Goals of the March

James Bevel’s initial plan was to march to Montgomery to ask Governor George Wallace (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) if he had anything to do with ordering the lights out and the state troopers to shoot during the march in which Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed. Bevel called the march in order to focus the anger and pain of the people of Selma, some of whom wanted to address Jackson’s death with violence, towards a nonviolent goal. The marchers also hoped to bring attention to the violations of their rights by marching to Montgomery. Dr. King agreed with Bevel’s plan, and asked for a march from Selma to Montgomery to ask Governor George Wallace to protect black registrants.

Historical Impact

The marches drastically shifted public opinion about the Civil Rights movement as a whole. The images of Alabama law enforcement beating the nonviolent protesters were shown all over the country and the world by the cameras of television networks and newspapers. The visuals of such brutality being carried out by the state of Alabama helped shift the image of the segregationist movement from one of a movement trying to preserve the social order of the South to a system of state endorsed terrorism against those non-whites.^[14]

The marches also had an powerful effect in Washington. After witnessing TV coverage of "Bloody Sunday," President Lyndon Baines Johnson met with Governor George Wallace in Washington to discuss with him the civil rights situation in his state. He tried to persuade Wallace to stop the state harassment of the protesters. Two nights later, on March 15th, 1965, Johnson presented a bill to a joint session of Congress. The bill itself would later pass and become the Voting Rights Act. Johnson’s speech in front of Congress was considered to be a watershed moment for the civil rights movement; Johnson even used the movement’s most famous slogan "We shall overcome:"

Change of views

Wallace became a born-again Christian in the late 1970s and apologized to black civil rights leaders for his earlier segregationist views. He said while he once sought power and glory, he realized he needed to seek love and forgiveness.^{[note 3]} His term as Governor (1983–1987) saw a record number of black appointments to government positions.^[29]

I have combined materials, the video from YouTube and the text and photograph from Wikipedia. This period in one of the poignant one’s in American History. There had been great suffering by many. There was the practice of the denial of rights. There was brutality and murders. Though the power of peaceful demonstrations and the role of government [Federal Government in this case], the country set forth in law [the Voting Rights Act of 1965] a remedy for the wrongs of the past. Laws [e.g. the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Right Act] and reality were [an continue to be] factors that America dealt with after this period.

I trust the three articles [this article; Today—Selma, Alabama & From Selma to Montgomery, Alabama] I have published in this blog give some perspective to Mr. Giraldo’s purpose in his ride from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. We cannot forget the 1963 church bombings in Birmingham, Alabama. There is 1957 and Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas and many other places throughout this country where there is much to be learned from our past in order to better understand who we are and where we can go as a country.

Thanks to Mr. G for bringing this slice of American history to our attention.

Links:

• Voting Rights in Selma, Alabama
• The Selma-to-Montgomery March
• The Official Web Site of Selma, Alabama
• My Today—Selma, Alabama blog post giving the historical significance of Selma, Alabama in America’s civil right struggle.
• This day in history [March 21, 1965 ~ Selma to Montgomery, Alabama March from History.com]
• My From Selma to Montgomery, Alabama blog post of the march to the state capitol.
• Christian Science Monitor’s This Day in History [March 25, 1965]