March to Selma

March to Selma Summary

On March 25, 1965, thousands of peaceful demonstrators, led by Martin Luther King Jr, arrived at the steps of the capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama. The group arrived after a five-day march from Selma. The demonstrators made the 54-mile journey to bring attention to the issue of Black voting rights. A right that was continually being denied to Black citizens in Alabama and other southern states, despite the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The march to Selma followed several weeks of protests, the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson by a state trooper, and another attempted march earlier in the month that had been met with grotesque violence by state troopers and lawmen.

March to Selma Facts and Purpose

Before the decision was made to attempt a march to Montgomery, civil rights activists had been trying to make headway on Black voting rights for months. The major player in this operation was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), who had been trying unsuccessfully to register Black voters in Alabama. They established themselves in Selma, where, at the time, half of the city's population was Black, but Black people only made up 2% of registered voters. Jim Crow laws were still strong, especially in the southern states, and local law enforcers did everything they could to prevent Black people from claiming their human rights.

After months with no headway, Martin Luther King Jr came to Selma to offer the SNCC the support of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC). The two groups and their supporters staged several peaceful demonstrations in the surrounding areas that were continuously met with violence and mass arrests by local police and state troopers. On February 18, 1965, state troopers shot and killed a young man named Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was attempting to protect his mother from being clubbed by police.

Fig. 1: Marchers make their way across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

After Jackson's death it was decided that the group would march all the way to Montgomery to protest at Alabama Governor George Wallace's door. King was in Atlanta at the time, so, on March 7, 1965, Hosea Williams from the SCLC and SNCC leader John Lewis led a group of 600 towards Montgomery. The group soon came to the Edmund Pettus Bridge (named after former lawyer, senator and KKK leader, Edmund Pettus), where they were met with a blockade of local lawmen and state troopers.

Fig. 2: Edmund Pettus Bridge.

At the head of the blockade was Sheriff Jim Clark and Major John Cloud. When the group of peaceful demonstrators refused to turn back across the bridge, they were attacked with clubs, tear gas, sticks, clubs, whips and barbed wire. The demonstrators never fought back. Law enforcement was cheered on by White spectators who stood nearby and waved confederate flags.

Fig. 3: State troopers and lawmen attacking peaceful demonstrators on Bloody Sunday.

The march could not continue, but the brutal attack did create a shift in public opinion. Footage of the attack was sent to television networks in New York, and soon almost 50 million Americans had watched the brutal and unprovoked attack on the civil rights demonstrators. The event on March 7th came to be known as Bloody Sunday. Soon demonstrations were happening all over the country in support of Black voting rights, and supporters flew to Selma in the hopes of supporting another march.

Fig. 4: Martin Luther King Jr and others talk after Bloody Sunday.

President Johnson urged King to wait until he could properly protect them in their march to Montgomery, and although King and 2000 supporters did attempt another march on March 9, they faced another blockade. Instead of holding their ground they kneeled and prayed before heading back into Selma. This prompted President Johnson to release a statement saying:

“Americans everywhere join in deploring the brutality with which a number of Negro citizens of Alabama were treated when they sought to dramatize their deep and sincere interest in attaining the precious right to vote"

On March 21, King led a federally sanctioned march out of Selma with the protection of hundreds of federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and FBI agents. By March 25, the group had grown to 25,000.

March to Selma to Montgomery

Once in Montgomery, the marchers were met by almost 50,000 supporters, and a final rally was held on the capitol steps. There were several speeches, including a speech by King, who spoke of his hopes for a future of equality, and a society of peace. Several delegates attempted to deliver a petition to Governor Wallace, but Wallace was not interested or supportive of their efforts.

Fig. 5: Marchers on their way to Montgomery.

March to Selma Timeline

• January 2, 1965 - SCLC joined SNCC in Selma
• January and February 1965, several demonstrations were performed, and met with increasing violence
• February 18, 1965 - Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot by a state trooper
• March 7 - Hosea Williams and John Lewis aimed to walk to Montgomery. On the Edmund Pettus Bridge they were attacked by lawmen and state troopers, the attack came to be known as Bloody Sunday
• March 9, 1965 - King began another march, but stopped, prayed and turned back when met with another blockade
• March 11, 1965 - a White Unitarian minister named James Reeb, who had come to support the march, was killed by White men
• March 15, 1965 - President Johnson publicly stood with the demonstrators in Selma
• March 21, 1965 - King led a federally sanctioned march out of Selma, protected by federalized guardsmen and FBI agents
• March 25, 1965 - The voting rights march arrived in Montgomery and a rally is held on the capitol steps, that same night, a woman named Viola Liuzzo was murdered by KKK members while driving demonstrators back home
• August 6, 1965 - The president signed the Voting rights Act of 1965