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Home , Coretta Scott King, Diane McWhorter, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Jim Clark (sheriff), King (miniseries)

Social Education 79(5), pp 341–344 ©2015 National Council for the Social Studies ! Two Films about Selma

David Wolfford

This year marks the 50-year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed African American marchers fall to the into law in August 1965. Earlier that year, the city of Selma in became the ground, Alabama law enforcement bru- center of the storm for African American voting rights. In and around Selma, blacks talizes them before a teargas backdrop. were denied not only voting rights, but also the rights of free speech, assembly, and DuVernay intersperses the violence on due process. Two recent films portray this story. The first, Selma, is Ava DuVernay’s the bridge with LBJ, Governor Wallace, dramatic 128-minute, PG-13 depiction centered on Martin Luther ’s efforts to King, clergy, and the nation looking on, bring national attention to one of the worst localities for black voting. It is available all to a powerful version of Ralph and on a Paramount DVD. The second, Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot, is a 40-minute Martha Bass’s “Walk with Me.” documentary focused on student and teacher involvement in the local movement. For the remainder of the film, the Produced by Teaching Tolerance, a division of the Southern Law Center bridge is the literal hurdle in the route in Montgomery, the film is a mix of period footage, reenactment, oral histories, and to Montgomery and the symbolic hur- still art. Both films highlight the Jim Crow system, voter intimidation, civil rights dle in the quest for voting rights. Serene leaders, and the South’s bigoted white power structure. shots of the bridge’s crest remind view- ers of the final hump in this century- Selma cent of African Americans there were long struggle. Following Bloody Sunday, Selma is a powerful and dramatic work registered to vote. In one scene, Annie both black and white activists join the that exposes viewers to the South’s sys- Lee Cooper (played by , campaign. King’s SCLC files successfully tem of disfranchisement, and the lead- also a producer of the film) tries to reg- in federal court to enjoin the state from ership of a determined Martin Luther ister to vote at the Selma courthouse. blocking the . LBJ is leveraged King, Jr. (David Oyelowo), in the face of The white registrar asks arbitrary and toward supporting the cause. The film intense, life-threatening pressures, and increasingly impossible civic questions ends with the Oscar-winning number of competition from other civil rights until he assures her failure. The viewer “Glory” by and , groups. It vividly recounts events from quickly understands the situation in with historic updates on the main char- the civil rights struggle in early 1965, and 1960s Alabama. acters after 1965. focuses on the marches in Selma that cul- The harsh sheriff, (Stan The movie addresses the Kings’ minated with the historic march to the ), provides an aggressive, intense challenges. In one scene Coretta state Capitol in Montgomery. The movie bloody response to the civil rights pro- () reveals how she, Martin, is an enlightening and emotional picture, tests that puts this issue on the front pages, and their children are living under a con- though its portrayal of President Lyndon and more importantly on television. A stant threat of death. The movie shows Johnson is inaccurate. pivotal eight-minute scene in the movie the federal government warning King This is the first large-scale, studio- recounts the first march on “Bloody about his safety, letting him know that backed release with King as the cen- Sunday,” March 7, 1965. New York the and others were plan- tral character. Oyelow, a British actor Times reporter Roy Reed (John Lavelle) ning a hit on him. The filmmaker also who worked diligently to master King’s narrates as he relays his story from a pay- shows how the FBI of J. Edgar Hoover speech, cadence, and complicated per- phone. After a brief stand-off at the foot (Dylan Baker) wiretapped King and sona, plays the role of King effectively.1 of the Bridge, the state harassed him in hopes of weakening his King and his Southern Christian troopers attack the defenseless protestors power. His SCLC leadership knew of Leadership Conference (SCLC) came with barbed-wire-wrapped Billy clubs his extra-marital affairs, and the Church to Selma because fewer than one per- and bull-whips. As Sunday-dressed Committee’s probe revealed that

November/December 2015 341 the FBI had sent him an audiotape recording an affair with a letter suggest- ing he commit suicide.2 The movie also portrays the interac- tion and competition among different civil rights activists and organizations. arrives soon after King is arrested. Coretta meets with Malcolm X, much to Martin’s dismay. “‘The white man pays me to keep Negroes defenseless.’ That’s what [Malcolm X] says about me, Coretta,” King says to his wife through the bars of a Dallas County, Alabama, jail cell. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which had been organizing in Selma for two years, had started to dif- fer in philosophy and approach from Young people demonstrate for African American voting rights at the courthouse in Selma, Alabama, King, as it moved toward a less patient Feb. 5, 1965. More than 400 protesters were arrested. (AP Photo/Bill Hudson) and more militant stance. As the drama builds toward the first march, the film portrays SNCC activist (Trai Byers) and SNCC chairman (Stephan James), a leader of the march, in a heated exchange about whether to join it. While Selma offers a powerful por- trayal of the conflict and King’s leader- ship, it distorts Johnson’s role, views, and relationship to King. At the time of Selma’s release, LBJ Library direc- tor and biographer Mark Updegrove and Johnson’s domestic policy advi- sor Joseph Califano both criticized the movie. Author Diane McWhorter and many historians joined the chorus, col- lectively saying that it “flies in the face of history,” “falsely portrays President Lyndon B. Johnson,” and is “the oppo- This scene from Selma depicts marchers crossing the in Selma, Alabama, the site of the truth.”3 Actor Tom Wilkinson, site of "Bloody Sunday," when white police beat voting rights demonstrators. (Courtesy of Paramount Pictures) who has played statesmen from Ben Franklin to Secretary of State James Baker, captures the Johnson character islative machine who understood timing In the movie, the president opposes and his -inspired political skills, and strategy. He was already working any SCLC action in Selma and shouts but the script’s dialogue and several on substance and strategy for such a at King when he learns of the planned confrontational scenes suggest the presi- bill when DuVernay has him delaying, march to Montgomery. However, a dent flatly opposed federal voting legisla- nearly opposing it. His January 4, 1965, taped January 15, 1965, conversation tion and King—both which are untrue. State of the Union message proposed to reveals King and Johnson discussing Granted, the president was not on the “eliminate every remaining obstacle to the political benefit of exposing the same timetable as King, who represented the right and opportunity to vote,” and extreme cases of voter discrimination a disenfranchised constituency that had Johnson aide Nicholas Katzenbach had to persuade the country to favor such waited long enough. Johnson was a leg- begun drafting the legislation.4 a federal measure. “If you can find

Social Education 342 the worst condition…that’ll help us in mind, in a black and white video with dents skipping school to publicly pro- what we’re going to shove through in the a mix of narration, news reels, and test, he turned his back on the class, thus end.” Though participants disagree on some re-enactments. Selma’s student allowing students to leave and join the what influence LBJ had on creating the leaders and teachers are the main char- protest without witnessing their depar- Selma spectacle, it is hard to realistically acters. Narrator Octavia Spencer (The ture. Another illustration depicts the envision DuVernay’s combative White Help) explains events and controversies, violent state trooper attack on Jimmie House exchange. Johnson’s relation- while lesser-known young actors read Lee Jackson that resulted in his death. ship with King “was not very tense at the oral history recollections of Selma’s “We did this to solve a problem,” says all,” declares King aide . students. The film contains several Teaching Tolerance Director Maureen “He and Martin never had that kind of instances of violence—vivid footage Costello. “There was no photographic confrontation.”5 of street encounters and a few deaths. or filmic record of the scenes the young For teachers considering Selma for Like Teaching Tolerance’s other films, people were describing. Our director, the classroom, it contains violence, the this one-class period video shows a tri- Bill Brummell, came up with the idea, F-word, N-word, and additional adult umphant story of how injustice can be and we turned to Nate Powell because, language. Teachers can use an array of righted, comes with a comprehensive as the illustrator of John Lewis’s The online sites that offer primary sources Viewer’s Guide discussed below, and is March, he knew the story and had a style and background information on King, free to educators. It is “[the] story of a we really liked.”10 Johnson, and the film’s events. For courageous group of Alabama students The soundtrack for Bridge to the example, historical and teachers who, along with other activ- Ballot is upbeat and powerful. Modern database, available at many high schools ists, fought a nonviolent battle to win versions of classic Negro spirituals and local libraries, allows students to voting rights for African Americans in accompany the story and add lift to the look up historic articles in PDF format the South.”9 Producer Bill Brummel’s script. These start early in the film after with date-specific advanced searches. portfolio includes episodes from the a somber introduction emphasizing the The King Center’s digital archive is A&E Biography series to documentaries Birmingham church bombing. Artists extremely useful in hunting down King’s covering serious contemporary issues. include Mavis Staples and the Blind letters, speeches, and other primary Richard Cohen, the Southern Poverty Boys of Alabama. sources.6 The LBJ Library has a pleth- Law Center’s director, is co-writer. The Bridge to the Ballot credits the lesser- ora of resources to learn more about the documentary was developed for students known students and teachers in Selma president’s involvement in the passage of from grades 6 through 12. as well as the early and initial efforts of civil rights legislation.7 In selecting a documentary for a social SNCC. The voting rights effort there Consider showing the film and having studies class, the teacher has to consider was somewhat organic, in that the Dallas students record the sequence of events. to what degree students will be drawn County Voters League had been working Then have them produce a date-specific into the production. Documentaries toward this goal for years. Additionally, timeline to include information beyond seem to fall into two categories: educa- SNCC leader (notice- that presented in the film. Another useful tional and captivating. The prior type is ably absent or unmentioned in Selma), source is ’s recollec- informative and produced in the clas- arrived in 1963 to organize voter reg- tion of her Selma meeting with Malcolm sic documentary style, with narration, istration drives. Martin Luther King, X, which is available online in the Eyes talking heads, still shots, and raw foot- Jr., enters this film about 12 minutes in, on the Prize interviews.8 Several other age—think PBS for the last generation or and is a main character, but does not civil rights leaders not yet mentioned are so. Today, we see more innovative, eye- overshadow the film’s emphasis on the shown or mentioned in the film—Ralph catching, and edgy documentaries that local effort. Notably, this script explains Abernathy, , and Bayard draw the viewer into the story. Selma: that when King presses the president to Rustin. Students could produce short The Bridge to the Ballot straddles these pass a federal voting rights law, “Johnson, biographies of these supporting real- two models, with characteristics that though supportive, says the time is not life actors. students will accept and find interesting. right.” Some historical scenes are shown with Teaching Tolerance’s film exposes the Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot still artwork, graphic novel-like depic- intense bigotry of local civic leaders. The documentary Selma: The Bridge to tions to recount some of the violent Here you get the real Jim Clark, who the Ballot essentially follows the same scenes or those where no footage was is a violent, loose cannon, hell-bent on story as the above feature. An enlight- available. For example, when one stu- maintaining the Jim Crow system. As ening version of the struggle, it has been dent recalls how her African American the press converged on the conflict, the developed with the student-learner in teacher could not exactly endorse stu- sheriff provided TV film crews with

November/December 2015 343 intense confrontation. We see him at the background readings on voting rights Notes an early press conference smiling and circa 1965 and film discussion questions. 1. One reason for the lack of a notable Martin Luther King feature film is that King’s speeches are pro- candidly stating, “I’m a segregationist… Depending on the age and student read- tected by copyright. King first took legal action after if my ancestors had not been segrega- ing level, the teacher background read- he discovered a record company selling recordings of his 1963 “” speech. Since his tionists, I might be a mulatto, and I’m ings could also serve as student hand- death, his estate has worked diligently to enforce proud to be a white man.” He faces off outs. Film questions seem to be the most the copyright, which enables it to maximize reve- nues and approve the context in which King’s with local African Americans, prods essential and most overlooked comple- speeches are used. The estate has licensed film rights them with his Billy club, manhandles ment to films in social studies classes. to Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks and Warner Bros for a film to be produced by Spielberg. DuVernay, a leading black woman, and punches a Whether a teacher asks these aloud after who did not make an agreement with the estate, reporter. When Clark is admitted to a showing a segment or students answer captures King well, but not with a verbatim tran- hospital after a heart attack, the contrast these individually on paper while the script. See Jonathan Band, “Can You Copyright a Dream? How the Martin Luther King Estate between his ruthless approach and the film is rolling, there’s probably no better Controls the National Hero’s Image,” , peaceful, non-violent activists is evident way to assure student engagement. The January 12, 2015. Accessible online at www.politico. com/magazine/story/2015/01/selma-martin-luther- as they publicly wish him well. Clark’s questions in the Guide are split between king-can-you-copyright-a-dream-114187. colleague Mayor Joseph Smitherman, a page break, but are ordered by track 2. Beverly Gage, “What an Uncensored Letter to MLK absent in Selma, appears at a press con- and clearly labeled. These too could Reveals,” New York Times Magazine (November 11, 2014). ference to casually and brazenly refer to be reproduced or copied into your pre- 3. Mark K. Updegrove, “What Selma Gets Wrong,” “Martin Luther Coon,” before he smirks ferred electronic or paper format. Politico Magazine (December 22, 2014); Joseph Califano, “The Movie Selma has a Glaring Flaw,” and corrects himself as if he misspoke. Teaching about race is a delicate issue, Washington Post (December 26, 2014); Jennifer Brummel and Cohen cram in rel- and many teachers find it uncomfortable. Schuessler, “Film Casts Johnson as Villain,” New York Times (December 31, 2014): A-1. A good sum- evant statistics and emphasize several “Many teachers believe that ignoring mary of historians’ and participants’ criticism can primary sources. Both the narrator’s race—adopting a colorblind stance—is be found in Richard Cohen, “Selma Distorts the and King’s words offer some perspec- the best way to overcome its negative Truth About LBJ,” Washington Post (January 5, 2015). tive on the dire situation. “In the early power,” Teaching Tolerance claims. The 4. Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and 60s, 15,000 black adults live in Selma; kit, however, also states to do so is to his Times, 1961–1973 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 212–218; President only 130 are registered to vote,” the nar- “deprive students of the opportunity to Johnson’s State of the Union Address, January 4, rator explains. When King and others understand much of American history.” 1965. For more on Johnson and Voting Rights Act, are arrested, he proclaims in a letter to Among its suggestions is a list to set clear consult Robert Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Passages to Power (New York: Knopf, 2012), 569- the New York Times showcased on the guidelines for discussion. 70; C-SPAN, “Historians Presidential Leadership screen, “There are more Negroes in jail Survey” (Washington, D.C.: CSPAN, 2009), www. cspan.org. with me than there are on the voting rolls.” Conclusion 5. Updergrove; Cohen. The voiceover recollections of local par- Of the two films, Selma: The Bridge 6. See www.thekingcenter.org/archive. ticipants far outweigh those of the narra- to the Ballot is the more practical for 7. See www.lbjlibrary.org/. tor, and several unique lines come from conventional classroom purposes. It is 8. See the Interviews, Washington University, http://digital.wustl.edu/e/eop/. printed sources from the era, such as compressed into a shorter run time and 9. Teaching Tolerance, Selma: The Bridge to the newspaper headlines. Perhaps the most uses real footage and primary sources. Ballot: Viewer’s Guide Grades 6-12, Southern telling is a sign in the courthouse above It is historically accurate and requires Poverty Law Center: Montgomery, Alabama, 2015. 10. Maureen Costello, Director of Teaching Tolerance, the registrar’s desk explaining how the few disclaimers. It lacks foul language in an e-mail interview with the author. August 25, names of anyone registering to vote will or suggestive scenes, and is certainly 2015. appear in the newspaper for two weeks. more conducive to a junior high class, or This is to inform non-state actors, from those in which the teacher wants to play employers to Klansmen, whom to intimi- it safe. Although the docudrama, Selma, date or harm. is historically inaccurate in its portrayal David Wolfford teaches government and politics at Mariemont High School in Cincinnati. He is author The 58-page Viewer’s Guide includes of Johnson, it will captivate audiences, of Government and Politics: Preparing some advance readings for the teacher, even if shown in segments. It has power- for the Advanced Placement Examination (AMSCO/ reproducible handouts, a defined cast ful scenes, including some with minimal Perfection Learning). His website is www.usgopo.com. of characters, a five-page timeline, les- dialogue that are very thought-provoking. son plans, a project to better understand It also enables classes to ponder complex current voting laws and turnout, answer questions about disfranchisement, the keys, and several other teaching aids. divisions within the civil rights move- Perhaps the two most useful items are ment, and the historical role of King.

Social Education 344