Selma is the town in Alabama in the American South where blacks in 1965 at long last won the right to vote all across the country.
The Constitution gave black men the right to vote in 1870. But whites in the South found ways to take away that right bit by bit: by requiring poll taxes, reading tests, by threats, arrests, violence and even murder.
Selma was in a county where only 1% of blacks were registered to vote while over 60% of whites were. In neighbouring Lowndes county 0% of the blacks were registered while 118% of whites were.
The two main wings of the civil rights movement at the time were:
- SCLC – made up of church leaders, like Martin Luther King, Jr. It had the big names and could raise plenty of money.
- SNCC (“Snick”), the student movement.
Both practised civil disobedience along the lines of Gandhi.
SNCC was more fearless. It led the fight for the vote in Alabama. It made the town of Selma the centre of that fight: its top policeman was an easily angered, physically violent, made-for-television racist. They hoped that protests would cause him to discredit himself and white rule.
In February 1965 during a protest in a nearby town Jimmie Lee Jackson, while trying to protect his mother, was shot dead by police.
Anger among blacks over Jackson’s death threatened to tear the movement apart. It needed be expressed somehow. The SCLC came up with the idea of a five-day march to the state capital, Montgomery.
Bloody Sunday: On March 7th they set out for the capital. They crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and there stood the police. Some were on horses. Governor George Wallace had ordered the police to block the way.
Hosea Williams and John Lewis in front being approached by the state troopers.
The protesters stopped. The police ordered them to leave. The protesters stood their ground. The police started pushing them back. Then with whips and clubs they beat up utterly defenceless people. There was tear gas and screaming everywhere.
Selma Movement leader Amelia Boynton is assisted after being tear-gassed and clubbed to the ground, while tear gas and other fallen marchers cover the route to Montgomery on Bloody Sunday.
The police had stopped the march, but that night on television the whole country saw them in action. It was shocking – even to Jim Crow racists.
Hundreds of people from all over the country, even whites, came to Selma to join a new march.
On March 9th the marchers and the police faced off again at the foot of the bridge. This time Martin Luther King led the march. They prayed and turned back.
That night three of the white protesters were beaten up with clubs. One of them, James Reeb, a Christian minister, died. That set off protests across the country. The president got on television and promised to sign the Voting Rights Act, which would outlaw poll taxes, reading tests and all the rest.
On March 16th King set out again, leading over 8,000 marchers. The third time was a charm: a state judge ruled they had the right to march. The governor would not protect them but the president did.
Along the way Stokely Carmichael and others in SNCC began what would later become the Black Panthers and the Black Power movement.
Children waving to marchers from a porch during the Selma march, 1965. © Bob Adelman / Magnum Photos
– Abagond, 2012.
See also:
Abagond 
Aba,
Thanks for this history lesson. It’s easy to forget how others had to die so we in present day America could have rights.
May I say, just thinking out loud, that it’s no wonder why black men, especially, in this country have had a long hateful, problematic realtionship with policemen.
This has been going on since…forever.
One would think after seeing something like this played out on tv, white America would be horrified of themselves.
Instead, it’s us they fear.
Go figure.
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No reason to start about Justin Morgan here, truthbetold.
Suppose people who look like you had raped, enslaved, murdered, imprisoned, sold, tortured and so on people whose descendants are now living among your people in great numbers, not 150 years ago, but yesterday, so to say and they have not yet stopped doing so. Wouldn’t you fearthat one day soon they might be finally dropping the legacy of their chains and take revenge, with interest?
Remember, the rape of German women by USSR troops did not spare socialists.
Of course they fear you, you might one day stop being Uncle Tom the Martyr (who felt sorry for the [CENSORED], who could beat him to death, but could not force him to betray his sistas) and become Nat Turner. If you would take up a gun and start shooting whites, you would have historical justice at your side, and they know that.
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Awwww! Enlightening comments. It is sad that the average white person thinks we are like them, and want revenge. How sad indeed. Now of course, I would like reparations made to us. Be sure of that.
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Excellent post. REAL, TRUE history – not some whitewashed version of it.
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Thank you for this. As sepultura13 said, this is real history with no whitewashing and no excuses and it’s shameful that it’s not taught everywhere.
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@Timothy Garner, well, I’m not saying they have reason to THINK that, except for a few nutcases, but those nutcases,in combination with the historical (and enduring) injustices are sufficient to make them seriously FEAR that.
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118%?? How’d they get that?
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Dead white people were kept on the rolls. Sometimes they even voted!
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Timely post given the things that have been discussed here lately, and the upcoming election.
The hatred amazes me. .
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The hatred used to amaze me.
Now it’s expected…
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@abagond: good job once again!
I would very much like to see how the racist commentators here justify the killing of a white priest among the protesters. I bet they come up with some pretty handy explanation about “radical liberationists” or “liberal leftists”.
What this really brings in ming is that how recent this was. This is the real history of USA! Things did not happen in some hazy distant past but in our life time! How many times the mainstream media liked to be so morally irritated about racial discrimination in South Africa and forgot that this took place in USA in 1965.
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My gosh. Southern whites should be ashamed of themselves. They remind me of bullies trying to get their way through intimidation.
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Dead white people were kept on the rolls. Sometimes they even voted!
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Thanks for the history. I was never taught this in ANY history class EVER.
One would think after seeing something like this played out on tv, white America would be horrified of themselves.
Instead, it’s us they fear.
It seems kinda funny if not ironic doesn’t it? A group of people who believes they are superior is afraid of people they believe are inferior.
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@ brothawolf
I’ve always assumed that hatred of blacks, by whites, deep down, is hatred of oneself.
As for this little tidbit of real history, I too never learned this in school.
Makes you wonder what else is out there we need catching up on.
A side note for you: Please read Brainwashed by Tom Burrell.
You’ll find it an eyeopener.
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@brothawolf: “It seems kinda funny if not ironic doesn’t it? A group of people who believes they are superior is afraid of people they believe are inferior.”
I’ve been wondering this too 😀
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This needs to be taught in schools, thank you Abagond! I love this Martin Luther King Jr quote: “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” And it seems appropriate here. Excellent history lesson.
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I agree it’s a good and timely post, because of the denial of this kind of honest racial history going on right now in Arizona schools.
Abagond, how dare you stir up ethnic envy and hatred! /snark
Sigh.
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@Brothawolf:
“It seems kinda funny if not ironic doesn’t it? A group of people who believes they are superior is afraid of people they believe are inferior.”
—
I believe fear was the reason why American slaveholders didn’t want slaves to learn how to read. Slaves were beaten or killed for trying. As the saying goes, knowledge is power.
@Aspergum:
‘I agree it’s a good and timely post, because of the denial of this kind of honest racial history going on right now in Arizona schools.’
—
And I believe fear was behind Arizona House Bill 2281 which was signed into law.
Some have denied being afraid of or feeling threatened by a particular group, but something is going on when one group tries to keep another group down.
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“I agree it’s a good and timely post”
Timely almost 60 years later?
“because of the denial of this kind of honest racial history going on right now in Arizona schools.”
So blacks are like illegal immigrants? This makes no sense.
Here’s a thought…nobody fears blacks. Maybe they just don’t like a low-IQ group of people dragging down national productivity and culture. Certainly stupid whites are part of this, but blacks lead the way when it comes to the lowest common denominator.
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Like the Joker said: And here… We… Go! 😀
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@Sam:
I’m actually glad the Dr. commented on this particular post.
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I see the trolls are back!
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“The police had stopped the march, but that night on television the whole country saw them in action. It was shocking – even to Jim Crow racists.
Hundreds of people from all over the country, even whites, came to Selma to join a new march.”
Even whites?? Oh. My. God! What were those whites thinking?
“One would think after seeing something like this played out on tv, white America would be horrified of themselves.Instead, it’s us they fear.”
They were horrified – or did you think the action by the feds didn’t occur because of in part calls by whites in other places to the President, Senators, and Congressmen? Did something give you the idea that white trash were popular amongst other whites?
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Here’s a thought…nobody fears blacks.
Well thats reassuring! – Shame the police with their whips, clubs and tear gas didnt share your opinion….. Perhaps you should share this on other posts where people quote crime statistics to rationalise their ignorance and fear of BP.
Maybe they just don’t like a low-IQ group of people dragging down national productivity and culture.
Wow, for a so called low IQ group of people they must be pretty capable and powerful if they have the ability to do this.
Certainly stupid whites are part of this,
How refreshingly honest of you to concede your part in this, though hopefully this will prove cathartic as you do seem to have a lot of pent up resentment.
but blacks lead the way when it comes to the lowest common denominator.
And i’m sure you are a pioneer, paving the way for the next generation or maybe you will be, once you get that massive chip off your shoulder!!!!
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Dave,
Shhh! Social class is a non-issue here. Apparently, accounting for it while discussing racism muddies the waters too much. Or something.
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While whites were horrified by watching the police brutality against blacks what most moved them to action was the death of Reeb, a white minister. Meanwhile, the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, the direct cause of the march itself, seemed to mean nothing to them.
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Class matters but in America race matters way more. Way.
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And so, while we’re exposing racism, we must never acknowledge the concurrent exacerbations of classism. That would complicate and lessen the satisfactions to be had in seeing things in terms that are, so to speak, strictly and (over)simply black and white.
But really, racism is but one tool among many wielded by our plutocratic overlords, another way for the 1% to d-and-c the 99%. Having that awareness in mind makes it hard to see racism as a bigger problem than classism.
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OMG, did anyone notice Justice Antonin Scalia’s remark about the Voting Rights Act of 1965? He called the continuation by Congress to maintain that act as a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”
To her credit, Justice Sotomayor asked the attorney challenging the Voting Right Act whether he thought voting rights are a racial entitlement.
For me, I just look at Florida, a state where only a few counties are covered by the Voting Rights Act, but where the state has a history of trying to disenfranchise voters. I have no doubt that the nine states that are covered would follow suit if that act were ever repealed.
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Found a video report on this.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/28/supreme_court_review_of_voting_rights
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We should have blog posts about both SCLC and SNCC (esp. the latter). I suspect that these are not covered in US history classes.
BTW, Is anyone following the development of Shelby County v. Holder? When is a verdict due?
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Anyone seen Selma (2014 film) yet?
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^^^^Not yet but I am extremely excited to do so. I will update as soon as I have.
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^^ I don’t see it on the calendar of movies to be shown here. Probably will only come here if it wins an Academy award.
But it should be on screens in the USA already. Really want to hear reviews from commenters here.
I find it interesting that the 3 top roles in the movie are played by Britons.
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Well, 2 days ago, the news hit the headlines here that none of the Academy Award nominations to persons (eg, actors, directors) went to any persons of colour.
They brought up the example of “Selma” – nominated for Best Picture, but for no individual awards.
Has anyone seen the film yet? Is the Academy rightfully criticized for being racist?
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^^^
The movie Selma was a work of art from start to finish. Highly recommend seeing the film. The Academy did white business as usual for the snub of director Ava DuVernay and her crew in their nominations.
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I could be reaching but i feel like the snub is because the movies falls on the same time as the protest that are going on in the country and white folks are just sick to death of that. Ava DuVerney has become an accomplished director and she will keep doing good work and this snub just push her to keep going. I know it’s a slap in the face isn’t the Academy Awards committe with the exception of the black woman just a bunch of old white guys? I guess they felt since they gave 12 Years A Slave the prize last year they did their due dilligence. I’m just guessing this might be the reason for the snub.
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Selma won best song at the Golden Globes that is the only prize it’s going to walk away with.
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@MB,
“12 Years A Slave”, however, follows the classic white saviour trope. It makes whites feel better about themselves. I suspect that Selma does not.
Yeah, I have read that the director was really snubbed on this one.
I also find it interesting that many of the main roles, both white and black, were portrayed by non-Americans, esp. given that LBJ and George Wallace were both southerners, as well as many of the other key roles.
The movie was started well before the recent round of street protests against police brutality, so really, it is a coincidence. But even more significant is the upcoming 50 year anniversary of the March.
I hope maybe a post goes up in time for Black History month too.
The producers accept the award for Best Picture, which, for Selma, are mostly white people.
Come to think of it, Brokeback Mountain (2005) was snubbed by the Academy too, probably because of the political sensitivity at the time.
Also, for both these movies, I also wonder if China has anything to do with it. China only allows a limited number of Hollywood movies to be screened there. Brokeback Mountain was blocked in cinemas due to its content. I suspect that Selma will also be blocked in China due to its content. (Civil Disobedience, protest for the right to vote and police brutality is something that China does NOT want to promote given recent events in HK) and the It would be embarrassing (to Hollywood producers) for the film to pick up many Academy awards when the film cannot take advantage of that in key markets (and yes, China is one of the key markets for Hollywood films).
I also wonder if the Hong Kong government also finds the topic uncomfortable for the same reason. At best, it might only be screened at an international film festival. Films have NEVER been blocked here before, esp. Academy award winning films, so this will mean a lot to see what happens.
So, I predict that Selma will NOT win Best Picture, no matter how well done it is.
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@jefe: You give lots to ponder. Great post.
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@jefe: Yes, you are correct about 12 Years A Slave being a savior trope she was adamant and unapologetic about that and i was proud of her for doing that. Maybe that might have something to do with the snub as well. It was all over the internet about how Duverney didn’t want to make a saviour film. Who knows what the reasons are? Other than the lazy they’re just being racist. But i there was Jake Gyellehaal’s great performance in Night Crawler that got shut out as well. Jennifer Anniston in Cake got snubbed as well. Those were pretty good performances.
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The Oscars are racist. We already knew this.
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I will go see Selma though just to support the film
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Love this movie. I cried a great deal through most of it. I will give more details later but a must see film.
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@sharinalr: I heard from many it was emotional.
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@abagond
Yes, but now the rest of the world knows this too. Coming after Ferguson, New York, Cleveland, etc., people overseas are getting a taste of how racist the USA actually is. Using black male mug shots for firing range target practice would not have made news headlines overseas in the past. Now it does, as does the Oscar nominations.
@George
For more and more Hollywood films, this is increasingly less true. The most successful films derive most of their revenue from outside the USA. The main reason for having white saviour tropes now is not for box office receipts, but to appease the home base.
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@Mary Burrell
It was very emotional. It is hard to put into words the hurt that comes with watching the film. Even now it makes me want to cry thinking about what I saw.
Though the film really revealed a lot of what we as black people still struggle with. Even with it being the times, it is amazing how the times are really just same ole same ole with a slight bit of changes.
To me it seemed as if King was struggling with being peaceful and taking on a more militant stance after watching people be killed and beaten. I particularly loved that much of what we talk about on this blog was discussed in that very film.
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@Jefe
I am not sure where the white savior idea is coming from, but Director Ava DuVernay made it clear she was not interested in a white savior film and I personally did not see a white savior type thing going on. I saw a white man (Johnson) stealing lines from King and claiming it as his own. I saw blacks dying and being killed for a cause. Two whites did die in the movie though. A death that sparked a reaction in king, but I also saw sparks in him from the death of others in the cause.
The lack of a white savior may have been what lead to the snub. You know how all black films must be pre-approved on a white savior or else.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/i-wasnt-interested-in-making-a-white-savior-movie-ava-duvernay-talks-selma-plus-new-clip-8-featurettes-20150107
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@Sharina,
I didn’t see it yet, so I don’t know why people might think that.
But you confirm that the film shows that
– black lives matter
– it is not whites who save them from their helpless and futile acts
I am really curious if they will try to ban it in HK given what happened here over the past 4-5 months. Have you found a link where it is scheduled to be shown overseas. I am curious to find out if it is being banned anywhere.
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@ Sharina,
I would agree with your commentary. It definitely was not a white savior flick. This film gave the perspective of the people that lived that era. There were various scenes that were beyond gripping.
SPOILER:
– the bombing of the church with children inside
– Oprah’s character trying to register to vote
– the kid that was being shot(Jimmie Lee Jackson)
– the priest being killed
– the actual footage of the Selma protesters
I especially like how DuVernay used the lense from the vantage point of a spy (marking down every move that King & entourage made, the telephone calls etc.) I liked how she showed King’s humanity via the hint of infidelity, his spectrum of emotions, and his indecisiveness at times.
I can’t wait to buy this film for my personal library.
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@ George
Everyone knows that white people, like everyone else in the world, are not all bad or uniquely evil. It should not be necessary that a film contain white saviour tropes to avoid offending white people’s sensibilities. What does it have to do with being “fair”?
To be honest, a movie that is not a white saviour trope out to save helpless darkies would be a breath of fresh air.
Anyone else:
Is there a source to find out when it is being screened outside the USA?
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No local cinema is showing that film here anytime in the near future. I could not find any info on when it is coming here, if at all. I am worried that it might get banned. If so, it would be a first.
Often there is a 1-2 month delay in films coming here, perhaps since they have to add subtitles. But the title already has been mentioned in local news reports.
If it won any Academy Award, however, it would pit local media outlets and cinemas against the government, for sure. I expect it to be blocked in Mainland China, just like the Interview. That means we have to get bootleg copies.
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@lifelearner
I completely agree. The bombing of the church with the girls in it set the tone for the film in a big way for me. I really hope her actions set the tone for other black films. Better yet other films in general. There is no need for a white savior.
“I can’t wait to buy this film for my personal library.”—You are not the only one.
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@jefe
I could not find when the film will be released overseas.
“That means we have to get bootleg copies.”—-I have a website I use that would aid in this if you have to take this route. Hopefully it is not one that is blocked in your area.
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@sharina
@lifelearner
Would either of you do a guest post on the film if Abagond is not doing one?
@Sharina,
All of the Oscar nominated Best Picture films have either shown here already or have announced the screening date, except for Selma and Whiplash. I’m a little concerned.
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“the reason i thought white savior/martyr made an appearance in Selma is because of the violent murder shown of the white pastor/deacon.”—Jimmie Lee Jackson was also killed in a violent manner. Both deaths marked a pivotal moment in the film. None were more or less. The death of the white pastor was the moment you get to see Johnson now caring (blaming king), even though there were several deaths prior of unarmed blacks. It showed you his priority was the care and safety of whites first. The moment those whites men brand them white n-words and told them they were going to get a taste of what blacks go through should have been the moment whites realized how bad blacks have it. Most will see it as “we suffered to” or “they were agitators”. Same as today.
@ everyone
Another thing I saw in this film was the Johnson and Wallace did not really have different views, but simply different methods for dealing with what they saw as the negro problem. Wallace believed fully in terrorizing and dictatorship over them. Johnson believed in giving them something simply to shut them up.
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@jefe
I am not really confident in my ability to write a guest post. So I would have to say no.
As to an alternative to watching the movie. Try primewire.ag
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@jefe
lol, I’m going to pass as well. I will leave the writing here to Abagond and the other professional writers. 😀 This was a beautiful open letter to Ava DuVernay, really poetic. —>http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/an-open-letter-to-my-sister-ava-duvernay-20150121
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Just found out today that Selma (2014 film) will be screened in my location starting March 12. I am looking forward to it.
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When Common and John Legend took the stage to accept their award for the song “Glory”, they likened Selma 50 years ago to Hong Kong today.
The local HK TV emcees clearly pretended that they didn’t even hear it.
(https://abagond.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/occupy-central-%e4%bd%94%e4%b8%ad/#comment-277425)
Selma (2014 film) will be here in less than 3 weeks. It will be interesting to watch how the media will cover it here.
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Selma’s Bloody Sunday was 50 years ago today.
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Why is it always a Sunday that gets bloody?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday
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This is a momentous occasion so much blood shed for the right to vote, and people in the community still have economic disparity in that city today. There are still things to fight for today. People fighting for the right to vote. And people died and in 2014 the 1965 voting rights act was gutted. I see the clips from the film “Selma” which i have yet to see, and the Edmund Pettus bridge is in many clips. I had to google who Edmund Pettus was. This is such irony where black people fighting for their right to vote are marching at the foot of this bridge named after this racist demon, who was the grand dragon of the KKK.
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Much respect to John Lewis he is a legend and a hero.
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I do love the song by John Legend and Common “Glory” Listening to Joy Reid and Melissa Harris speak about Congressmen John Lewis who fought 50 years ago being brutalized by racist police officers and today he is still fighting for the same voting rights that got gutted in 2014. I am loving watching the coverage of this.
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Rest In Peace Jimmy Lee Jackson
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@jefe
Late seeing the post, but congrats on it finally making it your way. I really hope you enjoy it and look forwards to you comments on it once you see it.
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RIP Viola Liuzzo who was killed by KKK while fight for the civil rights in 1965. She should be remembered as well.
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Jefe
Have you seen the movie yet?
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Not yet, maybe next week.
It is showing here now, though.
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@Sharina,
I just saw this last night.
Indeed, it is not a white saviour film. I think that explains part of the Oscar snub, ie,
– 12 years as a slave just won Best Picture before
– 12 years as a slave IS a white saviour film
It is a breath of fresh air to see a film that is not a white fairy tale version of what happened.
Also, I cannot help but feel that the fear of offending China (or creating a US-China political problem) is an aspect of why it cannot win Oscars.
One aspect not mentioned in the comments above is one I think is instructive for the film, ie, how Malcolm X, MLK, Jr. and SNCC collaborated to pull this off. That is not explained well or discussed in most of our history books.
And it helped me think more about how this could have helped the fight for universal suffrage movement in HK if it had come out BEFORE Occupy Central. One reason for the poor result of that movement was the inability for different groups to collaborate on the effort, and leverage public support, as well as the ineffective radicalization of the students
It also made me think about the periods I spent in Alabama in my early childhood in the 1960s. It elevates this subconscious fear that I have held my entire life. Had my mother left my father and took me there as a toddler they would have violently harassed my family there and I would definitely be dead today.
It also made me think about the DOJ report about Ferguson. I hope that will turn into a national movement to clean up the systematic disenfranchisement across the whole USA.
It is fitting that Common and John Legend mentioned both Ferguson and Hong Kong in their Oscar acceptance speech. They are both so intricately relevant to the theme of Selma.
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@jefe
I hate it has taken me so long to return to this thread.
They say history repeats itself and it is amazing how struggles of the past are still happening today. I have hope that Selma will be an eye opener is making people realize that this was only one battle in the war.
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@Sharina,
I read that the public screening of “Selma” is banned in Mainland China. I strongly suspect that that could be a factor of why it received an oscar snub.
(http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-hong-kong-selma-20150321-story.html)
Not too many of my friends were that enthused about seeing the film here. But I have already gone to see it twice.
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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Watched Ava DuVerney’s Selma on television, it was very well done, great ensemble cast, well acted. It reminded me the more things change, the more they stay the same. Here we are in 2021 and Republicans are working overtime to suppress the voting rights of Black Americans. The struggle continues and Black Americans still are not free in 2021, despite a bill being passed to make Juneteenth a holiday.
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