Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition
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January 19, 2000
JUNE FREEDOM DAYS
M O M ENTS IN CIVIL
RIGHTS HISTORY
"A
C A LL
TO
A C T IO N
C18
IN HONOR OF
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
THE CITY OF PORTLAND/MULTNOMAH COUNTY
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OFFICE
Pledges a commitment to
"redefining the dream for
the next millennium "
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, cofounder of South Africa's first black law firm and Nomzano Winifred
Madekizela, South Africa's first black social worked were married on June114. 1958.
B y J anus A dams = =
In the parade of Supreme Court
decisions that steadily chipped away
at the legal foundation o f segrega
tion, three cases form a collective
milestone: Henderson v. United
States, S w ea tt v. P ainter, a nd
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Re
gents. Adding to their impact, the
unanimous decisions reached in
each o f the three cases were all
handed down on the same day - June
5, 1950.
Henderson v. United States'. This
transportation case was brought by
Alphi Phi Alpha fraternity against
Southern Railway Company, which,
in its dining car, assigned one table
to blacks and reserved the other
tables for whites only. Under the
Interstate Commerce Act, passen
gers are equally entitled to facili
ties appropriate to the class o f ser
vice for which they have paid. Be
cause “the curtains, partitions, and
signs” all called attention to differ
ences in treatment by race, the Court
banned dining car segregation.
Sweatt v. Painter. Brought by
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,
this case attacked segregated gradu
ate schools. Faced with a legal chal
lenge, the Texas legislature had
hastily funded a black law school.
But as the decision stated “The
University o f Texas Law School
possesses to a far greater degree
those qualities...w hich make for
greatness in a law school...It is
difficult to believe that one who
had a free choice between these
schools would consider the ques
tion close.” The Court was not ready
to strike down the doctrine o f “sepa
rate but equal” segregation, but it
ordered Herman Sweatt admitted
to the law school under the “equal
protection” clause o f the Four
teenth Amendment, granting rights
o f citizenship to blacks.
M cLaurin v. Oklahoma State
B o a rd o f R egents: F u rth e r
undergirding Sweatt, the Court held
that once admitted, students could
not be segregated within the school.
Recognizing such segregation as a
handicap to the African American
student, the Court finally declared
all graduate school racial segrega
tion invalid.
June 11, 1963: What a day. Ala
bama Governor George Wallace
announced plans to personally block
admittance to the University o f Ala
bama o f two black students - James
Hood and Vivian Malone. Prompted
by Wallace’s bravado, Dr. King ini
tiated a challenge: “If the governor
o f Alabama will present his body by
standing in the door to preserve an
evil sy stem , then P resid en t
Kennedy ought to go to Tuscaloosa
and personally escort the student
into the university with his body!”
As Wallace appeared, the president
did not, but a deputy attorney gen
eral and federal troops did.
Back in Alabama, the two stu
dents were admitted and the univer
sity was officially desegregated un
der federal guard. That night, JFK
took to the air. Segregation, he told
the nation, was morally wrong, and
he outlined his proposed Civil
Rights Act.
Their courting days were spent
in an endless round o f politics, law,
school, and survival. But despite
one o f apartheid’s infamous ban
ning orders, Nelson R olihlahla
M andela, c o fo u n d er o f South
A frica’s first black law firm, and
Nomzamo W inifred M adikizela,
South Africa’s first black social
worker, were married on June 14,
1958.
They each remembered seeing
the other for the first time when the
other was unaware. He passed a bus
stop, saw her waiting, and tucked
her face away as a pleasant memory.
She first saw the “imposing” bar
rister in court when a friend o f hers
was assaulted by police. They met
in his office when she consulted
his lifelong partner, Oliver Tambo.
Phoning the next day, he asked her
to help raise money fo rthe Treason
Trial Defense Fund: “It was merely
a pretext to invite her to lunch.”
Nervously, she “took out every
schoolgirl’s dress” and ultimately
wore a friend’s dress. From then on
they were together - even when
they couldn’t spend much time. “ 1
was both courting her and politiciz
ing her,” said he. “Life with him was
always a life without him," said she.
At that first lunch, he said, “ 1 knew
right there I w anted to marry her -
and told her so.” W innie added,
“One day, Nelson just pulled up
on the side of the road and said,
‘You know, there is a woman, a
dress-m aker, you must go and see
her, she is going to make your
wedding gown. ’” He was given six
days’ leave o f his banning order
and paid the traditional bride price
(lobola) to her father. After the
cerem ony, a piece o f the wedding
cake was wrapped up for the bride
to bring to the groom ’s ancestral
home for the second part o f the
wedding. But that was not meant
to be. Indicted for treason, he re
turned to Johannesburg for trial.
Six years later, he was sentenced
to life.
True to her name - Nomzamo
means “one who strives” and one
who undergoes trials” - she, too,
endured banishm ent, prison, and
constant upheaval. For twenty-
seven years, she was all the world
knew o f him. Still, she kept the
cake - though it “crumbled a bit.”
It was there when he returned
from prison, a hero, in 1990.
This is an excerpt from the book
"Freedom Days ", Permission for
reprint was given by John Wiley
and Sons, Inc.
“One unfortunate thing about Black Power
is that it gives priority to race prejudice at
a time when the impact o f automation and
other forces have made the economic
question fundamental for blacks and whites
alike. In this context a slogan “Power for
Poor People ” would be much more
appropriate. ”
By Martin Luther King
V e r a K a t z , M ayor
C ity O f P o r t l a n d
B e v e r l y S t e in , C h a ir
M ultn o m ah C o unty
R O B E R T P H IL L IP S
C ity / C o u n ty A ff ir m a t iv e
A c tio n O ffic e r
For employment information eontact thi Affirmative Action Office Outreach
& Recruitment Unit at
823-3530
N o E x c e p tio n s
N o E xc u s e s
P ori I anc I Public Sc bools
501 N. Dixon (503) 0 16 2000
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