Historical Events In Selma

In the essay “Let Justice Roll down”, Martin Luther King Jr wrote about the difficulties and social injustices faced by the negro population in America during the 1960’s. The main theme Dr. King was writing about in his yearly essay was the fight for civil justice and equality for all men and women. The essay chosen was written in 1965 and made very good points to the argument for equality made by Martin Luther King Jr. Three of these points included in the following paragraphs are the importance of Selma, AL to the rights movement, the importance of demonstrations, and a stronger focus on the Civil Rights Act.

The movie Selma is about 1965 campaign by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to protect the equal voting right for African-American citizens. So the main theme of this movie is that every citizen should have a right to vote and all citizens should have equal voting rights. This movie is likewise loaded with religious and profound themes in regards to the power of love, encounter with insidiousness and abhors, the power of confidence, the power of religious groups, boldness, and freedom. Selma demonstrates a significant occasion in current U.S. history and with remedies for its deception identifying with President Johnson, can upgrade a unit on the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and additionally

One peaceful day of a voting rights march turned into a day of outrage from white people, on March 7th, 1965 Alabama State Troopers attacking the African-Americans with nightsticks, tear gas, and whips after refusing to turn back. Many African-Americans were severely beaten or injured and many ran for their lives. This incident was captured on national television and many citizens disagreed what happened. After the whole incident happened President Johnson called for a comprehensive voting rights legislation. In a speech to congress on March 15th, 1965, President Johnson stated the many ways election officials were denying African-Americans citizens to vote; also telling congress in mainly southern states they would make the African-Americans recite the Constitution or explain the most complex provisions or state laws.

The Selma to Montgomery March influenced Lyndon B. Johnson to pass the Voting Rights Act to gain the voting equality in the South.

In the race of the presidency of 1964, Johnson was chosen in a victory and used this to push for legislation he believed would help the American way of life, to gain more voting-rights laws. After the Civil War, which happened between the years 1861 through 1865, the 15th amendment, was changed in the 1870, which prevented states from denying a man citizen the right to vote based on race, color or any conditional origin, if he wasn't white. But years passed on, some discriminatory reasons were used to prohibit African Americans, especially from the South, from their right to vote. During the Civil rights movement of the years 1950s and 1960s, the voting rights activists in the South were put through forms of poor treatment and violence. One very significant event that happened on March 7th, 1965 when participants very peaceful in a voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery were met up by Alabama troopers who attacked them with weapons. Some of the people were beaten up and some ran from their lives. In that tragedy incident, Johnson called for inclusive voting rights legislation. In a speech of session of Congress in

In the 1869, congress passes the 15th amendment giving African American men the right to vote. Then in 1964 poll taxes where banned when it was adopted into the 24th amendment. Through all of this there were still many minorities left out of the loop, even though these laws and amendments where passed they truly weren’t put into place in individual states for a while. In 1965 many people marched and fought for the civil rights of many people. One of those famous marches was the march of Selma that included the famous MLK Jr. Later that year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the ‘Voting Rights Act’ into law. The Voting Rights Act consisted of permanently removing all barriers that detained many minorities from participating in elections and casting their votes by prohibiting racial/ethnic discrimination at all

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, was passed in order to ban discrimination in public places as well as strengthen the role of the federal government to end segregation in public places. Also included in this act was the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which was established in order to ensure racial discrimination was not occurring within employment. The aspect of desegregation was not occurring rapidly in Southern states, such as Alabama. Not only was desegregation not occurring quickly under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but also the act did not address any issues with voting rights among the African-American community. The civil rights movement grew strong in southern regions especially racially tense areas such as Selma. In the city of Selma as well as a variety of other southern regions, African-Americans were harassed when attempting to practice their fundamental rights of voting through poll taxes and literacy tests. In 1965, only 1% of African-Americans were registered to vote in Selma but 50% of Selma’s population was African-American. In order to address the lack of voting rights, Martin Luther King and the SNCC worked vigorously on setting up marches to overcome the injustice that was occurring in Selma. Due to the overly aggressive authorities in the South, a majority of the marches ended violently thus increasing public support for new legislation to ensure the basic right of voting to the African-American

James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman were on their way to help with trying to get the local African Americans to where they could vote for the elections that they were not allowed to vote for. The three men were arrested on traffic charges and was locked up until a set time in the middle of the night. The three were released and was heading down Highway 19 south toward Meridian, when something strange happened. The three were being following and eventually police sirens were going off and they thought that they were just being pulled over. The police officer that released them and the Ku Klux Klan abducted and killed them. All three were shot and beaten until an unrecognizable state and were put in a swamp like area on County Road 515. The three would be missing for forty-four days before an informant would tell the FBI that was looking for the three where the bodies were located. Before the informant told where the bodies were, people were beginning to think that the whole thing was a hoax and that they were probably somewhere laughing at the whole thing. Name would begin to fly around and fingers would begin to be pointed but there was not enough evidence for the state officials to step in and prosecute the case. However, after much uproar from locals and civil right activists the federal authorities would eventually step in and take over the case.

The Selma marches have had an immense impact on United States history. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed. Even after its passing, many southern states were still segregated and nothing really changed. The Selma marches were three marches that protested the state of Alabama for its discrimination against African Americans. The state of Alabama made it hard for African Americans to register to vote and even the few who were registered had a hard time voting.

The movie Selma is about African Americans and even some white people who marched in the 1960s from Selma to Montgomery. They had a struggle to achieve equal rights and equal treatment in southern states that placed restrictions on who was able to vote. MLK was the leader of the nonviolent civil rights movement. Many African Americans followed him and looked up to him as he led the marches. The first march failed and ended with many African Americans beaten or even killed by white southerners. The second march he had more support form white people in the north who participated in the march, but MLK turned around and decided not to march. The third march he made it from Selma to Montgomery.

Here we see the irony of men’s decisions the decision to march by King his uncertain feelings about the march and that of Johnson also not wanting the event to take place. This is why I believe the Selma march was a major change for the civil rights movement as a whole. It galvanized most American of the plight of the African American in the south. This also gave government official some courage to vote for this type of legislation.

Even though the marchers faced violent opposition and met with conflict, they continued their protests. The books and the movie displayed conflict throughout. One example is during the first attempt to cross the bridge, when the marchers were met by the Alabama State Troopers. It went very dark, very quick, as the troopers barged towards them, making this day known as “Bloody Sunday”, March 7, 1965. When asked for his comments in the movie by the press after the brutal attack on the marchers, King says “While rageful violence continues towards the unarmed people of Selma, while they are assaulted with tear gas and batons like enemy in a war, no citizen of this country can call themselves blameless, for we all bear a responsibility for our fellow man. I am appealing to men and women of God and goodwill everywhere, white, black and otherwise. If you believe all are created equal, come to Selma. Join us. Join our march against injustice and inhumanity. We need you to stand with us”. The second attempt to cross the bridge on March 9, 1965 brought clergy, men, and women from all over to join. But faced conflict as well, this time between Martin Luther King Jr, and the marchers themselves. However, there was a major difference regarding this attempt to cross, between the books and the movie. In the books, the marchers were met on the bridge by a Federal Official who

On 1 May 1866 in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, an altercation between black Union soldiers and Memphis police officers started a chain reaction that eventually brought about what has come to be known as the Memphis Riots of 1866. The group of amicably intoxicated soldiers reacted negatively when told by a small group of officers to break up their party, and although no one was seriously injured, the situation quickly escalated to the point where shots were fired on both sides (Carden 2). This incident, however, was not the cause of the Memphis Riots. Instead, I will argue that the altercation merely served as the spark to set a fire to a whole mess of kindling made of economic, political, and social twigs and branches, which was already in place long before the actual events of the Memphis Riots.

Selma, a fictional movie based on true events, debuted in 2014 and narrates King’s efforts to acquire voting rights for blacks. The movie mainly takes place in Selma, Alabama, hence the movie’s title. King rallied supporters in Selma to organize a march to Montgomery, the capitol of Alabama. The movie primarily focuses on King and his supporters, and their struggle against the racism of white oppressors. The fight was certainly not easy, and many supporters in the march faced extreme discrimination and violence. Annie Lee Cooper, who played a significant role in both the movie and the actual movement, had her voter registration form

Equality and Justice - false promises a nation was created to protect. The historical drama, Selma (2014), directed by Ava DuVernay, depicts some of the struggles African-Americans faced in the pursuit of equality and justice during the mid 1950’s to 1960’s, and the role Martin Luther King Jr. played in his attempt to overcome such inequalities. Even before its release, Selma received backlash from critics who claimed it falsely depicted Lyndon B. Johnson at odds with Martin Luther King Jr, and alleged that the murder of the four girls at the Birmingham Church occurred in September 1963, rather than at the end of 1964, which the film suggests. Regardless of such claims, the film, Selma, does depict a historical event set forth by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965. During this time period, racial segregation was prominent, especially in the southern states. The government justified such segregation based on the 14th Amendment’s wording of “separate but equal”. However, many African-Americans were dissatisfied and demanded true equality. It was not until the mid 1960’s, after Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, that racial tension began to decline. Although Martin Luther King Jr.’s role was invaluable in the Civil Rights Movement and required great courage, Selma aims to portray a complex side of King, mixing his bravery and determination with self-doubts and internal conflicts in his pursuit of justice and equality.