Monique Dennis
Dr. Julia Pond
English Composition I
15 June 2015
The Meek Shall Inherit the Vote
In his hand-written public note “A Promising Day for the City of Selma,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an African-American Baptist minister and activist who led the African-American Civil Rights Movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968, addressed one-thousand “Negro” citizens of Selma, Alabama that walked into the Dallas county courthouse to redeem their voting rights. He expressed his frustration on the denied voting issues in Alabama, but furthermore praised their demonstration determinations and energies without violence. Though Dr. King’s protests were nonviolent, there were occurrences of violence from Selma police officers…show more content… That day was marked as “Bloody Sunday.” John Lewis, a Congressman, remembers that day stating, “I was beaten by state troopers, knocked to the ground. And I was in the hospital [inaudible] until about an hour” (Lewis). On March 9, 1965, Dr. King went back with the Selma citizens to Route 80, and once again was greeted by officers who would not allow them to pass. Dr. King and his people got on their knees and sang “We Shall Overcome,” and…show more content… King and the Selma people were walking towards a church, and out of nowhere, three other Caucasian men came up to them, and brutishly attacked them leaving one of the pastors, Rev. Reeb, dead. The three Caucasian men that committed this attack and murder were found innocent by an all-white jury. No black people were allowed to be on the jury, because they could not vote. There was also suspicion that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was aware of the Ku Klux Klan bombers that participated in the Birmingham church bombing incident, but they didn’t release any information. The church consisted of a large black congregation, and four young black girls were killed in the bombing. Dr. King spoke at three of the four little girl’s funeral to bring public attention about this outrage.
In short, although Dr. King and the Selma people’s protesting resulted in violence, their objecting efforts brought federal government attention, and eventually prospered. On August 6, 1965 before signing the Voting Rights Act, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated, “Thus, this is a victory for the freedom of the American Negro. But it is also a victory for the freedom of the American Nation” (Johnson). Johnson later signed the Voting Rights Act that day, which in turn, caused freedom for
