Through It All by Christine King Farris

Author:Christine King Farris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2009-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

12

SELMA AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE

Even with the victories in Montgomery and in Birmingham, even with the success of the March on Washington, and even in the afterglow of ML’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, there remained work to be done. The year was 1965, and there still existed an immense void in the struggle for African Americans to secure the status and trappings of first-class citizenship: securing federal protection for the right to vote.

The field on which that epic confrontation would be waged was Selma, Alabama, and for good reason: In the early 1960s roughly 57 percent of Selma’s population was black. There were fifteen thousand voting-age black citizens, yet only 130 were actually on the rolls as registered voters. At one point, a group of thirty-two black teachers attempted to register to vote. All were promptly fired by the all-white school board.

ML believed the highest expression of black Americans’ newfound gains must come in the polling places. He had said for years, “If you give us the ballot, we will elect men of good will to the legislatures.” With the explosion of black elected officials, the growth of the Congressional Black Caucus, and in an era in which black Americans compete for and serve in the highest offices in the land, I can’t help but feel that ML’s efforts to secure the right to free exercise of the ballot have been vindicated.

Just as Birmingham had been the flashpoint that produced the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was Selma’s destiny to be the cauldron in which the Voting Rights Act was forged.

ML told his followers they’d have to be prepared to go to jail by the thousands in order to secure the right to vote. He went on to say, “We are not asking…we are demanding the ballot.”

As is now well known, plans were made to mount a fifty-four-mile march from Selma to the State capitol in Montgomery to dramatize the demand for unfettered access to the ballot.

In those days, we must remember, not just in Alabama, but across the length and breadth of the South, literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and many other types of creative subterfuge were employed to keep black men and women from registering to vote. Therefore, there was a need for federal legislation that would remove these barriers and foster an environment in which citizens could freely participate in the highest calling of a democracy: registering and casting an equal vote on the major issues and candidates of the day.

People have remarked that they don’t often see pictures of me at marches and other events. I was there, but the truth is, I’ve never been one for high-profile participation. However, I always tried to be there to help provide attention to detail, and to do the small things necessary to make whatever project ML and his staff were engaged in flow a bit more smoothly.

The Selma campaign was somewhat different. ML asked that I sing at the opening rally on the day we departed for Montgomery.

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