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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1995)
T he P ortland O bserver • J anuary P age 11, 1995 Cl I Voting Rights Erupts From Selma Bridge B y M arilyn M iller In Selm a, Ala. lived the more than 15,000 b lacks who m ade up m ore than h alf o f its p o p u latio n . E arly in th e a fte rn o o n of M arch 7, 1965, groups o f these b la c k s w ere stre a m in g out o f B r o w n 's C h a p e l M e th o d is t C hurch. B ro w n ’s was located in the heart o f the black co m m u nity. D uring the past tw o m onths, the ch u rch had been the nerve c e n te r o f a d riv e to gain v oting rights fo r S e lm a ’s blacks. The fifteen th A m endm ent to the C o n stitu tio n , passed in 1870, stated that the rig h t to vote could not be d en ied on the b asis of race. Y et in S elm a in 1965, only 156 b la c k s o f voting age w ere re g is te re d . T h is situ a tio n w as ty p ical o f a num ber o f states in the deep South. U sing a variety o f ta c tic s-so m e legal, som e not- w hites had kept b lacks from v o t ing. S in ce Ja n u a ry , b lack s had been m arch in g in groups to the D alles C ounty co u rth o u se in an attem p t to re g iste r to vote. So far, not a sin g le black had su c ceed ed . S u n d ay , M arch 7, was an o th er day to try. This time, the destination was the state ca p ito l, in M o n tg o m ery, lo cated about 50 m iles east o f Selm a. Som e 525 m en, w om en and ch ild re n w ere going there to p ro test the lack o f voting rights to G ov. G eorge C. W allace. G o v ern o r W allace had banned the m arch, and the m arch ers w ere afraid that state tro o p e rs w ould try to stop them , as had already happened in o ther parts o f A la bama. In sm all g roups, the m a rc h ers left the chapel. On th e ir backs they c arried b ed ro lls and packs. Four am b u lances trailed behind them . The first ob jectiv e w as the Edm und Pettus B ridge, m ore than three q u arters o f a m ile aw ay. The bridge form ed part o f H ig h way 80, w hich let to M o n tg o m ery. T hree hundred yards aw ay from the bridge, the m arch ers passed three dozen state tro o p ers standing in the shadow o f the Selm a T im es-Jo u rn al bu ild in g . The tro o p ers m ade no m ove to interrupt the march. The marchers could see the dingy brown bridge as they approached, but they could not yet see over the rise to the other side. On the other Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge Dr. King speaking from the pulpit of Brown's Chapel. To his immediate left Cornetta Scott King, his wife. side waited more than 50 state troop ers massed about two hundred yards beyond the bridge. They were armed with clubs and they had gas-mask pouches slung across their shoul ders. Behind them , three dozen possemen loomed menacingly. Fif teen of them were on horseback. The possemen where volunteers engaged by Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark who believed in using force against black demonstrators. The sheriff was well known as a militant racist. On the sidelines stood some 50 white spectators. Beside a yellow bus, some distance from the troop ers, about 50 blacks also watched. The marchers kept moving across the bridge. What happened next was to af fect Americans all over the country. It was also to affect the president and the Congress, leading to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. What happened next led observers to refer to March 7, 1965, as “Bloody Sunday.” On Monday, March 8, all that could be seen on the six o ’clock news was the images of "Bloody Sunday" the bleeding, broken and unconscious passed across the screen, some of them 1 imping alone, others supported on either side, still others carried in arms or on stretchers. People from all over America came to Selma after the news stories. Throughout Monday, President John son was on the phone about Selma. He was concerned about possible violence during Tuesday’s march, and he urged movement leaders to postpone the action. Dr. K ing's aides were also worried. They feared King might be killed if violence erupted. No one really knew if the march would take place. Blacks had asked Service, to Alabama. Collin’s task was to try to persuade both sides to compromise. King refused to stop the march. Collins then went to Sher iff Clark and Colonel Lingo. They agreed not to use force against the marchers on one condition - that the marchers turned back when they reached the troopers. Collins informed King of their promise. King merely smiled in re ply. On Tuesday morning, Judge Johnson banned any march before Thursday. W hat would King do? At 2:25 p.m. M arch 9, the answer came. Arriving at Brow n’s Chapel, he stated that he was ready to march. At 3 p.m ., marchers once again reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There, a U .S . marshal read aloud Judge Johnson’s order. King said that he would continue to march and Sunday would not be repeated. Some things about the march seemed familiar. The 3,200 m arch ers moved down W ater Street. Be fore them stood the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which twice before they had failed to cross. But this time pro tected by the National Guard, they crossed it. The road to M ontgomery lay open once again. Three days later, they reached St. Jude, a Roman Catholic confer ence center outside M ontgom ery where they were to spend the night. A reporter noted that their entry had an almost biblical grandeur. The next afternoon, March 25, 1965, Dr. King addressed a crowd of more than 25,000 gathered before the A labama Statehouse. He said, “This is a shining moment. W e are on the move now. W e ar moving toward the land of freedom.” King addresses demonstrators at Brown's Chapel on Tuesday, March 9, after their return from the bridge. “Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to the ultimate reality.” Martin Luther King Jr. 815 Northeast Halsey Portland, Oregon 97232 (503) 287-4594 FAX (503) 282-7833 federal judge Frank M. Johnson to lift the ban on a march to M ontgom ery and tension continued to mount while everyone waited to hear Then Judge Johnson contacted the black leaders and recommended that they postpone the march until he could hold hearings, which were to begin on Thursday, to decide if the march should be permitted. The matter was now left to Dr. King and his associates. Should they postpone? If they did, they might lose the public’s attention If they went ahead, they would risk King’s life and break the law They decided to postpone. S om etim e M o n d ay , K ing changed his mind. He announced to the people at Brown's Chapel that he would lead a march on Montgomery the next day After hours of discus sion, at 4 am . Tuesday, other black leaders agreed to follow his decision. In a little more than 10 hours the second attempt to march on Mont gomery would begin. In the meantime, President John son sent LeRoy Collins, director of the Federal Community Relations protesters began to move across the bridge. State troopers waited several hundred feet in front of them for the second time that week. The next thing that happened caught most marchers, news people, and onlookers by surprise. King turned back. A moment later, the troopers moved to the side o f the highway, the road to Montgomery was open. It w as o pen, but the m a rc h ers w ere re tu rn in g , w ith o u t e x p lan atio n , to Selm a. The co lu m n s o b e d ie n tly fo llo w ed K ing back. A m o n g m a n y o f th e m , fu ry m ingled w ith surprise.! H ad th e ir le a d e r b e tra y e d them . Som e re a l ized that the tro o p e rs’ g e stu re w as one o f c o n tem p t. D id K ing have a reason for w hat he had ju s t d o n e? For the m om ent. K ing said nothing. On March 17,1965 Judge John son handed down his decision that he demonstrators could march to M ont gomery legally on March 21, 1965. At Gov Wallace 's request, the presi dent ordered 18 hundred National Guardsmen to protect them. Bloody In the same speech, King warned of a season of suffering still to come. His words were prophetic. That night, Viola Liuzzo, from M ichigan, a mother of five, drove some of the marchers back to Selma. On the re turn trip to Montgomery, she was shot to death by members of the Ku- Klux Kian. Still, despite this tragic event, relative quiet reigned the next day in Selma. The events that had begun three months before and climaxed on Bloody Sunday had made voter reg istration in the South a nationwide concern. Nearly five months later, on August 6, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act o f 1965. The act aided not only black voters but also the economically impoverished, the poorly educated, and non-En glish-speaking minorities. O pposi tion to the black vote did not end once and for all after Selma and the Voting Rights Act. But now, finally, some one and a half million blacks who had been kept from the ballot box would have the strength of fed eral law on their side
