diet of black-eyed
peas or lima beans contaminated by roaches, a square of crumbly cornbread,
acrid black coffee, and on special occasions, grits or a boiled chicken neck.
But small as the expenditures are, as the number of prisoners swells, so too do
the costs of feeding and guarding them, thereby diminishing the "surplus"
funds that deputies and guards are accustomed to skimming off the top.
Inside the jammed
cells, Movement prisoners endure uncertainty, boredom, rats, roaches, clogged
toilets, inedible food, lack of showers, sweltering heat, and freezing cold.
Freedom songs and spontaneous group prayer bolster their courage and spirit.
When not singing or praying there is talk. The boys talk about girls (and sex),
and the girls talk about boys (and sex). There are also ongoing discussions and
debates about the Movement, strategy, tactics, nonviolence, Black history,
economics, civics, politics, philosophy, and a universe of other subjects. Some
of the prisoners are college graduates or undergrads, some are still in
segregated Colored schools where many topics are forbidden and cannot be spoken
of openly, and some have had little or no formal education at all, though they
are well- schooled in the brutal realities of white-supremacy and Black
exploitation. Each person teaches what they know, and soaks up new knowledge
from everyone else. The jam-packed cells become intellectual pressure-cookers
where new ideas, new concepts, and new contexts ferment, bubble, and fume. In
later years, some of the young students tell interviewers that it was this
jailhouse university that inspired them to find their way to college, something
they had not previously thought might apply to themselves (Bound 1-3).
“This is one more example of the inhuman, animal-like
treatment of the Negro people of Selma ,
Alabama Selma
Clark's brutal
treatment of the Black community's children re-energizes the movement which had
been sagging under the weight of march after march, arrest after arrest, all
for little result. The next day, Thursday, more than 400 adults and students
march to the courthouse in a revitalized show of strength. The wave of adverse publicity
caused by Clark 's cruelty temporarily gives
Wilson Baker the upper hand in the ongoing struggle between them, so Baker is
able to apply his "kill 'em with kindness" strategy. Hare's
injunction is not enforced, and no one is arrested or beaten. Clark
and Hare are furious (Clubs 1-6).
Arrests continue to
mount, people continue to lose their jobs, and the endurance of Selma
DCVL argues that even
though the Thomas order does not apply to any other county in the state, it
should be characterized as a small, encouraging, partial victory to raise
spirits. And its procedures should be followed in the hope of getting at least
some Black voters added to the rolls.
…
Later that evening,
the turnout for the nightly mass meeting at Brown Chapel is large. Large and
frustrated. Despite marches, arrests, court orders, and over a thousand
appearance book signatures, only a trickle of Blacks have actually been
registered to vote. Hosea Williams tells them that despite the huge number of
Blacks who lined up at the courthouse that day, "We're just about as far
from freedom tonight as we were last night." (Holding 1-6).
The sight of 1,500
Blacks freely marching to the courthouse in Selma
without arrest or retribution outrages Hare, Clark ,
and the other hard-line segregationists. The White Citizens Council runs a
full-page ad in the Selma Times-Journal
equating the Civil Rights Act with Communism, … a sign that the political tide
is swinging back toward Hare and Clark .
The focus is now on
adding new signatures to the appearance book rather than lining up en masse day
after day at the Dallas County courthouse. On Tuesday, February 16th, John
Lewis of SNCC and C.T. Vivian of SCLC lead a small band of those who have not
yet signed the book to add their names. …A cold rain is falling, and Vivian
leads the little group to the Alabama
Street Clark orders
the remainder to leave. C.T. confronts him face to face, "You're a racist
the same way Hitler was a racist!" Deputies push them off the steps with
their clubs, knocking several people to the pavement. Vivian leads them back to
the door. They demand to be let in out of the rain. A deputy smashes his fist
into C.T's face, sending him reeling back with blood flowing from his mouth.
Then they drag him off to jail.
At the mass meeting on
Wednesday night, DCVL leader Rev. Reese calls for an economic boycott of white
stores owned by, or employing, members of Clark 's
posse. Dr. King, ill with a viral fever, hoarsely tells the crowd, "Selma
By now, most of those
in Brown Chapel are veterans of direct action and they are grimly aware of what
a night march implies. Night marches allow adults with jobs to participate
after work which increases numbers and political impact. But night marches are
dangerous because Klansmen, police, and possemen can attack under cover of
darkness with little risk of being identified. Even with flash bulbs and
portable spotlights, the range of media cameras is sharply curtailed and it's
easy for the cops to keep reporters far enough away so that nothing is recorded
on film (Shooting 1-2).
Works cited:
“Bound in Jail.” Selma Selma & the
March to Montgomery
“Clubs and Cattle Prods.”
Selma Selma & the March to Montgomery
“Holding On and Pushing Forward.” Selma Selma & the
March to Montgomery
“Letter From a Selma Selma Selma & the
March to Montgomery
“The Shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson.” Selma Selma & the
March to Montgomery
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