MLK’s Crusade for Voting Rights & the Hopes of a Nation
How the Bloody Sunday attacks in Selma shocked, saddened and spurred sympathy for the Civil Rights Movement
By Courtney Suciu
1961年，在洛杉矶集会之前，小马丁·路德·金（Martin Luther King Jr.The Chicago Defender1。
金说：“我们的重大举措是通过在注册和民意测验的位置进行戒备来加强选民的注册，以及我们可以采取的措施来强调黑人剥夺其特许经营权的程度。”
Without the right to vote, Black people had no say in how they were governed – meaning they couldn’t elect officials who would ensure equal treatment and protect them from being victimized by crime because of the color of their skin. Meaning they couldn’t run for office to represent themselves and their communities or have a say in making the laws. Meaning they couldn’t serve on juries to decide how justice would be served.
当然，从技术上讲，黑人有权根据美国宪法进行投票，但吉姆·克劳（Jim Crow）法律几乎使他们无法注册。
Voter discrimination in the South
Four years later, Dr. King and the civil rights group he presided over, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, zeroed in on voter registration in Selma, Alabama. Two months into the intense and at times violent campaign, theChicago Tribune2据报道，据司法部称，有75％的黑人申请人被否认了投票登记。
“The study did not show why the Negroes failed,” the article explained. “A tough literacy test subsequently banned by a federal court order was used, however, for most of the two-month period as a means of determining qualifications.”
这样的测试通常只需要黑人申请人，因为吉姆·乌鸦（Jim Crow）法律也经常无法获得质量（或很多教育）。没有投票权，他们没有任何改变法律来改善教育机会的途径。而且，如果没有教育，他们就无法通过扫盲测试（即使他们故意不可能通过）可以投票。
人们有足够的循环。
大约600民权活动家s gathered on March 7, 1965 to march 50 miles from Selma to the state’s capital in Montgomery for the right to vote. But after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they found state troopers waiting for them on the other side.
The Selma to Montgomery marches
根据罗伊·里德（Roy Reed）的说法The New York Times3“Alabama state troopers and volunteer officers tore through a column of Negro demonstrators with tear gas, nightsticks and whips.” The event became known as Bloody Sunday.
Nearly 60 people required hospitalization or emergency treatment resulting from the attack. “Victims had suffered fractures of ribs, heads, arms and legs in addition to cuts and bruising,” Reed noted.
残酷混乱的图像出现在全国各地的报纸上，并在电视上播出，使许多人感到震惊，悲伤和对民权运动的同情。金博士立即宣布了下一个星期二从塞尔玛到蒙哥马利的游行计划的计划，该计划在整个种族范围内激发了支持者。
总共有三个游行塞尔玛。根据1965年3月27日，金博士带领“富于民权游行者的脚索，但不疲倦的民权游行者”到达首都。纽约阿姆斯特丹新闻4。
“But King’s triumphant march into Montgomery is more than a personal triumph for King himself. It is indeed a victory for democracy in these United States,” the article proclaimed, adding:
有些人想说这次游行对一无所有。没有东西会离事实很远。阿拉巴马州和州长华莱士和他的士兵正在我们民主生活方式的基石中挣扎。马丁·路德·金（Martin Luther King）呼吁世界上的注意力对他们的所作所为。约翰逊总统作为我们的生活方式的监护人采取了坚定而适当的行动。
President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965.
Letters to Dr. King and the SCLC
It’s impossible not to be moved by the outpouring of support Dr. King and the SCLC received in the days after Bloody Sunday. Personal letters, many of them handwritten, provide an intimate glimpse of how the attack on marchers touched people across the nation. Their words reveal the devastation of witnessing such a dark side of humanity; but more than that, they express love and gratitude reflecting the light of hope that Dr. King provided them.
这是来自SCLC组织文件的信件示例5:
Dear Dr. King Jr.
Last night as I sat and watched the 10:00 news on TV and seen the terrible things that is happening to Americans in our so-called America, Land of the Free. I thought, what can I do. I feel guilty just writing this letter in the safety of my home while every day you risk your life for something you believe and that is truly important. There are probably times when you have put your head in your hands and felt or even said, “what’s the use? No one really cares.” But someone does care. The real Americans care. I mean real Americans, not people who claim they are and destroy everything America stands for… I know this isn’t much but I thought maybe if I could give you a word of praise and encouragement that you and everyone else marching in Selma, and throughout the United States, can go on with your fight for the American people.
- 伊丽莎白·克雷梅尔夫人
Dear Rev. Dr. King,
正如我在上一封信中所说的那样，我正在封闭另一美元。我会尽可能多地这样做……我没有在周日听广播，但我的14岁女儿是。她对士兵对游行者的待遇感到震惊。她跑来跑去告诉我发生了什么。我坐下来哭了。人们如何对他人如此残酷？
— Mrs. Donald Smith
Dear Dr. King,
With my small contribution goes my heartfelt prayer for success for us all. As a Jew, the memory of Nazi Germany was made vivid last Sunday. I am so proud of you and thank you for your leadership.
— Theresa Freedman
Dear Dr. King,
Enclosed is a cheque for fifty dollars to aid in the most important and noble enterprise of this generation. As a university professor, I can assure you that you are exerting a most necessary and beneficent influence upon the young people of this country. I hope that your extraordinary leadership will be continued until there is universal accord with your principles and practice.
— Louis E. Roberts
Dear Sir,
伯斯特夫人和我一直在您的出色工作和领导力中与您同在，并希望以此表示钦佩和感激之情。请在您的工作中使用封闭的支票以及我们对您和您的最佳想法和愿望。
- 查尔斯·伯斯特（Charles Borst）
For further research
Learn more and request complimentary library trials via the heading links below。
Luders，J。E.（1999）。The Politics of Exclusion: The Political Economy of Civil Rights in the American *South, 1954–1965(Order No. 9980036)
Mack, L. R. (2012).佐治亚州选民身份证明要求：这是选民剥夺公民权的形式吗？（第3520484号订单）
M. E.（2013）。The Voter ID Laws: The New Black Codes(Order No. 1539177).
Valelly, R. M. (2004).这两个重建：争取黑人的斗争。
Wang, T. A. (2012).The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans' Right to Vote。
Brown，D。L.和Clemons，M。（2015）。Voting Rights Under Fire: The Continuing Struggle for People of Color。
Civil Rights and Black Freedom Collections:
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1 (1895-1996)
黑人自由斗争在20世纪：联邦政府的记录（包括塞尔玛游行上的联邦调查局档案）
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 2 (1925-1996)
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records, Supplement
NAACP Papers: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files
NAACP Papers: The NAACP’s Major Campaigns— Scottsboro, Anti-Lynching, Criminal Justice, Peonage, Labor, and Segregation and Discrimination Complaints and Responses
NAACP Papers: Special Subjects
NAACP Papers: The NAACP’s Major Campaigns: Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces
NAACP Papers: Branch Department, Branch Files and Youth Department Files
NAACP Papers: The NAACP’s Major Campaigns—Legal Department Files
Notes:
- VOTING RIGHTS NEXT: KING。（1961年，6月17日）。The Chicago Defender (National Edition)(1921-1967). Available fromProQuest Historical Newspapers。
- 投票拒绝了75％的黑人，美国告诉法院。(1965, Mar 16).Chicago Tribune(1963-Current File). Available fromProQuest Historical Newspapers。
- Reed, Roy. (1965, Mar 08).ALABAMA POLICE USE GAS AND CLUBS TO ROUT NEGROES。The New York Times(1923-Current File). Available fromProQuest Historical Newspapers。
- Dr. King's Return。（1965年3月27日）。纽约阿姆斯特丹新闻(1962-1993). Available fromProQuest Historical Newspapers。
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1:Records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1954-1970, Part 1: Records of the President's Office。Folder: 001563 -010-0831. Available fromHistory Vault。
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Courtney Suciu is ProQuest’s lead blog writer. Her loves include libraries, literacy and researching extraordinary stories related to the arts and humanities. She has a Master’s Degree in English literature and a background in teaching, journalism and marketing. Follow her @QuirkySuciu