Remaining Commentary on Chapter 2 & the Beginning of Chapter 3

Below are the points I had planned to make in class on the remainder of Chapter 2 and a bit of Chapter 3 of Sitkoff's book. Be sure to either copy or print this out and insert it in your notes. Remember, anything I cover in class or on this blog is fair game to make up questions from for the final exam.

At the very end of class I noted how King came to see Gandhi through the example of Jesus, and it was also a good fit with the Personalist philosophical views he picked up at Boston University. Sitkoff says:

"It fit King's exhortations that blacks must protest in a manner that sought reconciliation, that won the hearts and minds of whites, that paved the way for interracial amity and harmony. It placed blame on the system of segregation, not on the individual segregationists." (p. 46)

1. So, King came to see nonviolent resistance as not only a MORAL approach, but also a PRAGMATIC approach to overturning the unjust laws in the Deep South.

2. Glenn Smiley would organize workshops on non-violent direct action and passive resistance (which would become a staple of later campaigns).

J. Sitkoff nicely summarizes what all went into the developing philosophy of the movement King led. See middle two paragraphs, p. 47. (One might say in this regard, it took someone like King, with his background and intellect, to pull off the integration of these views.)

K. As the boycott dragged on and the bus company continued to lose money, they tried to work a deal, but they were overridden by the politicians.

L. King's stature was rising but the stress of being on the road and the anonymous threats took their toll. He sought help from an organization called "In Friendship" which Rustin ran with a couple other great figures -- Ella Baker and Stanley Levison.

1. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship, collaboration with Stanley Levison. (See pp. 208-209 from Parting the Waters, which I handed out for more on Levison)

M. On June 5th (1956), a federal appeals court ruled the segregated bus seating unconstitutional. But that ruling was then appealed to the Supreme Court. (any sensible person or politician should have been able to predict what the Supreme Court would rule, so why not save the expense and work out a deal then?) The Supreme Court did finally rule unanimously that bus segregation was unconstitutional on Nov. 13, 1956, the final order not coming out until Dec. 20th. A KKK effort to intimidate blacks in Montgomery fizzled.

N. Although the MIA, in conjunction with the Black Churches, took on the task of educating blacks on how to handle themselves respectfully and be sensitive to whites' discomfort with this ruling, NOT A SINGLE WHITE GROUP OR CHURCH WOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PREPARING THE WHITE COMMUNITY.

1. Violence ensued. Gun shots shattered King's front door. Sniper fire hit some buses; a teenage African-American girl was assaulted at a bus stop. Etc.

O. Beyond the victory of ending bus segregation in Montgomery, this protest had a much greater significance, which is why it is often regarded as the first great campaign of the modern civil rights struggle. Sitkoff says:

"Montgomery provided a model of the courageous 'new Negro,' King emphasized. 'He had thrust off his stagnant passivity and deadening complacency, and emerged with a new sense of somebodyness and self-respect, and had a new determination to achieve freedom and self-respect, and had a new determination to achieve freedom and human dignity no matter what the cost.' The Montgomery bus boycott became 'God's proving ground.' It forged new tactics and strategies, demonstrated the strength of black alliances and networks, and provided a language and vision that would generate and sustain a decade of nonviolent resistance, of peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws." (p. 54)


Chapter 3: These Humble Children of God, 1957-62

A. As you recall from the video presentation "King, from Montgomery to Memphis," it largely skipped over this period. Sitkoff suggests King was floundering for much of this period -- no clear sense of direction, beset by threats, travel demands, etc. I like the way Sitkoff opens the chapter: "What rabbits could he pull out of his hat next?..."(p. 57)

1. As we will see, others took the initiative. Eg., the student-led sit-ins, perhaps the most famous of which took place in Greensboro, NC on Feb. 1, 1960, which was really the beginning of SNCC.

2. King sought advice and counsel from Rustin, Levison (behind the scenes), and Ella Baker.

B. Sent out a "call" to 60 Southern black ministers to meet at his father's church in Atlanta. Followed up on Feb. 14 (1957) in New Orleans where the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed and King elected its first president.

1. Note they purposely did NOT invite anyone from the NAACP (which focused on a litigation strategy).

2. The majority of black ministers steered clear of this organization.

3. The motto was, "To Redeem the Soul of America," which gave it a Christian emphasis to make it more palatable to whites, also steer clear of any taint of being leftist (communist) or un-American.



That's all for now. On Tuesday, we'll pick up early in Chapter 3. And remember we'll have three textual commentaries on Chapter 4 for Thursday. If for some reason you did not turn your first writing assignment in yesterday, get it in ASAP. I should have these back by next Thursday at the latest.