Over the past weekend, our nation, at least
some of us, observed an historical event, and the subsequent progress in race
and matters of diversity over the past fifty years. The story of Bloody Sunday, which unfolded
March 7, 1965 on the Edmund Pettuce Bridge in Selma, Alabama, has been
memorialized in history books, and recently in the movie “Selma.”
On that fateful Sunday, approximately 600
marchers assembled in Selma, intending to march to Montgomery, Alabama’s
Capital. John Lewis and a number of other
leaders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Coalition (SNCC) and the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) led the March. As they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge over
the Alabama River, on their way out of town, Alabama State Troopers and other
local law enforcement officers blocked their path.
The troopers ordered the marchers to
turn around. When the marchers refused,
the officers shot them with tear gas, and waded into the crowd beating the
protesters with billy clubs, hospitalizing over fifty of them, and earning the
events of the day the name “Bloody Sunday.” The actions of those overzealous troopers and
policemen abusing peaceful protesters were televised around the world.
Martin Luther King called for civil rights supporters to come to Selma for a
second march. The marchers tried again on March 9, and ultimately a
third time on March 21st, when they completed the trek, with the aid
of federal protection.
On August 6, 1965, Congress passed
the federal Voting Rights Act. This was
the desired outcome, which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had
envisioned. Still, “Bloody Sunday was
about more than a piece of federal legislation.
It highlighted the multiple competing tensions Dr. King had to circumnavigate,
as he faced the pressure of a radical (for its time) social movement, federal
calls for restraint, as well as the palpable dissonance between SNCC and the
SCLC.
Over the weekend President Obama and
at least one hundred members of Congress went to Selma to honor and observe the
history made in Selma fifty years ago. A
great deal was made of the disclosure earlier last week that the GOP Leadership
planned to skip the weekend’s events in Selma, along with Republican
Presidential hopefuls. After some
significant peer pressure from Democratic Congressmen, the House Majority
Leader, Kevin McCarthy decided at the last minute to change his plans and
attend. South Carolina Senator Tim
Scott, an African American also attended, though he is a rank and file member,
not part of the GOP Leadership structure.
In all, reports are that
twenty-three members of the GOP eventually “scheduled” attendance. That list did not include House Speaker John
Boehner, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, or Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush,
or any of the Party’s other projected Presidential candidates. Balanced reporting requires that I note
Hillary Clinton skipped the event too.
Perhaps she was busy working on a response to Email-gate. In any event, Democrats were solidly
represented. I am not sure Rand Paul
would have gained serious ground by attending.
Obviously, we will not have to spend anytime pondering the question.
There was a point when I thought the
GOP’s collective reluctance to be seen in “The Heart of Dixie” (one of
Alabama’s unofficial nicknames) this past weekend would be the point of this
post. Too bad the KKK was not as
inclined to be scares of presence.
Robert Jones, the Grand Dragon of the Loyal White Knights of the KKK
said about 4,000 KKK fliers were distributed in Selma and Montgomery in the two
weeks preceding the 50-year Observance last weekend. In his words, “We pretty much put out fliers,
some against King and some against immigration.
It’s time for the American people to wake up to these falsehoods that
they preach about MLK.”
That inclination, however, was
before several esteemed members of the University of Oklahoma Chapter of Sigma
Alpha Epsilon (Also sometimes referred to as SAE) Fraternity were portrayed on
a video singing a racist chant, including, among other things, the words
approximating, “There
will never be a nigger SAE/There will never be a nigger SAE/You can hang him
from a tree/But he’ll never sign with me/There will never be a nigger SAE.”
The video, taped
Saturday, was leaked Sunday. The SAE
National Organization closed the University of Oklahoma Chapter and the
University closed the House, and suspended at least two students, presumably
those who could be identified singing the chant. One of the
tow students has since apologized.
The organization is no stranger to
race-based controversy. The chapter at
Washington University in St. Louis gained notoriety for a pledge being made to
recite a rap song containing the N-word in front of a group of black
students. In 2006, the Baylor Chapter was criticized for a party theme that reports say encouraged making stereotypes
of blacks. Moreover, the fun and
frivolity apparently does not stop at race-based shenanigans. A 2012 Rolling Stone article intimated that the Dartmouth College Chapter engaged
in abusive hazing practices that included making pledges eat vomlets (eggs
& vomit). In 2014, the National
Organization eliminated pledging in an effort to discourage hazing.
But back to the racial animus; last
week’s post touched upon the racial indignities foisted upon the black
citizenry of Ferguson Missouri by a police department unfettered or constrained
by anything approximating an impetus to rein in bigotry and racism. This new indictment of a college organization
is simply yet another indication that ridiculously brazen racist behavioral
practices are alive and well in America.
And in this week, after the 50th Anniversary of “Bloody
Sunday,” we can say with certainty, it thrives…”From Selma to Norman: Right Now!”
I’m done; holla back!
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