Birmingham: Testament of Nonviolence; Part 4; Back to School in Birmingham [2 of 2]

Some of the press recently. Different Person. It was demonstrations very. Successfully. How do you feel about the violence. I was a bad person before you joined the movement.

After all you have to tell me Mary some of the things that happened to you when you were in jail and some of your friends. Well when I went in there in knife matches and I was and you know keep us from fantasy. Terrible but we managed somehow. But that was there and I was because there was a we started. We had given three meals a day. Yes. What have been some of the reactions say from your friends members of your family your parents as a result of your having been jailed. Well they're with me all the way. Complications set in after you returned. Well my mother she was upset. Naturally. Well you know we talked it over like a banker. So she says you know brutality or violence.

Thank you very much. There is there any other thing that you'd like to say Mary in relation to this. I lost my last job tell me about the time I was working at hospital and and because I was there. Thank you talk with us to get there now. And I said then are you anything like that because I feel that I would make a way. So you took a sort of not a violent man. Are you saying in effect then you lost your job because you chose to demonstrate to us and your supervisor knew that you were demonstrating. Well that's very unfortunate Mary. Well I like to say this praise thing and I think we should all stick together no matter where we are. Do you how old are you and what school do you attend. I am 17 and I have 10 ohm high school here in Birmingham. Julia we've been talking with a number of your friends. We might send them a good jail mates cellmates and I would like to get some of your general reactions.

I first of all what were some of the ages of the younger youngest children who were in jail with you. There was one young me and there was six and there was another one there that was nine and I was just considered to smile but I do know he's 6 and 9. Do you think they understood the full impact of what was going on. I think they did indeed because I questioned some of them and they gave some very good answers and they feel that freedom was what they really wanted as well which is you know when you say they get some very good answers with these answers apparently given to them or had they tried to think some of these things through for themselves in the period that they had. For them sales they are expressing sales openly and you know in the town of revenue and sales. Did you hear anything about the treatment of these younger children I heard. I mean they were left and they see it they get the treatment they

hear stories and everything. So if you had it to do over Julia in terms of some of the younger children would you think it wise to have children this age as well as young teenagers participating in this kind of demonstration and movement. I think that is left up to the individual. If you feel that you really want freedom and that you really are willing to go and face the harassment that you should go if that's what you want to do that's what you should be allowed to do. How do you feel about the students back when you were in jail who did not participate either in the demonstrations or did not go to jail. I think to some of them have personal reasons for not going and I have sympathy for those who are not. In-clan to believe in what the movement was doing many of the students at my school believe that the movement is something stupid. But I think they will come around. We are praying for them we love

everybody and we hope that they come around. Are they harassing the students in school who didn't go to jail or did not participate in the demonstrations. No they are not many of the students that did not participate stayed out of school because we asked them if they would just stay home. And most of them stayed home. But they are some of the demonstrators they are those who go back to school and the teacher accept them with some reluctance but I was accepted and I was very happy. Except you mentioned praying for these students and hoping they will come around as you have. Good religious orientation before you join the movement. I mean I feel we should get closer to God before we demonstrate this from him that strength follows. Many people believe that we just go and demonstrate just something that we picked up but we have meditation in everything before we go and I think that it's best that we do.

To claim self like to ask you about the people are circulating both in Birmingham and in other parts of the country the first one is that the young people are not going to be asked to go out and engage people in voting for voter registration. The second one is you can comment on either one that you want. Is that the total movement has been. Stimulated by communists you want to react to either of these two questions are both possible. I would like to be first about stating that the movement was created by communist people. I don't believe that the movement is created by people who believe in God and believe that man is human and should have the rights of everyone. When I was born and I started school they tell me the created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. But that isn't true and we believe that if they teach us that we should have it that way and the people that participate in the movement avidly Khamis but God fearing people

and they believe that if we help ourselves that will help us as far as our statement. I believe that we should encourage people to vote because the vote seems to be everything in people if they have voting power they can get somewhere. I mean when I become 20 when I go on my birthday and register I have been in my community trying to help older people who say they can't pass a test to go down to the median so they can get a pair if they travel can vote and we if we vote we can get more of the things we need. Do you feel the belonging to the movement and getting caught up in the whole spirit of this thing has given you as well as other young people a new lease on life. I mean I think that villa found myself out that I knew before the end but since I've been a member of the movement and come to the meetings I've learned that there are many things that I don't know. There are many things that I can fan about in the means and they have proven their use. I think that any youth that is going to

organise and form some flunkie organizations so that he can better his condition know that whatever he does should be carried on with street £9 we have shown here in Birmingham that we can control our emotions and if we do that we'll we end because if we believe the guy will help us well then we can have our sales attain. How did you first become attached to the movement and get involved in the demonstrations. First time was I used to come to meetin alla time. And demonstrate they can do it too and made me get up and to start. Just you would concur with the other persons who have talked to that had it not been for the students that the movement would have fallen flat on its face possibly years. I agree because if you want this. This

demonstration is now complete. What do you think is the cause for this the lack of adult participation. Just exactly what would have made a flop if the youth had not participated. In what we are doing. Because a lot of teenagers Ian and they were saying is not Mandela. Do you feel that your participation by your I mean the children and teenage participation has helped to bring about more adult participation. Years I do know is our girls and I in my neighborhood and my friends we are Monday gals we have a group and we went downtown to 16 Sandy and we left there now let's get arrested the same day.

Tell me about your arrest you and the other girls that were demonstrating with you were you besieged by dogs fire hoses or just policemen just below the policeman's we were downtown Monday in margin every. Partner still. Picked up and police I was under arrest for having no permit. Reading without saying what are your general feelings about the non violent movement. Well to me I think it's great because. I was right here at it. And. I don't think that I could take beers in about the same thing to me I always hear something smart to say if they push always push that. But since I've been to the meeting and they have taught me not to be. I mean tell me to be non. I really appreciate this in the prison cell Juliet with 300 girls and again in accordance with. What we might say the Christian

principle of going the Second Mile and nonviolence where the girls. Looking out for themselves quite a bit concern for each other for example if you had a sleep on the floor with someone who had given you their bed or shared the use of the bed with you were they pretty much selfishly oriented. They was look at our five because the one that we rocked the and the girls will get up and they want to be is the shell of blanket will and I agree that I want to lay down when you know that there be a blanket after being flown. As you think about it now. Was it worth it and would you do it again. Yes it is. Laugh it and I feel that yes we have another demonstration I'll be the first one down into my hand. Julia finally wouldn't be one of the most memorable experiences that you had in the jail something that stood out over and above anything else.

Well that was all that was all of people in the sail with us. And in time that we would get depressed and start crying and say we want to come home. They would always come to us and start singing and cry and say God is on the Allisat and that will make us feel better and relating their personal stories. Negro teenagers arrested in jail for taking part in the Birmingham nonviolent protest demonstrations. The Reverend Bob Polk ministered to youth of the Riverside Church joined WRVA News team in Birmingham to conduct these interviews. The students went back to school one week later on May 20th. The Birmingham Board of Education ordered one thousand and eighty one Negro students expelled are suspended. Board President Robert C. Arthur makes the announcement. We were here for. The past many years probably 50 years and any student

leaving school can say they were expelled from school. Each school. Notified. Ahead of time they reaffirmed their policy to each student. And told them the SE were involved in this saying. That. They would stand. And the parser did stand and it will stay at St. James Church that night. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference responds to the expulsion order and explains a new revised strategy. Today. The superintendent. The city schools of Birmingham notified the principals of. Several schools including high schools and elementary school.

That one follows them. Eighty one students were to be expelled. Ah suspend. This was a tragic move. This was an immoral move. This was an undemocratic move. This was an online movie. And I want to assure you tonight that we are not going to set I'd live by and accept. This dastardly act. Without doing something about. PHILIP. Theory.

I want you to listen to me. This is a moment that we must think. Calmly. We must not panic. We must not meet and onlies act. By engaging the enemy of our own wives act. We must keep our feet solid to the ground and know what we are doing and move in this situation properly. I want you to hear me. Now. We must study all of the ramifications of this saying and all of the implications. We know about certain forces in Birmingham today trying to sabotage this agreement. That has been reached. They are trying to do everything to provoke the Negro

community. They are trying to do everything they can to get state trooper. To beat Negroes up that sort of. Thing. They are trying to do everything they can to precipitate violence and arrive to a situation. And we must make it clear that they are trying this in vain because we are not going to allow it to happen. We are going to think through every move we make. We are going to study everything with reference to these expose. Now already we have authorized our lawyers. To look into the legal implications. And to file a suit immediately. Again the superintendent and the Board of Education will get these two.

Thank you. Until this is done over the next few hours. We're asking you to do this and we've got to get the word all around the city. Number one we're asking that all of the students. Who were not expanding who did not receive any exposed paper will go back to school tomorrow at this time. We are not calling for a mass. But I cannot I am mass walkout na we calling for a renewal of demonstrations at this time. I want you to follow us at this point. We are looking at this overall situation and we want to know that when we move and how we move we will be moving in the

right direction. Now we ask of those who were expelled to stand home tomorrow and study at home and we will be working all day to mom. On this issue. I reiterate my friends we are not taking this. By sitting down on the wayside. We are going to do something about it. But we want to be sure that we are moving in the right direction. And we don't want to do anything that will cause Mr. book Khana to sit down in majestic delight. Because we made a mistaken move. So we're not having the mass walkout tomorrow and we're not calling for a renewal of demonstration at this point. We are saying we stood in this situation and will have a lawsuit

filed immediately and as a precedent case on this. One but oddly who is with us here now and eight other students were expelled from Alabama State College. Because they had participated in the movement there. The federal district court ruled that those students could not be expelled from Alabama State College without a hearing and they ruled that they would be really admitting it to that college and I submit to you that we are going to take it in to every necessary court in order to see that these students are readmitted into the schools of the city. Thanks Jackie. These students have not done anything wrong. These students have not engaged in vicious violent immoral acts. These students have not done anything on

friendlier to our nation and even to the state of Alabama. When they engaged in these demonstrations. They did it because somehow deep down within they realized that America could never be a great nation until this problem was solved. And they realized that God made all of his children to be free. They did it because they wanted to be free. They were sitting down to lunch. They were in reality to standing up for the best in the American dream. Carrying this whole nation back to those good wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. When they went inside of the jails of this city they went inside these jails in order to get America out of the dilemma in which he finds himself. As a result of the continued existence of segregation

and discrimination. So these students instead of being enemies of Birmingham and democracy are the greatest friends that this city has a hand crank. Because it is tragic indeed that there are still those who feel that they can block a movement. By putting students out of school and taking these types of reprisals. This only brings us closer together and makes us more determined. Victor Hugo said. Not too many years ago that that is nothing more powerful in all the world than an idea whose time has come. Past the next. An act of contemporary Russian author puts it in a slightly different way that is nothing more powerful in all more worth than on what throw stuff

on truth. These students have truth on their side and that is an idea whose time has come. It is ideal our freedom and human dignity and that is going to be freedom for the Negro in the United States of America. And Birmingham Alabama was cool. I miss is Constance Baker Motley attorney for the NWC P Legal Defense and Educational Fund makes clear that no time would be lost in challenging the expulsion order in the court. Lawyers are already working on filing a suit against the superintendent of schools for expelling the students who participated in the mass demonstration. And that suit will be filed just as soon as we can type out the words on the paper.

Thank God we can find the secretary did not. Feel can type we ought to have it some time tomorrow. In addition to bringing this action to reinstate the students. I just wanted to say a word to you about the great victory which we won today in the United States Supreme Court. I I only wish that Reverend Shuttlesworth were here tonight. Because the Supreme Court has turned him loose once again. I. Thanks. You know they say that the cats have nine lives but Shuttlesworth has 19.

Thank. You doll Shuttlesworth and my good friend Robin Bell Labs were convicted of inciting two or three students here to sit in. The love department store in the other department store involved in the sudden demonstration. And the Supreme Court ruled today that nobody can be convicted for urging another to do an innocent. Thanks. Thanks thanks. We also represented the 10 students in this to go to Davis and all of the other students who were convicted of sending in a lot of money. And the supreme caught reverse their convictions along with the convictions of the

students in Greenville South Carolina and North Carolina. And no all in all on the ground that the state could not enforce racial segregation in public eating facilities of the character involved in these cases. This means that from now on wherever the state or the city requires segregation by ordinance such as you we have here in Birmingham that ordinance is no longer enforceable. Thank you. And as I said tremendous decision. We represent all throughout the South listening in. And the decision which we won to turn all of those students.

Thank you Art. The suit against the Birmingham School authorities was filed the next morning. The U.S. Circuit Court in Atlanta promptly within hours had ordered the reinstatement of the one thousand and eighty one expelled and suspended student. The jubilant response of Negro parents in student. Freedom. School. Environment. Running him. Testament to nonviolence. Part. For. You have heard the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and the Reverend Routh the Abernathy of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

This is Constance Baker Motley in double ACP legal counsel and Robert S. Arthur president of the Birmingham Board of Education. Earlier in this program you heard negro teenagers actively involved in the Birmingham movement discussing with the Reverend Bob poke their attitudes and experiences growing out of their involvement in the 38 day nonviolent direct action integration campaign. Mr. Polk is minister to youth of the Riverside Church in the city of New York and joined our WRVA Radio News team in Birmingham to aid especially in preparing this program. Back to school in Birmingham was produced by a w r b r the FM station of the Riverside Church for the educational radio network and the National Association of educational broadcasters. Reporting from Birmingham Jack Summerfield and Walter Nixon. This is the in a b Radio Network.