Freedom Facts and Firsts. Jessie Carney Smith
developed goals were to pass an all-encompassing civil rights bill that negated Jim Crow public accommodation practices and to assure protection of the right to vote. They also wanted systems put in place to adequately address the breach of constitutional rights, a federal works program to train unemployed workers, and a Federal Fair Employment Practices Act banning discrimination in all employment. Commonly referred to in the press as the “Big Six,” Randolph; Whitney Young, president of the National Urban League; Roy Wilkins, president of the NAACP; James Farmer, president of the CORE; King, the founder and president of the SCLC; and John Lewis, president of the SNCC were the major players in the March on Washington.
Bayard Rustin, organizer of the CORE’s 1947 Journey of Reconciliation freedom ride, coordinated and administered the particulars of the march. Although women had played vital roles in the movement, they were thrust into the background of the August 28, 1963, march. No woman marched down Constitution Avenue with King, Randolph, Wilkins, and other male civil rights leaders; no woman went to the White House afterward to meet with President John F. Kennedy. However, because of Anna Arnold Hedgeman, the only woman on the march’s planning committee, as a last-minute tribute the Negro Women Fighters for Freedom Award was given to Daisy Bates, Diane Nash, Rosa Parks, Gloria Richardson, Merlie Evers, and Mrs. Herbert Lee, the wife of the murdered farmer in Amite County, Mississippi.
The 1963 March on Washington (Library of Congress).
A draft of John Lewis’s prepared speech circulated before the march. Because of its militant tone against the Kennedy Administration, it was denounced by other march participants. In a meeting with King, Randolph, and the SNCC’s James Forman, Lewis agreed to tone down his criticism of the federal government. Not all endorsed the march. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam condemned it, and the executive board of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) withheld its support, adopting a neutral position. President Kennedy originally discouraged the march, fearing that it might make Congress vote against civil rights laws in reaction to a perceived threat. Once it became clear that the march would go on, however, he became a supporter. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965> passed after Kennedy’s assassination, and the provisions of each echoed the demands of the 1963 March on Washington. After the march, however, young African Americans increasingly turned to the Black Power Movement.
Linda T. Wynn
Memphis, Tennessee, Race Riot (1866)
One year after the Civil War ended, the city of Memphis suffered through the worst race riot in its history on May 1 and 2, 1866. Many whites, especially former Confederate soldiers, were angry about losing the war and resented the presence of large numbers of newly freed slaves and African American soldiers as part of the Union occupation of the city. The incident that sparked the riot was the killing of several white policemen by black soldiers after the attempted arrest of another black soldier. In response, Union General George Stoneman forced black soldiers to surrender their arms and confined them to quarters. This act left black settlements and neighborhoods unprotected from attacks by white mobs; 46 blacks and two whites lost their lives over the next two days. A congressional investigation documented that, in addition to the deaths, nearly a hundred were injured, hundreds of blacks were arrested, five women were raped, and numerous people fled the area. Almost a hundred homes, four churches, and eight schools were burned beyond repair, another hundred or so people were robbed, and $17,000 in Federal property was destroyed during the outbreak. The violence in Memphis impacted the movement toward Reconstruction, with radical Republicans passing a civil rights bill as well as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law. Tennessee was forced to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before being readmitted to the Union in July 1866.
Fletcher F. Moon
Million Man March and Day of Absence (1995)
The nation’s first Million Man March and Day of Absence took place in Washington, D.C., on October 16, 1995. It occurred with parallel activities in cities and towns throughout the country; families were asked to stay at home from school and work during that “day of atonement” and to pray and fast. It provided an opportunity for black men to bear responsibility for their lives, families, and communities. They also were to show repentance for the ill treatment of black women. In the area of civil rights, the march aimed to bring whites and blacks together and spotlight national inactivity toward racial inequality.
Early in 1995 Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam proposed the march. The Nation of Islam organizational efforts were supported by the National African American Leadership Summit. The planners garnered widespread support from religious, political, and business-oriented groups and leaders. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) offered their support as well; they excused students from classes and chartered buses to take them to Washington for the event. Nonetheless, many white and black leaders opposed it from the start because of Farrakhan’s involvement and denounced his anti-Semitic messages and inflammatory and nationalistic views. They called the march racially discriminatory. Some black women, in particular activist and teacher Angela Davis, opposed it too because women were involved in the planning but were excluded from the march.
Thousands of black men from across the country gathered at the Capitol on October 16, 1995, in a show of unity and protest (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi).
In the mission statement for the march, organizers called the event significant for a number of reasons, including its challenge to black men and to the country in a time of increased racism, the call for black men to maintain hard-won gains, and the opportunity it offered to encourage operational unity. The organizers were concerned about the deteriorating social conditions in the black community and the trend in the country toward a turn to the right and the impact this would have on people of color, the poor, and the vulnerable. The statement also challenged followers to work beyond the spirit of the march, expand political gains, build and strengthen black united fronts, reaffirm and strengthen families, call for public admission and apology for the Holocaust of African Enslavement, work against violations of civil and human rights, support African-centered independent schools, reduce or eliminate negative media coverage, and build alliances with other people of color.
Notwithstanding opposition to Farrakhan and his supporters, marchers from all walks of life assembled at the Lincoln Memorial—the site of the historic 1963 March on Washington—and near the Capitol Building. Among the speakers were Dorothy Height and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Farrakhan gave the final address. Reports differ on the size of the march. Although the National Park Service claimed that 400,000 marchers were involved, leaders of the march, as well as participants, claim that a million people did, in fact, participate. Al Edwards, a member of the Texas State Legislature, said in Crisis magazine: “I took part in many marches during the Civil Rights Movement but the Million Man March had a feeling that was unexplainable. You could feel the warmth and the brotherly kindness…. The march helped to rejuvenate my commitment. It was just so energizing.” Wendall Galloway of Largo, Maryland, said that “It felt good to be a Black man.” Among the spin-offs and other demonstrations were a simulation of black voter registration and cross-theological gatherings. The event attracted national attention and was deemed a success. Its long-term success, however, is difficult to determine.
Jessie Carney Smith
Million Woman March (1997)
Over 300,000 African American women from all parts of the country met in Philadelphia and held the first Million Woman March on October 25, 1997. The purpose of the demonstration was to strengthen the bond between African American women from all elements of society and to