PUBLIC PROTEST AND THE
ROLE OF YOUTH - THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT AND BEYOND
Public Protest and the First Amendment:
The Voice of the People
Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago
John Marshall Law School
Chicago, IL
January 13, 2017
OBJECTIVES
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Discuss Public Protest as a feature in the
development of our country
Review the role of young people in and importance to
the success of the Civil Rights Movement
Note the significant role of young people in a number
of late 20th and early 21st Century movements
Discuss the importance of providing both a voice for
and ear to the youth of a community
FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION
“Congress shall make no law
• respecting an establishment of religion,
• or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
• or abridging the freedom of speech or of the
press;
• or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for
a redress of grievances.”
WHY PUBLIC PROTEST?
“If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity.”
― Albert Einstein
AND STATED ANOTHER WAY…
“Confrontation is not bad. Goodness is supposed to
confront evil.”
― Fred Shuttlesworth
AND WHO WAS FRED SHUTTLESWORTH?
SO TO THE ISSUE AT HAND….
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At workshops over the past few years, I have
maintained that
Public protest has long been a significant means by
which Americans have communicated their hopes
and wishes – and displeasure – to leaders
The youth of our nation often served as the
foundation of the protests – the “foot-soldiers” of the
movements
AMERICA’S LEGACY OF
FIRST AMENDMENT PUBLIC PROTECTS
America has a long history in which its citizens have
used the protections of the First Amendment to
engage in public protest to advance a particular point
of view or idea……
1913 WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE MARCH
AND THE OUTCOME…
Article [XIX] (Amendment 19 - Women's Suffrage
Rights)
• The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of sex.
• Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
AUGUST 8, 1925 KU KLUX KLAN MARCH ON
WASHINGTON
AND THE IMPACT OF THE MARCH?
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Prior to the march, Klan members felt besieged by
“changes” in America as the country was becoming
more pluralistic
Immigrant groups of Jews, Greeks and Italians were
assimilating throughout the land
Women were voting
African-American men were attending colleges and
entering larger parts of the workforce
AND WAS THE MARCH A SUCCESS?
“Organized to counter reports of faltering enrollment,
this “konklave“ succeeded in attracting national
attention but marked the peak of Klan power in the
1920s.”
History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6689
VETERANS BONUS ARMY PROTEST OF 1932
AND WHEN TROOPS MOVED IN TO REMOVE THE
PROTESTERS…
"The reaction to it was, we can't let
that happen again“
Tom Allen,
Author
AMERICANS RESPOND TO THE IMAGES….
Four years later,
• The WWI vets received their bonuses.
• In 1944, Congress passed the GI Bill to help military
veterans transition to civilian life, and to acknowledge
the debt owed to those who risk their lives for their
country.
WHEN, IN 1942, JAPANESE-AMERICANS WERE
ROUNDED-UP AND PLACED IN CAMPS…
PROTESTS WERE SOMETIMES LONELY VOICES…
"If you harm them, you must harm me. I was brought
up in a small town where I knew the shame and
dishonor of race hatred. I grew to despise it because
it threatened the happiness of you, and you, and
you!"
Colorado Governor Ralph L. Carr
AND SOME OF THE PROTESTS CONCERNED
LOCAL PRACTICES…
Here in Chicago, protestors demonstrate against
racial discrimination at the White City Roller Rink
(63rd and South Parkway, later King Drive) in 1949
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT EVOLVES…
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In the second half of the twentieth century, a number
of factors contributed to the development of the Civil
Rights movement. Among them:
Men who had served in the military during World War
II, fighting in foreign lands for freedom and the rights
of Europeans and Asians, returned to the United
States , unwilling to be treated as lesser citizens
Fellow soldiers, who in many instances had their first
exposure to African-Americans as “equals,” began to
question existing laws and practices
LEGAL CHALLENGES LED THE WAY
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In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka(1954) ,
the United States Supreme Court declared state laws
establishing separate public schools for black and
white students to be unconstitutional and “inherently
unequal.”
In Browder v. Gale (1956), a lawsuit filed during the
Montgomery bus boycott on behalf of Claudette
Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary
Louise Smith, and Jeanette Reese against W.A.
Gayle, mayor of Montgomery, the Supreme Court
ordered the State of Alabama and the city of
Montgomery to desegregate its buses
IN SEPTEMBER 1957, NINE HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS INTEGRATE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
THE DAILY GREETING…
IN NEW ORLEANS, RUBY BRIDGES INTEGRATES
WILLIAM FRANTZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
NOVEMBER 14, 1960
AND, IN 1968, AFTER PRINCE EDWARDS COUNTY,
VIRGINIA VOTED AGAIN NOT TO FUND PUBLIC
SCHOOLS..
THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
HAD LED THE WAY
Much of the energy and determination to continue the
struggle for dignity and fairness that had been ignited as
soldiers who had fought for the United States during
World War II and returned to a nation that treated them
as less than citizens was focused in Montgomery where
• Bus passengers who paid equal fares were required
to sit in the back of the bus
• Entry to the rear of the bus was sometimes facilitated
by passengers having to pay at the front; exit the bus;
and then re-enter through a rear door
• Seated African-American passengers were required
to surrender their seats to white passengers when 26
requested
MOTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT –
ROSA PARKS AND CLAUDETTE COLVIN
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CLAUDETTE COLVIN ?
On March 2, 1955, a full nine months before Rosa
Parks took her famous stand, Colvin, a then 15-year-old
girl, boarded a city bus with her friends, taking a seat
behind the first five rows, which were reserved for
whites.
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Colvin boarded a city bus with her friends, taking a seat behind
the first five rows, which were reserved for whites.
When the driver shouted, "I need those seats!" Colvin's friends
dutifully moved to the back, but she stayed put.
A couple of stops later, city police were there to meet the bus.
Still Colvin refused to leave her seat.
The police dragged her from the bus and Colvin was charged
with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer in addition to
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breaking the city's segregation law.
WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?
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After booking, she was thrown in the city's adult jail.
On her day in municipal court, Colvin was found
guilty of all charges by a hostile judge.
In Montgomery Circuit Court, three months after
Colvin's arrest, a judge dismissed charges of
breaking the segregation law and resisting arrest, but
left the assault charge intact.
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SO WHY HAVEN’T I HEARD OF HER?
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By dismissing those two charges, the judge ensured
that Colvin had a serious police record that could
harm her future, but she could no longer appeal to
challenge the Jim Crow regulations.
Local black leaders held off on calling for a boycott,
and instead raised money for her appeal.
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AS AN ASIDE…
Over the years, it has become a regular notion in the
discussion of the bus boycott to state that Rosa Parks
was chosen to be the focus or “face” of the movement
and lawsuits because she presented a more
“acceptable” appearance given the norms of the time.
Often cited is the fact that Colvin became a teenagedmother, giving birth to a son fathered by a married man.
It should be noted that her son, Raymond, was born
3/29/56, a full year after her refusal to surrender her
seat (3/2/55).
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AND A FEW MONTHS LATER…..
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SUPPORTING THE BOYCOTT….
The boycott itself did not just involve domestics and
adults, but also many young people:
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SPREAD OF THE CHALLENGE TO ADDITIONAL
UNJUST PRACTICES…
Just as the objection to disparities in the quality of
education had led to legal challenges in Little Rock and
New Orleans, discrimination was also noted in
• Public transportation
• Housing
• Public accommodations (restaurant, hotels, theaters)
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FREEDOM RIDES PROTESTING SEGREGATION
LAWS RELATING TO INTERSTATE
TRANSPORTATION BEGAN WITH ENTHUSIASM
(1961)
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ROUTE OF ONE GROUP…
NOT ALL WENT WELL…
Outside Anniston, Alabama, one of their buses was
burned, and in Birmingham, several dozen whites
attacked the riders only two blocks from the sheriff's
office.
AS TO PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS, SOME
PROTESTED OUTSIDE…
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OTHERS WENT INSIDE
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AND SOMETIMES THE CROWDS REACTED….
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FOOT-SOLDIERS IN MILWAUKEE’S
FAIR HOUSING MARCHES (1968) AS THE
MOVEMENT SHIFTED TO THE NORTH
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THE MID-1960’S FOUND GROWING OPPOSITION TO
THE VIETNAM WAR
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The reasons behind American opposition to the
Vietnam War fell into several main categories:
opposition to the draft (for military service was a
possibility for all adult males, not just volunteers as
now);
moral, legal, and pragmatic arguments against U.S.
intervention;
reaction to the media portrayal of the devastation in
Southeast Asia.
A COMMON SITE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY…
THOSE ON BOTH “SIDES” WERE OFTEN YOUNG…
AND AT TIMES A RACIAL OVERTONE EXISTED…
POLITICAL CASUALTY OF THE WAR AND
PROTESTS…
"Believing . as I do, I have concluded that I should not permit the
Presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions that are
developing in this political year.
Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the
nomination of my party for another term as your President."
President Lyndon B. Johnson
March 31, 1968
MAKING THE ANNOUNCEMENT NOT TO RUN…
THE EFFORT TO EXTEND THE IMPACT OF
BOYCOTTS AND PROTESTS SPREADS
United Farm Workers (1975)
PROTESTS CROSSED GENERATIONAL LINES…
After a dramatic 110-mile march from San Francisco,
which gathered more than 15,000 people by the time
they reached the E & J Gallo Winery in Modesto on
March 1, 1975, United Farm Worker’s (UFW)
persistent action led directly to the passage of the
California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which
went into effect on August 28, 1975.
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The UFW organized thousands of agricultural laborers into
unions, in many cases winning recognition and negotiated
contracts.
After hundreds of elections under the law in its first two years,
the UFW and Teamsters finally signed a long-lasting
jurisdictional agreement in March 1977
The UFW ended its boycotts of lettuce, grapes, and wine in
February 1978.
AND INTO THE 21ST CENTURY…
Many of the lessons learned through the movements
that drove movements in the twentieth century were
carried over into protests that continue into this
century. Among them are the
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Black Lives Matter protests
Environmental /Earth Day movements
Anti-violence marches/movements in cities like Chicago
AND IN A MORE RECENT VEIN….
``Freedom, by definition, is people realizing that
they are their own leaders.``
Diane Nash,
quoted on Black Lives Matter website
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AND WHO IS DIANE NASH?
One of the few women recognized as a leader in the
Civil Rights movement, Diane Nash leads a
demonstration to City Hall in Nashville on April 19,
1960
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MOVEMENTS CROSS RACIAL AND GENDER LINES
EARTH DAY 2015
OCTOBER 10, 2016 INTERDENOMINATIONAL
PROTEST OF HOFFMAN ESTATES TRAINING
“If the world is going to change for the better, you have
to be a living example.”
Lindsey D. Draper
[email protected]
414-462-8956