Civil Rights Movement in Selma
In the 1960’s Civil Rights workers made sure to steer clear of Selma, Alabama. Racism was everywhere and white people were violent. The right to vote has been an issue throughout United States history. The Fourteenth Amendment states that no state will make or enforce any law that can restrict the privileges or immunities of the people of the United States (Gans). The Fifteenth Amendment gives the right to vote to any man no matter the race (Foner). The Nineteenth Amendment gives the right to vote to women. With those three amendments it would seem that any person of legal age could vote, but not all people agreed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation and was supposed to help with voting, but the people …show more content…
The registration office was open for only two days a month and could only process 15 registrations for each of these days. There were fifteen thousand black citizens that wanted to vote and two days was not enough time. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) tried to help, but in 1964 mass meetings were banned making it hard for the committee to come together. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) brought their nonviolent movement to Selma at the beginning of 1965 in order to empower the black citizens in the South. Rev. King and hundreds of people in Selma had a meeting despite the ban and the police didn’t bother them. They started marching and going into known white establishments to see if they would be served, they were served at almost every establishment. They were waiting for a response from the police. Sherriff James Clark told them that they would be arrested if the came to the court house again. After another mass meeting, 67 people marched to the courthouse planning to be arrested. The marchers were met with hostility by Sheriff Clark, who arrested them; he even grabbed one woman by the collar and
In the 1960’s Civil Rights workers made sure to steer clear of Selma, Alabama. Racism was everywhere and white people were violent. The right to vote has been an issue throughout United States history. The Fourteenth Amendment states that no state will make or enforce any law that can restrict the privileges or immunities of the people of the United States (Gans). The Fifteenth Amendment gives the right to vote to any man no matter the race (Foner). The Nineteenth Amendment gives the right to vote to women. With those three amendments it would seem that any person of legal age could vote, but not all people agreed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned segregation and was supposed to help with voting, but the people …show more content…
The registration office was open for only two days a month and could only process 15 registrations for each of these days. There were fifteen thousand black citizens that wanted to vote and two days was not enough time. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) tried to help, but in 1964 mass meetings were banned making it hard for the committee to come together. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) brought their nonviolent movement to Selma at the beginning of 1965 in order to empower the black citizens in the South. Rev. King and hundreds of people in Selma had a meeting despite the ban and the police didn’t bother them. They started marching and going into known white establishments to see if they would be served, they were served at almost every establishment. They were waiting for a response from the police. Sherriff James Clark told them that they would be arrested if the came to the court house again. After another mass meeting, 67 people marched to the courthouse planning to be arrested. The marchers were met with hostility by Sheriff Clark, who arrested them; he even grabbed one woman by the collar and