The Road to Montgomery

A Deep Longing

This drive from Selma to Montgomery touched a deep longing I have carried for a long time … a longing for a different, more humane world.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech delivered at a March on Washington in August 1963 spoke to this longing for justice that resides in the heart and soul of oppressed people everywhere.

It led to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964. I had just graduated from college. I faced a different kind of discrimination … graduating without an engagement ring on my finger. To my parents and our culture, there was definitely something wrong with me. I felt the sting.

Enacting a Civil Rights Act seemed an important milestone. However, there were loopholes. It did not outlaw administering literacy tests. There was more work to do to ensure access to the voting booth.

We Won’t Give Up

As Diana and I drove those 54 miles on US 80 (Jefferson Davis Hwy) toward the state capital in Montgomery, we tried to imagine what it was like for those 1965 marchers.

Despite the violence directed toward them on March 7, the 600 Bloody Sunday marchers didn’t give up.

Despite a federal injunction on March 9 (Turnaround Tuesday) forcing the 2000 marchers to cut their trek short, they didn’t give up.

Two weeks later on March 21, 4000 marchers started out again, intent on reaching the state capital. This time they had protection.

When Governor Wallace refused President Johnson’s request for state protection, Johnson federalized 1,900 Alabama national guard and sent 2000 soldiers and dozens of FBI agents and federal marshals into Selma.

When the highway narrowed to two lanes, only a core group of 300 were permitted to continue. They slept in four campsites along the way.

When this rain-soaked core group of 300 reached the Alabama State Capital in Montgomery, their ranks had swollen to 25,000. Can you imagine the jubilation?

Quiet Strength

In 1965, peaceful, non-violent action proved to be the key. In a very quiet way, it revealed the extent of violence that fear of difference unleashes. A shocked nation could no longer ignore what fear wreaks.

Leaders who would rather not have been bothered … who knew there would be a political and, perhaps a personal cost to bear, could no longer remain silent and removed. It was time for change.

The Marchers Made a Difference

More violence was inflicted in the wake of the March. People lost their lives at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.

Still, on August 6, President Johnson signed The Voting Rights Act. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices and abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote, including those literacy tests used in many southern states after the Civil War.

The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870. It took 95 years to enforce it.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. 

15th Amendment to the United States Constitution

Linda’s Memories and Reflections

Age 9

I lived in the Jim Crow South for a year in 1951. I witnessed the way black people were denied access to drinking fountains, restrooms, etc. … the efforts to cheat them financially. I was proud of my parents for treating black customers with dignity and respect. It wasn’t until 2010 or so, while reading Isabelle Wilkerson’s, The Warmth of Other Suns, I learned lynchings were occurring in the area in Florida where we lived. I felt sick to my stomach.

That experience caused me to wonder, “What is wrong with us whites that we are so threatened by difference … a different color of skin … to the point we would delude ourselves into thinking these human beings are subhuman so we can deny basic human rights and inflict violence?”

Age 16

In 1958, at age 16, my essay on the topic, “Integration: Now or Never” resulted in my being selected as editor of our school newspaper. I found that essay recently during a household purge. How naïve I was back then. My heart was in the right place. I knew integration was inevitable, saw it as a good thing, knew the way we treated black people was wrong, and had no idea the extent of their struggle … a struggle that continues to this day … to achieve basic human rights.

Age 22

Thinking back to 1965 when I was 22 and excited about an adventure in NYC, I wondered why my memory of how I responded to those events in Alabama is so fuzzy? I wondered why I wasn’t more involved

I tried to stay informed. In fact, on that spring break NYC trip, I took James Baldwin’s, Another Country with me to finish reading. This novel was set in 1950s NYC’s Greenwich Village and included an exploration of interracial relationships and love.

I have a vivid memory of sitting next to a very attractive black man on the train as I read erotic scenes between a black man and a white woman. I wondered if he knew what I was reading. We never said a word to each other, but he smiled as though he knew.

Inexperienced and immature relationally and sexually, my face must have turned several shades of red. I have always regretted being too shy and introverted to engage him in conversation. I closed the book and put it out of sight in my tote bag.

Perhaps I lack memory of my response to the Voting Rights Marches because I wasn’t there. I only viewed the events through a black and white TV screen. Whereas my vivid in-person color experience on that train is seared in my memory.

In my mind’s eye I can still see that very attractive man wearing a suit, white shirt, and tie … the color and pattern of the tie escapes me. But his jacket was forest green, his trousers black, and his patent leather shoes polished to perfection.

This is so like me … with my life-long curiosity about intimate relationships … that this would be the vivid memory I carry to this day.

Age 80

All this churned within me as we traversed that highway, imagining that core group of 300 who walked every step of those 54 miles. It only increased my awe at their dedication. It made me question the extent to which I would go for justice. There are many ways to respond. What way is right for me? This question has haunted me since 2016.

Diana’s Wisdom

Diana brought her computer with her on the trip. Each day she wrote to family and friends about what we saw and her reflections. This is the wisdom she shared after our drive from Selma to Montgomery:

“If an individual wants to grow and develop, we have to take on our shadow side … look at it, admit its power over us, and be humbled in the face of it.  We also have to do that as a nation and as a culture.

Freedom is fought for and gained at a terrible cost but it seems the fight has to continue or it can be lost again.”  

~Diana

The Struggle for Voting Rights Continues

The Voting Rights Act signed in 1965 was extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision. Those nine states who had so flagrantly denied the right to vote would no longer be subjected to federal oversight to make sure they were following the law.

With that key provision gone, many states, including my own in Ohio, are making it harder and harder for any of us to vote … seriously jeopardizing our democracy and freedom.

We live in a time when a fear of difference is once more wreaking violence.

Responding

After I came home, that longing in my heart for a more just and humane world weighed on me. I sign petitions, call and send letters to representatives. I felt an urge to do more.

I felt drawn to attend an event sponsored by the League of Women Voters. I had already read that all four living previous Ohio governors were speaking out against Issue 1. Former Governor Taft and former Ohio House Representative, Mike Curtin, were to address the Voting Rights Issue on the ballet for Ohio’s August 8 election.

Governor Taft (a Republican) said, “This is BAD for Ohio. Educate yourself and spread the word.”

Mike Curtin (a Democrat) agreed and added, “We should INSIST that governments use best practices as businesses are supposed to do … especially now when confidence in government is declining. We need to turn that around. This is WORST practice … has never happened before. This is a RUSH JOB to make a fundamental change like nothing that’s happened in 100 years.”

I felt compelled to respond to Gov. Taft’s charge to spread the word.

I remembered receiving a notification about a Southwest Ohio Braver Angels meeting scheduled for the next evening. Their topic was Issue 1. I decided to attend.

In preparation, I transcribed the copious notes I’d taken the night before. I went to the meeting ready to share my concerns backed up by a list of negative consequences Taft and Curtin had stated would occur if this bill is passed.

Most of those present had already decided to vote no. But two women at my table were on the fence. One gave reasons why she was leaning toward voting yes. After listening to that list of negative consequences, both were convinced to Vote No in August.

And then I did more.

The League of Women Voters sent a link to the Taft-Curtin discussion, encouraging us to forward it to nine friends, urging them to VOTE NO on AUGUST 8. I sent it to more than nine friends, urging them to send it to nine more. I volunteered to join a postcard party where we’ll ask more people to VOTE NO.

I did something. And it never seems enough. And I did something!

There are many ways to respond. What’s your way?

In what ways do you relate to my wrestling with these issues?

How are you affected by revisiting these momentous historical events?

Author: Linda@heartponderings.com