The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March

Description

WHY A 56-MILE WALK FOR FREEDOM IN 1965 STILL CHALLENGES AMERICA TODAY

THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 WAS THE CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, FOREVER CHANGING POLITICS IN AMERICA. NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME, VOICES OF THE ERA, ALONG WITH SOME OF TODAY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITERS, SCHOLARS, AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS, COMMEMORATE THE STRUGGLE AND EXAMINE WHY THE BATTLE MUST STILL BE WON.

"One of the difficult lessons we have learned is that you cannot depend on American institutions to function without pressure. Any real change in the status quo depends on continued creative action to sharpen the conscience of the nation."--MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

"As long as half our eligible voters exercise the right that so many in Selma marched and died for, we've got a very long bridge to cross."--BILL CLINTON

"I would hope that students today can learn from Selma to acquire a better understanding of how oppressed people with limited resources can free themselves and make the world better."--CLAYBORNE CARSON, STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Preface: Reflecting on the Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March by Dara N. Byrne and William E.Cox.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Selma to Montgomery: An Unfinished Agenda by Tavis Smiley.

PART ONE: "CIVIL RIGHT NO. 1."

1. Voices.

2. The Crucible: How Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge Changed Everything by Clayborne Carson.

PART TWO: ARITHMETIC OF POWER.

3. Voices.

4. The Partisan Landscape: How Blacks Became the Indispensable Democrats by Ronald Walters.

5. New Dilemmas: Redistricting and Racial Politics by Carol M. Swain.

6. One Vote, Once Color: Understanding the Connection between Racial Identity and Voting Preferences by Kenny J. Whitby.

PART THREE: BRIDGES TO CROSS.

7. Voices.

8. Beyond Racial Politics, or Not? Chicago's Experiment in Coalition Politics by Keith W. Reeves.

9. Losing the Right to Vote: The Impact Felony Disenfranchisement by Jamie Fellner and Marc Mauer.

PART FOUR: PARALLEL STRUGGLES.

10. Voices.

11. Sisters in the Struggle: Reflections on Black Women's Activism by Gayle T. Tate.

12. Indian Voters: Awakening a Sovereign Capacity by David E. Wilkins (Lumbee) and Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe).

13. Latino Voters: Lessons Learned and Misunderstood by Louis DeSipio.

14. Asian American Voters: A Challenging Diversity by Pei-te Lien.

PART FIVE ADVANCING THE AGENDA.

15. Keeping the Promise: Why Voting Still Matters by Theodore M. Shaw and Debo P. Adegbile.

16. Where Do We Go from Here? A Vision for a New Black Politics by Manning Marable.

Timeline in Civil Rights History.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sections 1 Through 11.

Notes.

Contributors.

Index.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Suffix (name)
• African American studies
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• African American
• Montgomery
• United States
• History
• JR
• Selma
• Alabama

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 24 août 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470255384
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March
The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March
The Editors of Black Issues in Higher Education with Dara N. Byrne, Ph.D.
L ANDMARKS IN C IVIL R IGHTS H ISTORY
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2005 by Black Issues in Higher Education. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
Design and composition by Navta Associates, Inc.
Photo credits: pp. 8, 23, 30, 38, Library of Congress; p. 49, Ed Reinke, Associated Press; p. 74, Flip Schulke/ CORBIS; p. 79, Scott Applewhite, Associated Press; p. 92, Seth Perlman, Associated Press; p. 106, Hillery Smith Shay, Associated Press; p. 154, Victoria Arocho, Associated Press; p. 158, Ron Edmonds, Associated Press;p. 168, Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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ISBN 0471-71037-7
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book represents an important period of African American history, when the torch of democracy was passed from one brave body of men and women to all the generations that followed. This book is dedicated to them, the torch passers and the recipients.
And so it is on a more personal level that torches are also passed and additional dedications are appropriate. The Cox family has just witnessed the passing of our matriarch, Artensie Wesley Cox. She leaves an incredible void for she was a special woman.
Picking up her torch are Rhyann Lee Clark and Rhyann Lee s new brother, Dakota Scott Clark. Their world has been profoundly affected by those events in Alabama in the 1960s. This book is dedicated to all of the members of the Cox and Wesley families, past, present, and future.
William E. Cox
CONTENTS
P REFACE
Reflecting on The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March by Dara N. Byrne and William E. Cox
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NTRODUCTION
Selma to Montgomery: An Unfinished Agenda by Tavis Smiley
P ART O NE CIVIL RIGHT NO. 1
1 V OICES
Martin Luther King Jr.
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Joseph E. Lowery
John Lewis
2 T HE C RUCIBLE : How Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge Changed Everything by Clayborne Carson
P ART T WO THE ARITHMETIC OF POWER
3 V OICES
William E. Cox
J. L. Chestnut Jr.
4 T HE P ARTISAN L ANDSCAPE : How Blacks Became the Indispensable Democrats by Ronald Walters
5 N EW D ILEMMAS : Redistricting and Racial Politics by Carol M. Swain
6 O NE V OTE , O NE C OLOR : Understanding the Connection between Racial Identity and Voting Preferences by Kenny J. Whitby
P ART T HREE BRIDGES TO CROSS
7 V OICES
Henry Sanders
Andrew Young
Bill Clinton
Lani Guinier
8 B EYOND R ACIAL P OLITICS, OR N OT ?: Chicago s Experiment in Coalition Politics by Keith W. Reeves
9 L OSING THE R IGHT TO V OTE : The Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement by Jamie Fellner and Marc Mauer
P ART F OUR PARALLEL STRUGGLES
10 V OICES
Ella Baker
Tex G. Hall
Ra l Yzaguirre
Margaret Fung
11 S ISTERS IN THE S TRUGGLE : Reflections on Black Women s Activism by Gayle T. Tate
12 I NDIAN V OTERS : Awakening a Sovereign Capacity by David E. Wilkins (Lumbee) and Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe)
13 L ATINO V OTERS : Lessons Learned and Misunderstood by Louis DeSipio
14 A SIAN A MERICAN V OTERS : A Challenging Diversity by Pei-te Lien
P ART F IVE ADVANCING THE AGENDA
15 K EEPING THE P ROMISE : Why Voting Still Matters by Theodore M. Shaw and Debo P. Adegbile
16 W HERE D O W E G O FROM H ERE ?: A Vision for a New Black Politics by Manning Marable
T IMELINE OF C IVIL R IGHTS H ISTORY
T HE V OTING R IGHTS ACT OF 1965, S ECTIONS 1 THROUGH 11
N OTES
C ONTRIBUTORS
I NDEX
PREFACE
Reflecting on The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March
D ARA N. B yrne and W illiam E.C OX
As we were putting the final touches on our first book in the Landmarks in Civil Rights History series, The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education , it became very clear that a book on the rise of civil disobedience needed to follow. So The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March was born. We asked the contributors to examine how the voices in the freedom struggle became louder and louder until they were heard, not only in the South, but in the nation s capital and then in every corner of this nation.
In the decade after the Brown decision, lawyers continued attacking Jim Crow in the courts. But efforts by the Department of Justice lacked the coercive capabilities necessary to make real progress toward guaranteeing civil rights. The pictures on the pages of newspapers and on television screens at home and around the world grew ugly. Demonstrating for equal access and opportunity in a free society that they had helped to build and defend, black men and women were being beaten with clubs and chains. Our children were being chased by dogs. Soldiers had to guard the doors of schools and colleges to protect black students from angry mobs. Fire hoses were turned on peaceful demonstrators. Yet each despicable act seemed to add fuel to the movement.
No outrage brought more support for the aims of the civil rights movement than the brutality during the Alabama march from Selma to Montgomery. What had started out as a local voter registration campaign quickly became a national symbol. Deploring the bloodshed, Congress passed the most significant civil rights landmark of our time, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, vindicating the marchers and protecting the right of all Americans to vote, regardless of race or color.
Four decades later we can finally measure the full importance of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march. This book represents the views of experts who have examined the march and its aftermath from myriad perspectives. The result is a powerful testament to the men, women, and children who put their lives in jeopardy for our fundamental freedoms. And, above all, the book provides a much-needed, thorough examination of what must yet be done now to protect them.
Truthfully, The Unfinished Agenda is a disciplined read. The editors and contributors have put forth some very challenging and grounded discussions with you in mind. Some educate, some motivate, and some agitate.
Part one serves as a snapshot of the era. In the voices of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lyndon Baines Johnson, Reverend Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC), and Congressman John Lewis, then a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the climate and culture of civil disobedience come alive. Standing on the front lines of the struggle, these leaders had a sense of purpose that was remarkable. Later in the book, you will also hear from Ambassador Andrew Young and former president Bill Clinton, pioneer freedom fighter Ella Baker, Margaret Fung of the Asian American Legal Defense Fund, and others who remind us of the deep convictions underlying the Selma protest.
Clayborne Carson, head of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University, provides a brief primer on the movement. Carson shows how SNCC, comprised of young people, many just out of their teens, galled authorities by persuading farm workers and field hands to risk their lives to register to vote. Eventually, on the foundation of these personal acts of persistence and courage, some twenty-five thousand people, black and white, mounted the historic mass march.
Now, as we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of that achievement, it is evident that the right to vote cannot be taken for granted. This is an unfinished agenda. Despite the gains made in 1965, there is no certainty in 2005 that all Americans, much less all people of color in the United States, have equal access to the polls or equal representation under law. Those assumptions are highly dubious, as the rest of this book proves.
In part two, Ronald Walters surveys black voter registration trends and demonstrates that, after the march and contrary to popular belief, blacks almost immediately played an increasingly pivotal role in elections. Why then, he asks, are black issues marginalized? Carol Swain argues that partisan m