With worldwide media coverage came worldwide disapproval; a serious problem for the Federal Government. Wallace though, didn’t care about America’s image:
“Other nations should be worried about what we think of them. After all we feed most of them. Southern tax payers pay for foreign aid.”
Even so, Federal government became more inclined to act. The contrast between black and white protest was effective on many levels. The goodness of the civil rights campaign became clear to many. This was highlighted by the calmness and peace portrayed by the protestors, as well a many religious references used by King in his speeches. Secondly, the whites came off worst for their unnecessary use of violence. In confrontations, the black person often had more dignity and political sense than his white counterpart and in a way, the angry whites became more primitive than the view they had held of blacks for generations. Media coverage had the power to turn nation, as well as the rest of the world. It was international pressure that made the government act to stop the violence.
The use of non-violent protest by black people can tell us a lot about the strength and reserve they must have had. It is important to remember that they had the choice of violent and non-violent protest. This was a choice that was not easy, and there were times when the movement almost stalled. In 1963 at the end of the Birmingham campaign, a bomb exploded at a black church in Birmingham. Four children were killed. People began to question the use of non violence, wondering whether or not it was effective. As one protestor remarked, there were “too many funerals...Questions were asked, how many more?” Violence seemed like the easy option. Whites seemed to easily use it against them, without punishment. Some may have remembered Emmett Till, eight years before; his killers were acquitted by an all white jury, only to sell their confession four months later.
Martin Luther King believed firmly in non violence, and his leadership skills were tested to the limit as he tried to pull angry and frustrated blacks away from the brink of rioting.
“They [white policemen] their violent, angry dogs and turned them loose against non-violent people…But in spite of the meanness of Birmingham, we must confront her with our kindness and our goodness and our determination to be non-violent. As difficult as it is, we must meet hate with love.”
From all of this, Martin Luther King emerged as a true leader. The march from Selma that ensued went for 54 miles and became 25,000 strong. The black protestors had resisted temptation and chose the non-violent protest and they became all the more strong for that. Other Americans may have realised this also and support for the movement rose, as demonstrated by the huge numbers of marchers. This all help to prove the effectiveness of non violence.
Martin Luther King’s leadership and ideals of non violence were vital to the movement. His speeches were of great inspiration and many religious references were used, as Jesus himself preached non violence. “Was not Jesus an extremist for love – ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.’” The ideas in the famed Letter from Birmingham Jail preached non-violence using the Bible. White Americans reading this would have realised that their racist views were in fact against the Bible. The letter was written in defence of criticisms from white clergy in Birmingham who thought he should never have come to the town. I think that the letter was an effective argument against these attacks, and another vitally inspirational speech from Dr. King.
It was from Birmingham jail in 1963 that King planned the next phase of non violent protest. He wanted to get black school children to march. They would signify the entire communities plight for civil rights, and yet they would have no responsibilities. Of course, any violence used against them would make the white authorities look worse than ever. The children marched, and were arrested as if they were adults and taken to Birmingham jail. The move caught national and international attention. The children kept marching, this time with adults, and, as we have already seen, they were all attacked with police dogs and fire hoses. Blacks were becoming more and more frustrated as talks began between Martin Luther King and David Van. Just before violence broke out, a truce was agreed and it was decided that at least 3 black students must work in every store downtown.
Breakthroughs like Birmingham showed the true effectiveness of the non-violent protests. The black people had stood their ground despite the dogs and the water, and soon the jails were full, causing national attention. . The justice department were forced to move in and soon the truce was agreed. More successes came from Birmingham and the civil rights issue became the major concern throughout the country. Kennedy accepted it was time for change, as shown in a speech he made that year:
“It’s time for America to fulfil it’s responsibility…race has no place in
in American life…”
Birmingham was one of the many victories that non-violent protest brought. Back in 1956, in Montgomery Alabama, Rosa Parks protest that led to the bus boycott eventually led to desegregation of buses. There was no violence by black people, just the patient protest that forced several companies across the country to go bankrupt.
Selma was another famed success. Here it was not just the peaceful march, but the ugly contrast with white violence that led to the infamous bloody Sunday. The 25, 000 strong march from Selma to Montgomery which followed Bloody Sunday was symbolic to the core and showed many Americans the power and determination of the African American protestors. As SNCC member John Lewis put it: There was “never a march like this before…You saw the power of the most powerful nation on earth.”
Non-violence was not always successful though, and several times throughout the civil rights period it came close to collapse. One of the biggest defeats, both for Martin Luther King and non-violent protest was in Albany, in the deep south. It was began by SNCC, the student body of campaigners in 1961, protesting against segregation. In 1963 Martin Luther King visited to make a speech, but was jailed for participating in a march. He was bailed to be able to work on other campaigns. The movement continued without King and as usual relied upon non-violence and the brutality of the white officials. This time though, they were up against tough competition in the form of Laurie Pritchett. He had read King’s books on non-violence and co-ordinated a way to arrest protestors but keep the jails relatively empty – he divided the arrests among several jails in the area. Meanwhile, King had returned and was soon arrested in 1962, along with Ralph Abernathy. This time King decided to stay in jail to create attention – but Pritchett was ready for that as well – he bailed King out to avoid attention. King was stunned by this. A few months later, King left Albany a defeated man. Non-violent protest had failed the movement.
The Birmingham campaign itself was a success, mainly due to King and non-violent protest. But in September 1963, the 16th street Church bombings killed four children. Mourning black people were angry and King feared that they would turn violent. Most were frustrated that the movement was costing lots and doing little, and faith in non-violent lessened.
Non-violence wouldn’t last though. Even after the success of Selma, violence soon broke out in 1965. The Watts Riots were not in the deep south as many would expect. They happened in Los Angeles and with 34 people dead, they were a serious challenge to King and non-violence. King commented:
“There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society where a large segment of people in that society who feel they have no stake in it, who feel they have nothing to loose…unconsciously want to destroy it.”
Blacks suffered in the north just as much as the deep south. They suffered from poverty and discrimination. 2,000,000 had flocked to Chicago in the forties and now they made up the poorest quarter of the cities population. King and the SCLC went north to fight for better housing and employment for black people in the city. In January 1966 the Chicago Freedom Movement began it’s own non-violent fight for rights. With both King and the CFM, the city council reacted non violently and avoided any conflict. After six months had passed, more questions were being asked about the effectiveness of non-violence.
In the summer of 1966, the officials turned off the water hydrants, despite the hot weather, and at this point, non violence snapped and riots began. In four days 2 people were dead. Martin Luther King pleaded protestors to keep peaceful:
“Those who make a peaceful revolution impossible will make a violent revolution inevitable.”
Violence stopped, and peaceful (although angry) marches continued, but damage had already been done. President Johnson secretly compared the rioters to the Ku Klux Klan and was amazed about how unappreciative the rioters were of all his work (Johnson had done more than any other president for civil rights). The SCLC left Chicago with increased funds for housing but little more. Importantly, non-violence had collapsed despite all of King’s efforts.
It is unquestionable the huge effectiveness of non-violent protest. It secured rights in Montgomery in 1956, Birmingham in ’63 and Selma in ’65, not to mention the education battles of the late fifties. The protests turned public opinion against the brutality of the whites and towards the dignity and patience of the blacks. Non-violence was King’s best tactic and his true leadership was revealed in his attempts to maintain peace and dignity. In later years increased frustration and militant blacks led to a breakdown in peaceful protest, but the patience, dignity and intelligence of King, all the other black protestors and the effectiveness in securing civil rights will not be forgotten.