The following Southern cities played dark
historic roles in the civil rights movement and
all received national and international media
coverage. Most Americans of a certain age or
awareness are familiar with them, but what ISN’T
widely known is that today ALL of them are led by African American mayors!
As a reminder of those shameful roles played, here are some brief anecdotes:
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA 1963
Fire hoses and police dogs turned on
peaceful demonstrators seeking the right to vote
and to be served at public lunch counters.
Bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four girls.
Current Mayor, Larry P. Langford
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI 1963
Medgar Evers, officer of State NAACP, murdered in his driveway.
Current Mayor, Harvey V. Johnson, Jr.
PHILADELPHIA, MISSISSIPPI 1964
Three civil rights workers (Goodman,
Schwerner and Chaney) killed by local Ku Klux Klan and buried in earthen dam.
Current Mayor, James A. Young
SELMA, ALABAMA 1965
Scene of “Bloody Sunday,” March 7,
1965, where hundreds of voting-rights advocates
were brutally attacked by Alabama law enforcement
officers. Victims included present-day
Congressman John Lewis (Georgia, Democrat).
Current Mayor, George P. Evans
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 1968
April assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Current Mayor, Willie W. Herenton
What does all this mean?!?
When President Obama’s election is added to these
mayoral elections, it should be clear that there
is a great need for a societal assessment of
these profound changes. Obviously, they should
be documented in much greater detail than I offer
in these anecdotal reflections. In fact, they
should be systematically ANALYZED-and monitored.
I conclude with a few words of wisdom I have
shared with certain undergraduates at Harvard over the years:
“A CHANGING OF THE GUARD, WITHOUT A GUARDING OF
THE CHANGE, IS MOVEMENT WITHOUT CIRCUMSPECTION
AND COULD WELL BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.”
